Don’t plant alone.

We often use this phrase to describe the need for church-planting resources, collaboration, and coaching to help sustain church planters during the hard days of ministry. But for Demeko Bivens and Raph Peters, this phrase quite literally means more, as the long-time best friends chose to co-plant Sojourn Southside in Houston, Texas. 

Demeko and Raph were attending an Acts 29 church in Mississippi when they felt God’s call on their lives to be church planters. They began praying, and through Acts 29 connections, God opened doors for them to plant a church on the south side of Houston. “It was a beautiful gift of collaboration where two churches saw that they were better equipped together, one to send and one to receive.” Click To Tweet 

For residents in the Third Ward on the south side of Houston, hope is often hard to find. Sojourn Southside was planted with an emphasis on bringing gospel hope to these residents, reconciling neighbors to God and one another. Sojourn intentionally keeps its programming light so all members can unite around and invest in the mission to make disciples by building relationships and sharing the gospel in word and deed. 

Community outreach is at the forefront of Sojourn Southside’s ministry. The congregation is actively mentoring at the local elementary school, providing furniture to foster care and adoptive families in their zip code, and is extremely active in a local apartment complex with a violent history. Demeko shares, “The apartment complex we get to serve in and be served by has had murders twice when I have been there. We started a garden, and we are seeing the growth of vegetables that have been planted. We also have seen residents of that complex start worshiping with us on Sundays and pull up at community events. That may seem small but to know their stories and see them at church and community events is huge.”

Demeko affirms their partnership with Acts 29 has been a gift. Wisdom from men who are a few years ahead of him in ministry has been invaluable as he navigates difficult circumstances in the neighborhood. Raph adds, “Being a part of Acts 29 and even in an Acts 29 church before we came to Houston—just the relationship and equipping that has been present—has been formative for my wife and me; for Demeko and me.”

Sojourn Southside is one of five Acts 29 churches that make up Sojourn Houston. Together, they work to saturate the city of Houston with the gospel.

By God’s grace, Sojourn Southside is seeing gospel transformation. Men, women, and children are being baptized into their church family. Men and women who said they would never attend church again have become members. Thank you for your generosity that provides a network of support for church planters like Demeko and Raph all over the world.