We are in a meaningful and sacred season here in Spartanburg, especially in our neighborhood of focus at Robert Smalls Apartments. What we are witnessing is not loud or flashy, but it is deeply significant. God has been opening doors for us to build genuine relationships with larger and more established community partners. Through these relationships, we have begun identifying key resource partners who care deeply about the people of this community and desire to see lasting transformation take root. These connections take time, trust, and consistent presence, and we are seeing God patiently bring those pieces together.
This season has been one of the most challenging and rewarding of our lives.
The training and support from Mission Alive has played a vital role in helping us find language for what God has called us to do here in Upstate South Carolina. It has given us clarity not only around what we are building, but why we are building it, and how to remain faithful when the work feels heavier than expected.
This season has stretched us more than ever emotionally, relationally, and spiritually. Missional church planting has required far more of us than we imagined when we first said yes to God. Along the way, we have lost financial resources and friendships, and we have often found ourselves on the receiving end of discouraging conversations. People have tried to project their limitations onto us.
Yet even in the midst of this, God has been faithful.
He has continually sent people into our lives to speak life, encouragement, and hope. He has moved hearts to pray, to partner, and to sow into the work He is doing here. In the tension between resistance and reassurance, God has reminded us again and again that obedience is never wasted. This journey has not been easy, but we would not change anything about it.
We want to encourage our Mission Alive family to keep your hand to the plow. Jesus reminds us that the harvest is plentiful and the laborers are few, and this is not about church attendance. It is about incarnational ministry. It is about showing up, staying present, and loving people where they are over the long haul.
Your prayers, generosity, and faithfulness are making this work possible in Spartanburg. And for those who feel led to sow into what God is doing in this city, we invite you to join us. The ground is fertile, the work is real, and God is already moving among the people. Thank you for partnering with us.