In a recent prayer letter, Mark Prater, our Executive Director, wrote the following…

‘There is much we can learn from the early church including how they prayed. Recently, I read a prayer by Methodius of Olympia that had this request: “Extend your right hand toward me, and crown my head by your touch, so that I may run the course before your kingdom, crowned like a forerunner, and announce good tidings to sinners.”

        Given our shared mission to “announce good tidings to sinners” found in the gospel of Jesus Christ, may we pray for one another asking God to "extend his right hand toward us" and give us grace and power to run the course of fulfilling the Great Commission of reaching every tribe, tongue and nation with the gospel.’

Amen to that. We so need each other in this, and so here’s how we can be praying 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 the church in any way that they can.

2. Please pray for Juan Solano, an ordained SGC Pastor from La Gracia in San Jose, Costa Rica, who has been commissioned and sent out, along with his family, to seek to reach Muslims with the gospel in Lebanon. Pray that Juan can plant a Sovereign Grace Church in Lebanon in the next few years, which is his hope,  and that he’ll ultimately be able to train and equip other Lebanese Pastors to do the same.

3. Please pray for the 6 Pastoral Candidates in the Philippines who are taking their Bible Knowledge exam on Saturday May 10th, as they continue on in their SGC Ordination process. Please also pray for the additional 2 Candidates that will take it in the weeks after, that God may give favour and grace to everyone involved in this endeavour.

4. Please pray for Trinity College Missions Trip to Iglesia Biblica de Playa Azul, Costa Rica, May 17th-24th, and for Josh Montague (Chaska), Robert Sidlo (Roseburg) and Brooks Szewczyk, as they head to the Philippines for part four of the TLI Training.

5. Please pray for Carlos & Kena Contreras as they head to Silo, Mexico to teach and lead at a Couples Retreat, May 2nd-4th. Please also pray for the SGC Mexico Annual Pastors Retreat in Guadalajara, with 19 Churches represented and 55 Pastors attending. Please pray for Carlos, Rich Richardson and the SGC Mexico Leadership Team as they prepare to lead that time.

6. Please pray for Pastor Jacobis Aldana as he visits Iglesia Biblica of Antioquia in Medellin, Colombia, to host a marriage retreat and continue the discussion on possible adoption into Sovereign Grace Churches. Please pray for much wisdom, grace and faith for everyone involved in this conversation.

7. 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 we can.

… May the One who has commissioned us, also give us favour and faith for the road ahead. Soli deo gloria.

An update from Andy Farmer, Pastor at Covenant Fellowship Church in Glen Mills, Pennsylvania, USA.……

Our US Church Planting Cohort met in late March for a couples retreat in Glen Mills, PA. For our five domestic church planters, this is about the time that things are getting real. They are deep in the regional approval process, forming their teams and looking for locations to meet. It is a time of profound transition for planters and their families. The couples retreat allows planters and their wives to step back out of the process to consider and plan for how a church plant will play out in their homes and families. For the wives it is a chance to connect with other women walking through the same experiences, to receive ministry and talk about what planting may be like for them.

This was the first time the wives had a chance to be together for any length of time. It was amazing how quickly fellowship and relational connection occurred among the women and the couples. To hear their stories about how God has met them in these life-changing times was encouraging for all of us. One of our hopes in having this couples retreat is to help the wives, who will be such an integral part of the mission of the plant, grow in faith and vision for how God can meet them and use them as they participate in the birth of a new church. God certainly seemed to meet us in that regard.

Our sessions focused on building healthy, resilient marriages that can stand the tests that planting a new work will throw at them. And we get some memory making time as well. Jill and I had the privilege of leading this retreat with the help of Nick and Happy Kidwell, who just walked through the church planting experience a couple of years ago. The Kidwells provided an honest and faith-filled window into the experience of planting for a whole family. On Friday night we were joined by Joel and Ashley Shorey. As Director of Church Planting, Joel was able to share his heart and his vision for what these families are doing for the mission of the Gospel in Sovereign Grace. We had a chance to pray and worship together, enjoying a wonderful time of ministry and intercession. 

On these retreats we’ve developed a tradition over the years where we give each couple an extended time to share their ‘love story’. It is so meaningful (and often hilarious) to hear how God has brought redemption in the lives of sinners and has brought them together in the covenant of marriage. No story is alike and each story is amazing in its own way. These love stories allow planting couples to embed the church planting experience in the bigger story of God’s gracious purposes in saving their lost souls and sending them into the world for his Glory.

Please keep these couples in your prayers for the adventures ahead:

• Howard and Dawn Varnedoe - planting in Spring Hill, Tennessee

• Mario and Diana Figueroa - planting in Tampa, Florida

• Adam and Claire Penird - planting in Manchester, Indiana

• Eric and Jennifer Huber - planting in Galloway, New Jersey

• Nathan and Clare Smith - planting in Coatesville, Pennsylvania

An update from Riley Spring, Lead Pastor of Sovereign Grace Church Parramatta and National Leader for Australia…

In April, we had the privilege of having Pastor Rob Flood out from Covenant Fellowship Church, Pennsylvania to teach at our first SG Australia Marriage Retreat and facilitate the Judicial Review Committee (JRC) training for our Pastors and Interns, as well as Jeffrey Jo, National Leader of SGC Philippines.

Marriage Retreat

The hope for our Marriage Retreat was to hit pause on life for a night and a day in order to strengthen and refresh our most significant relationship on earth! We had the joy of doing this with our two sister churches, enjoying fellowship, playing silly games, worshipping together and sitting under some excellent teaching from Rob. 

Across the four talks Rob reminded us of God’s glorious purpose for marriage and how we can live in the good of it by running hard after Jesus and pursuing what is best for our spouse. In a world where equality has removed any distinction between men and women, it was a fresh reminder of the beauty of our differences as husbands and wives – equal in dignity and worth, yet with distinct roles. We ended our time together with Rob giving us some practical applications and tools for communication, as we were reminded that words have power and a God-given purpose. 

It was a sweet couple of days with time spent reflecting and being reminded of God’s glorious purpose for our marriages in a fallen world. If you are interested you can access the talks and outlines here.

Judicial Review Committee Training

During the week Rob gathered with our pastors and interns so that we could think biblically and practically about our church polity, especially the pointy end of polity, our JRC. At first, it sounded like it could be a bit dull and boring but not only was the training vital, Rob made it very engaging, interesting, and practical.

