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The Cadence Way - We Serve
77 Plays5 months ago
Continuing with the five pillars of the Cadence Way, this episode walks through the principles of serving the military community in a missional context.
Learn more about Cadence: https://cadence.org/
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Transcript
Introduction to In Cadence Podcast
00:00:00
Speaker
Welcome to In Cadence, where we talk about what it looks like to share the gospel in our lives with the military community. Join us as we talk about what God is doing in the lives of our service members and how we can be a part it.
Meet Joe and Jill Vincent
00:00:25
Speaker
Welcome to this Cadence podcast. I'm Brian Cleger flying solo today without my co-pilot Dave Hutchings but excited to be joined by a couple of wonderful people who I've enjoyed spending quite a bit time with over the years.
00:00:39
Speaker
Joe and Jill Vincent welcome to the podcast and thanks for joining us. Hello Brian. Thank you Brian. Good to be here. The Vincents, they've been Cadence missionaries for, wait, how long you guys been? Six years?
00:00:55
Speaker
we Six years here, seven years with Cadence. Seven years with Cadence, six years. um And they get to run one of our hospitality houses in Germany. So paint a picture for us just a sec. Where are you sitting? What's the room like? Where do you live? What can you see out your windows? Just start painting the picture for us.
Hospitality House Ministry in Germany
00:01:14
Speaker
Well, we have a farmhouse that was built in the sixty s It used to be a guest house right on a trail. And there's 10 guest rooms, five bathrooms. So it's quite large, four stories.
00:01:27
Speaker
And behind is a barn. So we've got a 9,000 square foot barn that um used to be a working pig farm. And ah since COVID came along, we started transforming that barn into ministry space.
00:01:45
Speaker
And the whole, the whole, both structures are on three and a half acres of property in a little town called Lanscheid, Germany, which is about seven to nine minutes from the front gate of Spangdallum, depending upon how fast you drive on the Autobahn.
00:02:00
Speaker
We won't ask how fast you've driven on the Autobahn. Seven minutes to the front gate. And Spangdollum, that is a U.S. Air Force base. Is that right? It is a U.S. Air Base. It's ah it's a NATO base that I've been told, but primarily F-16s from the U.S. That's
Journey to Cadence Missionaries
00:02:19
Speaker
great. um Cadence is a bit of a second career for you guys. And so as you've been there for six years and with Cadence seven years, would you also paint the picture of where you came from, what you were doing before Cadence, and how you got to Cadence?
00:02:35
Speaker
I was born and raised in Michigan. my um parents were pillars of the church there, and we did a lot of hospitality with missionaries and people that visited and people that lived there. So I had a lot of hospitality. Joe and I moved with our three children to Philadelphia area.
00:02:53
Speaker
and lived there for 18 years and raised our kids just before we came here in 2018. And I have a degree in elementary education, so I really have enjoyed our children's ministry here.
00:03:07
Speaker
And I also did home care in Pennsylvania for 10 years with seniors. And um I really enjoy serving and loving and caring for others. So It's really been a good fit, fulfilling, and brings a lot of joy as I serve the Lord through serving the people here.
00:03:28
Speaker
And I'm an Army brat. I moved 13 times before I was 18 years old. i loved the military. um My first memories were at West Point where my dad was teaching at five, six, seven years old. And um i just, I've loved being part of the military.
00:03:47
Speaker
i spent four years in myself jumping out of airplanes and blowing things up. Probably to include your knees. I mean, that's part of the airborne culture is blowing out your knees. And um my knees made it through the first 50 years, but now um they're starting to feel it.
00:04:07
Speaker
Anyway, I had a lot of fun, but at the same time, while I was in, um i I would say 70% of the marriages in my unit, ah fell apart. It was, it was brutal because we were in the field all the time.
00:04:22
Speaker
Yeah. There wasn't even a war going on at the time, but we were still um in and out of the field and always going and always training. um And it was really a shame. I didn't know Jill at the time.
00:04:34
Speaker
ah We wouldn't meet until three years after I got out, but I got out because i didn't want to take a family through that scenario, even though my parents did it really well, they lasted for 53 years.
00:04:51
Speaker
Um, twenty three years yeah, 23, 24 years in the military. Wow. So, um, I've seen it done well, but I didn't want to go through that and life was different then I made different decisions.
00:05:05
Speaker
Yeah. When you got out of the army, uh, what did you do then? What was your first career? Finished up my degree. Ended up at Good Shepherd Hospital, helping working in the health care environment and absolutely loved that.
