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November 2011 “and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock.” -Matt. 7:25 “He is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently against that house, and could not shake it, for it was founded on the rock.” -Luke 6:48 “For I proclaim the name of the LORD: Ascribe greatness to our God. He is the Rock, His work is perfect; For all His ways are justice…” -Deut. 32:3,4 “Then He said, ‘Go out, and stand on the mountain before the LORD.’ And behold, the LORD passed by, and a great and strong wind tore into the mountains and broke the rocks in pieces before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake...” -1 Kings 19:11 Greetings in the name of Jesus, This month’s newsletter will focus on “support.” There, I know I have caught your attention! Our major emphasis at His Mansion is to coach and teach fragile souls to acquire solid foundations. Prayer and praise times, journaling, and quality teaching of God’s Word, are the cornerstones of this “support system.” It is clear that today, young adults are being formed and conditioned to be comfortable with a baseless society. No absolutes, no firm foundations, and a community of peers who insist that “no one is better than me,” or deserving of any particular esteem. “We are all equal.” The problem with this culture is that they lack any solid system of support--Ah, yes! This is the, “support” I speak of. Over the last several years, I've been intrigued with the construction of medieval cathedrals. Quite fascinating. The clever, “uneducated masons” had figured out the math and physics of building awe-inspiring spired-wonders, impressing tourists, engineers and contemporary worshippers. Consider hundreds of thousands of tons of carefully carved granite stacked up to well over 100 feet. Imagine huge open spaces with story-telling colored glass, leaded into the vast openings admitting history in shades not captured by HD! Unseen by those standing in awe are the vast underground foundations going deep into the earth, shoring up the tremendous weight. Massive carved pillars sweep up out of the earth 100 feet away from the cathedral proper, like the roots at the base of the majestic oak tree. These keep the walls from buckling out, dropping the heaven-reaching spires, and filling up the sanctuary. Support. It is all about strong support. This part is fairly intuitive. But there are deeper truths to be learned here. Every town of any size insisted on having a huge cathedral--each upstaging the one in the neighboring town. Breath-taking edifices requiring lifetimes to build, sprouted out of the earth all over France and England in the 11th and 12th centuries. One after the other, soon after completion, large cracks began to form high in the clerestories in many of the cathedrals. Masons, engineers, and architects were baffled. The base support was clearly more than adequate. The foundation would not shift. Surely this was more than enough support. One day a gifted mason climbed high up the outside of his crowning achievement, intrigued by the cracks that seemed to appear on other such works. A rare hurricane had crossed the Atlantic and buffeted all of Europe, wrecking towns and buildings everywhere. As the hurricane subsided, he scaled the heights of his creation. Our mason was nearly blown off the spire and then it hit him: “Support!” Support had always meant enough foundation and buttresses to hold up the weight. No one had thought of another source of stress--the storms that rage above the ground and attack from unsuspected angles! All this to say that we must not be content to go about facilitating the healing of broken hearts and minds using “proven tried” methods while blind to overlooked forces of stress and pressure that require principles and truths heretofore not considered. The weight issues in foundation-building are fairly static. However, wind and storms don't follow static patterns nor do they follow preset schedules. St. John says: “The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes.” What are these unplanned for, frightening stresses? Unexpected loss. Undeserved abuse. Sneak attacks by little understood viruses and bacteria–cancer. Rejection by someone you love. Our spiritual strengthening must include training and preparation to withstand the pressures coming “against” us as well as adequate foundations to support the “weight of the world.” We all welcome the gentle breeze that bears the fragrance of spring flowers or the salt–fishiness of a sea breeze. Here’s the challenge: Am I developing “spiritual muscle” to handle those vicious winds, born in the hot sands of evil, destined to become the tornadoes that batter, beat and test us? His Mansion’s shepherds are attempting to do a better job at this, as we have witnessed disappointing fissures in some of our “finished product!” Now, a word from Paul…
October has been an exciting month. God’s has faithfully been answering our prayers in regards to the need for staffing. Several females who spent time on the hill earlier this year on college spring break trips, work groups or as practicum students, have now decided to return as short-term staff. Two of these women are already on the hill with us with a couple more to join in the coming months. Add to these numbers another male and female from our recent graduating class from September and we thank God for the encouraging fruit of our labor. The blessings continue as we eagerly await the arrivals of two new long-term staff families who will both be serving on the Operations department. Ignacio and Heather Gneco and their three children will be joining us sometime this month. Ignacio and Heather are not new to the His Mansion family. They are both graduates of the His Mansion program from the late 1980’s and served as short-term staff for two additional years at that point. After departing the hill at the end of their time of service back then, they eventually married and started a family. Now God has called them to leave their home in the Detroit area along with Ignacio’s work in the construction business and to return back here to serve as Building and Maintenance Supervisor. Josh and Amelia Jenkins are also no strangers to this hill in New Hampshire. They are another couple who met during their original time of service here; Josh worked his way through the year-long program and stayed on as staff for an additional year. Both Josh and Amelia come with a love of the land and all things nature. We are excited for Josh to step into the role of Agriculture Supervisor. They too will be arriving this month, coming from the Chicago area, with their 6 month old daughter, Zoe. Our October HCC (Healing in the Context of Community) course has just come to a close. The week was a great success with 19 participants coming from NH, MA, CT, RI, NY, FL, OH, IN and Ontario, Canada. At the end of the week, there was an excitement in the group of what God had revealed through the classes and exercises and the hope of applying these insights to lives and communities back home.