After the principles were taught we ended the training with two mock trial situations in which we had to act out and judge two difficult fictional pastoral situations. This helped us realise how difficult and necessary this process is. Rob helped us think through what it would look like to make this a reality here in Australia as we plant more churches. It was a very useful and fruitful time. 

We are so thankful to Rob for making it all the way down under to serve our family of churches. It’s a beautiful picture of gospel partnership, we truly couldn’t do this alone, and wouldn’t want to!

An update from Mario Figueroa, Lead Pastor of Vine Church Tampa, Florida, USA…

Dear friends and partners in the Gospel,

I can hardly put into words how thrilled I am to share a milestone that has filled our hearts with awe and gratitude: Vine Church Tampa (VCT) has officially launched!

What began as a simple prayer between my wife, Diana, and me in 2021 — asking God to prepare and send us — has now become a living testimony of His faithfulness. From that first step of faith to the doors He opened in 2023 for us to attend the Sovereign Grace Pastors College, the journey has been full of grace.

Every part of this preparation — from the Church Planting Assessment, Cohort training, and the pastoral residency at Sovereign Grace Church of Winter Garden, to serving under the leadership of Pastor Josh Murphy — has been an invaluable time of equipping, sharpening, and humbling. We were especially moved as families from Tampa began driving nearly two hours just to serve our sending church with music, preaching, and joining in worship once a month for three months before launching. That kind of commitment and shared vision deeply encouraged us.

And now, by God’s abundant grace, Vine Church Tampa was born on April 6, 2025, with a soft launch at a Holiday Inn and 72 people came to celebrate with us!

That first service was a beautiful picture of our heart for this church — a bilingual gathering, worshiping in English and Spanish, reading Scripture together, and preaching in English while using AI-powered translation so Spanish-speaking members could follow in real time. It was a moment that brought tears to many of our eyes.

Since then, we've continued gathering each Sunday — 10:00 AM in English and 11:45 AM in Spanish — and God has done something remarkable: a church community marked by unity and mutual love. English-speaking families joyfully serve during the Spanish service, and Spanish-speaking families doing the same for the English one. It’s a radiant picture of the body of Christ working as one.

Today, we have 42 dedicated members on our launch team and 10–15 regular visitors who are exploring life with us. The hunger for God’s Word is palpable - you can feel the eager anticipation each week as we gather.

But we’re just getting started.

We are praying for a permanent building to call home — a place where we can worship not only on Sundays, but also gather throughout the week to disciple, evangelize, and serve the people of Tampa with the love of Christ.

Would you pray with us? Would you consider partnering with us — in prayer, in support, or even by visiting? We treasure Christ and long to see His name made known in this city.

Thank you for walking with us, believing with us, and celebrating with us.

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

The Lord is doing a good work among our family of churches in Europe. God has assembled an identifiable group of pastors from various European churches who share SGC theology and values. Our desire in Europe is to build our beloved local churches and reach our dark communities with the same glorious gospel that you treasure in your contexts!

The pastors of SG Europe’s partner and candidate churches have met several times over the past 2½ years to build relationships, care for one another, learn about partnership in Sovereign Grace, and receive training in our shared values. Our most recent gathering was a 3½ day pastors and wives retreat in the south of England, in the week after Easter. Grace Church of Bristol planned and administrated the hospitality for this event at a nearby Christian retreat center. There were 29 people (10 couples plus 9 children) from various partner and candidate churches representing Galway (IRE), Bristol (UK), London (UK), Santander (ESP), Antalya (TUR), and Torino (ITA).

While a primary aim of all of our gatherings is to grow our relationships, this particular context also focused on strengthening our marriages with the gospel. One of the messages that has defined and shaped our family of churches is Mike Bullmore’s “The Functional Centrality of the Gospel.” We do not merely behold the truths of the person and work of Christ, but we are moved to action. We apply and live in the entailments that Jesus grants to us from the cross!

We have been well-taught in SGC about the powerful potential that biblical marriage has in promoting an environment of grace and in making the person and work of Christ manifest. As such our topic, “Functioning Gospel Centrality in Marriage,” was intentionally selected both to refresh each couple as well as position us to nourish our respective local churches. We drew this out through specific applications such as gospel centered communication and biblical conflict resolution in marriage. We also discussed how to not merely instruct our people but to model grace such that we foster a local church culture of gospel centrality and true biblical fellowship.

We also had plenty of time to build our relationships. We shared updates, sang together, and prayed for each other. We laughed, played games, enjoyed getting to know one another more deeply, and cared for each other. And no trip to England would be complete without taking in some British culture, complete with a tour of a castle and a meal of fish and chips in a seaside town under some light rain!

This retreat was truly a blessed time that strengthened what God is doing among the SG European group. It positioned us for more fruitful future ministry and grew our desire to continue building relationally and receive more training in the core values of SGC. We believe that this approach will grow us into a healthy, interdependent network of pastors and that our local churches will benefit directly from these contexts.

Finally, we would be remiss to not extend our thanks to all of you who prayed for us! Thank you also to those who have given to the SGC European Development Fund. Without your support and giving, these sorts of contexts would not be possible. As God is putting together the fabric of the European region, we simply cannot express the depth of our gratitude for both your support and the ways in which you continue to show us the path of walking nearer to our Saviour! We are so grateful for our SGC family and pray that He would receive glory from all of our churches across the globe! 

An update from our SGC missionaries in Thailand (names concealed for security reasons)…

Last November 2024 by the grace of God, our family with our Thai partners, planted Family of Grace Church in Isaan, Thailand. The church is in a very rural county that has never had a local church. The story is one that only God could craft with details and divine orchestration that cause us to marvel at Him and give our Lord all the glory. As we like to say, it seemed that God wanted to birth a church and we were merely the midwives to help catch the baby. We’re reminded of Jesus’ words to Paul in Corinth, “go on speaking and do not be silent, for I am with you … for I have many in this city who are my people” (Acts 18:9-10). He has many in this land who are His.

Over the past year, we saw interest grow in the community after a number of outreaches. We also saw God draw and save our newly found Thai partner. His life has been transformed by Christ. Such amazing grace! As we began to pray and talk with our brother and sister in September 2024, we sensed God wanted us to start meeting together regularly at their farm in this remote county. So after holding church services at their house for 8 weeks, we opened the church service at their farm in November. Glory to God, a church was born!

