Welcome to the Kitchener Centre Cluster!!
Welcome to the Internet home of the Grandview Church Kitchener Centre Cluster. Check in here to
contact us, get information about upcoming meetings or events or just find out more about the community in which we live!
Cluster Leader(s): Colin & Aimie LeRuez
Cluster Hosts(s): Wendy & Eric Saulesleja
Please see the blog post below for our next gathering details, a summary of our last meeting and an idea of how God is moving us to serve our community!
| Here we go! |
Hi all!
Well it's hard to believe that it is September 1st! Hopefully everyone has enjoyed their summer. We certainly can't complain that we didn't get a nice warm one!
As of our last update we had a potential match family from the YMCA host program and Jenn was coordinating to meet with them and see if we were a good fit for them. We are now proceeding with meeting the family as a larger group at a BBQ this weekend! I think we are all very excited to see how God will use us in the coming months as we meet these new friends and see how we can share with and learn from them as they make Kitchener and Canada their home.
If you're interested in getting involved please feel free to contact us! Newcomers will always be welcome as we seek to serve others for Him!
In Christ,
Aimie & Colin
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| Quick Update |
Hi all,
Just a quick update to keep all those who are interested in the loop! The YMCA Host Family program have another potential match family for us. The goal is that Jennifer will be meeting with them in a couple weeks to see if it appears to be a good fit. For now we'll just keep praying and see if this is where God wants to use us! Hope you're all enjoying the warm weather!
Colin and Aimie |
| June Update |
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Hi all!
As many of you may know, Grandview is shifting focus away from neighborhood based clusters. While there will still be a focus on mid-size missional communities the neighborhood clusters will not be continuing forward in the existing format. As such we have sent our last e-mail for this cluster that was based on the fact that people fell within the Kitchener-Center neighborhood boundaries. We will continue to communicate with those who have been active in the group via e-mail and provide updates here on the website for those interested in tracking along with us. If you still wish to receive update e-mails please let us know!! New people will always be welcome!
Despite this change our group will be continuing to move in the direction God has led us. Over the last 10 months God has directed us toward the needs of New Canadians living in our city. At our last meeting we decided to pursue this goal by partnering with the YMCA's host family program to act as a host to a new Canadian family. At that time we believed God already had a family in need of a host with which we would be paired. As it turns out this family is no longer in need of a match but the Christina (the YMCA coordinator) is continuing to look for opportunities where we may be used and is keeping Jennifer Campos (who has graciously agreed to coordinate on our behalf) up to date. We look forward to seeing how God will use us!
For those who have already joined us on this journey we will continue to provide details as they come! To the rest of our Kitchener-Center neighbors we pray that God would continue to bless you in the mission fields He's place you in as well!!
God Bless,
Colin and Aimie LeRuez |
| May Gathering |
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Hi Kitchener-Center Cluster,
Time for another update!
We have now heard back from our contact at the YMCA Host Program with suggestions on how we might be able to work with them and other areas where we could be used. Our next gathering will be on Monday May 17th at 6 pm at the Saulesleja's house. We will look to discuss the feedback we have received and continue to seek God's will in using us in our community. Please continue to pray that God will give us direction. First timers are always welcome! Please RSVP to cleruez@grandviewchurch.caso we can let you know what to bring. Remember we want everyone to feel like a part of this Grandview neighbourhood cluster even if you can't make it out all the time!
Have a great weekend!
Colin and Aimie |
| April meeting update |
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Hi all,
Sorry for the delay in getting a meeting update posted. We are still seeking God's leading as to how He will use us to serve the New Canadian population in the downtown Kitchener core and had hoped we might have something more to share.
At our last meeting we had a representative from the YMCA Host Program talk to us about various programs run through YMCA Immigration Services. It was great to learn more about the programs and now that we have met both sides are contemplating how a group like ours can best make ourselves useful to those new to our country. If you'd like to learn more about the YMCA's programs you can visit the following link. http://www.kwymca.org/Contribute/immigrant/immigrant.asp
Please continue to pray that God will use us to fill a need in our community and to be His hands and feet to our neighbours.
We will be scheduling a meeting date for May shortly so stayed tuned!
Have a great weekend!
Colin and Aimie |
| Moving forward... |
Hi Kitchener-Centre Cluster!
We held off putting up this post until we had more information to share but now we do!
At our last gathering Jennifer C. brought back some great research on areas of need for new Canadians. After some discussion we decided to pursue the option of "hosting" a new Canadian family via a program run through the YMCA. This program involves a six month commitment to help a family get acclimated to their new country by connecting them with resources, showing them around and basically just trying to help out however we can. Jennifer agreed to talk with her contact at the program and see if our group would qualify to participate (as this is normally something that would be done by a family as opposed to a group like ours).
As of tonight I'm excited to say that Jennifer e-mailed word that it appears we will be eligible to participate! Not only that but it appears that the program already has a family in need of a host that we can be matched with. As a result we will look forward to meeting with the Program Coordinator from the YMCA at our next gathering to look at next steps.
