In the last month we’ve had four Global Churches formally asked to be adopted by Sovereign Grace. We are thrilled to announce that all of the following have now become Candidate Churches, and so will formally begin the ordination and adoption process. With great joy, here’s a bit about them…

La Vina Escazu - Costa Rica

From Mark Prater, Executive Director of Sovereign Grace Churches…

I met Rodrigo Fournier, Lead Pastor of La Vina Escazu in San Jose, Costa Rica when I spoke at a conference alongside of my friend Joselo Mercado in February 2020 in San Jose. Rodrigo was not only my capable translator when I preached during the conference, he had also invited me to preach at his church the Sunday after the conference. On that Sunday, Jill and I found La Vina Escazu, a church of 600 people, to be very similar to a Sovereign Grace church. There was a palpable passion for Christ in their singing, a warmth in their relationships, and a gospel-centrality that marked their Sunday service.

Since that Sunday in February 2020, Rodrigo and I have talked about every 6 weeks. In those conversations Rodrigo became a friend as we got updates on each other’s lives, and he told me that he first became aware of Sovereign Grace by listening to CJ Mahaney’s sermons.As Rodrigo and his elders interest in Sovereign Grace grew, we had conversations about our polity, our Seven Shared Values and our new Statement of Faith, all of which seem to confirm that Sovereign Grace could be a denominational home for La Vina Escazu. On February 25, 2021, a year after I met Rodrigo, the elders of La Vina Escazu sent me a signed Letter of Intent formalizing their desire to be adopted into Sovereign Grace. I’m so excited about the possibility of our family of churches having another church in the nation of Costa Rica.

Igreja Nova Vida - Brazil

From Bert Turner, SGC Representative to Brazil…

“Faithful” is a more biblical (and important) descriptor than “heroic,” but they both apply to our dear friends at Igreja Nova Vida (INV) down in the southernmost state of Brazil – Rio Grande do Sul. These precious saints have faithfully persevered through being abandoned by a former denomination, the tragic death of their senior pastor and the difficulties of living the doctrines of grace in an area where they are little understood or celebrated. Yet, they are joyfully serving Jesus, and, to our joy, eagerly pursuing adoption by Sovereign Grace Churches. The INV leadership team officially signed a letter of intent to become a SGC candidate church last month.

I first met their pastor, Emerson Soares, when I was in São Paulo, Brazil in 2018. He flew 800 miles just to meet over the possibility of the adoption of INV by SGC. Since then, we have developed a warm and deep relationship. Emerson has attended the Pastor’s Conference twice (once with is wife, Tati). I have been twice to visit them in Rio Grande. Emerson is progressing quickly through the ordination process. As a sign of his favor, the Lord was kind to recently give INV a new, larger and better meeting place. Even during COVID restrictions they are seeing new visitors.

Casa Vida Playa Azul Church (CVPA) - Costa Rica

From Joselo Mercado, SGC Representative to Latin America…

I still remember this man full of enthusiasm coming up to greet me after preaching at a conference in Santo Domingo. Between laughs and tears he told me that he wanted to be able to communicate the gospel with the passion that I had done and that he wanted to talk about his family in a similar way. From that conversation was born a friendship that we have cultivated for several years. After several visits to Costa Rica, serving together in conferences, having dinner and laughing, Chespi Sandoval and Casa Vida Playa Azul Church (CVPA) asked to be adopted by SGC.

It is evident that both CVPA and SGC are compatible in the gospel-centered values that define our mission. We hope that in time God will give us direction to confirm this relationship and to continue the work of proclaiming the gospel in Costa Rica.

Sublime Gracia Church - Santa Marta, Colombia

From Joselo Mercado, SGC Representative to Latin America…

Jacobis Aldana is a young pastor with many gifts. In addition to being the pastor of the Sublime Gracia church in Santa Marta, Colombia, Jacobis works in public relations and web development of several recognized ministries in Latin America. Because of God's gifts, many ministries want Jacobis to become part of them. So why does he want to be part of SGC? Centrality and application of the Gospel, this is what summarizes the relationship we have with Jacobis and his precious congregation.

Our relationship describes the mutual desire to encourage each other in the truths of the Gospel, our desire to fellowship for our benefit and that of our families, and enjoy the values we hold dear. Jacobis has built a church where the Gospel is not just academic knowledge; it is a truth that applies on a day-to-day basis. So he wants to be associated with a church group that values the same.

November 10th 2020 will be remembered as a historic day for our family of churches because, on that day, the Sovereign Grace Churches Council of Elders unanimously voted to approve our new Statement of Faith.

From one angle, this action was unremarkable, as our churches have from the start defined themselves theologically. By God’s grace, we have avoided many a theological pitfall, and our gospel-centrality - SGC was “gospel-centered” long before that phrase was fashionable - has remained steadfast. 

