September Newsletter 2022

Stories of Restoration: Alaine

woman and her husband

Alaine and her husband, Seth

Although Alaine grew up in a Christian home, she first began her relationship with Jesus at His Mansion. Before her time in the Resident Program, Alaine had lived as an addict for over ten years. In her early years, she developed extreme Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder as a way to cope with childhood trauma and anxiety. As she got older, she began using drugs and alcohol, continually numbing her past.

Over the course of ten years and two admittances into the psychiatric hospital, Alaine knew her life was falling apart. “No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t fix it. I was broken. I saw people around me who knew Jesus and I wanted what they had.”

After the passing of her father in 2014, Alaine began to look at her life differently. The Lord showed her that things could be different. In 2015, she joined the His Mansion Residential Program. Throughout her time here, the Lord peeled back the layers of her story, helping her find healing and forgiveness for her past. “After I arrived, my guard slowly came down and my secrets came out. I finally had a safe place to process wounds that held me captive.” Through the community, she received accountability and genuine love that changed her outlook on herself, others, and the Lord. “Today, I live in full transparency. There is nothing in the world more valuable than my relationship with the Lord. There is no wound—past, present, or future—that is outside of Jesus’ ability to heal. He is my lifeline, my joy, and my strength, and His truth is what I crave.”

Today, Alaine lives with her husband in Boston directing a spiritual formation and discipleship training school for multiple churches in the area. Alaine and her husband are expecting twin girls in the fall of this year. “The Lord used His Mansion to set me on a new path and let me see His great love. Because I was loved well, my life is forever changed.”

 

Alaine (left) and a few other ladies celebrating Thanksgiving at Griggs Dining Hall

Did You Know?

Did you know that His Mansion puts on many fun events for the Residents and Servant Leaders, besides major celebrations. Below are two of the many “Hill-wide” events:

  • Summer Shindig: this is a community-wide talent show where anyone can share a special skill or talent with others in the community.

  • Harvest Party: This is a time to celebrate the summer harvest. Community members dress up in costumes for a costume contest as well as participate in a pie baking contest.

 

Summer on the Hill?

The men and women after their baptism in the Deering Resevoir.

Summer 2022 has been busy. Throughout the months of June, July and August, we welcomed workgroups, celebrated baptisms, and much more.

We had Workgroups come from near and far to help us with projects around the property. A group from Gospel Operation International arrived in May, a group from Crossroads Community Church in Framingham, Massachusetts came in July, and most recently, members of Christ Community Church in Weare, New Hampshire joined us to help around the property. All the groups we’ve had so far have helped us with maintaining our gardens and working on work crews with Residents, but most importantly they have shared the love of Christ with our community. Over the coming months, we’ll be eagerly expecting a few more groups to join us on “The Hill.”

This summer we also celebrated a baptism! Ten men and women decided to take the next step in their faith and publicly confirm their walk with the Lord through baptism in the Deering Reservoir. We’re so blessed to see how the Lord has been working in these Residents and Servant Leaders lives, and are looking forward to all that he has in store for them.

As autumn approaches, we’re thankful for this season, and are looking forward to the fall and all that the new season will bring

 

Prayer Requests and Updates

As the year continues, please be in prayer for our ministry. Here are some requests and updates:

  • Our walk-in freezer needs to be replaced.

  • Thank you for joining us in prayer for more Residents. Over the last few months the Lord has brought new men and women needing help to our property.

  • We are searching for more building and maintenance staff.

  • Thank you for praying for more Servant Leaders. We’ve received a few applications and are excited for who the Lord is calling to serve here.

    Thank you for partnering with us in prayer each month. We are seeing the effects of your prayers daily.

New Projects

We have an exciting new project that we want to share with you. As many of you may know, this past winter we ran into plumbing issues with our already dilapidated guest housing and other facilities. We are currently looking into other guest housing options on our property and will be sharing information on that soon.

Soon, we’ll be demolishing our current guest housing, the Chalet, and replacing it with a three season pavilion. This will greatly benefit Residents, Servant Leaders, and staff.

One of the other buildings that endured water damage over the winter was the Long House. This building has served many Servant Leaders, staff, and their families over the years. We are planning on renovating this building to effectively serve future staff members.

We will be raising support for both the new pavillion and the Long House over the coming year. If the Lord is leading you to partner on this project, please designate your gift to “Building Projects.”

 
His Mansion