Over the past 6 months members of the community have been coming to hear about Jesus at Family of Grace Church. Excluding our two families, 5-8 adults and 10-12 children regularly come. Every Sunday we worship, do catechism, scripture memorization, children’s ministry and the Word is preached in Thai. It has been encouraging to see God apply His Word by the power of His Spirit in this highly animistic, unreached area. Eyes and ears of those who only worshipped spirits are now beginning to see and hear of the One who created them in His image.  And because there is a high level of illiteracy, we also started a Christian library and literacy program to help many of the children read Thai so that they can one day read God’s Word. Interest is growing and hearts are turning to Jesus! 

You sent us to Thailand about 9 years ago with the hopes that God would one day start a church. He has done just that and in a way where our only boast is in God and in His sovereign grace. We are so grateful to God for you and your faithful partnership in His mission to the unreached of Thailand. And our Thai partners are so encouraged when we share specific prayers or words of encouragement from our partners in SGC. You regularly build up their faith and they feel supported by you.

We thank you for your thoughtful and sacrificial love and care for us and Family of Grace Church. We couldn’t do this without you and wouldn’t want to. May Christ receive all the glory for what He has done.

One of my hopes is to get good books on Global Missions into your hands and so in addition to ‘Mission’, by Andy Johnson, here’s another good one for you: ‘Let The Nations Be Glad’, by John Piper. Here’s what Leo Parris, our US Global Missions Coordinator, has to say about it…

Of the many wonderful contributions that John Piper has made for the Church, his emphasis on global missions is a primary lasting legacy. The Cross Conference and many books stand as artifacts of the culture that he has grown by God’s grace for decades. But if you are going to read one book on global missions by John Piper (there are many!), you should read Let the Nations be Glad. It contains some practical insights, but its salient virtue is its deep and inspiring theology. 

“Missions exists because worship doesn’t.” These are some of the opening words of the book. This pithy, brilliant statement captures the heartbeat behind what he’s after: to root our global mission in its proper theological foundations. Working from Psalm 67 and many other passages, he shows that the primary motivation for our global mission is God’s glory in the delight of peoples from all nations.

In his initial chapter, he argues for the supremacy of God in global missions through worship. Essentially, he examines biblical passages that declare the supremacy of God’s glory. And in similar lines to Desiring God, he shows that God “is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in him.”[1] In a refreshing way, Piper uses this to remind us of the glory of the message we share. We are not merely giving a message that deals with people’s sin, but we are “summoning people to God,”[2] the only God who can truly satisfy them.

In subsequent chapters, Piper works out how the supremacy of God functions in different aspects of mission. In Chapter 2, he distinguishes prayer from the work of global missions but shows that the necessity of prayer gives God all the glory in our international efforts. In the next chapter, he dives deeply into the role of suffering in this work. All who follow Christ will suffer persecution, but those who are sent internationally especially need a theology of suffering. He argues that the death of Christ is our substitute and our pattern for living, and urges Christians to fight apathy and leverage their lives for Christ.

After arguing for the supremacy of Christ in the gospel we proclaim, Piper makes his case for the targeted pursuit of the unreached in global missions in Chapter 5. Rather than pouring our resources into the same location, the New Testament displays a special prerogative. We are to especially initiate and support work that takes the gospel to the less reached parts of the world.

Piper closes his book with a few practical thoughts for how the worship of the nations functions. After drawing from Jonathan Edwards to underscore the relationship between God’s glory and his people’s delight in him, he urges us towards compassion for the lost (Ch. 6). He also reminds us that the Bible allows for freedom in a diversity of cultural expressions of worship (Ch. 7).

In Sovereign Grace, we have a rich legacy of emphasizing the glory of God and the joy of his people. This emphasis has led us in recent years to an increase in global activity. It’s my prayer that God will use this book to sharpen our convictions, prepare us for costly mission, and propel us into even more global activity with his glory at the center of our ambitions.

[1] John Piper, Let the Nations be Glad: The Supremacy of God in Missions, 3rd ed. (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2010), 50.

[2] Piper, Let the Nations be Glad, 56.

Matthew 28.18-20, ‘And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age."

The great commission that we’ve been given is far bigger than we could have ever asked or imagined... But how wonderful, comforting and inspiring it is to know that the One who has called us, is always with us, even to the end of the age. What a mission changing reality that is!!

With that in mind, here are a few ways that you can be praying for our wider mission in the month ahead…

1. Please pray for Mario Figueroa as he prepares to plant and launch Vine Church in Tampa, FL, USA, with their first service planned for Easter Sunday. Please pray that they would treasure and cherish Christ in this labor of love, and that many in Tampa would hear about Christ and Him crucified as a result.

2. Please pray for Walt Alexander, Taylor Hollingsworth, and Steve Teter as they lead the one day US Small Towns Summit on Thursday April 3rd, looking at what faithful pastoral ministry could look like for Sovereign Grace Churches, in small places. Please pray that the Lord would encourage weary and under-resourced pastors in their high calling as under shepherds. Instil a vision for faithfulness in pastoral ministry and bring pastors into healthy friendships where they can find help and camaraderie in gospel ministry.

3. Please pray for the pastors and wives of European SG partner and candidate churches as they meet in England from 22nd – 25th April for a time of refreshing and building relationships. Pastors from Ireland, UK, Spain, Turkey, Italy, and Belarus will be attending with their wives. This will be the first time that many of the wives will have the opportunity to get to know each other in this way. Please pray for Ed O’Mara, SGC Area Leader for Europe, as he leads this retreat, and for everyone involved. That they’d be refreshed in the gospel, refreshed in their marriages, and that this would bear fruit for each pastoral couple as well as in our SG-Europe churches.

4. Please pray for our SG Asia-Pacific Pastors & Wives Conference, 8th-10th April, in Manila, Philippines. Folk will be traveling from Australia, India, South Korea, Pakistan, and the US to attend this time. Please pray for Dave Taylor, Jeffrey Jo & Riley Spring as they lead this conference, and for every pastor and wife in attendance. With over 200 registrations, from all over Asia-Pacific, we’re eager to see all that the Lord will do during this time.