00:05:22
Speaker
But when in 2013, I first heard about Cadence and what that was about, um I was asking the question, how come I didn't know about Cadence when I was in? And ah but secondly, i realized um combining.
00:05:40
Speaker
The Lord. hospitality and the military is a really sweet combination. And um when when i started asking myself about, okay, what am I called to?
00:05:53
Speaker
This made sense and was a perfect fit for for both Jill and I. ah We've been married almost 35 years. And throughout that time, especially when we were in in Philadelphia, we had um I would say, what, nine exchange students over the course of the 18 years all around them from all around the world.
00:06:15
Speaker
So we love traveling. We love getting to know people. ah We've always been... involved in church with marriage ministry or youth ministry or mission trips, you name it, whatever they asked us to do. That's what we did.
00:06:31
Speaker
And that's what we're doing here. That's great. And you guys have a fun introduction story to Cadence. Jill, will you just tell us how you guys first got introduced to Cadence as an organization?
00:06:42
Speaker
Yes, I will. um Some of you know Joy and Ed Bissonette. Joy is my older sister and they were in Colorado and met Cadence there and came out to Spindallum and told us about this opportunity in ministry. And I got to follow my sister after five and a half years here. She passed the baton, her and Ed, to Joe and I. And they're now out in Coronado Island ministering to the Navy SEALs and Navy and the Marines doing singles ministry. And wow, we were just there in August. And God is really blessing out there. It's exciting.
00:07:20
Speaker
Yeah, that's fun. Our, you know, our missionaries do move from location to location at times and some stay in a place longer, but it is fun that you took over for your sister and they were running the Spangdollum hospitality house, affectionately known as the hangar, yeah like a military air force hangar.
00:07:40
Speaker
And then you guys got to come in and pick up where they were doing ministry and, and take it from there.
Cadence Ministry Approach
00:07:46
Speaker
Yeah. So this morning, we want to talk about the Cadence way.
00:07:51
Speaker
And over the years, Cadence has realized that we kind of unique culture in the way that we do ministry. And as we thought about it, we've come to describe it with um five words, five S's. And it's we stay, we serve, we stay.
00:08:06
Speaker
We shape, we send, and we strive. And today we're going to talk about we serve with you guys because you guys are gifted at serving.
00:08:17
Speaker
ah The little descriptor underneath our our descriptions of the Cadence Way is with we serve. Cadence enjoys favor with the military community and has a proven reputation of serving military personnel and families in general and chaplains in particular.
00:08:34
Speaker
And to some degree, i mean, Cadence has a bit of a narrow focus, military, military families, chaplains. um What would you guys say is the value of focusing on this people group and keeping it um with some boundaries on it?
00:08:52
Speaker
I think we've really been blessed to, I didn't grow up in a military family like Joe did, but when I came here to Spang Dalam, there was an immediate closeness in this community because Everyone is far away from family and friends and what they grew up with, and they build relationships quickly.
00:09:13
Speaker
I would say within the first month, people were sharing needs and concerns and asking for prayer. And I was like, wow, this is happening fast. And that's what happens when people are military. They're at a location two, three, four years And so they quickly jump into friendships and community from what I experienced.
00:09:33
Speaker
And um especially the Christian community, if they find a place to connect and serve, it is apparent within a few months, there are tight bonds of friendship forming that are almost like family.
00:09:47
Speaker
And the military is unique that most of them are experiencing the same thing. Unlike growing up in America, where you have all different backgrounds and come to church with all different type of people. Here, there's that common bond of um duty to government and moving and different um things required of them.
Collaboration with Military Chaplains
00:10:11
Speaker
And so working with the chaplains, it has been a sweet relationship because they invite us as Cadence International to come alongside them. And we get to greet and do ushering and teach the children and help with men's Bible studies and women's Bible studies.
00:10:29
Speaker
And they also give us logistics where we can get on and off the base with a pass and we can get discounted gasoline and diesel. We can have American food and be a part of a few American restaurants, which when you're far away from home in a European country, all those things are very beneficial. So it's some give and take. We pour in to them and the community. And they appreciate us because there's, you know, what, five chaplains for 5,000 plus people, and they cannot do it alone. And so any Christian ministry house that's helping them or English speaking churches,
00:11:05
Speaker
There's a tight bond between us. And, you know, that verse being when Jesus prayed to the Father that we would be one, we are finding that common denominator and becoming one because of the love of Christ, that lavish love.