HCC Class of October 2011
We are also excited to be able to announce the HCC course schedule for 2012. If you are interested in participating in this unique opportunity that is offered through His Mansion Institute, start planning now for one of the dates listed below and contact Nick Clark, Director of HCC, through email at nick@hismansion.com for more information and to start the application process. March 17-23, 2012 June 9-15, 2012 October 6-12, 2012 God has continued to meet our needs with the provisions of our harvest. We count ourselves blessed to be able to report the following numbers to date: Fruits (from apples to rhubarb): 144 quarts and still going!
Vegetables (from broccoli to zucchini): 1540 quarts and still going!
Tomatoes: 615 quarts
Pickles: 74 quarts
Sauerkraut: 15 quarts
Maple syrup: 45 gallons
The hill becomes an even busier place as we near the Thanksgiving and Christmas holiday season. Teams have been created to tackle the extensive task of decorating the hill, inside and out. Events and activities are being planned with the hopes of creating fresh memories of this time of year for our residents and staff, as many of them are far from their own families and homesickness is almost as prevalent as the flu over the next few months. I see this time as an opportunity to focus back on the true meaning of the holidays, giving thanks and praise for our Savior, remembering what He has brought us from and how He has restored life in this community. Over the years during this holiday time, I have been continually amazed by the incredible generosity of churches and individuals that desire to bless our residents on Christmas. We’ve come to call this “Gifts from God’s People.” Generous donations are sent in from people like you who faithfully read this newsletter. Items come in the form of gift cards for local stores, toiletries, winter/outdoor accessories and other practical necessities. Just before Christmas day, we divide all of these items up and create a personal gift bag for each resident. I am still able to recall the looks on the faces of residents from years past as they sat in astonishment with a pile of bags and presents placed at their feet. For some, this is the first time celebrating Christmas in a community centered on love, grace and of course, Jesus Christ. We are so grateful for each one of you that makes this moment possible. Closing comments from Stan…
For all the terrible economy, world catastrophes and uncertainty, 2011 has been a great year for His Mansion. God has blessed the ministry, and for many serving here, it has been a banner year, spiritually. I expect that we will be blessed right through to the New Year and beyond. Men and women are being healed. Some are heading into missions. Others are starting little families. Fellow Believers around the globe are encouraged by our testimony. Finances are tough for sure, but there is enough. Jesus is ultimately our Provider and we are thankful. We are eager to share him with others! God meets our needs. This is the time of year to begin thinking of those you pray for, and support--speaking of “support”! For most of the long-term staff, the income received in the next three months will constitute fully one-third, or more, of their annual support. Here's a list of LTS currently serving at His Mansion: · Stan & Joan Farmer; Director Emeritus, serving in public relations and development
· Paul & Robin Atkinson; CEO
· Jennifer Stanger; Executive Assistant
· Dr. Michael & Emily Tso; Director of Training
· Jim & Laurie Ford; Director of Operations and Director of Food Services
· Todd Battles; Program Director
· Ron & Alice Donovan; Director of Connecticut's Christian Growth Center
· Dennis & Frances Coulombe; Director of Michigan Christian Growth Center
· Bill Kurtenbach; Office Manager
· Dave & Diane Hultgren; Staff Counselor & Instructor and Finance Administrator
· Seth & Karen Hilliker; Auto Shop and Staff Counselor & Instructor
· Dwayn & Brianna Merrill; Woodlot
· Nick & Kate Clark; HMI Program Administrator
· Matt & Chris Kantrowitz; Staff Counselor & Instructor and Women’s Counseling Supervisor
· Eric & Anu Davids; Men's Program Administrator
· Courtney Jones; Staff Counselor & Instructor
Please consider a special year-end gift to someone you know and pray for, or pick a missionary God speaks to you about. Everyone above serves without salary, insurance or retirement benefits. This is unusual for today; some would say impossible. But God hears and answers prayer. And we thank you. His Mansion, as a ministry, has always been blessed with thoughtful, faithful supporters. How we finish one year and begin the next financially, determines how we see God leading to expand and reach out. Would you consider a generous year-end investment in this work for him? I'll guarantee a far better return on your investment than you realized in your 401(k)! Seriously, you have been the most generous and wonderful prayer/support family any ministry could pray for. I thank God, in advance, for the testimony we will be able to share in January. Thank you. Joyful in His service together,  
Stan Farmer; Director Emeritus Paul Atkinson; CEO
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