5. Please continue to pray for Brian Kiama (Church Planter in Nairobi, Kenya) and Jonathan Leslie (Co-Planter in Kenya), as they continue the soft-launch of Sovereign Grace Church, Nairobi. Please pray that God would continue to bring the people that He wants to be a part of this new endeavour and that His Word would speed ahead and be glorified in Nairobi and beyond.

… May the One who has commissioned us, also give us favour and faith for the road ahead. Soli deo gloria.

An update from Mark Prater, elder at Covenant Fellowship Church, Glen Mills, PA and Executive Director of Sovereign Grace Churches…

Every family has historical, memorable, and happy events whether that is a graduation, wedding, or reunion. Thursday, March 27, 2025, was an historic, memorable, and happy event for our family of churches because on that day, Carlos Contreras and I had the privilege of ordaining our first Sovereign Grace ordained elders in the nation of Costa Rica. Because of the labors of Joselo Mercado, Sr. Pastor of Iglesia Gracia Soberana in Gaithersburg, MD, there are 5 churches in Costa Rica pursuing adoption as Candidate Churches. One of those churches, La Gracia in San Jose, will now become a full partner Emerging Nation Church because all three of their elders were ordained together on March 27.

Juan Jose Salano, Sr. Pastor of La Gracia, and two of his Associate Pastors, Andres Aguero, and Daniel Rivera completed the Sovereign Grace Ordination process with excellence and were ordained at La Gracia in San Jose, which was a happy night for La Gracia, and all of Sovereign Grace. After I preached from 1 Peter 5, exhorting Juanjo, Andres, and Daniel to shepherd the people of La Gracia; Carlos Contreras, Sr. Pastor of Iglesia Gracia Soberana in Juarez, Mexico, led these men through their ordination vows, and La Gracia through their congregational vows. It was an appropriately solemn and yet joyful moment. Carlos, Roberto Estupinian, Sr. Pastor of Gracia Soberana Guadalajara, Mexico, and I then laid hands on Juanjo, Andres, and Daniel praying for them and their wives officially ordaining these three men as Sovereign Grace elders. The people of La Gracia joyfully jumped to their feet giving their pastors a loud standing ovation. They were not only happy for their pastors, but they were also excited about officially being a part of our family of churches.

When I asked Juanjo what his ordination meant to him, he said, with a big smile on his face, that La Gracia had been an independent church for many years, and now they were no longer alone. He also said that La Gracia is only one of a handful of churches in Costa Rica that consistently preaches reformed, gospel-centered doctrine. Therefore, to partner with a family of churches that was not only theologically compatible, but also one that built relationally was an answer to many prayers. It was another reminder that Sovereign Grace is not a professional, stodgy denomination, but a theologically defined family of churches who love helping one another make much of Jesus.

As we talked about the future of Sovereign Grace in Costa Rica, it’s clear that these three men, and their church have the same vision that we all have in Sovereign Grace, which is to reach the lost with the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ by planting churches in Costa Rica, participating in global missions, and building a gospel-centered church where people are discipled all for the glory of Christ alone. Therefore, please join me in welcoming La Gracia to our family of churches, and join me in praying for them and their pastors asking God to use La Gracia to advance the gospel of Jesus Christ in Costa Rica and beyond by His grace, and for His glory alone.

An update from Josh Kruger Jr., Lead Pastor of Sovereign Grace Church of Windhoek…

I can’t believe it’s been nearly a year since we started meeting in our home with only two other couples, and now, since launching our public meetings on March 2nd, 2025, we have grown to 7 regular and committed families (and eight children under 10).

As I think back, I think of God’s providence in moving my parents and their 3 teenagers to a Sovereign Grace Church in Richmond, Virginia back in 2005. As a pretty immature 18-year-old, being seen and publicly acknowledged for my humble, serving heart was a never-ending pursuit. But God was at work. Gradually, God instilled a deep love for and confidence in the biblical values and convictions we as Sovereign Grace hold so dearly. That love for God’s Sovereignty and a deep rooted belief in the authority and sufficiency of scripture carried me and my own family through more than a decade of missions work on the African continent from 2011 to 2022. That was despite the fact that we never found a local church with the same values and convictions I had come to cherish. Over time however, our desire (our need rather) to see such a strong, evangelical and biblical church established started pushing us towards study and considering what a non-denominational church plant might look like.

Providentially, in mid 2022 a dear friend and mentor, Matthew Williams invited me and my family for a Pastoral internship. Though hesitant at first, only a few months later we moved back to the US, from Namibia, to that same church my parents joined so many years ago. It would be a year of study, classes, and learning from Godly men all while pursuing ordination. And yes, another 18 years of my life had passed since the first 18. Then, by God’s grace alone, I was ordained and commissioned in Sovereign Grace and a “church plant” (really a family of 4) was sent out from Richmond on 17 December, 2023 to the far side of the globe, to deep…dark…Africa! 

We started meeting in our home on 7 April, 2024, not really knowing what to expect. The learning curve was steep and riddled with mistakes to learn from, but everyone was kind and gracious with this rookie pastor. Music by the Getty’s, CityAlight, and Sovereign Grace, to name a few, was new to most but warmly welcomed. Sovereign Grace Music is SUCH a blessing to our denomination…people can’t stop telling me how much they now love listening to SG Music on a daily basis…praise the Lord!

There were those Sundays when we had multiple visitors and joy filled worship, and there were Sundays where my wife and I sat in our Sunday best, coffee pot steaming away, only to transition to a caffeine injected prayer meeting as no one showed up. The highs were high, and the lows were low, people have come and people have left, but the Gospel remained glorious and immovable! An unparalleled “true North”.

Thank God for the firm foundation of our faith…the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It has sustained us and enabled us to joyfully keep the course, fight the fight, and run the race, because we knew the power of a future God glorifying church rested on it, and nothing that is in us.

So as we look back on God’s providence, God’s sanctifying work in our lives, God’s preparation of our family and eventual calling on me to be His undershepherd, we are grateful. Grateful for humble beginnings, because such beginnings point ultimately and solely to the goodness and glory of God. We are grateful for those the Lord has added, and we pray earnestly for those the Lord would still add in the future. We pray for believers to grow, and unbelievers to meet their Savior. 

