August 2010

May this newsletter be a testament of some examples of just how God  is working.

Kids, Kids, Kids …

250 kids and leaders getting ready for the outdoor Olympics

Today kicked off a week-long children’s event which will see CLA swarming with 250 kids. Kidz Extravaganza is a VBS-like event targeted to not only reach the children of our church, but of the surrounding community. It is too bad we couldn’t handle more kids, because we could have easily gone over 300.

Margit has been heavily involved in planning this since April of this year with another missionary couple from the USA, Patrick and Jeanie Collins. Under their direction they have been able to train over 30 volunteer leaders for this large undertaking. We’re looking forward to a great week and even seeing these children commit their lives to Christ. This is a great way to reach into not only the kids’ lives, but also the whole family, as has been proven in past years.

Pray for Margit and the rest of the leadership team for strength and stamina for the week. I’ll do so from the protection of my office!

The Training Continues …

Over the past months, as we’ve gotten both legs under our feet, it has become a little easier to deal with the many activities that we’re surrounded with. Understanding that God has called us here to support the ministry of CLA and build a stronger foundation for the future, particularly in Music and Multimedia, has been most liberating.  

In the last newsletter, I had mentioned how almost ninety people signed up for training in either music, video and sound ministry. We are starting to see some of the fruit of this in some of the training we’ve been able to do.  

In March, with the help of our team from ‘The House’  (a satelite of Evangel Church) in Kelowna, we began to do some technical training with our sound team. We’ve since picked up the pace and are running a sound training course which spans about six or so weeks. In May we ran another six week course with just over 20 students who wanted to learn the art of videography and editing. By the end of this month we will begin our much anticipated music training – teaching piano, guitar, drums and voice (with the help from our core music team).

It is a large undertaking, but as we develop a core group that is involved in this, they in turn will be able train others. Our mission, or bottom line is that we are committed to developing individuals who will become effective communicators of the Gospel of Christ in a tech savvy world.

There’s a way one expresses a slow, but steady pace in Kinyarwanda, is, “Bohoro, bohoro” (slowly [by] slowly). We feel that as we pace ourselves, steadily moving forward with the huge task of equipping, we will achieve what God has called us to do.

CLA: It’s Time To Move …

The message was clear from the first Sunday of 2010 when Pastor Elmer Komant spoke the words from the pulpit: “It’s time to move!” The challenge for our congregation members was clear. After years of building a core group, securing land and a permanent home, it was (and is) now time to start seeing the fruit of our mandate. Christian Life Assembly was never designed to be and end unto itself, it was designed to be a a church that reaches Rwanda for Christ.

It is amazing when God speaks! On the one side the enemy discourages and fights against God’s plans – but greater is He that is in us than he that is in the world. In spite of so many natural obstacles … many which our eyes see and perceive, God’s plan will go ahead.

It has seemed that in the past couple of months alone, we have seen things crystallize in the leadership of CLA to the point where a new church has been planted across the valley from us – in one of the poorest parts of our city. The planning and invitation has been welcomed by the community leaders.

Plans are well along in the planting of another church in the northern part of Rwanda where a large property has been donated to CLA. This land will eventually house homes for Widows with aids, a pineapple plantation, a church – and possibly a vocational training center we still believe God is leading us to build. The longer we delay because of the lack of funds, the more expensive this project becomes – it has for all intents and purposes become impossible for us to build in the expensive and heavily regulated city limits.

God is moving, we are seeing where He is moving and we are merely tagging along in obedience! This is so exciting to be a part of.

The Mittelstaedt Travel Log …

At the end of April, I was able to spend just over a week with the Fellers and Ruttens in Ethiopia to help the promote their work and also to help raise awareness of the need for getting bibles to the thousands that are coming to Christ. Hopefully, once we get permission, I’ll post some of the five videos that came out of this trip.

Margit and Katelyn’s trip home

By the end of May, as mentioned earlier, Margit and Katelyn headed home for five weeks. Once Katelyn was settled, it allowed Margit to travel to some of our supporting churches in Canada. We are thankful by the warm reception she experienced from our home church, Evangel in Kelowna, Cheers in Pentiction, Pentecostal Assembly of Fort McMurray and Church in the Hills, Calgary. Thank you for looking after and supporting us and looking after Margit as she visited with you.  

We hope to take a week of rest next week once the Kidz Extravaganza is over. We trust that travel will be safe after our national elections which occur on Monday. On that note, we are praying for safety and security during these days in spite of some groups’ attempts to disrupt peace.

Finally, at the end of the month, we plan to travel through Uganda to Kenya to help get the girls settled in school for a new year. We are praying for God’s protection as we travel in areas that we have never been to.

Family Notes …

It is amazing to think what changes have occurred in our family in just one year. It was quite an adjustment moving the family from one end of the world to another – new culture and all. Now we are in the middle of a few more significant changes.

Just over two months ago, Margit and Katelyn (our oldest) made the trek back to Canada to get Katelyn settled and prepared for college in Kelowna. We are thankful for a great support base of family and friends who so far have made her transition fairly seamless. We are praying that as she begins college, she’ll have the means and sense of God’s grace surrounding her.

If that hasn’t been change enough, Margit and I will be having to adjust to an empty house by the end of this month.

On August 25th we will be driving Sydney and Allyson to Nairobi, Kenya to allow them to attend boarding school. It will be an adjustment for them and for us – not sure who it will affect more? The girls are quite excited about the school (Rift Valley Academy) which they have been hearing about from their cousins for years. Last year at this time they were over 45th on the waiting list. We found out a few months ago that they had moved to the top of the list and were accepted. We decided through prayer and the open door that this was the direction we would go. We’ll see them every three months for a month at a time. Please pray for us and for them that God will fill the void.

Living in Rwanda seems to have been a natural transition for us. We are convinced more than ever that we are in the center of God’s will. It is this that helps us adjust to times when we have no water for a week or two – or the power failures and fluctuation which electronic gear wasn’t designed for. It is God’s will that sustains us through the busy spells and which protects our home from becoming fragmented – the opposite occurs, in fact, as we feel tighter knit that ever before.  

It is God’s call that has us here and your support and prayers that truly are the reason we can be doing what he has created us to do. When one finds fulfillment in Gods purposes for life, it doesn’t seem to matter where you are, what you experience and whose leaving home! God’s peace goes a long way.

Financial update …

As we have mentioned in past newsletters, we were so thankful to have our container arrive safely and in a timely manner. It held all of the equipment we would be needing for the next few years of ministry – which put us far ahead of some of the tech purchases and tools we would need to effectively train our teams. Almost all of this was paid for because of a great support base in Canada. Much of this support came from larger donations, while the monthly support paid for our salary, travel and other start-up costs.

Please pray for us. We have fallen far behind, financially, with our budget. Please pray that we will gain many more supporters, so that we can make up this shortfall. The cost of living here is not a lot different from back home, aside from the fresh market produce which is less expensive. The disadvantages of living in a land-locked country where everything needs to be imported at a high cost are significant.

For those that have been supporting us financially, we thank you and we do not take this ministry of yours for granted.