Even still, as the culmination of a careful, seven-year process of theological formulation, discussion, revision, and review, the Sovereign Grace Churches Council of Elders ratified a new Statement of Faith that will function confessionally for every ordained pastor in our denomination. Every ordained pastor right around the world... And that’s a big deal!!

Jeff Purswell, the Dean of our Pastors College, says this about our Statement of Faith,

“The new Statement of Faith is precious to us. It is an affirming, clarifying, and mission-strengthening gift. Its very existence declares that the pastors and churches we serve stand united in, and devoted to, God’s revelation in Holy Scripture. Its affirmations of great biblical doctrines root us in historic Christian orthodoxy and the faith once for all delivered to the saints. Its careful distinctions draw vital boundaries to guard against heresies ancient and contemporary. Its distinctive elements express specific convictions our churches hold dear. Its doxological tone captures the goal of all biblical truth—to lead us into a deeper knowledge of the Triune God, that we might more genuinely worship him, all to the praise of his glory.”

How true this is! And such qualities only clarify and bolster the mission of Sovereign Grace Churches around the world. In headline, this Statement of Faith gives our global work the necessary guidance and guarding we need in this great mission, helping us to ensure faithful ministry, by God’s grace, for many generations to come.

To mark this historic moment in Sovereign Grace, we have established a dedicated website for our Statement of Faith: webelieve.sovereigngrace.com, which you can find here. This website is your "one-stop-shop" for the Sovereign Grace Churches Statement of Faith. Please take a good look at it.

May this Statement of Faith protect our family of churches, strengthen our theological unity, charge our global mission, and deepen our worship of God, all around the world.

In Isaiah 66.1-2a we read the following,

'Thus says the LORD: “Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool; what is the house that you would build for me, and what is the place of my rest? All these things my hand has made, and so all these things came to be, declares the LORD.”’

This is the sheer magnificence of God. He is the author and creator and sustainer of all creation. For from Him and to Him and through Him are all things… And what confidence that powerful reality should give us as we pray to Him. All of creation, His wonderful hand has made, and so here’s how we can be praying to Him in the month ahead…

1. Please pray for Jeffrey Jo in Manila, Philippines; Cornelio Ebo in Cebu City, Philippines; Dyonah Thomas in Liberia, JP Ravuri in India & Mario Vucenovic in Croatia, as they continue to work through the Sovereign Grace Churches ordination process and begin then to take their exams in the next few months.

2. Please pray for Ben Kreps, Josh Blount & Jeff Purswell as they teach at the Grace Life Pastors College in Monrovia, Liberia, 8th-19th February. Although the teaching will be online, may it be a rich time of teaching and training for our brothers in Liberia, and would many hearts be refreshed, and many relationships be formed and blessed as a result.

3. Please pray for Jorge and David Del Castillo who at the end of a fruitful season (report below), now find their recent church plant, Iglesia Gracia Soberana in Santa Cruz, Bolivia, having to once again meet online due to the second wave of the covid pandemic. Please pray that God would continue to provide for this new church in resources, grace and wisdom.

4. Please pray for Zicky Chanda, her four sons, and the members of Christ Community Church in Ndola, Zambia, as they mourn the death of our dear Wilbroad. Our friend and fellow Sovereign Grace Pastor, indeed the first to ever be officially ordained in Africa, will be dearly missed. Please pray also for Doug Hayes, our Sovereign Grace Representative to Zambia, as he seeks to care for the family and Church by taking a trip to be with them, 3th-10th February.

5. And finally, please pray for the 38 countries that we have Sovereign Grace work going on in, outside of the United States... Australia, Bahamas, Belarus, Benin Republic, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Croatia, Cuba, Ethiopia, Germany, Ghana, Guinea, Hong Kong, Hungary, India, Italy, Ivory Coast, Jamaica, Liberia, Mexico, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines, Puerto Rico, Sierra Leonne, Somalia, South Korea, Spain, Thailand, Turkey, Uganda, United Kingdom, Venezuela & Zambia So many Nations, yet all held in His Hands. … May we trust Him, may we keep looking up, and may His grace abound to us all.

The following is an update from Michael Granger, Lead Pastor of Trinity Fellowship in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Over the course of our Covid-19 quarantine Trinity Fellowship wrote, recorded, and produced a music album about sin and the gospel… Wow! I’ve attached the Christmas song they produced entitled “Kidus” at the end of the this report. Please don’t miss it. Enjoy…

Our plan for planting a church in Ethiopia was always broken up into two phases, firstly a Soft Launch with our planting team; followed by the second, a Hard Launch (or Official Launch) in which we begin publicly ministering to our community. I am so pleased to report that on Sunday October 4th of 2020, Trinity Fellowship in Addis Ababa had its soft launch in our home. We began with a call to worship from Isaiah 40:9-11 “Behold your God”. That was followed by Abenezer beginning the singing portion of our worship service with Bob Kauflin and Jon Althoff’s song He is Our God.

