November 2010

Dear Partners,

I don’t even know how to begin a letter like this. Words seem scarce, and to say that my heart is heavy is a great understatement.

As you’ve been aware while walking this road with us, the past two years have been extremely difficult for Thrive. We have encountered significant challenges that far exceed any other obstacle we’ve overcome in the past 13 years of ministry. As a team of staff and partners, we have all worked tirelessly to push through these hardships, and your continued belief in us and your support of the work God’s been doing means so much to me.

In spite of strong efforts to raise the necessary funds—by rebranding, launching a fundraising campaign, opening an online store, and sharing with as many people around the nation as possible—our financial support has continued to dwindle. For the first time since our inception, we’ve found ourselves unable to sustain our basic operating expenses, for multiple months in a row.

As a Board of Directors, we have been exploring various options and contingency plans to navigate the ministry forward, yet nothing seemed to truly be a solution. Somewhere in this process, in an intangible way that is impossible to clearly explain or quantify, the fight for Thrive seemed to shift. While we aren’t new to hardship, something about all these challenges started to feel different, as if we’re laboring to push Thrive forward outside of His strength.

Last month the Board of Directors came to the point of needing to make the most difficult decision we’ve ever made. After long, hard conversations and independent prayerful consideration, the Board agreed that the only option is to acknowledge that Thrive’s season is over. We will officially be closing our operations in South Africa at the conclusion of the ministry year.

This whole process has torn our hearts in a way I can’t even begin to describe. It is with incredible sorrow that this chapter comes to a close. Yet underneath the deep, painful heartache, I sense rising waves of God’s peace.

I am thankful that the closing of Thrive doesn’t mean a ceasing of the vital work we have been doing. We are supporting the launch of a new ministry through several of our staff members who will carry on large aspects of our programming. I look forward to introducing you in more detail to Ignite South Africa as plans are finalized. I also ask that you prayerfully consider continuing your partnership with us through April 2011. Incoming finances will be used to provide our indigenous ministry staff with severance pay and clear Thrive’s operational debts with our business partners in South Africa and America (approximately $10,000). It is our desire to finish strong and honorably in every way, and we need your help to do that.

My faith continues to be stretched as I learn to trust that God is good even when I have to grieve the loss of the ministry I helped birth, the calling and dream I’ve held since I was a teenager, and the only home and life I’ve known since I was 19. My faith isn’t faith at all if I only believe in the goodness of God when things are going well. So even now, even as I face the most painful and difficult season of my life, with tears streaming down my cheek, I clench my eyes tight and whisper… God is good.

We have much to celebrate and rejoice about as we look back at over a decade of ministry together in Africa. God has done incredible things, and you have been a vital part of that. Thank you for allowing Him to use you to bring the light and hope of Jesus to so many. Thank you for your faithful support and prayers. Thank you for all the ways you have stood with us for the beautiful people of South Africa.

I am humbly grateful for not only your partnership but also for your friendship. You have been a huge part of my life for a very long time, and I pray that you will continue to be. I honestly have no idea yet what this means for me personally. I have no plans, but strive to trust that God will show me and remain my perfectly-timed provision. You mean the world to me, and I would really like to keep in contact as all our lives continue to unfold. (You can email me here.)

I so appreciate your ongoing prayers for me, our entire staff team, and everyone whose lives are deeply impacted by this transition. Thank you for everything.

With love, thankfulness, sorrow, and hope, my heart still believes…

God is good.

Alece Ronzino
Thrive Africa Founder