We are also thankful for the good work the Lord has started and we are eagerly expectant of what He will do in the future. By God’s grace we hope that our small church plant, Sovereign Grace Church Windhoek, will become a hub for future SG church plants in Southern Africa. We too hope to invite men to come and do internships, study, grow, be ordained and sent out, so that the bride of Christ might be established, as unwavering as the Gospel itself, in Southern Africa for the glory of God. May God use us, this church plant, to grow the global body for the glory of Christ! It is our joy to write this update to you all. Amen.

An update from Jeffrey T. Jo, Lead Pastor of Cross of Christ Salvation Gospel Ministries, Manila and SGC Key Leader for our work in the Philippines…

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“I thank the Lord for helping me finish the PPI (Philippine Pastors Institute) course. PPI taught me the significance that every belief and doctrine should be based on the Bible.” (CJ of CCSGM Tandag City).

“I am grateful for PPI and for 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 be taught in its proper context.” (Pastor Jun, CFF Paniquian).

“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 Arniel, CFF Adlay).

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These were the grateful confessions (after their oral exams) of some of our students in PPI level 1, batch 2; a course designed for pastors, would-be pastors and those who are leading women’s ministry or children’s ministry in their churches. The curriculum is all about the basic branches of theology along with the study of our 7-Shared Values and 7-Shaping Virtues. Most of the students told us that what they learned during this course changed their understanding of church ministry and family as their priority. Some of them were teary-eyed as they explained to us the beauty of reformed theology on which they’ve now embraced.

The camaraderie built amongst the students has been priceless. They’ve become friends that pray, encourage and support one another for the sake of the glorious gospel of Christ. This coming June 8th, 12 out of 17 students who enrolled in August last year will be honored as they celerbrate their graduation. I am grateful for the lives of our SG ordained pastors, Rey Lacbayo and Francis Mariano, and an intern-elder and a graduate of batch 1, Christopher Laurenti, who have humbly yet passionately taught the students every Saturday for 7 months. It has been such a joy to serve alongside these men as we equip fellow pastors and raise up new ones for the gospel’s sake and for the edification of our churches in Mindanao, Philippines.

I’m currently in the boarding area of the airport as I wait for my flight back to Manila and while I’m composing this article, I cannot help but smile as my heart praises our Chief Shepherd for all His wonderful works in the lives of His church and His shepherds. We are just honored to be used by God as unworthy vessels for the equipping of His people as they do the works of ministry. It is my hope that, in God’s kindness, we may be able to encourage other elders and pastors either from SGC or other churches in this region that we may altogether preach one gospel in Mindanao and plant churches that exalt Christ and Christ alone. We are excited for this coming September as we start our PPI level 2 that focuses on Pastoral Theology which is designed only for men in ministry. We are hoping to gather around 25 men for this class.

Thank you for all your sincere prayers and generous partnership in this endeavor of equipping our pastors that we may continue to proclaim His sovereign name in the Philippines.

As what Charles Thomas Studd, a British missionary to China, once said, “Only one life will soon to pass, only what's done in Jesus will last.”

An update from Ricky Alcantar, Lead Pastor of Cross of Grace Church in El Paso, Texas, USA. Ricky serves on the National Church Planting Group with Sovereign Grace Churches and leads the Antioch Program…

Our most recent Antioch Retreat was a wonderful example of our Sovereign Grace Partnership. Men from churches across the Southeast US, from Virginia, the Caribbean, and even from Germany gathered recently in Orlando. We spent two days studying Acts 11-13 and the Antioch church, discussing, dreaming, praying, and planning together. 

Highlights of This Year

• Different Context, Same Scriptural Principles // We had churches from the US South, from small churches and larger churches, and even from four countries. But it was wonderful to see how the principles of Acts apply cross-culturally in every place. 

• New Relationships and Old Partnerships // One of the things I love about Sovereign Grace is that there are rich deep relationships cultivated over time, and there are always new people to connect with and learn from. 

• Ministry of the Word and Spirit // We labored over parts of Scripture together in God's unchanging word but also found the Lord speaking specific encouragements to pastors during our times of prayer. A beautiful blend of expository ministry and Spirit-filled ministry. 

• Regional Flavor // This retreat was unique because nearly the entire Southeast region of US churches participated together, attaching the Antioch retreat to their regional assembly. This was the first time we'd ever tried this and it seemed to work really well - something we'll look at doing in the future where it serves churches. 

• Footgolf! // We were introduced to the sport of "Footgolf" by Pete Shefferstein, which is essentially golf played with a soccer ball. (Yes, really.) I think one of our shared values should be laughter because we certainly laughed quite a bit on the course, especially when Joel's ball landed in a pond and had to be fished out. 

What Is Antioch? 

Antioch retreat aims to equip churches at the intersection of our ecclesiology (nature of the church) and missiology (mission of the church). I like to joke that if Sovereign Grace Churches exists to plant and strengthen churches, Antioch is the "and" that connects those two actions together. It has become a two-day retreat held annually in the US and includes a unique component of follow-up coaching and support for churches that attend the retreat. 

Where Do We Go From Here? 

We are planning to hold our next Antioch retreat next Spring in the Northeast, but are praying about other ways to use this material as well. Antioch is a tool from our family of churches for our family of churches, so we'd loved to see it used in whatever ways our churches find most helpful. 

An update from Bert Turner, Care Pastor at Covenant of Grace, Ohio, USA and Emerging Nations representative to Brazil…

My wife Karen and I had the privilege and joy of spending five weeks in Brazil serving five churches interested in partnership and/or relationship with Sovereign Grace Churches. We spent time with some dear friends and made new friends along the way. It is a joy to now have two ordained Sovereign Grace pastors in Brazil – Emerson Soares and Fabiano Medeiros who are providing leadership in Brazil.

Marcia & Fabiano Medeiros

Emerson & Tati Soares

Igreja CasaVide São Bernardo

We had a wonderful connection with pastors Rafael Yamashiro and André Casamiro, their leadership team and the church. I have been meeting online monthly with Rafael since January 2024, but this was our first visit to the church. These men embrace the gospel and the SGC values and virtues. We all feel the Lord is drawing us toward partnership.

Igreja Arca Santa Rosa

We had a good first visit with Pastor Jónatas Weide and Jefferson Weide (cousins) at a church plant by our friends at Arche Church in Hamburg, Germany. Emerson will continue to pursue the relationship.