00:11:19
Speaker
And it breaks down a lot of denominations and walls and creates, we are here to share the gospel in our lives with this military community. And we are focusing at the Spang Hanger on love well.
00:11:32
Speaker
And um it works. And God is working. It's your guys' motto of love well. know Love it. ah if If people could see the video screen right now, there's a ah sign behind you on the wall that says love well. Joe's got a sweatshirt on that says love well, and it permeates ah your culture ah there. I've been to your guys' as ministry several times, and I think people get to experience God's love and the love of God through his people.
00:12:06
Speaker
loving one another in that community right there. And you mentioned that the chaplains, um part of Cadence Ministry is that across our organization, we want to emphasize to chaplains that we were there to support their ministry and even to use ah a military term, we want to be a force multiplier yeah for them.
00:12:28
Speaker
What are some ways you guys get to live this out in Spang Dallum in your relationships with chaplains? Yeah. Well, first of all, um almost all of the chaplains that have been on this base have either visited the hangar or been an active part of the hangar. So they know what we're doing here.
00:12:48
Speaker
um One of the things that comes to mind is one of our ah former attendees of the hangar and now supporters of the hangar once said, if you love my children, you love me.
00:13:03
Speaker
Wow. And and wow, that really brought a focus on the children's program that we have here. But I think it's the the same sort of scenario when the chaplains see us loving the people that they're responsible for.
00:13:21
Speaker
They know the chaplains are being they know they're being loved. Yeah. And um it's it's just. It's, it's where whoever walks on this property or whoever we come into contact with, where we're, we're,
00:13:37
Speaker
trying to love and you know, love is not, it's not an easy thing. Just like Paul says, practice hospitality and wait, cause it, cause we're not perfect at it. We're working and, and building a ah team that is working.
00:13:51
Speaker
Um, but I think you have to practice love too. You know, it's not perfect, but we're making it work and and we're learning how to forgive fast and, and, ah Build relationships, build connections. And the chaplains see that and they welcome that. They include us on the newcomers meetings that they have. They the first term airman's course.
00:14:19
Speaker
They include us in. They ah send people our way. And we've had opportunity ah when things get really tough in certain circumstances, we will send ah the right people their way as well. So there is a back and forth, ah serious working relationship um at all levels of the chaplain corps.
00:14:42
Speaker
And you guys even had a season where the need for the chaplains was actually some administrative help in the chapel building and answering phones. And while that wasn't, you know, what you probably dreamed of when you moved to Germany to to lead this ministry, you guys, because of your support for chaplains, took that on and went and served them in their building doing administrative tasks for them.
00:15:09
Speaker
and Now we're just coming in and serving either as ushers or pastors teaching or um as Sunday school teachers.
00:15:23
Speaker
And so we're getting involved in the chapel community as well, which the chapel here at Spangdallum is packed out all the time from top to bottom with regards to rank everybody in between.
00:15:37
Speaker
um it's It's a really... enjoyable thing, but we're actively involved. I think what's exciting too, is we've been asked by different commanders, different chaplains, when we've met with them, can you meet with us privately?
00:15:52
Speaker
And especially some of them have asked me, can you meet with my wife? There is just, as you get higher levels, there are less people to talk to. And especially if you're a believer, you want a prayer partner. And so it's been a privilege. It's humbling and exciting to be able to meet with them, talk, have coffee or lunch and pray with them and just be a support that is um quietly taking in their needs and just taking them to the Lord.
00:16:20
Speaker
So we've really had a different, you know, different chaplains, different commanders, different needs, but always something changing in the military, as you know, Brian, because you were military.
00:16:31
Speaker
Yeah, but that's also a unique gift because it's a second career for you guys in the season of life you're in um your peers with the senior leaders um on the
Supporting Senior Military Leaders
00:16:42
Speaker
base. And so you do provide camaraderie with them and to be their peer. So that is a gift of of a way you guys get to serve.
00:16:51
Speaker
I had an opportunity last year. And I've been through a couple of career changes, including this. And there's always some uncertainty or some angst when you're making those changes. You've experienced it as well.
00:17:06
Speaker
But I just last year had it was the highest ranking NCO on the base who was retiring after 27 years.
00:17:18
Speaker
And we were already had a relationship, but it was really interesting to see
00:17:26
Speaker
the change in his demeanor as he talked about what his next steps are. Because here on the base in the military, he says something and 10 people jump. yep and that transition to the civilian world, um it's it's a big life-changing transition when that doesn't happen anymore.
