In a recent ‘Quarterly Prayer Requests’ email, Mark Prater wrote the following…

In his timeless classic, “The Christian Ministry” Charles Bridges writes, “Prayer implies the renunciation of all dependence upon our best preparations, ministerial gifts, or spiritual habits; an acknowledgement of their insufficiency to qualify us for the discharge of our commission; and a simple dependence upon our Glorious Head for his present influence.”

Why do we pray for one another as a family of churches? Because prayer is a renunciation of our self-dependence and an expression of our complete dependence on God for His present influence, provision, help, and power. Prayer is a regular reminder that we cannot accomplish all that God has called us to do without asking for His "present influence.” 

God loves to hear our desperate, dependent prayers for one another and for our shared mission. Therefore, here’s some ways you can be praying for our family of churches and our shared mission in the month ahead…

1. Pray that God would give the members and pastors of Sovereign Grace churches opportunities to share the gospel with unbelievers in our communities, workplaces and on our campuses. Pray for the saving grace of God to reach many.

2. Pray for the 5 U.S. church plants that are launching this fall in Coatesville, PA, Galloway, NJ, North Knoxville, TN, Springhill, TN and North Manchester, IN asking God to draw unbelievers and the unchurched to those churches, and to bless the labors of the church planting teams.

3. Pray for the first Sovereign Grace Latin America Pastors Retreat in Santa Marta, Colombia this month, which is the first of its kind outside of Mexico, when pastors from Colombia, Bolivia and Costa Rica will gather to build relationally, give updates, and pray about building Sovereign Grace Churches in Latin America in the future.

4. Pray for Jeff and Julie Purswell as they travel to Sydney, Australia to serve at the Sovereign Grace Churches, Australia, Together 2025 event, August 8-10, 2025, when the pastors and members of our 2 churches in that nation will gather for worship, teaching, and fellowship. Pray for Dave Taylor and Riley Spring asking God to give them grace to lead this important gathering.

5. Pray for our new 2025-2026 Pastors College students and their families from 3 different nations who will be moving to Louisville, KY before classes start at the end of August, asking God to provide for them and to give them grace to grow over the next year while at the PC.

6. Pray for the Sovereign Grace Churches Executive Committee retreat in Glen Mills, PA, August 19-22, 2025, asking God to give the 9 men on this committee wisdom and help in fulfilling their responsibility of overseeing and evaluating the Leadership Team.

7. Pray that God would continue to provide financially for Sovereign Grace Churches so that we can fund the gospel opportunities He is giving us throughout the world.

Thank you so much. May our dependence only bring about more of His great influence, all for His glory alone.

An update from Bart Lipscomb, Senior Pastor of Christ Church of Conroe, Texas and SGC Area Leader for Africa...

One of the highlights I have as the Area Leader for Africa is getting to go and visit our churches in person! Recently, that included two stops in the southern part of the continent, Christ Community Church in Ndola, Zambia and Sovereign Grace Church Windhoek in Namibia.

What a welcome it was to be greeted upon my arrival at the Ndola airport by members of the leadership team and their families! Only to be followed up by getting to join in their weekly prayer meeting at one of the member’s homes. That was a special evening.

The next day, Ector Makaliki, McDonald Chanda, Stephen Lubakila and myself were able to spend an unhurried morning talking about a wide range of subjects and hearing updates on the church. That included a stop to walk a piece of land which the church owns in a thriving part of town and hopes to soon be able to build on. Please pray for city leaders to finally approve that project as they have been waiting a long time! 

Then, on Sunday, we gathered with the whole church in worship. Some of the songs were in English. Some of them were in Bemba. Yet, as is always the case in Christ, we enjoyed a spiritual unity which doesn’t flatten cultural differences into the lowest common denominator. But, instead, rightly celebrates those distinctions while still managing to grow us together!

But, perhaps my favorite part of the time in Zambia was eating dinner that evening with the tireless servants who lead the ministries of the church and to listen as each of them shared their love for their local church and their faith for how the Lord is at work. I came away from that time very encouraged!

That however, was only the first leg of the trip! I also then had the opportunity to fly over to visit the Krugers in Namibia. What a beautiful country!

Josh is doing an outstanding job leading that new church. And, it was a real joy to get to know his family better, especially his two boys, who taught this sheltered American all about cricket and rugby! As we all know, church planting is a sacrifice, not only for the planter. But, also for his family. So, what an honor to be able to tell them, on behalf of SGC, how thankful to God we are for them and for what they are doing!

I wish I could have been there for a Sunday as well. But, the next best thing was getting to be a part of a mid-week small group where they gather in a living room to talk about and apply the messages from the Sunday series in the Gospel of Mark. It was a happy thing listening to them dig into the depths and wonder of Jesus’ Triumphant Entry, which Josh had just preached on.

The Lord is clearly bringing some solid folks to help form the core of this new body. Pillars like that are a much-needed gift to any new church family. And, I’m eager to see this next phase for SGC Windhoek!

As I was returning home to Houston and reflecting on all the ways the Lord went before and answered our prayers, over and above what we had even asked, I was filled with fresh gratitude for you, our family of churches. Your generosity, prayers and involvement are what make stories like these possible.

What a gift that the Lord chooses to use ordinary folks like us and local churches like ours to see the Gospel go forward, all for the glory of Christ and the good of His people!

Todd Peterson (Pastor at Cross of Grace Church, El Paso, Texas), together with Erik Rangel (Lead Pastor of Legacy Church in Yuma, Arizona) are our SGC Representatives to India. Here is an update from Todd on their recent trip…

In June, Erik Rangel and I were able to make our annual trip to India for 11 days. Our first stop was to visit Pastors Caleb, Sidhanta and Sunil from Church on Mount Zion (CMZ), in Bhubaneswar, Odisha. We have been getting to know Caleb and Sidhanta for about three years now, but this was our first time meeting pastor Sunil. CMZ has been an official partner candidate church for over a year now and Caleb and Sidhanta started the ordination process in 2025.

I think that Erik would agree that the time spent with the pastors on this visit contained some of the most significant biblical vs. cultural breakthroughs that we’ve had in our visits to India. The Lord had brought to light through previous conversations some important personal areas that we needed to press into beginning with the pastor’s marriages and families. Talking about these types of personal matters, even among pastors, is very countercultural, and we knew that these would be watershed conversations that would help determine how far our partnership would be able to move forward.

We spent two whole days just talking through what the Bible calls us to as pastors leading and loving our wives and children. By God’s grace, we were able together to explore the seldom, if ever, discussed topic of the health of the church in light of the health of the pastor and his family. We discovered some real cultural pressures that prioritize the needs of the congregation over the needs of the pastor’s family. We were moved by the humility and openness of each of the pastors during our discussions.

