Gajda Family Support

To Family and Friends

Thank you so much for your willingness to read this letter and hear about the exciting things happening at Trailside Church in Travelers Rest! I've got some exciting things to tell you about when it comes to the Gospel of Christ moving and changing eternities in our city.

We’ve watched stories like Marcus Jones’ unfolding in our church; I met Marcus at a brewery and learned he had decided that there was no way God was real, and if He was, Marcus wanted to know why he had allowed such horrible moments in his life. Just a couple of years before Marcus had come home to find his mother a victim of homicide, and as he pushed through his life in the years following had decided nothing would change his view. I met him alongside his wife Jaycee, and after having the chance to discuss the Gospel and who God truly was, Marcus came to Trailside. A few weeks later his wife joined him at Trailside and after his own coming to Christ, Jaycee followed him with a profession of faith as well. A few weeks ago we ordained Marcus into the Gospel ministry (along with 2 others) and his own father, newborn daughter, and some of his best friends were there to witness it all. Marcus is now on our staff as our Pastor of Care, finishing his Masters of Divinity from Liberty University.

This is what our church has been for so many people; a total redemption of pain and a generational-shifting legacy changer. One of my favorite things to remind Marcus of is that God is using him to change the entire fabric of his family’s story; his 4-month old daughter Leona now will grow up with parents that love Jesus and she will grow up knowing that she is purposed and special in Jesus’ eyes. The best part of all of this? This is one of dozens of stories I could tell you (and will be happy to if you’d let me) about what this Gospel is doing in our city. Over the last 2 years I have been able to devote myself fully to being used by God to watch these stories unfold, and it has been an incredible joy each day amidst unbelievable challenges.

That challenge is why I am reaching out to you directly. I originally had planned on finding a second full time job, but in total honesty have had a hard time finding one as companies were concerned with my long-term availability. After much prayer and conversation we felt led to reach out to our network of support and ask for a chance to meet with you to share the vision of the church and future plans with you, and that you would prayerfully consider partnering with us for the remainder of 2020.

Our goal is to find 50 families who will commit to 50 dollars a month for the remainder of the year ONLY.  If you want to partner but cannot commit to 50 dollars, we are thankful for anything you can do to help us accomplish this calling. We wanted to place a hard timeline because we believe that with the growth of our church (up 250% since last April) consistently continuing that a timeline like this will keep us focused on our goals while allowing me to continue to give 100% of my time to the ministry.

This investment is more than helping us as missionaries to our city and joining with us in that supportive call, this is an investment in the eternities of people like Marcus and Jaycee who are going to be taking one last chance on God and come into our church. All partnerships are tax deductible, and you’ll get regular updates on the church and our ministry from Lane and I sharing some of the exciting stories of redemption happening at Trailside.

If you are open to meeting with me for coffee, a meal, or even a 15 minute phone call to hear more about what we are asking you to consider, please email me (sean@trailside.church) or text/call me (864-979-4802) at your earliest convenience. It would be my joy to share more of the last 2 years with you, our plan for the future (spoiler alert: its a big vision), and how your partnership will allow the Gajda family of 5 to continue forth.

If you are ready to take the step to partner with our family and our church, you can do so by clicking on these words and selecting “Gajda Family Support.” From there you will have the option to select regular giving or a one time gift.

For more information and a little more in depth understanding of why we are taking this step with a growing church, please take a few minutes to watch the video below. It would mean everything to us to have you with us as we continue this amazing calling of planting a church in our growing town — averaging a net 68 new homes a month!

No matter what you may be able to do, one thing we would beg are for your consistent prayers. Planting a church has been incredible and also immensely challenging. Spiritual warfare is a very real thing and we’ve felt that more than ever. If you have a home church, pray for your pastor as well! The weight is different than I ever anticipated!

Here are a few things you can pray specifically alongside us with: Pray for our Church leadership, that God would guide us well. Pray for our church body, that God would continue to grow us spiritually and numerically. Pray for our city, that there would be a reawakening of the Gospel and its power over brokenness. Lastly, pray for our vision, that it would be God honoring and unrelenting as we seek to reach our city with the truth of the Gospel of Jesus.

Family, thank you for loving us and taking the time to consider this. I can’t wait to update you on what God is doing at Trailside, and how your partnership and love for us is making redemption more common than brokenness.

You are so loved.

Sean, Lane, Collin, Emma, Gavin (and Moose the dog)