Our singing was followed by a pastoral prayer and then I preached from Hebrews 11:39-12:2 Looking Unto Jesus. It was the first sermon of a 3-part series entitled Why We’re Gospel Centered. Finally we ended our service by taking communion together. It was a sweet time with one another and with our dear Savior. The last words of the service were, “As my dear pastor and friend CJ Mahaney always says, “I wish tomorrow were Sunday!”

Then, in mid-November we moved from our house to a 200 seat theater in the Bisrate Gebriel neighborhood of Addis Ababa. That was a massive answer to prayer because it is right smack dab in the middle of where we had been praying for a location to meet. Finally on the very last Sunday of the year, December 27th, we celebrated the official launch of Trinity Fellowship in Addis Ababa. We called it a Very Merry Church Plant and with much merriment of heart I’m so pleased to report that by the grace of God we made in as a 2020 church plant! Our text for that Sunday came from Luke 2:25-35 on Simeon’s response to the Messiah. The sermon was entitled God in our Hands. And we had the chance to sing one of our very own Christmas songs. Abenezer Dejene, our Director of Music wrote and recorded Kidus (attached below) which we sang as a church.

In my opinion, it felt like a very fruitful Sunday, and we're stunned by the grace of God. My brother-in-law, who was serving as usher tells me there were around 150 people in attendance. That might be an exaggeration of 1 or 2 dozen, but he’s confident with his figure. And, after the service there was a buzz of excitement in the air. As for me, my heart is full of joy, a very very deep joy that I get to be a part of what God is doing in East Africa. I just can’t believe it! My heart is also flooded with thanksgiving at the generosity of the Lord in giving us such wonderful friends and such a marvelous Ethiopian planting team. And now, by the grace of God, we find ourselves two sermons into our series on Paul’s epistle to the Philippians. Praise God!

An update from Joselo Mercado, Lead Pastor of Iglesia Gracia Soberana in Gaithersburg, on a trip he took to Colombia in late 2020…

A couple of days ago in comfortable 80 degree weather, and we are today expecting 3-6 inches of snow!

I arrived home late on Monday night from Santa Marta, Colombia after visiting Iglesia Biblica Soberana Gracia and Pastor Jacobis Aldana.  To be honest, I really did not feel like getting on a plane and visiting another continent in the middle of the pandemic, but my wife, Kathy, really encouraged me to continue the work of encouraging pastors and churches. I am so pleased she did, as the trip could not have been better!

I will just give you some of the highlights...

• The main purpose of the trip, which was accomplished, was to present the church membership with the possibility of starting an adoption process.  The church response was very encouraging, about 5 of the keys leaders of the church communicated their gratefulness to SGC and the impact that Jacobis relationship with me have had in the life of the church.  

• I Was able to spend time with Jacobis and his family, his wife was super grateful for conversations, laughter and care.  Kathy also sent her a very touching note, that she said was something she needed to hear at this time. 

• A prospective church planter from Bogota came to spend the weekend with his wife.  I have been meeting with him for some time and Jacobis has been reaching out to him.  He is considering moving to Santa Marta to be at Jacobis’ church and walk a process there. 

• I had a meeting on Friday with two pastors in Barranquilla.  This church was planted by the church in Santa Marta.  For a couple of years Jacobis would take a two hour bus ride every Sunday after completing his sermon in Santa Marta to preach in Barranquilla.  Out of that effort Iglesia Biblica de la Ciudad was born.  Barranquilla is a city of 2 million. The two elders of the church in Barranquilla are interested to see the possibility of adoption. I already have a relationship with one of the elders, I meet with him on a monthly basis for the past 18 months. 

• The Santa Marta church is helping plant a church in Valencia, Jacobis native town.  This is a rural community 10 hours away.  Our local church help them buy a vehicle that is allowing Jacobis do trip to invest in the leaders in Valencia.  

I’m very optimistic about the relationship with the Santa Marta Church. Jacobis is a very bright, godly man. His main desire to be part of SGC is because of the centrality of the Gospel, he gets that and from my perspective that is the hardest value to get. In my opinion, of all the relationships I have, he is very ahead in the process.  

Jacobis will be starting the 9 month ordination process early in 2021.  We will hopefully have another trip with a mid-Atlantic elder to continue the process, and then in early 2022 me and my family will look to go and spend 3 weeks there to once again move things forward. 

Thank you so much for allowing this ministry to happen! 

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

Dear Friends,

Last time we made a report was in August and we were ready to start the face to face meetings again. In this process there were many considerations, but we saw fit to start again and with the help of the Lord, we were able to gather from September to December without interruption.

Although it has not been easy to effectively invite people to Church during this time, we see how the hand of God has not left us and several people have come. Because not all churches have been able to return to face-to-face meetings, there are people who have visited us and in some way the fact of being able to meet has been a great opportunity for people to meet us and come. Also the series of ¨Knowing our brothers of Sovereign Grace¨ has represented a great way to receive support and enable some to know us when they see the videos, and so thank you to the ones who made them.