We were even able to cross one more cultural boundary and bring the wives into the conversation on the second day. The time together was met with tears of joy from their wives as they shared that no one had ever endeavored to pastorally meet them in such a personal way. After the time with their wives, we were able to all have a nice lunch together, and you could tell that God was using that time of honesty and transparency to bond us all closer together than we had been during the previous visits.

This time together has given us plenty to work on in the near future as the Lord has brought down some significant barriers that we believe will allow Him to work in many areas of their lives and ministry, bringing us closer to an understanding of what we mean by partnership in SGC.  

We then traveled south to Gundugolanu, Andhra Pradesh to visit our good friend Pastor Jaya Prakash (JP). In March of 2023 at the Asia-Pacific Pastors Conference, as we were ending a three-month time of prayer to get direction for our continued futile attempts to start a pastors college in Andhra Pradesh, the Holy Spirit very clearly directed JP and me to pursue building a full-fledged English-medium school in Gundugolanu instead of a pastors college. We were not expecting this in any way. The only school in that area for children up to 8th grade is a series of outdoor sheds that currently houses 1400 students. God told us that this would be the primary means by which he would spread the gospel in this area. We have been working on all of the complex corporate, legal and governmental requirements ever since.

With that process almost complete, this trip was about determining the land to be purchased for the location of the school as well as meeting with consultants, civil engineers, and a few of JP’s acquaintances that God has brought forward to help us with this project. God continues to go before us in each step, breaking down barriers and bringing people from apparently out of nowhere that are helping us to move this project forward. The first phase of the project will be a 20,000 sq. ft. building with a capacity of up to 600 students that we hope to open in June 2027.

On the church front, by God’s grace JP’s current church building is now too small and we talked about the plans and funding for expanding the church, which is especially challenging since it was built on top of his house. At the writing of this update, God has provided all of the funds for the expansion between the church congregation, donations from partner churches, as well as a grant from the SGC Asia-Pacific Development Fund, and they are excited to get started!

We also had some time to talk about a long-term plan for gauging the desire for and parameters of partnership with other churches/pastors in the area. This is a very slow process in India since the idea of partnership at a village level is almost completely foreign outside of financial partnerships.

Please continue to pray for us. We believe God will show us the way forward if it’s His will to draw churches together into partnership, for the sake of the gospel in this region of India.

Ray and Rebecca Clancy.

An update from Ed O’Mara, Lead Pastor of Chiesa Grazia Sovrana di Torino, Italy and SGC Area Leader for Europe…

For 25 years, Calvary Church has been proclaiming the gospel to the needy city of Galway, Ireland. In July 2000, Ray and Rebecca Clancy and their children relocated from Southern California to the west coast of Ireland to plant a church in the city. Since 2000, many things have changed in Galway. The once monolithically Irish city has diversified, modernized, and grown incredibly. During this time, Ray also grew in his appreciation for the doctrines of Grace and began developing a friendship with Sovereign Grace, and in particular with Ron Boomsma, who was then serving the Sovereign Grace church in Pasadena. Through this friendship, Ray and Rebecca received care and became much more closely associated with SGC, attending conferences and accessing our materials to serve their church.

The result of these changes and the Clancy’s friendship with SGC is a church that embodies the culture and values of Sovereign Grace. The church is filled with a diverse mix of people of different ages from various countries and backgrounds. Yet, the thing that stands out to me every time I visit is their love for one another and their commitment to serve one another. The leaders of the church have consistently led the people to the foot of the cross and this has formed a church family that celebrates and applies the gospel!

As time has progressed, Ray and his leaders decided to pursue a formal relationship with Sovereign Grace. I have been working closely with Ray and another leader (Stephanus Meiring, married to LuAnne) for about 2 years. During this time we have focused on what it means to be part of Sovereign Grace. We have studied the Statement of Faith and our shared values and virtues. We have looked at our polity and how this will function in Europe and what part each local church will play. Most of all, we have built a close relationship and have cared for one another and encouraged one another.

Most recently, Ray and his leadership team signed on to become a Candidate Church in recognition of pursuing full partnership. In June, I visited the church for 4 days. During this time we focused on the ordination process and the particulars of the Book of Church order. I was also privileged to meet with their men’s group and to observe, first hand, how Calvary is passionate about living together in the good of the gospel. I also had the opportunity to meet with several leaders, to enjoy fellowship with the broader church family, and to preach the word on Sunday.

Stephanus & LuAnne Meiring

Looking ahead Ray and Stephanus have begun studying for their ordination tests. Our hope is that, as these men complete their ordinations, we continue to strengthen our relational connection not only with Ray and his team, but with the entire church as they become full partners in SGC. We also look forward to continuing to build SGC in Europe and see Calvary Church of Galway as a key component to what the Lord is doing among our European churches.

While there is much I could write to commend this church and its leaders, the highest encouragement I can give is what I feel most appropriately describes Calvary Church: they are gospel-people! It is an honor to be building together with them in Europe and an honor to be bringing them into our family of churches! If you find yourself in western Ireland, certainly do touristy things… but make time to encounter Jesus with this wonderful church!

An update from Leo Parris, Pastor at Covenant Fellowship Church, Glen Mills, Pennsylvania and US Coordinator of Global Missions in SGC…

In the beginning of July, Covenant Fellowship Church sent a construction team to partner with Iglesia Biblica de Playa Azul for the fifth consecutive year. Each year, the ties between our churches strengthen, our mission is galvanized, and our awareness of God’s global heart is enhanced. More than 80 people from our church have participated in these trips over the last several years. More and more folks in my church are carrying the people and mission in Costa Rica on their hearts. These trips have given us the privilege of watching this candidate church grow from 15 people to 50, plant a church, and continue to grow. This year was a particular joy as individuals from 3 other Sovereign Grace Churches participated. This has built our local partnership in the US and brought more Sovereign Grace churches into the mission in Costa Rica.

This year, we also sent a team of Youth, Youth Leaders, and Parents to hold a Youth Camp in Playa Azul. We did this the week after the construction team. More than 30 youth from 4 SG candidate churches participated, along with several other churches. Together, we worshiped, listened to God’s Word preached, played a ton of games, and built lasting ties. Chespi Sandoval, Alvaro Poveda, Jared Torrence and I shared the pulpit together. 

Both teams had the joy of worshipping in Playa Azul and Jaco on the Sunday of the trip. The times of singing and preaching were powerful. Each church is full of new believers that are passionate and expressive in their praise. 

