September 2008 Newsletter

Psalm 32:1,2: “Blessed is he whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord does not impute iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit.”

“Blessed” – apt translation, translated “happy.” “Happy is the person whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. Happy is the person…” There’s no person on this earth who is happier than the one who knows his or her transgressions are forgiven. There’s a perception that anyone who comes to a Christian program for healing has committed some crime as well. This is not necessarily so, nor often the case. Not all sins are crimes, nor are all sinners criminals. I think of Cornelius in the Book of Acts. He was outstanding in every regard -- a solid law-abiding citizen. A sinner!

Our text uses three different words to describe sin: transgression, sin, and iniquity. God provides a remedy for each: forgiveness for transgressions; a covering for sin; and a method for accounting, dealing with iniquity. The Greek word for forgiveness is nasa. It means to “ease us, lighten, take off.”

Men and women arriving at His Mansion are weighed down with burdens and guilt. Destructive activities have been pursued to ease the burden. God does not take the load and throw it into the sea. It would be inconsistent with His righteousness. God has “eased” the burdens from us, but he put them on someone else. That’s the Gospel!

If you were to shine a bright red light over a red covered book, it would appear as a completely white book. When God looks at his children through the precious blood of Jesus, he sees us without the stain that results from sin. God goes on to do his bookkeeping. Psalm 32 records David’s joy that God is not counting his iniquity against him. It is not being logged in some awful record. Romans 4:4 says, “Now to Him who works, the wages are not counted as grace but as a debt.” The point is, workers get paid because they’ve earned their wages, not because they’re being given a gift. The next verse, Romans 4:5 states, “But to him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness.” It’s a very ancient principle of divine accounting. “Abraham believed the Lord, and He counted it to him as righteousness.”

The wonderful secret of His Mansion’s effectiveness is found in the fifth verse of our text: I acknowledged my sin to You, and my iniquity I have not hidden. I said, I will confess my transgression to the Lord, and You forgave the iniquity of my sin.

Perhaps you have a family member or friend who is heavily burdened with sin and pain. Share this passage with them. Many here at His Mansion are growing happier by the day! God wants the same healing for you and your loved ones aw well.

Summer is a very busy time here on the hill. It’s a time when we daily receive visitors who have loved and supported us over the years. They delight in coming back time after time, or some for the first time. His Mansion has almost become a tourist attraction for many who have heard of us through their church, or a family member who benefited from the program. They put His Mansion on their agenda when traveling through New England. We have the blessing of entertaining them as they travel through. It may seem that this would be a hardship for us, but we really do enjoy visiting with those who have prayed and sacrificed in order to make His Mansion an ongoing reality.

Summer work keeps us busy as well. By the middle of August, the gardens are being harvested daily. New crops are ripening, demanding to be picked and canned or frozen, and put away for winter use. It’s difficult to plan, as vegetables ripen when they ripen! We’ve had weeks of downpours and thunderstorms, which have kept some of the crops, such as tomatoes, from ripening. When the sun finally does begin to shine, everything is ready for harvest within two or three days. This means work schedules change, priorities change, and the place becomes a beehive of frantic activity.

There is so much for which to praise the Lord as we watch Him work. One of those blessings is what we’ve come to refer to as “angels sent by God.” Couples and individuals who have chosen to donate two days, three days, or a week to serve here on the hill arrive all summer long. Many of them we’ve never seen before, never met. Each one of them has come and put their shoulder to the plow, as it were, and entered the gardens, the canning room, the woodlot, or shoveled the ditches so that the rain would run in the right places and not ruin our crops and roads. They work selflessly, demand little, and bond with the family quickly.

So much of what God provides for His Mansion is not in the form of money, but in the presence of real people who have a love and concern for the hurting. They are willing to do whatever they can to make a difference – and they do!

As is the case each year, those “senior servants” who come to spend two weeks, three weeks, or two months especially bless us! Bob and Ada Lanoue are among those special servants. After spending part of the summer with us, they’ve returned to Florida where Bob can continue healing his knee and hips so that they can return next year. Bob is one of those “fix-it guys.” He does those “little jobs” such as door jambs, frames, windowsills, porches, shelves, armoires, and things that we just don’t have time, in the normal course of things, to accomplish. Ada works in the sewing room making much-needed aprons or napkins, helps our finance office with receipts, answers telephones, does library work, and is always willing to help in any way she can. Praise God for these wonderful selfless saints!

Another of these “angel couples” who has been such a wonderful help, is Hank and Cathy van de Berkt from Vermont. Hank is a trucker, and his huge tractor-trailer always attracts a lot of attention when it rumbles up the hill. Cathy served the entire month of July here. She will do anything! She paints, she scrapes, she weeds, she harvests, she sews, and she works in the canning room. Cathy is one of those people who seem to have enough experience at just about everything to be helpful wherever she’s needed. We thank God for them both.

We’ve also been blessed by work teams from churches in Iowa, New York, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Maine, Canada, and various small colleges and Bible schools have come to give their time diving into projects that were bigger and more complex than what we can normally fit into our schedule. Again, we thank God for His wonderful provision.

We experienced vicious lightning storms last month. The first one knocked out all of our telephone communications. This cost us nearly $2000. We ordered new lightning arrestors, but prior to their arrival we got struck again. Now we watch the weather forecast and unplug everything that’s connected to anything until the storm is over!