00:17:48
Speaker
and you And you just have to mindset. But I had the opportunity over the last six months of his career as he was interviewing, as he was preparing for this transition to just come alongside, pray with him and encourage him and let him know the things that I've experienced. And I've heard that other people have experienced in helping them to move on to the next step. Seems to be doing well. We have stayed in touch.
00:18:14
Speaker
That's beautiful. And I don't mean this ah derogatory to 20 year olds, but if a 25 year old was doing it, he doesn't have the the trust of that senior leader. And you've like you said, you've been through ah those kinds of experiences in your own career. And even leaving, you know, kind of the corporate world to go into ministry is a big unknown and a big step that you took at that same season of life.
00:18:41
Speaker
I do not regret it one second. The things you guys just were talking about are kind of to them some of the informal aspects of getting to serve others and do ministry.
Weekly Activities at the Hangar
00:18:52
Speaker
Jill, would you just kind of share a few of the kind of regular things that happen at the hangar on a given week? um And even ways that not just that you're serving, um you know, airmen and their families, but also how they're serving one another. So some of the regular events and the way that you see serving one another playing out in your ministry.
00:19:13
Speaker
Well, I'll take Monday just to begin with. Great. um Monday is ah right ah after the COVID pandemic started and things began to open up just a little bit.
00:19:26
Speaker
A couple of our airmen decided that they wanted to have a ah Bible study that was similar to our ministry night where they had food, fellowship and dug into the word.
00:19:39
Speaker
And they started Bible study and grub. And that is going to this day like gangbusters. Where else do you get 25 to 30 singles showing up to dig into the book of James?
00:19:53
Speaker
um And they they're all bringing food. um it It was about two or they started this on their own. And they also attended the hangar. it was about two or three months later.
00:20:04
Speaker
They realized they needed some some oversight. if this was gonna continue because there were three of them that started it. And so they asked Jill and I to come and be the senior members.
00:20:17
Speaker
Now we've only attended three or four of these these meetings just occasionally. um And we've also and they're they're awesome meetings there. They're also um we've been involved in leadership selection as the people leave.
00:20:38
Speaker
We make sure that the right people come back in and that they have three or four leaders overseeing this this program. That's one area where we're involved.
00:20:49
Speaker
Tuesday, i get up early in the morning at six o'clock and we have men's Bible study. They're calling it Protestant Men of the Chapel. Anybody's welcome. um But we're getting involved. And then Tuesday afternoon. Oh, Tuesday noon.
00:21:03
Speaker
Yeah, we do a weekly prayer group. And there's anywhere from three to 10 of us that attend. And every Thursday night on ministry night, we collect little slips of praises or prayer requests.
00:21:16
Speaker
So we bring those together. And just this month, we moved it on the base in the sanctuary at the chapel at noon so that more airmen and people can attend. And it's closer during their lunch hour. We were doing it at the house.
00:21:31
Speaker
So that's a change that has been encouraging. And Tuesday night they have PWOC, Protestant Women of the Chapel, which I'm involved in. So we have a Tuesday morning with guys, Tuesday night.
00:21:43
Speaker
And then Wednesdays for the last few years, they discontinued mops, mothers of preschoolers. So we on our back porch or in our big dining room area do parents and kids get together from nine to 11.
00:21:59
Speaker
We call it porch and play. People bring snacks and just share life and trips and concerns. And this summer they did a Bible study, um, Mama bear apologetics. And so that is exciting for them. And these things are run by people that come to the hangar. So they're serving one another.
00:22:18
Speaker
We're kind of opening our house and they're, you know, setting up, clean up, which is good. And then Thursday, we just have a full bloom, 18, 20 people that are helping us. We have two or three women coming in, cooking for 100, 120 people.
00:22:32
Speaker
nine to 11 and then 4 30 people come to start setting up tables and chairs for 120 people and we have a praise team we have six rotating teachers so we have about 30 teachers for our kids program one to three four to six and seven to eleven which meet on the third floor of a house it's kind of sunday school style with a bible lesson and activities and songs and It's great. i also I also have a teaching team um and three of them had MDivs. Two of the MDivs have left, PCS'd or retired, but other people that um are doing
00:23:11
Speaker
are interested in teaching and learning. um we've got a process that we take them through before they actually get to get up and teach on Thursday night. They start out with a testimony either, um, at men's Bible study or at the men's breakfast on Saturdays or at, you know, they, they, they can work their way up.
