by Jarrett Meek, Pastor/Executive Director/Founder
Faithfulness and excellent leadership are always in high demand. David Stetler has demonstrated both of these qualities during his five-year tenure at Mission Adelante. David and his wife Holly moved to our neighborhood in the fall of 2009 to serve the Bhutanese community in Kansas City, KS. A common sense of calling to missions led them to say, "yes" to what they thought was a small step forward; driving a group of Bhutanese refugees to an Alpha Bible Study course in early 2009. That was the beginning of a new adventure for the Stetler family, and the first step in what would become a new ministry to the Bhutanese through Mission Adelante.
After five faithful years of service as the Director of our Bhutanese Ministries, I'm pleased to share that David has accepted a new role: Associate Director of Mission Adelante. David, along with his team, have built a solid ministry with the Bhutanese that includes an ESL program, children and youth ministries, and a house church for the Bhutanese. I've seen over this time that David has risen to every challenge placed before him, and has demonstrated a broad leadership capacity. His innovative spirit looks beyond what is to what God could do. He has made a significant impact on organizational priorities that have a greater scope than his own areas of responsibility, including major projects like our thrift store, our business coaching ministry, as well as overhauls of our vision page, our logo, and our website. David led our staff team for four months during my sabbatical in 2013. And his ability to represent Mission Adelante with partners across the city is outstanding. His talent in leading worship and relating with people cross-culturally mean he often gets called on to lead multicultural ministry events such as our Christmas Eve Service, which includes English, Nepali, and Spanish speakers.
As Mission Adelante continues to grow into new opportunities that the Lord puts before us, it will be important for our leadership to continue to grow as well. The Mission Adelante board is excited about David's new role and the impact he will have on developing new opportunities and initiatives. His strength as a vision caster will be important as we continue to work hard to include partners from across the city in the vision to "make disciples with people from other places." I am thankful to have such a competent and gifted partner in ministry whose character sharpens and whose gifts complement my own.
IN OTHER NEWS:
Last week on the bus, a middle-school girl was looking at an ABC book with her little sister. The almost 2-year-old was obviously familiar with books and even knew a few of the letters by heart. It’s a joy to see difference book donations make in the everyday life of families!
CURRENT NEEDS:
Leaders in Training, Mission Adelante, Inc.'s after-school leadership development and tutoring program is serving 30 kids this year! We go through around 60 individually wrapped snacks each week! We are currently running low on snacks. Would you or your small group consider picking up healthy pre-packaged snacks for a week? If you are able to supply some snacks, message email Kristen Maxwell at kristenm@missionadelante.org.