[Note: These comments were shared at the January 9 Residents Council meeting].

As we enter a new year, we look forward to all that God has in store for the Landis Homes community and are grateful for the many good gifts that God has given. I value the strong heritage of Landis Homes, and am especially reminded of this as we approach our 50th Anniversary, which is coming up in just over two years on February 18th, 2014. On February 18, 1964, Landis Homes welcomed our first residents.

We are blessed to have a written record of our first 30 years, via a book written by Landis Homes resident A. Grace Wenger to celebrate our 30th Anniversary in 1994. Since I joined the staff here in 1994, I frequently have drawn from Grace’s book to get a feel for God’s working in our community over the years.

Our history actually began in 1961, now just over 50 years ago, when as Grace Wenger writes, “An elderly widow, Mrs. Harry (Emma) Shenk, offered to donate land near Strasburg for an ‘old people’s home.’” Grace goes on to describe how Lancaster Mennonite Conference asked Eastern Mennonite Board of Missions to appoint a group of ten persons to plan this new retirement community. Grace goes on to write…

On November 7, 1961, the Mission Board appointed a ten-member planning committee: Levi Brubaker, Ira Buckwalter, Frank Enck, J. Mowery Frey, Charles Good, Clarence Harnish, Sanford High, Adam Martin, Orie Miller and Lester Wenger.

Orie Miller, who convened the first meeting on December 13, 1961, led a devotional meditation based on Psalm 71:17-19 and Psalm 92:12-15. He commented that ten percent of the United States population was over the age of 65 and that there were now more than a million people over 85. He asked, “For what is God giving us these additional years?” He answered his own question: “Certainly for a purpose, and youth and old age together should find ways to make these extended years meaningful.”

At this meeting the committee elected Frank Enck, chairman; Sanford High, vice-chairman; Ira Buckwalter, executive secretary; and Lester Wenger, recording secretary. In January three sub-committees were appointed: Site, Building, and Program Development.

Just over two years later, in early 1964, Landis Homes opened. Grace writes…

Ninety-year old Henry Weber and his wife, Mary, the first residents of Landis Homes, moved into Unit A on February 18, 1964. Having chosen to pay $1,000 of the $4,000 entrance fee, they were charged $43 a month in addition to the basic rate of $100 a month per person.

George and Grace Leaman, designated as superintendent and matron, had already moved from “The Dell,” an attractive woodland home near Mount Joy, into one unit of a quadruplex, even though the interior was still unfinished and the floors bare. Until the first live-in workers arrived, the Leamans slept in the main building so the Webers would not be alone.

When the first cook, Helen Bucher, came, she lived in the main building so she could be on call for emergencies. Anna Mae Graybill, an experienced R.N., arrived on May 2. Two general workers who lived nearby completed the original staff.

At that time Landis Homes had only two buildings, Unit A with twenty-four rooms, and the quadruplex to the left of the East entrance.

“When I first saw the few small buildings in the vast area of farmland, it was difficult to believe that this could be a retirement home,” recalled Emma Rudy, who with her Philadelphia Mission co-worker, Alma Ruth, moved into one of the quadruplex apartments on March 6.

Our upcoming 50th anniversary provides an opportunity for us to both look back with gratitude for God’s direction and provision these past years, and to look ahead with confidence and trust in God for guidance and direction in the future.

We also value the opportunity that this Residents Council meeting provides to support good communication. … as Kendig Miller, former resident Board member said that, “communication, communication, communication” will help build common understanding and shared support for the vision and mission of Landis Homes – “The ministry of Landis Homes is to serve aging adults and their families by honoring and enriching their lives in a community of Christ-like love.”

We seek to carry out this mission of being a Christ-centered community by living out our guiding values of Joy, Compassion, Integrity, Stewardship and Community.

One thing that I know has been true throughout our history is that Landis Homes has been a praying community, and the Landis Homes Board and newly formed Landis Communities Board welcome your on-going prayer for God’s direction in our future.