Igreja Graça Soberana de Rio Grande

We held the ordination of Emerson as a Sovereign Grace Churches pastor which will lead soon to receiving the first church in Brazil into partnership with SGC!

Pastors & Wives retreat in Rio Grande

We had a wonderful retreat that was primarily relational. Then I taught a seminar on the Church and the Holy Spirit. We felt the Lord’s grace as we grew in relationships and trust.

Igreja Viela Novo Hamburgo

We had a good first visit with Pastor Tarik Rodrigues after connecting with him via video call for the first time in December, 2024. I spoke to the leadership and to the church. This is a remarkable example of grace in church planting. The church has grown in number quickly so they are growing a Gospel culture. We hold very similar theological values. I’m looking forward to more talks with Tarik.

Igreja Reformada Cidade Cinco São Paulo

After developing relationship over three years with Pastor Fabio Leal we had a good first visit with the leadership and church. Fabio hopes to attend the 2025 US Pastors Conference.

We are greatly encouraged by God’s sovereign work in Brazil as he continues to develop meaningful relationships by the Holy Spirit. It is a joy to find churches that embrace the values and virtues that are so precious to us in and through the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Some time ago, in a prayer email, Mark Prater wrote the following:

        ‘A survey of the Pauline epistles reveals how consistently Paul prayed for the churches he carried on his heart, and how consistently Paul asked them to pray for him. Prayer marks New Testament gospel partnership that churches share, and based on that biblical pattern, it’s our desire that prayer mark our partnership in Sovereign Grace. Additionally, as we pray for one another, the relationships we have among our pastors and churches are strengthened. Praying for one another fosters relationships in a way that makes us a genuine “family of churches.”’

How well said that is. We’re so much better “together” and so here are some ways we can be praying for one another over the next month…

1. Please pray for Bert Turner (Pastor of Covenant of Grace Church, Copley, Ohio) and his wife Karen as they continue their time in Brazil. Having now ordained Emerson Soares on March 2nd, an absolute highlight Bert tells me, they now head to spend time with Pastor Tarik Rodrigues and the Igreja Viela in Novo Hamburgo, Rio Grande do Sul, for the weekend of March 8-9th. Before heading on to spend time with Pastor Fabio Leal and Igreja Cidade Cinco in Sao Paulo, the weekend of March 15-16th. Both Churches are interested in partnership with Sovereign Grace Churches.

2. Please pray for Rob Flood (Pastor of Covenant Fellowship Church, Glen Mills, PA) as he heads to Sydney, Australia 25th-31st March. For the first few days he’ll be running the JRC Training for all of the elders in Sovereign Grace Churches, Australia, then on the weekend he’ll be speaking at a Marriage Retreat for over 60 couples from Sovereign Grace Church, Wahroonga and Sovereign Grace Church, Parramatta. Please pray that it’s a wonderful time for everyone involved.

3. Please pray for Trinity Fellowship as they ordain two very dear brothers on March 9th; Abenezer Dejene and Amanuel Yehualashet. Both of these brothers have graduated from the Ethiopian Pastors College and completed a residency at Trinity Fellowship. In addition, please pray for the ordinations of Juango Solano, Andres Blanco and Daniel Alvarado in Iglesia La Gracia, San Jose, Costa Rica, and Chespi Sandoval in Iglesia Biblical Playa Azul, Jaco, Costa Rica. God willing, they’ll all be ordained at a joint service for these two Churches on March 26th, and what a celebration that will be.

4. Please pray for Mario Figueroa as he prepares to plant and launch Vine Church in Tampa, FL, USA, with their first service planned for Easter Sunday. Please pray that God would quickly establish the work of this teams hands and that many in Tampa would hear about Christ and Him crucified as a result.

5. Please continue to pray for our new church plant in a province of Isaan, Thailand that launched mid-November.  We thank God for those he has brought to hear the good news and pray that they and many others would come, see and believe in Jesus. So far, it’s been going amazingly well!

… Thank you for praying for our family of churches. May His grace abound to us all!

An update from Pastor Greg & Pastor Dave (names concealed for security reasons), on an incredible work and partnership forming in South Asia…

From December 5-12, 2024, Pastor Dave and I had the privilege and pleasure of visiting our Sovereign Grace ministry partners in a country in South Asia. Our purpose was to observe and evaluate first-hand (and for the first time) the status of the churches in that country that have requested an official relationship with Sovereign Grace Churches.

We were able to visit eight different churches over the course of seven days. We enjoyed a special gathering of all 21 pastors and wives (along with their children). Both Dave and I had the opportunity to preach, teach, exhort and speak at least 7 times. We conducted a baptism for 15 professing believers. We experienced the hospitality of four of our six candidates for ordination, while enjoying meals with their families in their homes.

The 21 men provide pastoral leadership to approximately 200 churches. They are well organized, and have formed a cohort that gathers monthly for prayer, planning, and mutual care.

These pastors are diligent with a remarkable work ethic. They each go two by two, from meeting to meeting, preaching in two churches (at least) every night of the week, except Saturday. They’ve been carrying on this pace for years.

The social, religious and economic context for their ministry is stark and dangerous. Brickmaking dominates the economic fabric of the three districts where our ministry partners live and serve. The brickmaking industry is a systemically corrupt, enslaving, and evil institution. There are impossible quotas to reach. Though housing is provided for those employed, there is no electricity, plumbing, heating, or secure enclosures. Nearly everyone is sick from the toxic smoke produced by brick kilns. Women are abused. Infant mortality is high. People are trapped and impoverished for life. Since the days of Moses and Pharoah, little has changed. Nevertheless, this is the primary context where our men have planted dozens and dozens of churches.

The region of the country where our men serve is also an enclave of Muslim extremism. The Imams teach regularly that the way to a better eternal paradise is to “do away with the infidel.” Many of our partner pastors have had people in their churches killed simply for following Jesus. One of them had his church (built adjacent to his home) burned to the ground just this past October. His wife and children, at home at the time, had to flee. And while the local police dispersed those who destroyed his church building, our pastor was threatened that if he put back “one stick” to the church structure, the Muslims would come back and burn it down again, along with his home, with him and his family in it. He HAS, however, resumed meeting with his church in his home.

