STORIES FROM THE FIELD
FROM THE PRESIDENT
The Lighthouse
Each day, Cadence missionaries share Christ’s love, offer encouragement, and walk alongside those who serve in the U.S. Armed Forces. Two of our Cadence staff, Duncan and Suzanne Forbes, faithfully share the gospel and their lives with those in the Yokosuka military community.
From the Field
The InCadence Podcast:
Stories of God’s work in and through the military.
Thankful Then, Thankful Now
1ST BATTALION, 35TH ARMOR REGIMENT, 1ST ARMORED DIVISION, BAUMHOLDER, GERMANY (“THE ROCK!”)
This was my first duty assignment in the Army for my wife Aimee and me as we arrived in Germany in September 1999. We had been married eight months; I had been in the Army nine months; and now we were about to figure out married life, Army life, and overseas life all at once. As I think back to that first Thanksgiving in Germany, I had no idea how grateful we would be for the community we were beginning to encounter at the Cadence hospitality house.
We Share
We share the gospel and our lives with the military community.
For 70 years, the mission of Cadence International has aligned and galvanized our staff in their fruitful ministry to military people and their families. When I think back on the 40 years Joyce and I have served in Cadence, the unrelenting focus of our hearts has been on this mission of loving military people.
As the Deer Pants
Have you ever been so thirsty that nothing mattered more than finding something to quench your thirst?
Earlier this year, I found myself in a situation where I was thirstier than I had ever been. I was in the hospital due to lung-related issues and needed a procedure performed under anesthesia. They gave me the typical “no food or drink after midnight” instructions ahead of time—no big deal. However, after the procedure, when I awoke and needed the help of a BiPAP machine to keep my oxygen levels up, I started to experience extreme thirst. Each minute the BiPAP mask was on my face, forcing pressurized air into my nose and mouth, I became more and more desperate for even just an ice cube. It would end up being five hours before I was allowed to drink some water.
Setting Our Minds on Things Above
It’s time for a New Year’s resolution check-in. Did you make one, and if so, how is that going?
A few years ago, I heard someone being interviewed on a podcast about New Year’s resolutions. They gave some statistics stating that 43% of people quit their resolutions by the end of January, and only about 9% keep their resolutions for the entire year. Wow! That’s not very encouraging, and it begs the question of why bother making a resolution to begin with.
Thankful Then, Thankful Now
1ST BATTALION, 35TH ARMOR REGIMENT, 1ST ARMORED DIVISION, BAUMHOLDER, GERMANY (“THE ROCK!”)
This was my first duty assignment in the Army for my wife Aimee and me as we arrived in Germany in September 1999. We had been married eight months; I had been in the Army nine months; and now we were about to figure out married life, Army life, and overseas life all at once. As I think back to that first Thanksgiving in Germany, I had no idea how grateful we would be for the community we were beginning to encounter at the Cadence hospitality house.
We Share
We share the gospel and our lives with the military community.
For 70 years, the mission of Cadence International has aligned and galvanized our staff in their fruitful ministry to military people and their families. When I think back on the 40 years Joyce and I have served in Cadence, the unrelenting focus of our hearts has been on this mission of loving military people.
As the Deer Pants
Have you ever been so thirsty that nothing mattered more than finding something to quench your thirst?
Earlier this year, I found myself in a situation where I was thirstier than I had ever been. I was in the hospital due to lung-related issues and needed a procedure performed under anesthesia. They gave me the typical “no food or drink after midnight” instructions ahead of time—no big deal. However, after the procedure, when I awoke and needed the help of a BiPAP machine to keep my oxygen levels up, I started to experience extreme thirst. Each minute the BiPAP mask was on my face, forcing pressurized air into my nose and mouth, I became more and more desperate for even just an ice cube. It would end up being five hours before I was allowed to drink some water.
Setting Our Minds on Things Above
It’s time for a New Year’s resolution check-in. Did you make one, and if so, how is that going?
A few years ago, I heard someone being interviewed on a podcast about New Year’s resolutions. They gave some statistics stating that 43% of people quit their resolutions by the end of January, and only about 9% keep their resolutions for the entire year. Wow! That’s not very encouraging, and it begs the question of why bother making a resolution to begin with.
To Live is Christ
I recently attended the memorial service for a Wycliffe missionary who went to heaven after a battle with cancer. She and her husband share the same sending church with Joyce and me here in Littleton, Colorado. Two of their daughters were active in the young adult church group which we led and taught for nine years.
Name Above All Names
“There is a name I love to hear, I love to sing its worth. It sounds like music in my ears, the sweetest Name on earth. Oh, how I love Jesus, oh how I love Jesus. Oh, how I love Jesus, because He first loved me.”
Like many of you, I basically grew up in a pew. Church twice on Sundays, often on Wednesdays, and other times as well. The great hymns of the faith are etched on my heart from years of singing both melody and harmony along with my five siblings and the congregation.
There’s something about hymns that anchor those who know and love them. When my wife, Joyce, sits down to the piano in our living room to play a hymn (and she can play them all) there is a stillness and peace that permeates our home.
Shelter in the Storm
Recently appointed as new Cadence missionaries, Duncan and Suzanne have a wonderful story of God using Cadence in Duncan’s life as a young man serving in the Army. Cadence missionaries, Brad and Debbie Ellgen, were there for Duncan at a key moment in his life. Here is his story:
An Intern Returns
Joyce and I began our Cadence International careers as young adults serving in the mission’s Student Ministry division (known then as Malachi Ministries). We enjoyed over ten years of fruitful ministry to military students and their parents stationed at various Army installations in Germany.
Since then, we have served Cadence at our Headquarters here in Englewood, Colorado. We always love hearing stories from the field of transformed military lives, and it’s especially encouraging to hear of military students still being influenced for Jesus through Cadence Student Ministries.
The Gospel in the Center
Each Sunday at our local church, the cross is brought from the platform back down the aisle to the middle of the sanctuary for the reading of the gospel. Behind the cross, a pastor walks holding the Bible high as on each side the people turn to face the cross. Then it is said, “We bring the cross into the center of the people as an outward sign that Christ is with us and among us. May His Word be always on our minds, upon our lips, and deep within our hearts.”
One Hope
I attended two memorial services recently—one in Missouri and one in Michigan.
The service in Missouri was to grieve the sudden loss of a young man tragically killed in a car accident on his way home from work. He had been married for only two months to the daughter of one of our Cadence couples.
The chapel was filled with young people seeking to somehow trust God and celebrate Caleb’s life while also wrestling with the fragility of life here in this broken world under the curse.
We Stay
We Stay.
Thank you for your prayers for our recently completed Cadence worldwide staff conference in Green Lake, Wisconsin. Our theme, Unhindered, the last word Luke penned in the book of Acts guided our time together. We celebrated and took courage in the truth that the gospel will not be stopped, thwarted, or hindered in its advancement around the globe.
Unhindered
We gather.
Joyce and I recently gathered with the family and friends of Wilma Porter for her memorial service. She and her husband Ralph, who went to heaven in 2018, served military people through Cadence for over 50 years. We were honored to speak at her service, be with the family, and celebrate her life.
A Sailor’s Story
Joyce and I met Senior Chief Sonar Technician Joy Chase at the Cadence hospitality house in San Diego. We were encouraged by her love for the Lord and impressed by her service as an exceptional Sailor.