Faith fuels Our Redeemer construction project

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Before construction even began, the new ministry center at Our Redeemer Lutheran Church and School proved it could weather any storm.

The Our Redeemer Church and Ministry Center, located across the street from the current location in Staplehurst, will feature classrooms, a chapel, kitchen and commons area. The school will move its operations to the new facility in time for the fall semester.

As the construction crew readies to pour the concrete for the floors and then works to install walls for the rooms, principal Harlan Anson and pastor Shawn Kitzing reflected on the early days of the effort.

Shortly before the project was unveiled and the fundraising began in 2019, historic flooding struck the area following an unprecedented rainstorm combined with rapidly melting snow.

“We had to to put everything off for a couple months and get reorganized,” Kitzing said.

Then, the next obstacle presented itself in the form of a global pandemic that severely limited fundraising opportunities and left many in financial distress.

“You just start the fundraising again and get really going and COVID begins and we face this pandemic,” Kitzing said.

But again, the effort persisted and eventually, the fundraising goal was met and construction on the project began at the end of November.

“To see the fact that a building going up through all that...is amazing,” Kitzing said.

Kitzing said Our Redeemer considered putting the project on hold when the pandemic began but decided to put the project in God's hands and push towards its goals.

“That was a discussion was do we put it on the back burner and hold off on things or do we move forward?” he said.

“We put our faith that God is in control and if this was going to get built, it was going to get built,” added Anson.

Anson said with the new facility, the school's technological needs will be better served and all rooms will be on one floor.

“There is not a stair in this building,” he said.

While the project is paid for and barreling towards completion, the new era for Our Redeemer is far from over. Once the ministry center is complete, phase two on the project will begin. Phase two will include a gymnasium and multi-purpose room. Anson said construction will begin hopefully no later than 2022.

Fundraising for phase two has already begun and was highlighted by Our Redeemer's annual gala March 12 at the Seward County Ag Pavilion. The event welcomed 360 guests and collected $170,000 for the cause.

Anson said that the response to the event not only showed the support of the project, but also served as a celebration of the triumph over so many obstacles to get the project to that point.

“It was a blessing to see how many people wanted to be a part of this,” he said.