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May 2007 Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of His body, that is, the church, of which I became a minister according to the stewardship from old that was given to me for you, to make the Word of God fully known, the mystery hidden for ages and generations but now revealed to His saints. -- Colossians 2:24-26 Greetings in Jesus’ Name, A new wave of young men and women are arriving at our door. Same basic addiction problems -- drugs, alcohol, food, sex -- but they are different. This 18-25 age group is what I am now calling the “whiner generation,” sometimes referred to as the “Pepsi generation.” Another term might well be the “entitlement generation.” Remember, these are the folks who, when they were 7-12, played sports with no winners or losers, and had attended kiddy school where everyone got a gold star. If little Margaret held up a yellow crayon to a request of red, she was praised and “affirmed.” Self-esteem was everyone’s primary concern. If little Bobby was ever told his project really stunk or Annie was informed she put her sweater on backwards and inside out, they might be forever damaged! Now we get them, not only addicted, but also believing they are deserving and entitled to coddling and affirmation. What a shock to discover that the world really does not operate this way! No work, no eat! If you don’t hold your own on work crew, you “get fired.” Complaining about the food or accommodations earns you time shoveling you-know-what! Paul, in our passage, speaks of possessing a passion that allows him to endure all sorts of suffering. All you need to do is say the word “suffering” and some young folks get the hives. Our goal at His Mansion is to effectively communicate to those coming for help, that having a passion for God, and being prepared to sacrifice in service to Him, is part and parcel to staying free from bondage to addiction. It is essential to recovery. Shed the old ways, and put on the new ways of God. Key to this transformation, of course, is discovering “the mystery.” This generation does love a mystery. What is the mystery to which Paul was referring? “Christ in you, the hope of glory.” This is the key to persevering and enduring. It is the truth that can ignite a new passion that makes serving and living for God an exciting adventure. This new adventure has everything to do with giving, giving, giving, and much less to do with me, me, me and what I deserve. Good medicine for the youthful addict. Good medicine for me! How about you? What a glorious month it has been! Snow and fog has been replaced by sunshine and warm breezes. The earth has readily responded. Birds sing, little fawns are sneaking on to the fields, chipmunks have taken over, and everyone’s heart seems lighter! Dwayn has the greenhouse going full blast. The cattle and a zillion little pigs are out to pasture. Gretchen and Joan are planting flowers everywhere. You can hardly beat this time of year. God is bringing new life to His favorite creation as well. This month we’ve seen several touched by the Holy Spirit to surrender to Christ, or to “come back to the Father.” It is a sign of health to see the entire family rejoice over a brother or sister coming to faith. Inner healing is one of the phases through which residents must go to complete the program. This is especially essential for the ladies, although men are also being relieved of childhood abuse that guys tend to hide. For Fritz Maurer and Karen Hilliker, our two therapists, along with Dave Hultgren, our Discipleship Supervisor, this requires many hours of careful, personal work. We thank God for providing His Mansion with a balance of practical, no-nonsense, real-life experience, and the added value of specialized training in accomplishing the deeper work of soul-surgery. Joan and I are still fixing up the Long House so that we can move in. Actually, everyone else is at work on the project! We are very excited about living back in the Long House where we lived for nine years previously. We’re looking forward to filling the c.1767 place with the antiques and “old things” we’ve accumulated for years. It is our goal to have a special place of hospitality, once completed. I look forward to settling in to the place where Joan and I can live out the remainder of our service. I am still at the helm, but God has provided a solid executive staff. Paul Atkinson, whom you’ve come to know in this letter, has taken to his role of Corporate Administrator like a duck to water. Paul shoulders all the daily operations of the affairs taking place “on the hill.” He’s a stickler for detail and demands that things be done well and it shows! Paul’s wife, Robin, has adjusted well, too, coming out of the North Carolina warmth to frigid New Hampshire. She has a real gift for reaching out to the young ladies one at a time and loving them. Her ready smile and willingness to wade in to cool waters has comforted all of us. I sure am thankful to God for both Paul and Robin. God has prepared a man and his family to come on board as Building and Maintenance foreman. They are still in the application process, and we continue to pray that God would guide and direct them to be here. Please remember the folks you know that serve here. Mid-summer is always a tough time for their support as folks are busy and tend to put off support until summer ends. Stan & Joan Farmer – Stan is CEO/President; Joan heads up Food Service
Paul & Robin Atkinson –Paul is Corporate Administrator; Robin teaches and mentors women
Fritz & Gretchen Maurer – Fritz is Director of Counseling; Gretchen is decorator, garden planner, teacher and mentor of women
Lee & Joyce Oliver – Lee is Operations Manager; Joyce is Director of New Beginnings
Jeff Devilbiss – Director of Personnel Recruitment
Linda & Jim Hogue – Linda is Office Manager; Jim teaches and mentors men
Dave & Diane Hultgren – Dave oversees the discipleship program; Diane runs the finance office
Diane Weber – Director of Women’s Discipleship
Karen & Seth Hilliker – Karen is Counselor Supervisor for Women
Mark & Ruth Harris – Mark is our mechanic (They are Canadian citizens and cannot receive support.)
Dwayn & Brianna Merrill – Dwayn is Farm Manager; Brianna is mother of three small children
Cliff & Linda Buxton – Cliff is Men’s Program Administrator; Linda mentors women  In last month’s newsletter, I mentioned the Book Club that meets at the Hogues’ home. This is the happy group as they finished up Blue Like Jazz. I hear they are ready to delve into another book next week. For these folks, there is no better way to spend a Sunday evening!
We’re so glad to have Mike Birch joining us for the summer to help with various projects around the hill. He is former staff, and served with us during the summer of ’95 and again from June of ’96 through 2001. He is a real asset and fits in well with our community. We are happy to consider church groups or families to come help with special projects, or to devote a week of vacation time to help out with regular maintenance. It is our joy to welcome them and they always seem to receive blessing as well – though they put in some hard work! I’m praying specifically for a man or woman with state-of-the-art skill in web page development and, particularly, who could communicate daily via the various “windows” into the Internet. The vast majority of new staff and residents are coming to us through this venue and we are behind the curve. Not good! Please pray with me. If you are considering joining us for our fall HCC course, October 13-19, now is the time to finalize those plans. This is a weeklong course taught by Stan Farmer, Fritz Maurer, Dave Hultgren, and Lew Gervais, and covers topics such as “The Process of Healing,” “Stages of Recovery,” “Spiritual Warfare,” “Truth vs. Lies,” and “Inner Healing,” just to name a few. Those attending receive valuable tools to use in ministry in their own churches and communities, and many stay on to serve with us. More information can be found on our website, www.hismansion.com. We still have openings for Servant Leaders. If you are a single young adult with a desire to help others learn to follow the Lord and receive the healing He offers, we’d love to talk with you. We are always eager to welcome others into our community and your service is invaluable. Call us at 603-464-5555 for information on applying. We have some talented folks here, and many of them bless us with their musical abilities. Some, however, come here without the instruments in which they have gained proficiency. I am thinking in particular of our need for a French horn, though any musical instrument would be a welcome gift. Perhaps you have one or two sitting in your closet that you’d be willing to donate to the Lord’s service. We’d be most appreciative! We are making plans to expand so that we can take in additional hurting men and women. Building a new dormitory will allow us to adapt present facilities to accommodate the Institute next year. As always, we accumulate the monies to expand before we jump. Any special giving you wish to make to encourage the new expansion can be earmarked “for new construction.” Once again, I am so thankful for you, our partners. All our bills are paid and we remain free of debt. Thank you! Joyful in His service,
Stan Farmer
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