Hello from the Pelzer Campus. God has been up to some awesome stuff as we renovate our campus and prepare for what’s next. Right now places and processes are being transformed, and I can’t wait to share more down the road about people God is transforming as well.
In December we moved out of our temporary worship space and into the newly renovated lobby and worship auditorium. On our first Sunday in the new space, the energy in the room was palpable. Faces beamed with proud smiles and eyes gleamed in anticipation of what was to come. You could feel the heartfelt gratitude and anticipation through the worship as we praised God for what he was doing and prepared for how he wants to use us to reach spiritually hungry people. Whether first time guest or long time member, everyone felt the excitement, anticipation and awe that morning! It was a fantastic Sunday!
In January we began the transformation of the fellowship building into a brand new, exciting, and engaging ALIVE Kids space. Fortunately there was much less demo work this time around and we were already raising new walls within the first week of work. The walls are up and being painted as I write this. We are well on schedule to have the renovation completed by the end of February and the new ALIVE Kids space ready to use on Sunday March 8th.
Immediately after service last Sunday we saturated this developing space in prayer and laid the foundation of God’s word as we wrote prayers, scriptures, and names on the floors and walls. If was awesome to see bright eyed kids trace their hands and write their names on the walls as they looked forward to experiencing this new space. Moms, dads and grandparents either had beaming smiles or watery eyes (or both) as they circled their children’s and grandchildren’s names in prayer and envisioned the life transformation that will happen in the years to come. I know my heart swelled and my eyes began to water (just a little) as I helped Josiah and Judah with the verse they both wanted to write on floor. Children and adults alike began to pray over and dream about the names of spiritually hungry children that they hope will encounter Jesus in this place.
It was a one of kind moment. As we worked in the building that week I took time to read over the prayers written on the walls. There were so many heart-felt prayers for children, grandchildren, volunteers and staff. I look forward to seeing these prayers answered in the years ahead. I believe God will do exceedingly more than what we have asked and imagined.
As we begin to wrap up the preparation of the physical environments for what is yet to come, we are also preparing our hearts and our ministry teams. February and March are filled with ministry training events and times of focused prayer. We want to pave the way through prayer as we lay the spiritual groundwork and are prepared for what God has in store. We would like to invite all of our ALIVE family to pray with us as well as we are planning and preparing for our public launch this Easter!