Since we have returned to gathering, we are preaching on the book of Mark and it is being a great blessing for us.

In the previous report we presented Fabricio and Gigliana Salazar as a point of prayer, a couple who wanted to be part of the plant, and we want to inform you that they are here now from the beginning of January 2021. Fabricio is praying to serve in the ministry and studies in “Integridad y Sabiduria” , a ministry of Pastor Miguel Nuñez. Gigliana has a lot of experience in children's ministry, having served and been a part of it for many years. They are a true answer to prayer!

Something else that we want to tell you, where we saw God's faithfulness and his incredible sovereignty, was in a children's activity. Brother Frank Huck from the Arche church in Germany, included us in his program of Christmas gifts to children, they have this program where they help ministries to give gifts at Christmas time, they give them to the children while Gospel is preach to them. We were notified that the money had already been sent, something we did not ask for, but we appreciate the generosity.

When we found out, we were happy, but we did not know how we would do the event, that same week we learned that Fabricio and Gigliana would have to come to Santa Cruz to sign a document. So we took advantage of their visit and skills, so that together with them we held the event, as Frank's church was very generous and they gave us enough for 80 children and in our event we only gave away 42 gifts, the next day we went to the Oncological Hospital and gave the rest to the children who were there. They were two beautiful opportunities to tell children about the true meaning of Christmas.

This time has also been very good in training, as Jorge, David, Fabricio and another brother from the church (Jose Manuel) have taken workshops at Simon Trust on the recommendation of Abelardo Muñoz from the church of Mexico in Juarez, who told us that due to the pandemic they were doing them online. Likewise, I was invited to a pilot workshop given by “predica fiel” Ministry which has been very good and in parallel, I was also able to start again classes at Southern Baptist Seminar after a break for over a year for moving and planting the church.

Please join us in praying that the Lord will let us go back to face to face meetings, something we have had to stop again due to the increasing cases of Covid in the second wave here in Bolivia.

Thank you so much for the support you are for this church, God has really been faithful.

I hope God is blessing you as well.

An update from Mike Seaver, Lead Pastor of Risen Hope Church in Summerville, SC, USA, and head of our Global Coach Training… We are so grateful for his labours!!

One of the greatest assets we have as Sovereign Grace Churches is church planters. These are gifted, called, and qualified men that will preach the gospel of Jesus Christ and plant new congregations throughout the world. At Sovereign Grace, we want to give these men a great theological education (Pastors College) and we want to give them practical help when they hit the ground in church planting (gospel coaching). It is with this second aspect in view that we sought to train SG Certified Global Coaches to help our global church planters.

Under Dave Taylor's leadership, Greg Dirnberger and I spent several months training these Global Coaches. The Coaching Certification consisted of a four day intensive training, followed by monthly "Trihorts" where those students being trained would be coached, observe coaching, and then coach another student. These monthly sessions then turn into longer experiences of coaching where the student grows in his ability and confidence to coach as well as receives feedback on his coaching. The student also receives monthly coaching on real life situations of his current pastoral ministry.

Well, in early December 2020, ten Sovereign Grace pastors completed this certification. (Ken Delage, Bert Turner, Kyle Huber, Allen Dicharry, Erik Rangel, Ed O'Mara, John Reyes, CB Eder, Pat Tedeschi, and Josh Murphy). Our "Zoom Graduation" turned into a time of encouragement with each guy recounting how he had grown during the training and the benefit each of them felt as they were regularly coaching and being coached through a global pandemic.

This team of Global Coaches have already been a blessing to our global church planters and we look forward to seeing how this investment will bless SG in years to come.

While the global pandemic that started in 2020 brought many challenges, not surprisingly, the light of Christ has shone brightly in the darkness. Over the past two or three years, Todd Peterson, an elder at Cross of Grace Church in El Paso, TX (led by Ricky Alcantar) and a member of our Emerging Nations Team, developed a relationship with a pastor in India from the Andrha Pradesh region. His name is Jayaprakash. We call him JP.

Todd has had the opportunity to visit JP in India. And as the pandemic affected JP’s village, Todd sought to find a way to help. Asking his local church for help, the members there raised money to help JP buy food to share with the villagers. This is particularly significant for two reasons: one is that most of the villagers are day laborers so food was scarce and two, the village is very segregated. Hindus live on one side. A few Christians and Muslims live on the other side. But when JP was able to purchase this food and create bundles to share, some of his church members went to the Hindu side of the village and gave it away. The result is that some Hindus have visited JP’s church, some even being born again! What a glorious gospel! What a glorious partnership between one small church in El Paso and a small church in India! As one church shares resources with another the result is life changing—Hindus becoming Christians!

If you are interested in more details, please watch the video below. It’s an update that Todd gave Cross of Grace Church.