God is on the move in Costa Rica. In La Gracia Iglesia in San Jose and Iglesia Gracia Soberana in Cartago we already have SG churches. In Playa Azul, Jaco, and many other places we have churches nearing full status as Sovereign Grace Churches. Iglesia Gracia Soberana in Jaco is in the midst of a Bridge course right now. Many people are coming to Christ and learning the freedom and power of the gospel. And because of these trips, our church in the suburbs of Philadelphia is deeply invested in this progress of the gospel. 

Short term missions trips are expensive and require a lot of resources to plan, but there is no better way to build a global conscious into a local church than through real relationships with people in other places. 

The church in Playa Azul is praying that more churches will send teams to facilitate their mission. My hope is that there would be an increase in our churches engaging in annual trips like this one so that our global denomination increasingly functions as a family of churches reaching the nations together. Our construction trip is open to members of other Sovereign Grace Churches. Contact Leo Parris if you are interested in joining. 

Check out this video recap of our Youth Camp!

An update from Jeffrey Jo, Lead Pastor of Cross of Christ Salvation Gospel Ministries in Manila, Philippines, and National Leader of Sovereign Grace Churches, Philippines…

The late JC Ryle once said, “What is the best safeguard against false doctrine? The Bible regularly read, regularly prayed over, regularly studied.” This has always been our hope with the PPI or Philippine Pastors Institute in Mindanao. With no bible school or seminary that is faithful to reformed theology, false teachings and twisted, corrupted ministry philosophies are rampant in the southeastern region of Mindanao. And with most of our pastors already in their prime years, God has used PPI to face these challenges for the future of the gospel and churches in the southern, muslim-dominated part of the Philippines. Without intentional and ‘sacrificial’ efforts, inspirationally born out of our gospel fidelity, Mindanao remains a catch basin for the overflow of false teachings from wolves in sheep’s clothing, enemies of the cross of Christ! Facing all the dangers of travels both in land and in the air, it is the love of Christ that compels us to always go back and serve our churches in this region, leaving our families and local churches for a while to spend quality time in training our church leaders in the ways of the scriptures.

June 8th was the graduation of the second batch for level 1 of PPI. Level 1 deals with foundational theology, our 7-shared values and 7-shaping virtues. It is a 9-month study where students gather every Saturday from 9AM until 4PM. The goal of level 1 is to make sure that our young pastors and children’s ministry teachers (mostly ladies) know and teach the right doctrines both to adults and to our children. Proverbs 22:6 highlights the lasting impact of early training. While not a guarantee, it suggests that the foundation laid in childhood will likely grow with a person, making it part of his journey of life.

There were 19 enrollees but only 11 made it. Four men serve as local elders in our three churches, while the remaining two men are lead pastors of their own churches that do not belong to SGC but have shown interest in partnering with us. The five ladies are either pastor’s wives, serving their women’s ministry or are children’s ministry teachers.

One of the graduates by the name of CJ, a youth leader from Cross of Christ Salvation Gospel Ministries, Tandag City said, “I thank the Lord for helping me finish the PPI course. PPI taught me the significance that every belief and doctrine should be based on the Bible.” Pastor Arnel of CFF Adlay said, “I have humbly learned that our salvation is all of God’s doing by Christ and in Christ, and that apart from His kindness, we will never be saved.” Pastor Jun of CFF Paniquian said, “I am grateful for PPI and Sovereign Grace Churches for allowing us this much needed training for pastors in Mindanao. I have learned not to take biblical interpretations lightly and that it should only be taught in its’ proper context.”

We are blessed to have Rey Lacbayo, one our ordained SG pastors, faithfully teach these students for 9 months and to serve them with humility and friendship. I am also grateful for Francis Mariano, an ordained SG pastor as well, who visits PPI every 3 months to serve alongside Rey in teaching and training our students. I also would like to acknowledge all the prayers and support of our local church elders for allowing us to serve our church leaders down south of the Philippines. And with never-ending gratitude to our SGC Leadership Team, thank you for all the trust, partnership and friendship that is so heartfelt, inspiring us to serve the gospel of Christ even more in these last days. I hope to see the next generation of SGC pastors in the Philippines who will continue to keep the gospel aflame, plant more Christocentric churches and be filled with humility, love and joyous commitment.

Sovereign Grace exists to plant and strengthen churches for the glory of God, and in His kindness, we are presently in the process of planting six churches in the United States.

Recently, two of these Church Planters joined Mark Prater, our Executive Director, on his podcast. They both have such good stories to tell, so please listen in… I believe you’ll be seriously encouraged!!

Eric Huber: Galloway, New Jersey - Planting 14th September

Nathan Smith: Coatsville, Pennsylvania - Planting 21st September

Exciting times!!

In John 15.4-5, Jesus says, “Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.”

Those final few words give us such an important and sobering God-given perspective on how much we’ll be able to do for the Lord by ourselves. How much? Nothing, nada, nought, zilch, diddly squat, empty handed, blank space, nil ... So, oh my, how we need the Lord don’t we! If we’re going to be able to do anything, the main thing we need is Him!  For apart from Him we really can do nothing!

With that in mind, here’s how you can be praying for some of our Global endeavours in the month ahead...

1. Please pray for the 20 young adults who are heading to Sovereign Grace Church, Sydney, Australia, from Cornerstone Church, Knoxville, US, 5th-14th July, to run a Kids Club with 50+ children from both inside and outside of the Church. Please pray that God would bless their ministry as they seek to share the gospel with both kids and adults alike, and that the great joy of Sovereign Grace partnership would be cultivated and enjoyed by everyone involved.

2. Please pray for the Sovereign Grace Philippines Regional Assembly of Elders, as they gather together in Cebu, 9th-12th July. During their time together they’ll be talking through the growing number of Churches interested in partnership with Sovereign Grace in the Philippines, the various updates needed and recommended for the SGC Philippines Book of Church Order, as well as whole host of ministry matters. May the Lord give these brothers great wisdom and insight as they gather together in this way, and extra measure to Jeffrey Jo as he seeks to lead this time.

3. Please pray for Bart Lipscombe, SGC Area Leader for Africa, as he heads to Zambia 11th-14th July, and then Namibia, 14th-18th July. Please pray that he’d be a great blessing to each of the pastoral teams and churches that those trips represent, and that He’d give Bart wisdom and insight as to how to serve them, encourage them and come alongside them well.

