CHRISTMAS GREETINGS FROM STEINSVILLE

In case you haven’t noticed, this is the first newsletter to go out in 2010! This letter will touch on some highlights of the year, which will give you just a glimpse of how the Lord is using SPADE for His glory. This year we hosted about 7 men’s and 10 ladies retreats; 2 local church groups; 5 young adult

groups (which included powerful outreaches to university students); 4 family retreats; 2 church planters seminars; several small groups; and 5 India Christian groups. What amazed us in looking back over the year were the many individuals, couples, pastors and missionaries, who came for

personal time during the week. About 60 individual people came for at least one night. An out-of-state supporter called one day to encourage us to continue doing the work we are doing here at SPADE, keeping it an affordable Christian retreat/conference center. Others have also commented that there should be more places like SPADE.

Here are just 2 testimonies that were taken from our guest book: “What a gift to be here even just these 24 hours! If it had to pour rain, this was a great place to be shut up! We had a beautiful time meeting with Jesus and feel really renewed—even just such a blessing to breathe some country air!

We look forward to coming back and to learning more of your story”. That note was from a missionary couple here for the first time. The following quote from a lady from one of the ladies retreats: “Relax, Refresh. Renew. Worship. Praising God for SPADE…Your ministry here is a huge blessing. God’s creation the setting, the love felt here. It is wonderful to be able to get away from the ‘slop’ of life and come to a place of peace & joy & feel His love. Thank you so very much!”

In addition to our Annual International Student Easter Conference, the Lord gave us the awesome privilege of hosting the 30th Anniversary International Student World Week Conference held August 5th to the 9th. This group, which consisted of people from Benin, Burkina Faso, China, Columbia, Japan, Korea, Kyrgyzstan; as well as guests from New York, New Jersey and Illinois, enjoyed their first time at SPADE. Many seeds were sown through the excellent Bible teaching and small group sharing. A special highlight as a result of the conference was a Chinese family of 3 put their faith and trust in Jesus Christ, before heading back to China.

Testimonies like this remind us that this is what SPADE is all about. We hope you enjoy the pictures included in this letter. As we reflect on these things, we are reminded of Psalm 126:3 “The LORD has done great things for us, and we are glad.” May all praise, honor and glory be unto HIM. Have a blessed New Year in JESUS.

The McFarlander

Reflecting upon how fast time flies, we came up with a simple and practical idea. Why not combine Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s into one great holiday. In addition to all the blessings to be thankful for, we are especially thankful beyond measure for the coming of the Christ child. We always look forward to a new beginning at the dawn of a new year!

We have recently returned from our annual Lancaster International Conference; an event designed to give about fifty international students a firsthand exposure to the Amish and Mennonite faith. The schedule included a Thanksgiving Day meal, a Friday tour (an Amish school in session, Ten Thousand Villages and Mennonite Material Aid Center) followed by a talent show.

Behind this amazing expression of hospitality, with its some thirty year history, is an army of volunteers from Mennonite and a few other churches. First, there is the committee whose task is to set up the program, choose an appropriate speaker and undertake the difficult task of finding enough host families among those who are busy with their own family Thanksgiving Day celebrations. How thankful we are for such friends who provided such a unique event to which we could invite our internationals.

After Sunday worship and dinner with hosts came the emotional and sometimes tearful farewell. Deep friendships often develop that may last for years or possibly a lifetime. The main concern of the campus missionaries who bring the

internationals is their spiritual life. This experience proved to be another step in their journey toward knowing Jesus Christ. This was true of one who brought an enthusiastic Iranian girl for whom he has been praying for a year. Other International student outreaches were held at SPADE. The annual International Student Easter Conference was a wonderful opportunity to show Christian love and hospitality. The Easter message was clearly presented. It was a special joy for us that SPADE could host the 30th Annual International World Week Conference. Again we thank the many volunteers including Northern Valley Evangelical Free Church and Jacobs Church who helped bring everything together in a beautiful way.

There is another army of faithful friends and coworkers who also make such events possible through their prayers and financial support of missionaries who befriend and disciple internationals on various universities. This has been our mission for the last forty-six years, and we can’t quit as long as one of us can walk and one can talk. And when we can do neither of the two, we are assured that our international friends will find us. What a wonderful ministry!

We pray that you will experience a challenging but wonderful New Year.

Howard and Charlotte McFarland

The McFarlands

222 South 25th Street

Allentown, PA 18104

610-432-6427

Email: cmcfarland@verizon.net

TESTIMONIES

A few months ago we started looking for a place where our family could gather for some vacation days as some of us would soon be leaving the U.S. to head back to our mission work with Wycliffe Bible translators in Cameroon, Africa. It was difficult to find a place that we could afford. A friend mentioned that she had enjoyed a women's retreat at the Inn of Hope, and we were very pleased to find this charming facility. It was in a great location with plenty of space and a variety of activities for any kind of weather. Bill and Joan went "above and beyond" in showing us hospitality and ministering to us. We not only found a place to gather and fellowship and to recharge our batteries before returning to the mission field, but we made new friends too. It was just what we needed!

~ Annette Beyer for the whole family

Spade Inn is a valuable Kingdom resource. Twice a year for the past five years, we come to the inn for the purpose of training new pastors to start churches in a course called Basic Training. Basic Training for Church Planters is a resource designed to walk a church planting team through an intensive journey of exploring the strategic issues of a church planting process and of assisting them in developing a customized strategy for planting healthy, reproductive churches. Having a place like Spade to conduct this training has been such a  blessing. The inn gives us a place where those enrolled, can disconnect from the world and focus on what God wants to teach them. We are able to enjoy relationship building through meals, relaxing times in the inn and when Bill builds his wonderful campfire that we gather around and share testimonies. Working across the state of Pennsylvania, it can honestly be said that there is no other place quite like Spade. We feel so blessed to be able to come to the Inn and over the years have seen the time spent there produce many new churches. ~ Beth Whitworth

Barry & Beth Whitworth

Basic Training for Church Planters directed by Barry at Spade – Spring/Fall