March 2026 Newsletter

Ryan’s story of restoration

Ryan lives in Arizona with his wife and three children. He loves being a husband and father, and sees both roles as opportunities to demonstrate the love of God to the people who mean the most to him. He works as a licensed professional counselor and is actively engaged in a local church. At forty-five, he is leading a life of purpose and meaning, and finds freedom and joy as he walks with Jesus. That was not always so.

In May 2013 Ryan left his home state of Michigan to join the Resident Recovery Program. He was already working as a counselor and had an active relationship with Jesus, but he was living in hiddenness. A traumatic past and a sexual addiction were robbing him of the peace and joy he knew his Savior wanted him to experience. “I came to His Mansion because I knew I had to come out of the lifestyle of sin. I knew something was wrong and crushing, I felt the weight of life on me,” he recalls. “I’d go to work, I felt heavy all the time, I couldn’t concentrate, I just felt off. I knew I needed to be free from sin and deal with the trauma of my childhood and family in order to follow Jesus with my whole heart.”

At first he felt considerable anxiety about being in a program for a year. He felt the urgency of paying off student debt and furthering his career, and was not sure he could put his desire for a wife and children on hold. He came to see it as a matter of trusting God. As he gave up control, God began to work. Looking back, Ryan says it was “one of the best years of my life, it changed the course of my life.”

His Mansion presented him a particular difficulty. Because of his childhood, and because he was a professional counselor, Ryan was accustomed to being the caretaker. Here he needed the humility to receive care, and sometimes that care came from unexpected places. “I learned not to judge people and instead to be humble and listen to my brothers.” In the process he experienced the Lord removing “generational strongholds of pride.” He began to live in freedom and “felt joy for the first time” in his life.

Ryan graduated in May 2014 and has continued to walk with Christ. He has experienced continued freedom from addiction, the blessing of a new family, and sweet, reconciled years with his parents before they each passed away. “I think about the anxiety I had about finances, a wife and my future. When I look at it now, I see that the Lord has blessed me beyond measure.”

The Servant Leader Program

“I love the Lord, because he has heard my voice and my pleas for mercy. Because he inclined his ear to me, therefore I will call on him as long as I live.” Psalm 116:1-2

Ryan, on how Servant Leaders affected him as a Resident:

“Looking back there was something about most of them that offered the beauty of being broken and imperfect. In the end, they were exactly the type of guys that I needed to be my true, authentic self. They loved me and accepted me where I was at.”

Through the process of leading and serving men and women bound in addiction, a Servant Leader experiences:

• Spiritual formation
• Leadership training
• Experiential learning
• Relational development
• Intentional community

Hear from a Servant Leader

“The SL Program gave me a deeper understanding of how to journey alongside those who are hurting and pushed me to serve others with greater humility and self-denial. Being able to hear the Residents’ stories and learn from them helped me to daily see God’s powerful work of redemption.” Katie Baxter, former Servant Leader

Did you know?

• To better accommodate the needs of prospective Residents, His Mansion has moved to a rolling intake system. There are current openings in the men’s and women’s programs.
• His Mansion has a fully equipped fitness area. Regular exercise is part of the weekly routine of the Resident Recovery Program.
• His Mansion makes real maple syrup, tapped from maple trees on the property. Last year over seventy-five gallons were produced.
• Several New Hampshire mountains can be seen from the property, including Mt Monadnock, Mt Kearsarge, Mt Lovewell, Crotched Mt and several of the White Mountains.

Prayer requests

• For the broken and hurting men and women who need freedom from the bondage of addiction, that the Lord would lead them to His Mansion.
• For the seven February graduates as they transition off The Hill and continue to walk with the Lord.
• For the Operations Team, keeping up with heating systems, wood cutting and moving, and snow removal through winter and early spring.
• For a spring break trip from Wheaton College arriving the first week of March.