00:23:35
Speaker
Um, and And they have an opportunity on Thursday nights to get up and present what God has been teaching them in their Bible study. um So that's, let me see, those aren't all. We've got greeters.
00:23:49
Speaker
We've got it so that one of the things, other than encouraging people and sharing the gospel in our lives here and now, when people leave, either retire or PCS, we hand them a German license plate that says, love well.
00:24:06
Speaker
And we we charge them with going and doing in their new location what they've been doing for the last two, three, four years. Making disciples. Making disciples. And it's it's really enjoyable when you bring food, fellowship, music, and the word all together in a relaxed environment.
00:24:28
Speaker
And that's what we're doing. I love it. You've painted a really great picture. Final thing I just want to ask you about. um Hebrews 13 verses 15 and 16 say this.
00:24:39
Speaker
Through Jesus, then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God. That is the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name.
Sacrifices for Military Ministry
00:24:48
Speaker
Then the writer says, do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, which Joe and Jill, you guys are doing that wonderfully.
00:24:56
Speaker
For such sacrifices are pleasing to God. it Just in the last couple minutes, what are some sacrifices that you guys um find that that God allows you to make? And yes, I'm asking you to talk about yourself, either kind of daily sacrifices or maybe they're the big sacrifices of living away from grandkids. I'm just curious. and Serving requires sacrifice. Just talk to a few of those.
00:25:18
Speaker
um I think one big thing was, you know, walking away from careers. Like as you get older, you actually make more money usually. And that was something that we had to choose. And we said, you know what?
00:25:33
Speaker
Eternal value outweighs monetary And God just helped us with that transition. There are times it's hard, but at the same point, I think living away from our kids that live in Seattle, Savannah and Ann Arbor, Michigan, um to be here. I think it really stopped us in our tracks when a year and a half ago, our middle daughter, Jamie, had a baby, baby Lila.
00:25:56
Speaker
And being far away from grandkids, I did not think it would be this hard. But we were encouraged from our leadership to make sure we got to see them twice a year. And so we have. And that really helps. Looking forward to that.
00:26:10
Speaker
But I would say the sacrifice that all military are making are being away from their families. And so the blessing is I get to adopt the 40, 50, 60 kids that come here.
00:26:21
Speaker
And I also get siblings and I feel like a mom or a grandma. And it's a sacrifice to be away, but it's a blessing to be here. So I think life is just like that, a train track where you have challenges and you have blessings and they balance each other out. And if you're looking to the Lord, he does fill you up to overflowing and, um, the sacrifices seem smaller. Most of the time. One of the things that we were warned about when we came on after all of the testing, all of the evaluation, all of the interviews and everything, they said, Joe and Jill, you're living in your own house and the front and back doors are open and people are going to be there all the time.
00:27:03
Speaker
And we love it. We are, ah type a um, extroverted turn on when people come in but it's the sacrifice of time.
00:27:17
Speaker
They, we are, when, when we respond, when people walk in or give a call, um, and it's just a knee jerk reaction. We're used to doing that, but it happens all the time.
00:27:30
Speaker
And we find ourselves as we were warned, working, um, Oh, what is it? We're supposed to work two thirds of every day.
00:27:41
Speaker
we end up finding out that we're working three halves of every day. We flipped it. And that's that's just one of the things that we're learning to work through. And and because we want to do this for a long, long time.
00:27:56
Speaker
But the sacrifice of time is one of those issues we're working on. And you can pray for us. for Yeah, I will pray for that. Um, podcasts are supposed to be timeless, but I'll just say Joe and Jill are, um, about to take a, what cadence calls home assignment. It's like a sabbatical. It's, it's part rest and renewal and it's part, uh, connecting with, uh, ministry partners who financially support and pray for you guys and just reconnecting with them. So I'm excited for that. Um, excited that you'll get to see your kids through that, um, get to see baby Lila, um,
00:28:30
Speaker
So let me pray for that. And thank you guys for joining us. Father, we're grateful for Joe and Jill, the sacrifices they make in serving and how that even reflects um your nature, God, and what you did through Jesus and his sacrifice for us.
00:28:46
Speaker
And I pray that their stories and encouragement to those who are listening and that you would continue to bless their ministry at Spangdollum. And in this upcoming season, I pray that you would bless them ah in their sabbatical and home assignment with rest and renewal and a return full of energy for serving you.
00:29:04
Speaker
We pray this in Jesus name. Amen. Amen. Thank you guys. Appreciate you joining us. We're blessed. We are.