Psalm 93, ‘The LORD reigns; he is robed in majesty; the LORD is robed; he has put on strength as his belt. Yes, the world is established; it shall never be moved. Your throne is established from old; you are from everlasting. The floods have lifted up, O LORD, the floods have lifted up their voice; the floods lift up their roaring. Mightier than the thunders of many waters, mightier than the waves of the sea, the LORD on high is mighty! Your decrees are very trustworthy; holiness befits your house, O LORD, for evermore.’

None of us really knows what the weather ahead looks like in 2021, but what we do know, and what we can be absolutely confident about, is that the LORD reigns! The majestic and mighty LORD, our sovereign protector and ruler, He reigns!!

What a wonderful truth!! Here then is how you can be praying to Him for us in the month ahead…

1. Please pray for our work in Pakistan. One of the annual activities of the Pastors there is a Christmas Outreach, an outreach that involves 370 small village churches who endure great trials and persecution for their faith. Please pray that the seeds that have been sown in 2020 will be harvested in early 2021. For many years the Lord has been blessing the ministry of these Pakistani Pastors, increasing the number of small village churches they support and together, they have seen many people come to faith in Jesus Christ. Please pray that great favour will once again abound to them in 2021.

2. Please pray for our two Church Plants that have recently taken place in the Philippines, under the leadership of Nilo Ebo - Davao City, led by David Quir, and Negros, led by Peter Magquilat. Both of these Churches have a history with Sovereign Grace and are now pursuing adoption with us. Please also pray for our Churches in Surigao del Sur, Mindanao, who have recently been devastated by Storm Vicky. Especially our church in Cabangahan led by Rolando Agyang, whose house, church ministry centre and farm were all destroyed by a landslide. Please pray for Jeffrey Jo and his church as they seek to care for these churches and help with the rebuild.

3. Please pray for the Emerging Nations Team as they begin to make tentative travel plans for 2021. It can be hard to make plans at this time, but God-willing there’ll be trips for Doug Hayes (Ethiopia, Zambia) and Allen Dicharry & Aaron Mayfield (Nepal) in late January. Please pray for God’s guiding and covering hand in these endeavours, and that if they are able to go, that these trips will be a great blessing to our brothers and sisters on the ground in these countries.

4. Please pray for Croatia and our Pastor there, Mario Vucenovic, as they seek to navigate their way through what has been a very difficult season for them. Just before Christmas the country was in 75% lockdown because of the Coronavirus and then on December 28th, Zagreb and the surrounding areas experienced a major earthquake. Please pray for safety for the people and also for many opportunties for the Church in the coming weeks and months to minister the gospel. People there are feeling lost, helpless and without hope for the future, and so in Jesus, may they find all the answers they need.

5. Please continue to pray for me (Dave Taylor), Mark Prater and the SG Leadership Team as we continue to pray, discuss, and plan for global expansion in Sovereign Grace Churches. The last few months of team conversations have been wonderful and we’re certainly moving forward! We greatly value your prayers though, that His wisdom and grace would abound to us in this great endeavour, and that we’d look to the future with clarity, faith and courage.

… With so many different weather's to navigate, may we never forget: The LORD reigns!

Rather than give you several different updates this month, I wanted to share with you this one 20 minute video to watch.

During out recent Pastors & Wives Livestream Event on November 11th, 2020, I had the privilege of giving an update on what God is doing through our small family of churches around the world. On paper, you’d assume that 2020 has been a terrible year for Global Missions, and yet nothing could be further from the truth!

As you watch this video, I hope it encourages you, excites you and reminds you just how glorious He really is. For this is all the Lord’s doing, and so may it always be marvelous in our eyes!

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Psalm 139.7-10 declares, ‘Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there you hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast.'

There is nowhere we can go where we are outside of God’s presence, nowhere, and that’s one of the many things that makes prayer such an incredible and daily opportunity. The King of Kings and Lord of Lords is always present, always with us, and always eager to hear us.

And so here’s some specific things that you can be praying for, and talking with the King about, in the month ahead…

1. Please pray for the many countries, churches and pastors that are presently experiencing the second or third waves of the Coronavirus, that God may protect them in the midst of this Pandemic, and that they may know His peace at this time.

2. Please pray for Michael Granger and Trinity Fellowship in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, asking God to keep them safe in the midst of fighting and unrest in Ethiopia. Please pray that this will be a new beginning for a free and united Ethiopia, as a beacon of gospel light to a very bleak and dark part of the world,

3. Please pray that God would draw many unbelievers to Sovereign Grace Churches around the world, as we hold our various Christmas related services and events. Pray also that God would give the members of our Churches opportunities to share the gospel with unbelieving family members, friend, neighbours, and coworkers over this holiday season.

4. Please pray for four Churches that have been relating to us for some time and who have now formally requested adoption into Sovereign Grace Churches: LaVina Escazu in San Jose, Costa Rica (Pastor Rodrigo Fournier); Casa Vida Playa in Playa Azul, Costa Rica (Pastor Chespi Sandoval); Iglesia Soberana Gracia in Santa Marta, Colombia (Pastor Jacobys Aldana); and Igreja Nova Vida in Rio Grande, Brazil (Pastor Emerson Marts). This is wonderfully exciting for us and so please pray for everyone involved in this process.

