Around The World: Global Updates

VIDEO TRANSCRIPT

Benjamin Kreps:

Hey everyone, and welcome to the Mark Prater Podcast. Our aim is to connect our global family of Sovereign Grace churches with our Executive Director. Mark, once again — as is our regular practice — you have some updates for us from around the globe, outside the States. But as we were talking about this and noting that this is yet another update on the podcast, we were talking about a potential concern: that it might come off as repetitive, because we do a lot of these kinds of updates. But we hope that isn't the case at all, because in sharing updates with us regularly on the podcast, you're not just giving us information about what's going on. There is a strategy and a heart behind these updates. Why don't you talk about that before we get into the updates?

Mark Prater:

Yeah. As we were talking about — we never want these to seem or come across as repetitive. We realize they could, as you said. But the reason that we give them is really this: our heart behind it, our strategy behind it, is to highlight what God is doing. What God is doing through our small family of churches as we plant churches and partner with churches throughout the world.

And by the way, we're not unique. Other denominations that are faithful to the gospel are doing the same thing. So Sovereign Grace is just playing their small part in advancing the gospel. But we do these, first of all, to highlight God Himself. And may that never be repetitive for us, because our main goal in giving these updates is to give God all the glory — because none of these things would be happening without Him going before us and without His activity.

There's also a second reason: as we hear these updates, I pray — and one of my hopes for an episode like this is that it actually stirs everyone in their local churches to reach out with the gospel. That would help advance our local mission. As we hear about what's happening globally, it would strengthen what we're doing locally in reaching the lost with the gospel. So I hope that for those couple of reasons — which I believe are important — this never becomes repetitive for us, but is rather a chance to glorify God and a chance to be truly inspired and affected in a way that we reach more people with the good news of Jesus Christ.

Benjamin Kreps:

Amen. Amen. And I love your heart behind the way that you want to give us updates regularly on the podcast. I'm always thrilled to hear about what God is doing — as you said — globally, in our tiny, really, when it comes down to it, family of churches. So let's get into it. Share some updates with us. What's going on globally?

Mark Prater:

I'm going to talk about four different parts of the world. I'm going to begin with Colombia. In our last episode where we gave a global update, I mentioned that probably by the fall of this year we would have three more partner churches in Colombia because men were being ordained. And actually, those ordinations just occurred last week. So this is kind of hot off the press news.

Benjamin Kreps:

Praise God.

Mark Prater:

Joselo Mercado was down there representing Sovereign Grace and leading through these ordinations. One of them was Ángel Miranda, who is in Sincelejo, Colombia. He is now officially an ordained pastor, and I'm sure he will sign the partnership agreement soon. And then two men in Barranquilla — one is Alejandro and the other is Rodolfo — two elders working together in the Sovereign Grace church there in Barranquilla, a big city of well over a million people, if I remember right.

And just to remind folks, we already have an ordained elder, Jacobis Aldana, who leads a church in Santa Marta, Colombia. So we now have four Sovereign Grace ordained elders in the nation of Colombia. And while Joselo was down there — he actually met with two or three other pastors who lead churches and have interest in becoming a part of Sovereign Grace. So it's just wonderful to see all of God's activity and work there in the nation of Colombia.

So now we're going to go to the Philippines and talk about what's happening there. One of the things that's very exciting for them and for us is that 14 men are beginning the 12-month process to pursue and complete ordination. Most of those men have been through the training and completed the Philippine Pastors Institute that Jeffrey Jo leads. So they've been equipped theologically, they've had their character examined, and now they're beginning the formal process of ordination. So pray for those 14 men as they work through the ordination and equipping process over the next year.

From there, we're going to go to Nairobi, Kenya. I mentioned Nairobi, Kenya just briefly in a previous episode. But what I wanted to highlight is that when I went to Ethiopia, I actually went to Nairobi, Kenya first. And this church had just celebrated their one-year anniversary — Sovereign Grace Church of Nairobi.

That church is led by Brian Kiama, a Kenyan who graduated from the Ethiopian Pastors College — I believe four or five years ago now — and Jonathan Leslie, an American from Rick Gamache’s church in Minnesota, who is now serving there as an elder as well. When they first planted the church, they were meeting in the Leslies' garage, and they just grew out of that garage and were searching for a meeting place. What they found was a really sufficient meeting space on the top of a sort of high-rise building that really overlooks the city. It's very beautiful.

When I was there just a few weeks ago, they probably had close to 80 people in that room — they had contracted it out. And I'm saying to Brian, "What are you going to do? You're running out of space." And he said, "I know — I don't know. We've got to figure that out, because finding church meeting space in an urban center like Nairobi has its challenges." So please pray for that for them, as they navigate what to do next if they do have to move. But again, God is at work drawing people, saving people, and adding them to Sovereign Grace Church in Nairobi. So there's a lot to celebrate when it comes to their one-year anniversary. And we thank God for Brian and Jonathan's faith to plant that church.

Just yesterday I received a letter from Mario Figueroa, who is the senior pastor and church planter of Vine Church in Tampa, Florida. Just to remind our listeners, that is a bilingual church here in the States. They do one service in English and one in Spanish. And that church has grown over the last year. There are a couple of excerpts from the letter Mario sent me and some other guys that really affected me, and I wanted to share them on this episode.

He begins the letter this way — and it's very well said:

"It doesn't feel real. A year has already passed, and yet somehow it has been one of the most full, faith-stretching, wonder-producing years of our lives. Time flew, but God didn't. There is something staggering about looking back over a year and realizing that you lived through what was not random at all. It was arranged not by our wisdom or our plans, but by a Father who was already at work before we ever showed up to the meeting."