4. Please pray for the SGC LATAM Pastors Retreat, in Santa Marta, Colombia, July 15th-17th. There’ll be ten pastors from Colombia, six from Costa Rica and two from Bolivia, who will be attending the retreat, which will be led by Joselo Mercado (Key Leader in LATAM) and Rich Richardson (SGC Area Leader for LATAM). This will be the first retreat of this type outside of Mexico, may it be wonderful encouragement to all of our Pastors in this region.  

5. Please pray for the two teams from Covenant Fellowship that are headed to Playa Azul. The first team heads June 30th-July 7th, to complete a construction project and to build together in partnership and relationship as churches. Then July 7th-14th, the second team is a team of youth that are headed over to lead a youth camp for local kids, plus any kids from our local Sovereign Grace Churches that are there. Please pray that this would be a great blessing for everyone involved.

6. Please continue to pray for Michael Ostanin and Arche Church, Dnipro, Ukraine. That the war would soon come to an end, and that whilst they wait for that moment, that the light and hope of the gospel would shine brightly in the midst of darkness and suffering, and that the manifold wisdom of God be revealed through His church.  

… Thank you so much for prayers. As we abide in Him, may His grace truly abound to us all.  

In Romans 11.36, we read, “For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.” And as I look back now, just a week on from celebrating our fifteen year anniversary as Sovereign Grace Church, Wahroonga, Romans 11.36 is without doubt my full-hearted declaration. It has all been His work, and it is marvellous in our eyes.  

Humanly speaking, our story actually began back in 2004, when God led Mike Pasalich to write to C.J.Mahaney to see if Sovereign Grace would ever consider planting a church in Sydney, Australia. This letter, through a long chain of God-inspired events, would lead to our move. A move that was unexpected, unforeseen and unanticipated by us, yet a journey that God had so clearly began. We would’ve never even come on holiday to Australia if left to ourselves, it’s so far to come from the UK!! But God had other plans, and so in June 2010 my wife and I, along with our three small children, got on a plane to relocate to Sydney, Australia from Newport, Wales, to plant the church. Full of hope, full of faith, full of unknown, and yet full of clarity that this story had truly started with Him.

Did that make the transition easy? No. Honestly, it was really hard to be in a foreign land, 10,500 miles away from family and all that knew of as familiar. I had never actually planted a church before, nor been a lead pastor, nor ever pastored in a very different context to my own. But as I look back now with my family, fifteen years on, our view is filled with grace, grace and more grace.

In the last fifteen years, we have repeatedly seen His saving grace, with so many people: Jiy Lim, Celia Tan, Nick Gordon, Bri Edwards, Nick Beed, Steve Jackson, Momch Pasalich, Ryan O’Gorman and Annette Packham, to name but a few, coming to know Jesus Christ as their Lord and Saviour. Some of these dear Saints we still get to worship alongside on a Sunday, others have already gone on to be with Jesus, and each one of them, is a wonderful trophy of grace.

There’s also been restoring grace, as so many of our folk have arrived at Sovereign Grace over the last fifteen years having previously given up on church or God, for a whole variety of reasons, and yet have been gently and wonderfully restored by His hand.

There’s also been sanctifying grace, where lives and marriages and families and workplaces, have been totally transformed by the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ. Lives that have been touched by the King, and people then who are being changed from one degree of glory to another by His gracious hand.

Then there’s been sustaining grace. Job tells us, ‘For as sure as sparks fly upwards, troubles fall’, and we’ve seen that. Health challenges, marriage challenges, relational challenges, parenting challenges, financial challenges, we’ve experienced them all... But what we’ve also seen time and time again is His people being carried in the grip of His grace and never let go.

And then there’s been His provisional grace. Since our very inception in 2010, God has provided for us as a church in incredible ways. Financially, we’ve rarely gone without.  In facilities, He’s always provided for what we need, often in abounding ways. And in personnel, His provision has always been a wonder to behold – musicians, worship leaders, pa, media, graphic design, set up, hospitality, welcoming, group leaders, sphere leaders and pastors. He’s provided it all.

In His abounding grace, He’s even given us the opportunity to send out our first church plant, Sovereign Grace Church, Parramatta in September of 2019, and watch the birth of Sovereign Grace Churches, Australia. Then there’s been the amazing work of His grace in Asia-Pacific, in places like South Korea, Nepal, India, Pakistan and the Philippines, in which He’s so kindly allowed us to be a part. It’s all so much more than we ever imagined we’d get to see when we arrived in 2010, but so indicative of the gracious and kind God He is.

For from him and through and to him are all things. He’s such a kind and gracious King... It’s all His work and always will be... And so may all glory go to Him.

Soli Deo Gloria.

Below is a video that we put together for our anniversary celebration. Fifteen years of grace. Enjoy.

An update from Pat Tedeschi, Pastor of Oasis International Church in London, UK…

On January 31, 2025, Dana and I were commissioned by our home church, Greentree Church (NJ), to begin a new season of ministry at Oasis International Church in London. We’re excited and grateful to be serving in one of the world’s most culturally diverse cities—with many millions from least-evangelized people groups from around the globe.

I have the privilege of serving as pastor alongside Randy Lawler, Oasis’s founding pastor, helping to oversee various areas of ministry. Dana is actively involved in women’s ministry, music, and hospitality. We’re also collaborating with Dave Taylor and Ed O’Mara of Sovereign Grace Europe to help Oasis become an Emerging Nations Church within the Sovereign Grace family.

These first five months we have focused on adjusting to a new culture, forming relationships, and planting Gospel seeds. Here’s a snapshot of what God is doing—and how you can pray.

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Building Relationships & Gospel Conversations

We’ve been intentional about forming friendships with neighbors in our building, welcoming them into our home with the desire to love them well and share the hope of Jesus.

• I’m currently reading the Gospel of Mark with a young Italian man from a non-Christian background who’s eager to learn about Jesus.

• I’ve also connected with a Lebanese Druze man who’s interested in reading Scripture together.

• Dana has been meeting women from the church and recently began building a relationship with a young Japanese mother. Though she has no religious background, she’s open to hearing about the Lord.

Pray that we would remain faithful and Spirit-dependent in our witness, and that God would draw these friends to Himself.

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Small Groups & Discipleship

We’ve launched men’s and women’s small groups, and it’s been a joy to see participants grow in faith and community—including several who are not yet believers.

Pray for ongoing spiritual growth, deepening relationships, and clarity in understanding the Gospel.

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Evangelism & Outreach

Every month, we go out with church members for neighborhood outreach. Many in our congregation are still learning English, but they’re stepping out in faith and boldness to share Christ.

Pray for open hearts and greater confidence as we engage with our local community.