With remarkable courage, joy, humility, and enduring grace, our ministry partners in this Islamic nation in South Asia are a profound and compelling witness to the truth that the “light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” (John 1:5)

An update from Doug Hayes, Pastor at Covenant Fellowship Church, Glen Mills, Pennsylvania and Key Leader for our work in Zambia…

When the Lord unexpectedly took Wilbroad Chanda home in January 2021, it was a devastating loss on many levels. As the founding pastor of Christ Community Church in Ndola, Zambia, Wilbroad had labored diligently to identify and equip leaders to share in the work of ministry, but CCC still relied on him to preach most Sundays and set the overall direction for the church. Wilbroad was not the church’s lone pastor/elder, but he alone had been ordained through Sovereign Grace, and only he and his wife Zicky had fully experienced the blessings of Sovereign Grace partnership. For others, Sovereign Grace was more a set of doctrinal convictions than a church family.

At the time of Wilbroad’s death, Ector Makaliki was locally recognized as an elder. Two other young men, McDonald Chanda (no relation to Wilbroad) and Stephen Lubakila, were in the process of being equipped and evaluated for eldership as well. All three of these men stepped forward heroically in the wake of Wilbroad’s passing, each shouldering a portion of the burden as the church regrouped and sought the Lord for its future. Ector was recognized by all as the acting lead pastor, and all three men affirmed their desire to pursue ordination in Sovereign Grace.

In the years since then, each of these men have studied diligently for their exams and persevered through the ordination process, all while serving the church faithfully and providing for their families through other jobs outside the church. They have cared well for Christ Community Church through a difficult season, and grown as pastors and preachers in ways that are evident to all. Meanwhile, the Ordination Committee of the U.S. Northeast Region has graciously welcomed the opportunity to oversee their ordination efforts; grading written exams, giving helpful feedback, and impaneling evaluators for oral exams.

Last November in Orlando, Ector Makaliki passed his oral exams and received the Northeast ROC’s wholehearted commendation for eldership in Sovereign Grace. With that milestone behind us, I had the pleasure of surprising Ector and the church with a presentation of his framed ordination certificate when I was with them in Ndola one Sunday last month.

All in attendance were delighted as we marked this important moment in the life of Christ Community Church, and this significant achievement for Ector. Please continue praying for this dear church. From their lead pastor down to their newest member, these brothers and sisters are a beautiful example of perseverant faith. May they refuse to grow weary of doing good, knowing that in due season they will reap, if they do not give up.

Grace Family Church in Jamaica was planted in January 2019 by a team led by Joel Bain, Sean Taylor and Sheldon Campell who are ordained pastors in Sovereign Grace Churches. Joel Bain (Lead Pastor of Grace Family Church) shares this update…

On Sunday, January 26, Grace Family Church celebrated our 6th anniversary with a service and picnic under a tent on an immaculately manicured lawn at the Caymanas Golf Club in St Catherine, Jamaica. It was a beautiful day. But perhaps because this is the way we’ve celebrated each year, I almost missed the miracle. Thankfully at a point after the service I felt God arresting my perpetual motion, nudging me to stop and look around at the evidence of his kindness in the collage of people and stories joyfully mingled and mingling together. 

There was Sonia, a member of our church, a retiree, widow and grandmother who is always joined by her sons and grandkids for our celebration. It’s wonderful to be able to welcome them each time. She shared with me recently that one of her teenage granddaughters asked her if she could become a member of our church. There was Chris, who is not yet a believer but has been among us for several months listening to the gospel and leaning in, who asked if he could buy GFC t-shirts in every colour we have available. We treasure his presence and pray for his salvation.

There was Telika, a young believer who started attending our church regularly at the beginning of 2025 but was eager to be in our membership photo because she signed up on our website the previous night! She is eager to grow in her faith, reads ravenously, and now tells her friends that she won’t be there if they plan activities on a Sunday morning because she loves being at church. There was Russell, who has gathered with us almost every Sunday for close to a year and shared that he has never been baptized but would like to be. And there were, of course, our members - an increasingly close-knit, gospel-shaped family that has grown to 70, many of them serving joyfully in different roles that day, welcoming our guests and celebrating God’s grace. God has been tremendously good to us.

That morning I envisioned the church for deepening discipleship. Rather than having the shallow impact that is common in our nation, we want to spend the next 5 years pursuing Jesus and community in such a way that the gospel will pervade our lives. We just began preaching through Genesis. We’re looking forward to baptizing a few precious folks and beginning a new membership cohort in March. We’re also about to begin training deacons and have started exploratory conversations about pastoral ministry with a few men and their wives.

There’s much to look forward to with patience and in faith - because nothing has happened quickly for us. But it would be wrong to long for that in a way that fails to turn aside to see and appreciate the treasure we already have - our church - this magnificent, messy testimony to the love of God in Christ!

An update from Marty Machowski, Pastor at Covenant Fellowship Church, Glen Mills, Pennsylvania…

After a one-day flight delay caused by a rare (and immobilizing) inch of snow in Dallas, my trip to Lord’s Grace Church in Suwon, South Korea, went smoothly. Following my Sunday sermon, Songhwan gathered the pastoral team and deacons for an extended question-and-answer session. The leadership at Lord’s Grace Church expressed deep gratitude for my visit and the connection it represented with Sovereign Grace Churches. It was a true joy to partner with these devoted servants in spreading the gospel in Asia!

During my visit, Songhwan hosted a seminar for a group of gospel-centered pastors and their wives from the surrounding area, whom he has affectionately named “Together for the Gospel Korea.” I delivered five messages on our Shared Values, and Songhwan followed up with a session on how to apply these values within the Korean context. His church serves as an exemplary model for these area pastors, and several expressed a desire to explore a partnership with Sovereign Grace.

We wrapped up the week with a family seminar titled “The Holy Spirit and the Family,” where I taught parents about the Holy Spirit’s role in the family. The session focused on the Spirit’s work in areas such as conviction of sin, the regeneration of our children, assurance of salvation, and the operation of spiritual gifts within family life. The participants were deeply encouraged, with many commenting on how helpful it was to understand the Holy Spirit’s vital role in the family.

A group photo taken after the Sunday service captured a growing and joyful congregation, one that is living out the shared values and virtues of Sovereign Grace!

