Grace Alive Gave Me A Family in Orlando
In July of 2019, I moved to Orlando from Pennsylvania to try something new, and to have a change of scenery. But, moving to a new state means leaving my family, and the church that I had back home. So, luckily for me, I had my best friend living here already, who just so happened to be attending Grace alive. It was nice to have a church to go to while moving to a new place.
I had looked at a few other churches, but none of them gave me the feeling that Grace Alive had. With it being a church plant, it was smaller than the church I came from in Philadelphia, so it came with those challenges. However, there were some things that I was looking for in a church, and Grace Alive checked those boxes. It is a church that is always focused on the gospel, always focused on maintaining its stance on being multiethnic, and cares about the community aspect of a church family, which can be really hard to find.
Not only did this church help me find a place to go on Sundays, but they gave me a family here in Orlando. When the pandemic had started, it was very hard to feel connected, not only with God, but with each other as well, and I felt that my community group did a great job of staying in contact and being there for one another consistently. They made me feel like I finally had a place that accepted me and was willing to help me no matter what. It was great to have people who I have built relationships with that I will have in my life long term.
I have served on the guest services for a while now, and it has been a great place for me to not only meet new people, but also build closer relationships with other Grace Alive members. I love that coming to this church gives me the ability to fellowship with other young adults and spend time with them, even outside of the church walls.
While living in Orlando, I have gone through a lot of life changes, like getting married! Planning a wedding while living away from my family and also in the middle of a pandemic seemed almost impossible, but I was so grateful and lucky to have had pastors like Cam, and Stew to help us along the process and guide us along the way. Having Pastor Stew lead us in a community group and in premarital counseling has been such a blessing, and I’m so grateful to Grace Alive for giving me a family in Orlando who I know I can always count on, and always learn from.
