Cadence has a program called Cadence Associates Field Staff (CAFS) where active-duty military serve as part-time staff and create a Cadence-style ministry at their current duty station. Eric and Rachel Vaught serve in this capacity with Cadence. Eric is a Navy doctor, and Rachel homeschools their sons. They are providing wonderful ministry to Navy personnel and their families, I am excited for you to read their story.

“When we arrived in Italy three years ago, we joined Cadence International as Cadence Associates with the intended goal of starting a Cadence Hospitality Ministry in Naples, Italy. It had been many years since Cadence last had a presence in this Navy community. We partnered with the base chaplains in support of the services on Sunday mornings and their outreach to the community throughout the week. 

Rachel led the Protestant Women of the Chapel (PWOC) for two years, we hosted a weekly Bible study in our home, and we supported other ministries on the base for singles and men’s groups. To the glory of God, we have been able to make small steps toward that goal as we left a thriving base chapel community with strong relationships across the various ministries. 

We have now moved just north of Naval Station Newport, Rhode Island. Eric is transitioning to the Navy Reserves and starting a new job leading a community health center in Fall River, Massachusetts. Cadence does not currently have a presence on or near the Newport base, so we will be seeking opportunities to start new ministries over the next couple of years in partnership with the base chaplains and our local church. 

The Newport base is a very transient population, with most staying less than one year at the Naval War College, officer indoctrination training, and multiple senior-level courses. Despite the challenges of a transient population, all Navy chaplains start their careers in Newport! This will provide us with great opportunities to introduce them to Cadence and the various ministries around the world. Please join us in prayer as we seek direction for the next steps in ministry and how we can best support military families in our area.” 

Thank you for partnering with Eric and Rachel and Cadence staff around the world as they minister to our military people and their families!

David Schroeder
President

Ministry is often about conversations . . . a person needing to talk  . . . someone who cares starting a conversation which begins as a simple question and moves to an encounter which leads to discussions. Consider these two testimonies:

“I am thankful that Nate and Louise were willing to take a chance and take in a stray, not just to share their home, but to share their lives. They were always there when I needed to talk about something personal, spiritual, or even just trivial. This place and these people have made all the difference to me.”

—David Weber, from the Johnsons’ ministry at Travis AFB

“Many of these encounters lead to discussions about personal history, relationships, ministry, theology, and the deep waters that accompany life. What often begins as a simple question, moves into a discussion of heart issues, gospel reminders, and opportunities to speak into different aspects of life. It is the kind of thing that makes me declare to Louise, ‘This is why I love what we do!’”

—Nate Johnson

It’s these discussions about life, relationships, choices, emotions, history, future, and so much more which often lead to change, hope, and life-transformation. The quotes above beautifully illustrate this process and are an example of what Cadence staff seek to offer in each of their ministries.

Whether it’s God speaking to us through His Word and His Spirit, us speaking to Him in prayer, or whether it’s the meaningful conversations we have with each other—so much significant growth springs from these connections.

This is why listening well and asking good questions was one of the mission-wide training topics covered at our last round of Cadence field staff conferences. It’s why being restricted to Zoom, FaceTime, phone calls, and other virtual connections cannot stop the power and impact of meaningful conversations!

Ministry continues because conversations endure. Sure, we look forward to our future maskless face-to-face encounters with others, but in the meantime, we thank God for every connection He gives us with others. And, we make the most of them, as Nate and Louise did with David at our Travis Hospitality House ministry.

Friends, keep connecting, caring, and conversing well with others. These are the pathways for the Spirit to create transformation in others. Your gifts and prayers allow Cadence staff to do this very thing with military people and their families, and we thank you! 

David Schroeder
President

​“The people we did life with. . .”

I pulled that phrase from the testimony below because it says so much about our Cadence ministries—we “do life” with military people. We share their joys, struggles, heartaches, and triumphs. We walk through their journey with them.

This past month we celebrated Advent and the arrival of our Savior, Emmanuel—God with us. He came to us in order to be with us in our journeys of life. What an amazing gift!

And what a privilege to offer this gift of presence—being with—to our loved ones and friends.

Here is a testimony from a young wife and mother whose husband was stationed at Spangdahlem AB in Germany. “The Hangar” is the name of the Cadence hospitality house there.

“After sitting through that first Hangar night, for the first time since arriving in Germany, I felt like I might just be okay and make it through this assignment. But I could never have imagined the wonderful things God had in store for us through this ministry.

Because of The Hangar missionaries and community, not only have we made it through this assignment, we have loved it. We have thrived in it. We have grown personally and spiritually through it, made lifelong friends, memories, and so much more. I cannot imagine what this assignment would have been like without The Hangar and the people God placed in our lives there. This community became our family. The friends we’ve made at the Hangar have been by our family’s side through deployments, tragedy, the miracle of new life, birthdays, holidays, and even more importantly, the everyday little things.

These are the people we did life with over the last four years. These kinds of relationships, especially overseas, are priceless—a rare, beautiful gift that I am so lucky to have found. But not only did we find lifelong friends and family through this community, we also grew closer to Jesus and each other through the teachings and discipleship of the Hangar missionaries.” 

Friends, as we leave behind the specific challenges and trials of 2020 and set our eyes on walking with Jesus in 2021, let us remember the importance of “doing life with people”—being together in this journey amidst all its joys and sorrows, trials and triumphs.

Your faithful financial support allows our Cadence staff to do this very thing for military people and their families, and I thank you.

David Schroeder
President

I think you will appreciate this testimony of God’s work from a family who has been attending the Cadence ministry at The Hangar near Spangdahlem Air Base in Germany for the last three years where Joe and Jill Vincent are the current directors:

“Moving to Germany was a tough adjustment. Not long after we arrived, we were invited to The Hangar. We had never heard of Cadence International until this point. We were unsure of what this “Hangar” was, but were told it had a good Bible study, so we decided to give it a try. We loved it immediately. It just felt so welcoming, like a family. We loved how deep they dug into Scripture and how Gospel-focused it was.

As for the impact it has had on our lives personally . . . well, God has definitely used this ministry to grow and stretch us both to a new level in our walk with Him—a more consistent, and deeper walk. We are fully in, abiding with Him, and we truly believe God used this ministry and these missionaries to change our hearts to be fully focused on Him.

The previous leaders, as well as the current ones, have poured so much into the lives of not only us, but our children as well. They have loved us so well. They have prayed for and with us, encouraged us, and discipled us. We have loved being able to serve alongside them.

What a huge blessing this ministry is to the military community. Military life is tough, constantly changing and lonely at times.

The Hangar is a needed ministry to the Spangdahlem Air Base Community.”

Friends, your giving and prayers make a difference in lives of military singles and families all around the world.

Thank you, and may God bless you and your family.

David Schroeder
President