5. Please also continue to pray for me (Dave Taylor), Mark Prater and the SG Leadership Team as we continue to pray, discuss, and plan for global expansion in Sovereign Grace Churches. There are so many opportunities, and so please pray that wisdom and grace would abound to us all in this endeavour, and that we’d look to the future with faith, courage and understanding.

… There’s a big world out there, and yet He really does hold it in His hands.

An update from one of our pastors (identity concealed for security reasons)…

In October, one of our churches sent a small team into Belarus, primarily to bring aid to churches. 

The international shut down from COVID-19 has created a serious burden and pressures for many Belarusian pastors. In addition, Belarus has been experiencing widespread political unrest following elections in early August that have been condemned internationally as being fraudulent. Massive crowds in the hundreds of thousands gather for protests in the capitol each week, and  approximately 12,000 people have been arrested and many have been beaten and tortured.

However, we know the gospel proceeds in all circumstances. And so the gathering of these protesters has provided many amazing gospel opportunities in a country where public witness and preaching is illegal. 

Some of the aid taken to Belarus is being used to help these churches care for people who have suffered under government reprisals. Other parts of the aid will be used to help a church, barely five years old, to plant their first church in the next few weeks. Nothing stops what God has committed to accomplishing!

The men who traveled to Belarus shared the joy of receiving an overflow of thanksgiving from the Belarusian churches. These churches experienced that neither global pandemics nor political unrest can stop the care of God’s people for one another. The time shared together was a true Philippians 1 moment.

Please be praying that the gospel will flourish in Belarus. Ask God to give pastors wisdom in how to lead their churches during severe political unrest. And pray that new churches would be planted to the glory of God. 

Incredibly, two of the churches in Minsk, that have been actively preaching the gospel during the demonstrations, and who we’ve been relating to for some time, are actively interested in becoming Sovereign Grace Churches. Please pray for all involved in this. 

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An update from Joselo Mercado, Lead Pastor of Iglesia Gracia Soberana in Gaithersburg…

Amazon has become my most prominent way to buy books in the US. On average, at least one book arrives at my house each week through this service. Over the past summer for example, I was able to order dozens of books to study the subject of Critical Race Theory and Social Justice. From the comfort of my home, I could access the best resources to investigate and serve God's people here in Gaithersburg.

However, the vast majority of Latin America does not have access to services like Amazon, and their access is not as extensive. There is therefore a great need to produce biblical materials that can be accessible to Hispanic people. 

In recent years, with the growth of the reformed doctrine in Latin America, we have seen an advance in translating books with orthodox material. But the vast majority of material in Spanish is from the prosperity or legalistic line and so although God is raising access to good biblical material in Latin America, more is still needed.

By the grace of God, he has allowed me to be part of a group of men who are writing about biblical issues from an application to the Hispanic world. Since 2013 I have been a founding member of TGC Spanish, and I have published more than 100 articles on its portal. 

In 2019 B&H published a book on marriage that I wrote. Also, this November, my second book went on sale. It is a book on how we should be prepared for suffering through the gospel. In 2021 B&H will publish a book on a biblical perspective on spiritual gifts and also an exegetical commentary on the Gospel of Luke. This is only possible by the grace of God, that this happened is simply a miracle.

But again, not everyone can buy a book or make it to a bookstore. That is why I think it is essential to be able to publish resources in Spanish online. That people can have access to the truths that have been so fundamental in our lives. To the principles of the centrality of the gospel that are so normal for those of us who have grown up in Sovereign Grace. May God allow that we can be a way to serve a community that is thirsty for the truth but often finds it difficult to access it.

An update from Wilbroad Chanda, Lead Pastor of Christ Community Church, and Dean of the Copperbelt Pastors College, Ndola, Zambia…

Dave Taylor (Director of Emerging Nations) has said it more than once, that you cannot quarantine the gospel. I totally agree with his observations. While the coronavirus pandemic has had adverse effects on people’s lives around the world, we have seen the sovereign hand of God upon us in Zambia in our service to the Lord. 

Allow me to share with you some ministry highlights from Christ Community Church and the Pastors College:

Firstly, we are grateful to the Lord for enabling us to purchase a piece of land in a very strategic location for the construction of our sanctuary. We thank God for the encouragement, support and partnership from our brethren at Sovereign Grace Central and the Emerging Nations during the process of purchasing the piece of land. We can’t wait to start building to the glory of God and for effective mission work.

Secondly, it has been my joy to work with Fleming Janga as an pastoral intern at Christ Community Church. This internship has helped Fleming to stir up his gifts (2 Tim. 1:6) in the areas of preaching, teaching (at the Pastors College), evangelism and church administration. Although Fleming is a competent agricultural engineer, he is beginning to sense a call to pastoral ministry. We thank God for the generous internship funds that were made available to us by Sovereign Grace.