An update from Jonathan Logan, a Pastor-in-Training at Cross of Grace, El Paso, Texas…

Relay 2025 was a time of encouragement, challenge, fun, and most importantly, gospel truth. What a joy it was to see so many hundreds of young adults from across Sovereign Grace (and beyond) gather around the beauty of the Gospel.

From the first moments entering the building, the conference was marked by gospel shaped life! Here are a few highlights.

There are a few sounds on earth as edifying as God’s people singing together, and the singing at Relay was thunderous! Seeing hundreds of young adults, hands lifted high, shouting at the top of their lungs praises to our God, to see the next generation carrying on a rich history of joy-filled, gospel-centered singing, was so encouraging.

Who doesn’t love T-shirts and stress balls being shot out of a canon that occasionally worked up to specifications? With incredible cover songs, trivia, humor, and lighthearted fun, “Joseph and the Fun Squad” did a great job drawing us all together relationally as we laughed and had a good time.

Our crew from El Paso loved experiencing both snow and late-night Wa-Wa runs, as well as getting some dedicated time with the churches from the (affectionately nicknamed) Wild West region. Josh Payne did a great job coming up with general Sovereign Grace historical trivia, as well as some trivia related to our region in particular. It was hilarious and informative!

My personal favorite surprise was rolling up to a Starbucks, seeing it was closed, lifting my eyes up and seeing God’s good gift to grocery stores, Wegman’s! It was a taste of home for this kid who grew up in Buffalo.

The breakouts were timely, helpful, informative, and compelling and it was an absolute joy to hear from the founding and next generation of pastors of Sovereign Grace Churches. They helped us dig in to the values and virtues we’ve held so dear for so many years as a family of churches. 

CJ, Jon, Jeff, Jared, Dave, and Bob did such a great job of helping us see the beauty of the doctrines of grace, seeing Jesus lifted high in song, reminding us of the freedom found in pursuing holiness, among so many other things.

Thanks to all the volunteers who spent countless hours preparing, serving, and cleaning up at Covenant Fellowship, so that we all could have a rich time of fellowship and growing in the good of the gospel! Can’t wait for the next Relay Conference!

I also want you to hear from one of our young adults, Abby:

“The theme of this year’s RELAY conference was teaching on the doctrines of grace. As a young adult who is relatively new to studying theology, hearing our pastors explain the importance and application of these doctrines was invaluable to me. Positioned right at the start of the new year, RELAY gave me a chance to set my eyes on what is true and beautiful as I begin a new year, which many see as a new start or clean slate. 

It was so edifying to be reminded of the grace of God; how indescribable, wonderful, and beautiful it is and how it fills every part of a Christian’s life. 

I learned that the doctrines of grace will never get old. I will always need to hear them and remember them. I will hopefully always be profoundly affected by them and rearrange my life to live by them. Seeing our founding pastors still tear up when they recount their testimony is so impactful, reminding me that I will never fully understand the depth of love God has for His people. 

One of the highlights for me was getting to reaffirm what the pastors were preaching with singing. I loved that the songs we sang reinforced the gospel of grace that we were learning about. It is one of the tangible ways I saw how God’s grace affects people in real time. 

I am so thankful for our family of churches that presses into these doctrines, even when they can sometimes be difficult to understand, and for the dedication of our pastors and leaders to teach the next generation!”

- Abby

The team in El Paso also put together some daily video recaps that we wanted to share - Enjoy!

• Day 1

• Day 2

• Day 3

All available resources from Relay 2025 are now available here. Watch or download main session messages, view photos, listen to breakout sessions, and more.

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 who we get to come to! The LORD, the maker of heaven and earth. The One 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 opportunity this really is!!

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

1. Please pray for Bert Turner (Pastor of Covenant of Grace Church, Copley, Ohio) and his wife Karen as they travel to Brazil on February 9. Over five weeks they hope to visit nine cities and relate to twelve pastors from eight different churches. Please pray for safe travels, good health and effective spirit-empowered ministry. Please pray for Bert’s time with Emerson Soares (pastor of Graça Soberana Rio Grande), who will be ordained in the coming month. Please also pray for his time with Pastors Emerson, Fabiano, Guilherme, Rafael, Andre, Jader and Tarik as he leads a pastors and wives retreat. Please pray, as well, for wisdom and good communication as Bert meets with two other pastors who are developing deeper relationships with Sovereign Grace Churches.

2. Please pray for Ricky Alcantar (Lead Pastor at Cross of Grace Church, El Paso, Texas) as he leads the Antioch Retreat at the end of this month. Antioch is a program aimed to help churches faithfully pursue the marks of mission as seen in Antioch and the New Testament. Please pray for the whole US Southeast Region as well as other who will be attending, that as they spend three days together they would be freshly stirred and equipped for the mission.

3. Please pray for Brian Kiama (Church Planter into Nairobi, Kenya) and Jonathan Leslie (Co-Planter in Kenya), as they continue the soft-launch of Sovereign Grace Church, Nairobi. Please pray that God would continue to bring the people that He wants to be a part of this new endeavor and that His Word would speed ahead and be glorified in Nairobi and beyond.

4. Please pray for Jeffrey Jo (National Leader of SGC Philippines), as he works through a possible SG Church Plant in Trece Martirez City. For the past ten months, through the work of Dasmiranas City Church, there’s been a group of around 20 adults meeting for a weekly bible study in Trece, representing around 15 families, alongside a busy bible study of about 30 kids aged 5-13. The people there are eager for a church to be planted there and are hungry for God’s Word. Please pray for wisdom and discernment for everyone involved in this door that seems to be opening.

5. Please pray for our two Sovereign Grace Churches in Australia, that will be begin running ‘The Bridge Course’ this month. After a big build-up of prayer and inviting, Sovereign Grace Church, Wahroonga’s launches on Tuesday 11th February, and Sovereign Grace Church, Parramatta’s on Tuesday 18th February. Please pray that many people attend and that lives are completely changed as a result. For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved!

6. Finally, please pray for Pat & Dana Tedeschi, who having been commissioned and sent out to work in London, England, have now landed at Oasis Church and begun to settle in. Please pray that the Lord would establish the work of their hands, and that Pat would experience much grace and favour as he begins Pastoring in the Church. May the days ahead, and the fruit, be wonderfully sweet. Jesus is worth it.

   … Our help comes from such an amazing King. Thank you so much for joining us in praying to Him.