This will be the history of Mitchell Christian School as recounted by Dr. Stan Haidle, founder of MCS, in his book The Battle is the Lord's.

“For five minutes, Mitchell Christian School hung in the balance. I argued with the Spirit. I didn’t have time. I knew nothing about Christian schools. And then I knew.  As surely as I know anything. I knew God wanted me to start a Christian School in Mitchell. I closed my office door and paced. My eyes teared up.”

It all started when Stan Haidle applied and was offered the position of the Vice Presiden at Dakota Wesleyan University. His wife worked at James Valley Christian and even though she was supportive of his new job, her ultimatum “was short and sweet. ‘I’m not moving to Mitchell if they don’t have a Christian school.’” Although Dr. Haidle remembers the conversation as a short one, he knew she was dead serious.

After asking around, Dr. Haidle found excellent schools but none met the criteria. “We wanted a Christian School,” he recounts, “meaning it had to be protestant, with strong academics based upon a Biblical foundation. In the past, various churches had made an effort to start such a school but had failed. None existed.” He then contacted Carl Rittenhour, the superintendent at Sunshine Bible Academy in Miller, South Dakota. He explained the situation and Dr. Haidle recounts, “His response was so casual but unbelievably powerful: ‘You need to start one.’ I stuttered, made some unintelligible argument and hung up.” It was in this moment that MCS hung in the balance.

Dr. Haidle also mentioned, “Pastor Warren Kokker, who was another key player in the new school, put it in perspective. He casually commented that the real reason I came to Mitchell was to start Mitchell Christian. The work at the college was just a way to make a living. He never knew how that statement humbled me.”

He later met with some of the pastors in town to discuss opening a Christian school. Most said “No,” but two pastors were enthusiastic and said “Yes.” Dr. Haidle said, “Almost immediately we began to meet weekly. The adventure had begun, and I would learn that ‘The battle is the Lord’s.’” As soon as things were organized, the group began to search for a suitable school building. They looked long and hard but couldn’t find anything suitable in their price range of $100.

Because of the decision to be non-denominational, Dr. Haidle said, “We didn’t want the school housed in a church facility. We wanted our own location. Our separate identity, but we were getting desperate. We’d been counting kids on our fingers and it looked like enrollment could be anywhere from 20 to 50. We didn’t need the biggest place in town but we needed something. Maybe, just maybe, we would have to resort to using one of our churches.”

After the very first MCS Fall Banquet, the phone rang and Pastor Warren Kokker said “he had found a building, the old job service building behind the Corn Palace.” After arriving, everyone immediately noticed how much work it would take to make it usable. It was dirty, smelly, and musty, however, the group was not discouraged. After contacting the owner, they found out that they could use the building for free!

When the group discussed space for a playground, someone mentioned the Armory above city hall next to the Corn Palace. However, they heard that it was fifty dollars an hour to rent. A few days later, they asked again and found it wasn’t fifty dollars an hour, but fifty for the entire year. Dr. Haidle recounts, “Remember that first $100. Fifty for incorporation or some such thing to make us legal and the other fifty got us a building and a gymnasium. I never imagined that $100 would do all that. The Lord, who provided the $100, had given us all we needed.” Within the next few months, MCS was first officially accredited by the state of South Dakota.

“The story of Mitchell Christian is the story of David and Goliath. Not just once but many times the Lord provided a way out of an impossible situation. Sometimes the ‘little boy’ was the board up against an impossible situation, unable to find an adequate facility. Sometimes the ‘little boy’ was Ruthie (my wife) as she worked through all the details that make a good school. Sometimes the ‘little boy’ was a teacher, an unusually generous benefactor, a prayer warrior or a volunteer that worked so very hard.”