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New Venue Search

Our current meeting space limits our ability to grow and reach more people. We’re prayerfully seeking a new venue in a strategic, diverse neighborhood where few Gospel-preaching churches exist.

Pray for God’s guidance and provision as we search for a new home for Oasis.

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October Mission Team (Oct 3–13)

We’re preparing to host a short-term mission team from several Sovereign Grace churches this fall. Their visit will support our outreach efforts and help us connect with the community in fresh ways.

Pray for fruitful conversations and mutual encouragement during this mission trip.

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We are so thankful for your prayers, support, and partnership in the Gospel. If you’d like to learn more or explore how you can be involved, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us at pattedeschi@greentree.org

It was on the 24th of February 2022, that Russia launched its large-scale invasion of Ukraine, sparking dark and worrying times for the country. With outbreak of war, fear and uncertainty filled the whole nation, every day bringing increasingly alarming news, with continued shelling and growing numbers of casualties. Yet in the midst of this evil and carnage, there are pastors and their churches in Ukraine that have been labouring hard to care for people, and to offer hope that can only be found in Jesus.

To that end, we’ve been working closely with our historic partner church in Germany – Arche Church, in Hamburg, through this time. They planted a church in Dnipro, Ukraine around 5 years ago with a graduate from the Arche Pastors College, Michael Ostanin, a dear friend of Jeff Purswell and our family of churches, a friend and church that we’ve been eager to support.

Just recently, Jeff reached out to Michael, having read about the recent bombardment of Ukraine, to enquire of him and to let him know of our love and prayers. Here’s some of what Michael wrote back...

Dear Jeff,

Thank you for your prayers. God is truly protecting us!

We have just finished our summer camp for refugee children. On the very first day of the camp, there was a rocket attack on our city. There was a lot of destruction. 20 people were killed. About 300 people were injured.

One rocket exploded 200 meters from our church building during the camp. We did not have time to hide the children in the bomb shelter, because these were ballistic missiles, they are very fast. The children were very scared. But thank God, none of the children or adults were hurt.

Thank God, the church building was not damaged, the windows were not broken, because we reinforced all the glass in the church building with armoured film.

Immediately after the first explosion, we lowered all the children into the bomb shelter. The rocket attack continued for another 40 minutes, we heard loud explosions. The children were crying. Thank God we had ice cream and it somehow comforted the kids. That was the first day of camp. :)

But the next day of camp we had 50 more new kids!

We welcomed 8 new church members this Sunday.

And we still continue to minister to hundreds of refugees every Sunday.

Thank you, Jeff.

Your ministry and prayers are very important to me!

What an privilege we have to partner with our brothers and sisters in Ukraine. Michael and his team continue to preach the gospel, and shepherd their people, even in the midst of challenging circumstances and heartache. Their church of 140 members, continues to have over 700 people in attendance every week... And each week they seek to preach Christ and Him crucified, as they seek to win people to Christ.

So I want to ask you to please keep praying for Michael and Arche Church, Dnipro. Please pray that the war would soon come to an end, and that whilst they wait for that moment, that the light and hope of the gospel would shine brightly in the midst of darkness and suffering, and that the manifold wisdom of God be revealed through His church. Come Lord Jesus.

An update from David Del Castillo, Pastor of Gracia Soberana, Santa Cruz, Bolivia…

Dear Friends,

Over the last 12 months, God has been so good to us!

In July 2024, after four years of meeting in a small facility, God graciously opened the door for us to move into a new space. This was the result of much prayer and dependence on Him. The new place was unfinished—just exposed brick walls and a bare interior—but it was affordable, and we saw potential. We signed a long-term lease that allowed us to invest in improving the space while keeping the rent stable.

The rest of 2024 was marked by hard work. We dedicated time and resources to adapt the space for worship and ministry. But more importantly, we faced the beautiful challenge of ministering to a growing number of people who needed to be discipled. The physical improvements were necessary, but it was the spiritual growth among us that encouraged us the most.

This year, we are especially grateful to see how God continues to establish us—not just as a congregation that gathers, but as a church that is growing in faith, love, and mission. One of the highlights of the year was our January members’ meeting, where we shared our 2025 discipleship plan. The first step in that plan came to life in February, when we hosted a retreat titled “I Need to Be Discipled.”

This retreat was led by dear friends and gospel partners: Leo and Melissa Parris from Philadelphia and Alejandro and Paola Cueto from Barranquilla, Colombia. Through their teaching and personal investment, the retreat challenged us to take discipleship seriously—not as a program, but as a way of life together. Following the retreat, we launched three weekly small groups that are now central to our church life.

Our Sunday gatherings have also grown. We currently welcome around 140 people each week. This growth has created a joyful sense of urgency: more people are hearing the gospel, but many also need guidance and care. For the third year in a row, we have around 30 people going through our membership process. Lord willing, by September, we will have between 80 and 90 members.

As our congregation grows, so does the need for more leaders. That’s why we are intentionally discipling and equipping couples to start new care groups. Please pray for this effort, as we see it as one of the most important ways God is calling us to serve in this season.

This July, we are hosting a Biblical Counseling Seminar to further equip our church. One of the main speakers will be Pastor Abelardo Muñoz from Mexico, someone we deeply respect and love. While the seminar is open to other churches, about 30 of the 130 attendees are from our own congregation. Many of these were personally invited and are being trained to take part in the ministry of discipleship and care.

Looking ahead to August, we are excited to welcome more ministry partners. John and Nancy Loftness, Chris Deloglos, and Jacobis Aldana will be joining us for a time of encouragement and training. We’ll also be joined by Fabrizio Rudolfo from Gracia Soberana Música, who will help showcase what God is doing in our worship ministry. These visits are part of our intentional effort to build up the church and strengthen, the main topic is going to be "Spiritual Disciplines".

In addition to what’s happening locally, we are also walking alongside our sister church in Cochabamba, Bolivia. Pastor Erick Miranda continues to make progress in his ordination process, and it’s a joy to support his development and the growth of that congregation.

God has also given us opportunities to serve beyond Bolivia. In March, through the Simeon Trust ministry, I had the privilege of co-leading a preaching workshop in Guatemala alongside two other pastors. Over 50 pastors and preachers gathered to learn how to handle God’s Word faithfully. In May, we hosted a similar workshop here in Santa Cruz, which quickly filled with participants from five of Bolivia’s nine departments. These efforts are helping position our church as a resource for others in gospel ministry.

