Grandma’s Jell-O Surprise

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“Could you make my Grandma’s Green Jell-O Surprise?”

That’s not a question any of us expect to be asked. But it does make more sense when you consider the setting in which this U.S. Army Sergeant was asking it. My wife, Aimee, and I were talking with him at the hospitality house we led near the U.S. Army base of Grafenwoehr, Germany. Thanksgiving was a month away and, as always, Aimee had offered to try and make any Thanksgiving dish for the Soldiers that would make it feel more like home for them. Green Jell-O Surprise was what he wanted!

For many families in the USA, Thanksgiving is a holiday filled with special traditions and extended family. But often for military families overseas, the traditions and the opportunity to be with extended family are not possible. It can be a sad and lonely time.

Yet in our Cadence hospitality houses around the world family traditions are replicated and new traditions are made. It’s in our homes that we create a welcoming space to celebrate with new friends who become family. We truly get to be a home away from home.

We have this privilege because you give of your finances and partner with our missionaries. Your giving helps transform potentially sad and lonely holidays into joyous celebrations. Thanksgiving is changed from a day when they see what they are missing to heartfelt thankfulness for what God has provided. And so, on behalf of them, we thank you.

In one of these hospitality houses, Victory Villa in Rota, Spain, we need to conduct significant renovations. Cadence has owned this house for almost 40 years and ministered there for almost 50. We thank God for the decades of Thanksgivings celebrated in this home! We also want to extend an invitation for you to provide an extra gift this holiday season for Victory Villa. Giving to this year’s Joshua Project Campaign will bless Sailors and their families in Rota for decades to come. If you would be willing to do so, please go to Cadence.org/JoshuaProject.

Thanks again for being a part of our Thanksgiving!

In the love of Jesus,

Brian Kleager
VP for Strategic Partnerships and PR