That's a great way to start — a great way to give God glory. We plant and water, but it is God who brings growth, just to remind us of that. And then he says this — I just want to read this section of the letter:

"One of the most humbling moments of this past year came not from a big event or a strategic win, but from a sermon series. I love that we finished our first full preaching series in the Gospel of John — a series that was not originally planned. And what we discovered as we preached week after week was that God had already been composing this sermon for us. Members began sharing testimonies of how each message spoke directly into their present lives and realities — not just the ancient ones. Present pain, present confusion, present hope. The Word was alive and it was personal."

Then he says this:

"We tasted something in those moments. The God of all eternity had already set the table. He had already chosen the text, shaped the themes, and prepared the soil of our hearts long before Vine Church existed as a church. He had prepared a feast for us before we even knew we were hungry."

So that's a great way to capture what happens in a church plant. What's the best thing, the most strategic thing? It's a sermon series — the Gospel of John in this case. Just as a reminder to our pastors who are listening, who preach faithfully week after week: brothers, every time you step into the pulpit, you are stepping into an arena where eternity is at stake for many. You're stepping into a pulpit to lead and pastor your people. The most important thing you do is faithfully preach God's Word. Just a good, good reminder for us — and well written by Mario.

He goes on to talk about the spirit in which they've grown. He references our seven shaping virtues. He mentions how the church grew in servanthood — Spanish speakers serving English speakers and English speakers serving Spanish speakers. And then he wraps it up near the end with this:

"We have not walked this year alone. We have been held fast, not just by the Lord, but by His people — by a family of churches that does not merely confess unity in a statement of faith, but actually lives it out in prayer and generosity and the kind of personal, unhurried care that makes you feel bound. This is who Sovereign Grace Churches has been to us — not a network, but a family."

Really well said, because it captures our partnership. He goes on to commend Josh Murphy, his regional leader, and many guys in the region — Jim Brown, Keith Bunting, Matt Turner, just to name a few. So partnership is not just experienced on a denominational level, obviously — it's very much experienced at a regional level as well. And I just thought that might encourage our listeners to hear Mario's reflections on this past year.

Benjamin Kreps:

What a great letter. It is well written, but even more, the good report is so encouraging. In fact, all of these updates are encouraging. Aslan is on the move, clearly. And so this is the fruit of what God is doing in our family of churches.

But before we end here — a couple of weeks ago, we recorded a podcast with you at the Ethiopian Pastors College. If you missed that, go back and check it out. It's encouraging — we get to meet that class and hear some of their thoughts. At this moment, a couple weeks later, you are almost over your jet lag from being in Ethiopia for two weeks. But before we conclude this podcast, you want to share a really compelling story of one of the students that you interacted with at the Pastors College in Ethiopia.

Mark Prater:

Yeah. I want to share this story because I think it's a reminder for us of why we do what we do — why we plant churches in the States and around the world, why we partner with churches and have, as Mario said, an actual, living partnership with churches in the States and throughout the world. And the main reason we do it is to advance the good news of Jesus Christ, for the glory of Christ. And this is a story that I think captures that.

There is a man in the Ethiopia Pastors College — I'm not going to use his name; I just want to be careful for security reasons. He's Ethiopian. He comes from the northern part of the country. This man was Orthodox — Ethiopian Coptic — part of the Ethiopian Coptic Church. And he actually pursued becoming a priest, an Orthodox priest. He had actually been in a monastery seminary for three years, studying everything you need to study to become an Orthodox or Ethiopian Coptic priest.

For some reason, he was in Addis Ababa on a Sunday and was walking by Trinity Fellowship Church — the building they meet in. He heard music and thought, "What's that?" And so he went in and sat in the back of the room and heard Michael Granger — I believe — clearly preach the gospel that morning, which Michael typically does on a Sunday. And this man was radically born again. He was saved. And from that moment, his life turned around.

He obviously stopped his time at the monastery. His family has disowned him. We were walking together one evening and he was telling me about it. He said, "You see that side street there? One night, there was some military who my uncle knows, and they dragged me down there, and they just beat him up really bad." He didn't know where to go, so he went to Amanuel’s house — a Sovereign Grace ordained pastor there. And they just cared for him. And now the family has actually begun legal proceedings to formally disown him.

So he's telling me this whole story. And I said, "How is that affecting you? How is it landing on you?" And he looked at me and said, "Mark, Jesus is worth it." And I just stared at him. And he said it again: "Jesus is worth it. And this is my family — Trinity Fellowship. This is my family now."

So that is a story of how the gospel radically converts. People hear it, the Spirit moves and regenerates them, they turn from sin, they place their faith in Christ, and a life is completely transformed. Again, for our pastors — preach the gospel faithfully. And to members of our churches — let us believe that when we share the gospel, not every time, but when we share the gospel, we are either planting seeds, or we may see conversion in that moment. That's why we do what we do: to see more people like this man give their life to Christ.

Benjamin Kreps:

Amen. Let's press on together in this wonderful mission we've been given, to see the gospel advance globally. You know, one of the gifts of this expanding global partnership that we have is that we have men like this brother you're describing as part of our family — giving us a compelling example of faithfulness to Jesus in the face of the worst kinds of opposition and persecution, and concluding that Jesus is enough. And so that stirs my soul. I'm sure it stirs the souls of many who are checking out the podcast.

So thank you, Mark. Don't stop giving those global updates, okay? We love them. So thanks for the updates. And thank you everyone for checking out the podcast. We'll see you here next week, Lord willing. Bye for now.