Now, as we begin July, we look back with hearts full of gratitude. From a room with bare brick walls to a church being built up in truth and love, we have seen God’s faithful hand in every step. We are thankful to Him, to our church family, and to our broader network of churches for the support and partnership that have made this journey possible.

Please continue to pray for us. We trust God is at work—and we long to be faithful with all that He has entrusted to us.

With love and gratitude,

David Del Castillo

Sovereign Grace exists to plant and strengthen churches for the glory of God, and in His kindness, we are presently in the process of planting fifteen churches, scheduled for either this year or next: six in the United States and nine outside of the United States.

One of those church plants is Vine Church, in Tampa, Florida, US, and Mario Figueroa, the Pastor of Vine Church, recently joined Mark Prater, our Executive Director, on his podcast.

He has a wonderful story to tell, enjoy!

(You can listen in here)

Psalm 121.1-2 says,  ‘I lift my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? My help comes from the LORD, who made heaven and earth.'

As we pray, that’s who's listening and that’s who we get to come to! The LORD, the maker of heaven and earth. The One who was and is and is to come, who will not let our foot be moved, who is our shade at our right hand, and who neither slumbers nor sleeps. The LORD is the One who will help us and so as we pray, what a privilege and what an opportunity this really is!!

So, with that in mind, here are some ways that you can be praying for all things Global Missions in the month ahead…

1. Please pray for our current US Sovereign Grace Pastors College class, who will graduate on May 31st, asking God to give them grace for their transition back home, and to use their training to serve their churches in any ways that they can.

2. Please pray for the Sovereign Grace Leadership Team as we come together in Austin, TX, for a strategic planning retreat, June 10th-12th, asking God to grant wisdom and discernment for decisions that will best serve our global family of churches. Please also pray for me, Dave Taylor, as I spend the weekend before that in Mexico, that I’ll be a blessing to Carlos Contreras and the team there in Juarez & El Paso.

3. Please pray for Bob Kauflin as he leads our first ever Sovereign Grace Music Songwriters Camp in Louisville, KY, June 19th-21st, with the hope of identifying and equipping more songwriters in Sovereign Grace churches. Please pray for everyone involved in this great opportunity. and that much fruit comes out of it as a result.

4. Please pray for Ed O’Mara, our SGC Area Leader for Europe, as he heads to Calvary Church in Galway, Ireland, June 26th-29th, as they continue to move towards becoming an Emerging Nations Partner Church. The goal of the time is to work through ordination planning, help develop understanding amongst the key leaders on the importance of gospel-centrality, and to dig deeper into the role and function of the BCO in guiding our family of churches. Please pray that Ed serves with clarity and that the meetings provide a platform for wonderful relational connection with Calvary Church.

5. Please pray for Todd Peterson & Erik Rangel, as they head to India, June 17th-28th. With a full schedule, both in Bhubaneswar with Caleb & Sidhanta Suna, and in Gundugolanu with JP Ravuri, please pray for much grace, sustenance and wisdom on them as they serve our brothers and sisters there. That ordination processes will be moved forward, churches will be strengthened, and that pathways for new school and building plans will be cleared.

6. Please pray that God would give the members and pastors of Sovereign Grace Churches a renewed desire, and opportunities, to share the gospel with unbelievers in our communities and workplaces. You don’t have to go overseas to be involved in missions, you simply have to walk across the room... May this be our story as we together brandish the Gospel and tell it to all that will hear it.

… Thank you so much for praying for us. May His grace abound to us all!

"Keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching. Persist in this, for by so doing you will save both yourself and your hearers."

1 Timothy 4:16 (ESV)

The Pastors College exists to teach men to build their lives, families, and churches upon the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Our first video of 2025 shares the story of two of men from Australia, Austin Loke from Sovereign Grace Church, Wahroonga, and Joel Seric from Sovereign Grace Church, Parramatta, who moved their families across the world to attend our Sovereign Grace Pastors College in Louisville, KY this year. Each of them made sacrifices, along with their families, and their stories are an inspiring reminder that the gospel ministry transcends cultural differences. 

A graduate of our 2023-2024 class, Mario Figueroa, also took time to share a bit of his experience at the Pastors College. He writes, "Because of the Pastors College, I love Christ more, I am more grateful for the gospel, and I am more equipped to proclaim that gospel and serve God’s people in a way I never thought possible." You can read and download the PDF of his testimony here.

What a wonderful Saviour we serve.

Juan, his wife Lau and their two kids at Cedar of Gods in Lebanon.

An update from Juan, a dear brother SG ordained & commissioned to Lebanon…

In 2011, the Lord gave me the privilege of meeting Lau; she is the greatest gift that God has given me in life, after the benefits of redemption, and she was the one who exposed me to the reality that our God is not being worshiped in many places around this world. God blessed me with the opportunity to marry her in 2015, both of us having the conviction to plant churches in the Middle East. Our church, Iglesia La Gracia, located in San José, Costa Rica, shared the conviction to send missionaries to unreached places and supported us from the very moment we shared our willingness to be sent. A few years ago, we had the opportunity to be in a closed country to the gospel in this region, that we cannot name for the safety of the people with whom we still have a relationship, but the Lord, through different means, prevented us from moving there permanently.

The conviction of our family and the church did not change and we continued to pray for God to guide us to a place that would please Him. And without a doubt, that waiting time was the best thing that could have happened to us because the Lord was doing two things simultaneously.

Juan with Pastor Elie and his wife Nadine, at Nations Desire Church, Beyrut.

The first was to strengthen a friendship with a Lebanese pastor I had met in an expository preaching course at the Dallas Theological Seminary in 2015. This pastor encouraged me to consider being sent by our church to his country since there are less than one percent of Protestants, and possibly no reformed theology churches. After a prudent amount of evaluation, fasting, and prayer, our church made the decision to send us to this place.

The second was to establish a relationship of friendship and companionship with Joselo Mercado, through whom the Lord brought us as a church closer to Gracia Soberana. A desire began to grow in the three pastors of our church to be part of this beautiful family of Sovereign Grace Churches. By God's grace, after passing all the evaluations, the three pastors were able to be ordained in March of this year. Being part of Gracia Soberana has reaffirmed our conviction that missiology goes hand in hand with ecclesiology and has strengthened our desire to plant churches in the Middle East.

Juan preaching Psalm 103 at Nations Desire Church, Beyrut.