Finally, our Pastors College continues to thrive and grow stronger. A number of students are testifying that they are being transformed and equipped through the training and discipleship they are receiving. Several of them have been exposed for the first time to Reformed theology, expository preaching, Systematic and biblical theology and the Sovereign Grace Churches Seven Shared values. It is our hope and prayer that in the next two years, some of our graduates will be sent to plant sound Reformed Sovereign Grace churches within and beyond the borders of Zambia.

Kindly pray with us that by God’s grace and help, we will be able to:

• Construct a decent sanctuary to the glory of God which will enhance our mission outreach.

• Practically minister to families we serve that have been adversely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and lock down (some have lost jobs and can’t make ends meet).

• To train and equip men who are mission minded, who will go out to plant Bible believing New Testament churches.

• Raise faithful co-workers at Christ Community Church and for the Pastors College (teachers outside Zambia from SGC).

 Thank you so much for your faithful gospel partnership, prayer, emotional, spiritual and financial support.

Soli deo gloria

An update from Andrés Contreras, former Pastoral Intern at Cross of Grace Church, El Paso, and now Pastor in Training at Gracia Soberana, Guadalajara…

One of the great benefits of belonging to an international family of churches is that even though we come from different parts of the world, with different backgrounds, and cultural understandings, we are united in a love for God, His Word and His people. As such, we can come together to the pages of Scripture and come to the same theological convictions, and yet apply those convictions in different ways depending on the cultural background of the people we serve. It is because of this that I was very helped by doing a residency in the U.S. even though I had a sense that the Lord had been calling me to pastoral ministry in Mexico. 

In particular, there are three particular ways in which I was helped by spending a year with the pastoral team of Cross of Grace in El Paso, Texas before the Lord opened up an opportunity to do ministry in Mexico. 

1.     I Got To Experience The Benefits Of Gospel Partnership.

I’m profoundly grateful to the Elders of Cross of Grace for the warm welcome they extended me and my family during our time in El Paso. I had the opportunity to see this group of men share their lives with one another and through that I was able to see the deep love they have for the Savior and His people. Their lives proved to be worthy of imitation, which I strive to emulate. I got to learn from their leadership style, their servant-heartedness, and their love for their city. Additionally, during some of the difficulties we lived through during the year we spent with them we experienced their love and care to help us as we walked through those seasons of uncertainty and difficulty. Their care toward our lives and their example of character deepened our love and respect for their lives. 

During our time in El Paso, we were deeply aware that we could not have been there without the support of our family of churches. It humbles me to be on the receiving end of the generosity of our denomination that allowed me to learn from these men and the church they lead. 

2.     I Got To Learn From Our Cultural Differences.

By far, the greatest shock I received from my time in El Paso, was to experience the cultural tensions of doing ministry in a different country and language than my own. It is remarkable that even in all that we have in common by our shared theology and denomination, there are significant differences on how we seek to apply God’s Word to our contexts. The culture we belong to shapes us in more ways than we realize and it drives us to bring certain assumptions to the way we think, communicate and pastor. Even though Juarez and El Paso have a lot of similarities, the cultural differences are still significant enough to shine a light on what cultural practices and prejudices have shaped my mind and worldview, and my time at Cross of Grace made me realize some of that cultural influence in my life. Although, it is not wise to try to implement everything I saw in the US into ministry in Mexico, it did prove thought-provoking whenever I encountered one of those differences and it led me to seek to value what I could learn from that difference and to try to think through how I could apply part of that principle. 

This has proven helpful already as we (Gracia Soberana Guadalajara) are evaluating some of our ministries and I constantly go through what I have learned from my dear brothers at Cross of Grace in order to provide suggestions to the rest of the pastoral team. 

3.     I Got To Love Our Savior More For The Global Work He Is Doing.

One of the reasons I grew to love Cross of Grace Church was that because of how the Lord has shaped that congregation, they are constantly sending people all over the country. As they do so, they seek to envision them to live lives that are worthy of the gospel and to be faithful witnesses to the lost wherever they go. As a result of this, they get to hear from different people around the country occasionally with testimonies on how the gospel is transforming lives. I am glad to be one of those who get to share with them what the Lord is doing in Guadalajara. In doing this I have been made grateful to the Lord, that I can taste in a small way, the reality that we are part of what God is doing in making a people for Himself from people of every tribe, language and nation. 

In light of all of this, I cannot help but be profoundly grateful with both Cross of Grace Church and Sovereign Grace Churches for their investment in my life through this residency. I know that I will continue to reap the benefits of this opportunity for many years to come. It is a deep joy to be able to partner with you in the gospel.

An update from Doug Hayes, Pastor in Covenant Fellowship, PA, and Executive Director of Covenant Mercies…

As we move toward the conclusion of a year that none of us saw coming, my guess is that most of us will be happier than usual at 11:59 p.m. on December 31st, as we watch fireworks burst into the skies around the world. We’ll make jokes at the expense of 2020 and hope for better things in 2021; but in reality, we come to the end of the year with much to be thankful for.