There’s so much to rejoice over and so much to be praising God for, but there also comes times of sadness and pain. This past month Dave Hultgren, who has served at His Mansion for 30 years with his wife, Diane, lost his mother, Eunice Hultgren. When one of the members of our community hurts, the entire Mansion family hurts with them. Eunice was much loved and will be sorely missed.

The highlight, of course, for all of us who serve here, is seeing one of the residents recognize their need for salvation and receive Christ as Lord and Savior. Those who were not even aware that this decision was made can often see the difference in their countenance. Such was the case with one young lady. She has suffered great pain and inflicted even more pain upon herself. By her own testimony she had very little hope or trust that there was a God who cared. As a matter of fact, it seemed to her that if evil were real, it had more power than God. That all changed when God gave her brand-new heart.

Water was cold but hearts were warmed as nine of our residents followed Jesus’ invitation into the waters of baptism last month. Many friends and family members joined our His Mansion family at a local swimming hole to witness and celebrate the event. They each shared from God’s word and proclaimed their faith as heaven and earth rejoiced!

We always celebrate new life. There are times, however, when new birth poses a problem. One of our well-meaning neighbors arrived one day two months ago, and dropped off four fuzzy little kittens which soon turned into cats! Almost sooner than I could believe, one of those cats was becoming inordinately fat. Yesterday she was discovered in the barn with a whole fistful of tiny, squirming, fuzzy kittens. One cat, two cats--okay that’s enough! Fortunately, placement was found for all these little kittens before I discovered a menu that would accommodate them!

The Tsos have arrived! After much anticipation a “soccer mom mobile” rolled up the hill and out poured four beautiful children -- Francesca-the-Bookworm, Viviana-the-Songbook, Dawson-the Strategist, and Garrison-the-Charmer -- and their parents Emily and Michael. As they traversed the continent, we walked along with them via their travel-blog. It has been quite a journey as they have taken a full month to visit friends, colleges and other ministries along the way. In the next newsletter I will invite Michael to write a little bit in his own words about their journey. Dr. Tso, who prefers to be referred to as Dr. Michael, will be the head of the new His Mansion Institute. Only God knows how I’ve longed for him to arrive so that we may have the benefit of his years of skill, training, and spiritual gifting.

Some of our own local talent treated us to an Art “Gal”-lery last month. Many of our Long-Term Staff “gals” had been taught watercolor painting by our own Linda Buxton. Some were a bit reluctant to show their newfound talent, but after a French cuisine served by our fine kitchen staff, the artists invited us all to the family room where their art was displayed. Attire, music, and appetizers rounded out the elegant theme of the evening. They even invited us to try our own hand at painting. Perhaps another art show is in the works!

It will be our great privilege on September 6th to graduate five of our residents. Sarah Bender, Matt Buxton, Melissa Dubois, Kris Olson, and Megan Pope have all completed the program and done well! Sarah and Kris will be returning after a short break to join our staff; Matt and Melissa will be heading for one of our Christian Growth Centers where they will be supported and encouraged as they find employment and re-enter the larger community; and Megan plans to do some traveling before rejoining the work force, energized and inspired her new life in Christ.

Summer is typically a very tough time financially for most ministries, but we have done very well because you pray for us, and are so generous. Unfortunately, individuals who serve as missionaries have not fared quite so well. Please remember those individuals who are part of your church family, were in your prayer groups, or for whom you have acquired a burden over the years. They depend on your offerings and sacrifice in order to support their own families, as they serve here.

The fall HCC course is fast approaching. The October course is by far the most popular of four quarterly offerings. Please call, write, or e-mail soon, if you wish to be included in this next class.

The new His Mansion Institute building project is proceeding according to plan. An architect engineer is drawing up the plans, and we’ve been going over them, refining the details. Funds for the project have been coming in, albeit slowly. It’s troubling that the cost of building seems to increase about the same rate as the funds are coming in!

Please pray for wisdom for those of us making decisions, and for the creativity needed to build this institute, and serve the body of Christ without spending unnecessarily. First and foremost, we are always concerned that we would be good stewards of the funds that our prayer- partners send in. We will look for every alternative possible so that we can stay within budget and not enter into debt.

Well, it’s happened again, only it doesn’t seem like that much time has elapsed. Joan and I celebrate our 47th year of marriage on September 2nd. Three days later marks another year of my life as I reach the grand old age of 67. As I get older the years seemed to scream by. I’m sure many of you can identify!

I can testify, along with Joan, that serving Him is just as exciting today as it was the day we began. It is my prayer that God would give us many years in which to enjoy ministering among this very special community of men and women.

Once again it is our privilege to thank you and to express our appreciation as a ministry, and family, for your prayers and your generous giving. There is so much going on -- so many projects and expected expenses, that you would have no way of knowing about it until after they happened. Yet, just as if you did know, you seem to have sensed them, responded, and been especially generous.

Those of us who serve here full-time view each one of you as active partners in this work with us. We see the results of what God is doing through us and realize how vital the work is. You are an integral part of God’s blessing in these men’s and women’s lives, and we welcome partnering with you. Thank you for your prayer and support. Once again we can share that every outstanding bill is paid.

Joyful in His service,

Stan Farmer