Just a month after our ordination, the church sent us to Lebanon. We have been here for a few weeks, and by God's grace, we already have residency for a year. For some, it is interesting that a family from Costa Rica, which is considered a paradise country and has no army, has the determination to travel to a country that has experienced decades of armed conflict. The reality is that if we looked with human eyes, there would not be a single reason to be in this place. But when we look with spiritual eyes, we have all the reasons to be here and to yield our lives so that our God receives the glory He deserves in this country and that His children come to faith through the preaching of the gospel. Amy Carmichael once said: 'When I consider the cross of Christ, how could anything I do be considered a sacrifice?’ Our conviction is that His glory has an infinitely greater value than our own lives, such that being here is not a sacrifice but an unmerited privilege.

Please pray that we can learn the language easily, for the adaptation of our children, and that the Lord opens doors for us to preach the gospel and articulate it with faithfulness, clarity and precision. Also, to establish Sovereign Grace Churches in this country and in this region, with indigenous pastors who will continue the work for generations. Moreover, for a future Pastors College of Sovereign Grace in Arabic. Some of these things may seem like a dream, but as my dear Joselo says: 'I believe the Bible.'

“Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.” (Ephesians 3.20-21)

Juan and his family depart San Jose, Costa Rica, heading for Lebanon.

An update from Carlos Contreras, lead pastor of Sovereign Grace Church, Ciudad Juárez, Mexico and SGC National Leader for Mexico...

I was overwhelmed with joy and gratitude this past May as we met with Pastors, Deacons and main leaders of 19 different churches from various parts of our country to spend 3 days in teaching, encouragement, prayer and fellowship. We do this retreat every year in the city of Guadalajara and it is always one of my year’s highlights.

This year was no exception, except for the fact that our gathering felt different. We met as a fellowship of men with one spirit and one mind. It was a joyful, humbling and intimate time. After doing this for close to 10 years, it was very evident that we are now a true family of churches, united in heart and soul. 19 churches were represented by 55 faithful men.

During the 3 days we heard reports and testimonies. Some were joyful reports of growth and answered prayer. A few others were reports of challenging times and trials of men that are truly heroes in building churches in hard places. But we all felt united in joy and pain, very much aware that we are all one body of churches as a nation.

We also had wonderful times of encouragement and teaching on our call to godliness in life and our marriages by pastor Hellman Avila from El Paso. Manolo Quintal from our church in Silao did a wonderful job as always as he spoke about God’s testing and pruning process in our lives. I also spoke on leading through our example from 2 Timothy 4:12 and encouraged the men to pray with much faith trusting that God is more than willing to hear his called men. Cuauhtemoc Campos our Executive Pastor served us in an extraordinary way on the challenges of men leading alone. We also had a panel session on biblical counseling, and Rich Richardson gave us a powerful message on the reality of spiritual warfare in the church.

We had wonderful times of fellowship as we broke out in groups to share about our Spiritual disciplines and our marriages and as we prayed for one another. And we shared much time just talking as friends and brothers. It was a joy to see men seeking out those that they did not know very well and leaving the retreat with new friends.

God is at work in Mexico building not just churches, but building a family of churches united with one heart and spirit. I am very grateful for all of those that prayed for our time together and look forward to further growth in that intimacy of our brotherhood in Mexico.

An update from Michael Granger, Lead Pastor of Trinity Fellowship Church, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia ...

On March 9th, Trinity Fellowship officially gained two new pastors as Abenezer Dejene and Amanuel Yehualashet were ordained during our Sunday morning service. Since planting the church in 2020, I have been the sole pastor, but a church governed by a plurality of elders has always been our goal.

When we moved out here in January of 2018, we had three long-term objectives: 1) disciple-making resulting in church plants; 2) training the next generation of Ethiopian pastors; and 3) fostering business-as-missions. Abenezer and Amanuel represent the next generation of Ethiopian pastors. They are not only my dear friends, but despite their youth, they have truly become my pastors.

1 Timothy 5:22 warns us to never be in a hurry about appointing church leaders, and we have taken this to heart. Over the last four years, these men have been thoroughly assessed in their doctrine, character, and qualifications for pastoral ministry. They completed our 42 week course Pastors College established by Josh Pannell, a one-year pastoral residency, and the in-depth Sovereign Grace ordination process. Though Ethiopia’s culture is vastly different from that of the West, Amanuel and Abenezer submitted themselves to the exact same ordination process as Sovereign Grace pastors in North America.

Moreover, I inquired into their personal lives, including Amanuel’s marriage, and invited the members of Trinity Fellowship to participate in the process of assessment. In reality, these men did not just become pastors that Sunday; by the time we ordained them, they had already been pastoring our Trinity Fellowship for quite some time.

In addition to their administrative and counseling duties, Amanuel regularly preaches, Abenezer leads our music worship, and both men serve as leaders of our community groups. On that sweet day that I ordained them, Trinity Fellowship simply officially recognized them to be what they have been for quite some time: pastors!

March 9th was a long-awaited and joyous occasion, marking one of the greatest days of my life. I praise the Lord that he has been gracious to answer our prayers. I praise the Lord for our partners in the faith who have generously supported the work through financial support and trips to Ethiopia. I praise the Lord that I get to serve Christ’s church alongside a plurality of pastors. And I praise God that his generosity has not dried up - there is more in the pipeline! Yeabtsega is approximately one third of the way through the ordination process too! 

1 Peter 5:1-4, “I exhort the elders among you, as a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, as well as a partaker in the glory that is going to be revealed: shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you; not for shameful gain, but eagerly; not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock. And when the chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory.”

To Him be the glory!

An update from Brian Kiama, Lead Pastor of Sovereign Grace Church Nairobi, Kenya…

In the Lord’s kindness, Sovereign Grace Church Nairobi was born on January 5th 2025, in the Leslies’ home…well, to be more precise…in their garage. For me, it all began about two and a half years ago, during a time when me and my wife Julia were wondering what was next for us after I graduated from the Pastors College in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. My pastor, Michael Granger, suggested that we consider planting a church in Nairobi. My immediate response was “No”, but little did I know what the Lord was orchestrating and had in store in the months following. Fast forward to December 2022, Jonathan and Lilli Leslie visited Trinity Fellowship Church, Addis Ababa, and met with Michael and I. The Lord had already put the desire in Jonathan’s heart to see a Sovereign Grace church planted in Nairobi, and He used this encounter to kindle the same desire and dream in my heart as well.

Fast forward again to the summer of 2024. Both Jonathan and I got ordained and were commissioned (by Cornerstone Community Church, Burnsville and Trinity Fellowship Addis Ababa respectively) to plant SGC Nairobi. Our two families then, together with Bereket and Abigail Geleta, formed the initial core group of the church planting team. And so, after many months of praying, dreaming, and planning, and after more families buying into the vision for the church plant, the church was finally born on January 5th.