Our next gathering will be on Thursday April 8th at 6 pm at the Saulesleja's house. First timers are always welcome! Please RSVP to cleruez@grandviewchurch.ca so we can let you know what to bring. Remember we want everyone to feel like a part of this Grandview neighbourhood cluster even if you can't make it out all the time!
Our God Rocks!
Colin and Aimie
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| March Update and Next Meeting |
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Hi Kitchener Centre Cluster!
Sorry for the delay in getting this post up.
We were thrilled to welcome some new faces to our last gathering back in February! We came away from our gathering with a goal of researching further areas where we can plug in serving our new Canadian population in the Kitchener Core. It should be interesting when we get back together in March to see what we've learned!
Speaking of which...
Our next gathering will be on Monday March 8th at 6 pm. Contact us at cleruez@grandviewchurch.ca to let us know if you plan to attend so we can get you directions and let you know what to bring for the potluck.
Aimie and Colin |
| Kitchener Center Cluster Recap, Purpose and Next Meeting |
Hi Kitchener Centre Cluster!
Hope you have all had a wonderful Christmas and New Years. Due to the hectic nature of the season our plan to "Tree" our neighborhood didn't come to fruition. It would have been nice to have been able to use this as a kick-off to our involvement in our community but the fact that it didn't happen certainly doesn't change the exciting path God has for us.
As I mentioned in our November blog post I've always found it amazing that God likes to make it clear when he's working. Members of our cluster met throughout the Fall seeking to see the Kitchener Core through Jesus eyes so that we may be His hands and feet in serving our neighbors. We completed several "homework" assignments including a walk or bus ride through the Kitchener Center neighborhood and conversations with our neighbors about the needs of our neighborhood. At our November meeting as all of the adults in attendance (and one who sent her homework along with us :) ) recounted their conversations we found His leading. In one fashion or another everyone's conversations revolved around new Canadians and their struggle to adapt to their new home and find support and community here. As we talked it seemed clear that this need resonated in the hearts of everyone there.
As we prepare to move forward in 2010 our purpose will be to find how and where God would use us to show His love to new Canadians in our neighborhood. We are already aware of several existing ministries that we may be able to come alongside and we are very excited to see where God will use us. Please join us on Thursday February 11th at the home of Eric and Wendy Saulesleja for a time of food, community and planning as we continue our journey of mission together. If you are able to attend please RSVP to cleruez@grandviewchurch.ca and we will let you what to bring (i.e. appetizer, main course or dessert).
Look forward to serving Him alongside you this year.
Our God is awesome!
Aimie and Colin |
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Hi Kitchener Centre Cluster!
Wow what an exciting meeting last Wednesday! I've
always found it amazing that God likes to make it clear when he's working.
On Monday we were feeling a little discouraged,
having struggled, we thought, to find opportunities to talk with our neighbours
and having no sense of leading whatsoever about where God may want to use us
within our neighbourhood.
As we met on Wednesday night we realized how great
God is. As all of the adults in attendance (and one who sent her homework along
with us :D ) recounted their conversations we found His leading. In one fashion or another everyone's conversations revolved
around new Canadians and their struggle to adapt to their new home and find
support and community here. For us personally God had provided for some last
minute conversations and helped us to realize we had had some without really
realizing it that echoed this need. As we talked it seemed clear that this need
resonated in the hearts of everyone there.
We began to brainstorm ideas for how to be Jesus
hands and feet in our community now that we had this direction from Him. God
has already provided us with several connections for potential on-going areas of
service but one idea seemed to catch our hearts to start it all off. For our
Christmas Presense Project our group will be "Treeing" our neighbourhoods.
Basically the concept is as follows:
1) Set up a webpage with information about our
neighbourhood, who lives in it, where we're from, what we do, how we live, etc.
Basically some information to help our community know who their neighbours
are.
2) Put together packages including,
a) a picture of a Tree,
b) a Christmas ornament, favorite recipe or
some other item to share a bit of our traditions with our
neighbours,
c) a letter telling people they have been
"Tree'd" and inviting them to check out the website to learn more about their
neighbourhood and encouraging them to make copies of the package (substituting
their own ornaments, recipes, etc.) and "Tree" 5 of their neighbours. The
letter would indicate that the "Treeings" were started by the Grandview
Kitchener Center Cluster.
3) Drop the packages on doorsteps through out the
Kitchener Center neighbourhood and see how God works!
Our goal is to start to build a sense of community
within our neighourhood. In this way we trust that God will work to help some
of our "new neighbours" adjusting to our country to gain some sense of community
and those of us who have been here much longer to learn about them and get to
know them.
At this point we still need to finish deciding what
to include in the package, what to say in the letter and information to include
about our neighbourhood on the website. Please send your feedback to us (cleruez@grandviewchurch.ca) and we will post them in this blog. We'll
will schedule a time in early December for us to get together to assemble our
packages and get the "Treeing" started!
Our God is awesome!
Aimie and Colin
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