The Lord has been continually surprising us, far surpassing our expectations, which has been a sweet reminder that this is His Church, and He is faithful to build and establish it. Jonathan and I regularly remind each other and the church, that we cannot take any credit for what the Lord is doing. God has been using His word, through the preaching and singing, to build a growing community of believers that is centred on the gospel.

A number of people have shared how much they been affected and drawn by the love they have experienced in the church. Others who hadn’t been to any church for months or years came in thinking that salvation is earned by their good works. Many of these people have been coming consistently, and over time, they have been gaining a clearer understanding of the gospel. The Spirit truly is at work in our small but growing church, and His word is bearing fruit among us.

In the recent weeks we have had an average of about 40 adults in attendance and about 15 children. We are quickly outgrowing the garage and will need to find a public meeting space in the area of Westlands, Nairobi. Our desire is to be a faithful, gospel-centred church that plants other gospel-centred churches in the years to come.

Please pray that the Lord of the harvest will raise up more labourers to send into His harvest. Pray for an outpouring of His Spirit and for the gospel to continue advancing in Nairobi and beyond. Pray that the Lord will establish SGC Nairobi and other faithful churches in the city, being firmly rooted in the gospel of Jesus Christ. Pray that the Lord will lead us to a good location for church gatherings. Pray also that the Lord will give us a godly and gifted Kenyan man to be our worship pastor.

Thank you for praying with us, to the God who supplies all our needs, according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus!

An update from Jim Donohue, pastor at Covenant Fellowship Church in Glen Mills, Pennsylvania, USA and Evangelist in Sovereign Grace Churches…

God has been doing some great things in our churches and regions over the last year. We are seeing God move. We are seeing the lost saved and added to the church. We are seeing churches move from being insulated and isolated to fulfilling their calling to reach into the darkness with the light of the gospel. We have more churches doing something and the temperature for growing in evangelism is rising, which is just so encouraging.

One of the things that the US regional evangelist team has been encouraging me to do is to create resources that serve small churches. So, over the last few years, together with the help of the evangelist team, I have been working on redoing the Bridge Course. It’s a tool that we have tried to invest with our values, our gospel centeredness and faithful exposition of scripture.

I got to write an update about it a couple of months ago (article here). But encouraged by Dave Taylor, our Director of Global Missions, I wanted to share with you some of the stories of God-given fruit that we’re enjoying hearing about…

Ryan Chase at Emmaus Road in Sioux Falls

We have now run the Bridge Course a handful of times at Emmaus Road Church. While each time through the course has been met with God's grace, it feels like this last year in particular we have begun to gain some real momentum. Our fall course had 10 guests and this Winter course that we just begun has been very encouraging. 3 days before the course, we had only 2 people registered. Then, the Lord opened the flood gates and people started pouring in. We now have 25 people involved in this current course. This is our most “lost" Bridge group yet (someone from LGBTQ background, several with no Christian background, a number coming from serious suffering). We are 2 weeks in and there are many people with broken lives who are leaning in and hungry to learn. It is incredible! I am excited to see what the Lord will do!

Last year a young couple living in sin came to our Bridge course and the wife, Torrie, got saved. They began to regularly attend our church gatherings for the next year. Seeing Torrie's newfound love and desire for God as well as her heart for lost friends and family, I asked her to help with the next Bridge course. She brought 3 people. Torrie and CJ are growing increasingly connected to our church community and are both walking through steps to become members.  

One of the things that has been particularly encouraging to me has been the cultural shift I have observed in our church. I have never seen such a momentum shift for evangelism in our church. I have had numerous people come up and ask me about how to invite their friends to Bridge; ask me to pray for friends they are reaching out to; ask me for advice on how to interact with lost friends or coworkers; etc. I see so many people in our church really leaning in (introverts, stay at home moms, and the like!). It has been so encouraging!

 Jeff Schlieder at Cross of Grace Church of Santa Ana

The Lord has been working in wonderful ways at Cross of Grace Church of Santa Ana. We’re a small neighborhood church in an urban area, doing ministry in a cross-cultural context. We planted in 2017 and just celebrated 7 years together. We have 67 official members, have around 100+ gathered on Sunday mornings, don’t own a building, and only have 1 full-time elder on our team of 3.

We’re an ordinary church but God is doing extraordinary things among us as we labor to spread the joy of Jesus in our city. Since embracing a renewed commitment to evangelism (in our case, moving from informal church-plant “organic approaches” to strategic, ambitious, and programmatic approaches) which coincided with the beginning of the Regional Evangelist initiative, we’ve celebrated baptisms and welcomed new members like never before. Just last year, we had the privilege of baptizing 7 new believers and receiving 16 new members.

Brendan Willis at Sovereign Grace Church, Wahroonga, Australia

We’ve only just started using the Bridge but have already seen the Lord at work in some exciting ways. Our church is based in Wahroonga, a leafy suburb on the North Shore of Sydney, Australia. We’re a post-Christian nation where on any given week only 7% our people attend some form of church service (including Catholic, Orthodox, Evangelical etc.). What’s more our neighborhood is amongst the wealthiest in our country and as a result many people have hard hearts towards God. Since our church was planted in September 2010 we’ve consistently struggled with seeing fruit in our evangelistic efforts. A good year for us would be seeing 1-2 adults come to Christ. Some years we would see no one saved at all.

We had Jim Donohue visit us last year and introduce us to the Bridge course and we ran it for the first time in February of this year. The church did a wonderful job inviting their friends and in the end we had 18 guests attend the course for 1 or more evenings. On resurrection Sunday we then had the privilege of baptizing 2 participants!

There is now an excitement in the air about the power of the Gospel and the way God is working in our community. Just a few weeks ago we had another lady who had been visiting our church and who is a friend of one of the people on the last Bridge course, give her life to Christ during the service. It’s not even halfway through the year and we’ve already had 3 people come to Christ! Our next course starts in August and we couldn’t be more excited to see what the Lord will do!

You don't have to use the Bridge Course, and there are other tools out there, but the Bridge Course uniquely reflects who we are. We have packaged it so that anyone can easily use it and in a way that works for smaller churches. We’ve also now translated the course (subtitles) into 6 different languages with more to come. (Amharic, Chinese, English, Spanish, Turkish and Vietnamese. With Italian and Korean in the works). And we just launched our Spanish videos featuring Abelardo Munoz (www.bridgecourse.org/spanish)

We hope it can serve you too.

__

This testimony was shared on Easter at Covenant Fellowship Church, and is one of the best I have ever heard. Give it a listen!