For us in Covenant Mercies, it is no small thing to approach the end of a year like 2020 with a net gain in sponsors. We began the year with 1,450+ children under sponsorship, and we enter the final month hovering right around 1,475. Considering the unprecedented conditions that descended upon us in March, this is truly remarkable. It represents the Lord’s provision of new sponsors even as our normal means of enrolling them were curtailed. It also represents sponsors prioritizing their support despite economic uncertainty.

My constant prayer is that the Lord would supply more seed to the ones who sow bountifully, increasing the harvest of their righteousness by enriching them in every way to be generous in every way (2 Cor. 9:10-11). It should be no surprise that the headwinds of 2020 have made the Lord of the Harvest no less capable and no less faithful to fulfill this promise.

Also not to be taken for granted in 2020 was our planned expansion of Lighthouse Christian School in Ndola, Zambia. After celebrating the official opening of Hope Community Primary School in Kiburara, Uganda, in February, we were eager to turn our attention to an ambitious new building on the campus of Lighthouse Christian School. But despite school closures and partial lockdowns in Zambia, construction was allowed to continue seamlessly. Meanwhile, by God’s grace, Covenant Mercies donors and partners persevered in generosity and enabled us to continue pressing forward. As a result, we expect our 300+ sponsored students at Lighthouse to finally have access to a library, computer lab, science lab, and a spacious multipurpose hall during the 2021 school year.

2020 has been a challenging year for all of us, but the Lord has reminded us that He doesn’t need perfect conditions to provide for the mission He has called us to. 

None of the above could happen for us without a small army of friends like you, persevering in prayer and a determination to be generous. So, we conclude the year with a word of thanks and an invitation to continue joining hands with us in this great and glorious mission. I thank God for His faithfulness in the year past and trust Him to be faithful yet again in the year to come.

Wishing you a blessed holiday season with the ones you love,

Doug Hayes

I love the work that Doug & Covenant Mercies does in Africa. If you’d like to hear more, and maybe even get involved in some way, getting them over the line of 1,500 sponsored children which they’re tantalisingly close to, then please check out the following two-minute video on child sponsorship. 

You can quarantine the Pastor, you can quarantine the population, you can even quarantine the church, but you simply cannot quarantine the Lord. Our King has continued to be on the move throughout this global pandemic, in wonderful and incredible ways, and as we continue then to join with Him in this great adventure of mission, here are some ways you can be praying for us in the month ahead…

1. Please pray for the many Pastors & wives, from many different Nations, who will be attending our online Sovereign Grace Pastors & Wives event, on November 11th (US Time). Please pray that they will be encouraged, refreshed and envisioned from that event, and that God would be on the move in our midst, even in this online format.

2. Please pray for Michael Granger and Trinity Fellowship in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, asking God to bless their public services that they started just a few weeks ago, and that many unbelievers would be drawn to this church to hear the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ.

3. Please pray for Jeffrey Jo in Manila, Philippines; Cornelio Ebo in Cebu City, Philippines; and Dyonah Thomas in Liberia, asking God to give them grace and time, as they continue to work through the Sovereign Grace Churches ordination process.

4. Please pray for Joselo Mercado, Lead Pastor of Iglesia Gracia Soberana in Gaithersburg, as he travels to Costa Rica, right at the start of December, to meet with 25 plus pastors to equip and care for them.

5. Please pray for me (Dave Taylor), Mark Prater and the SG Leadership Team as we continue to pray, discuss, and plan for global expansion in Sovereign Grace Churches. There are so many opportunities, caveats, and realities to work through, and so please pray that wisdom and grace would abound to us in this process. What exciting, daunting, and inspiring times these are.

… Thank you so much. Your prayers mean more than you know!!

An update from Riley Spring, Lead Pastor of Sovereign Grace Church of Parramatta, Sydney, Australia…

In September we had the joy of celebrating our 1st Birthday as Sovereign Grace Church Parramatta! We were able to gather live and in-person at a great local church who opened their doors for us so that we could all fit, we heard testimonies of how the Lord has used our church in people’s lives, and we baptised two members! It was an awesome service which allowed us to look back on it all and say, “This is the LORD’s doing; it is marvellous in our eyes” (Psalm 118:23). 

After being sent out in September 2019 with 28 members from Sovereign Grace Church Sydney and with the support of SGC’s, we have seen 22 new members plus kids join our church, 4 babies born, we’ve had 2 weddings, 2 baptisms, 3 people taken through Christianity Explored, and a large number of non-churched people have visited us over this time! No one could have predicted that we’d spend 4 months of our first year gathering online on Zoom on Sundays and for Life Groups or that we’d be in 4 different venues, not the greatest start for a church plant! But through it all, God has truly strengthened us, made us dependent on Him, used us to reach the lost, encourage the saints, bind up the broken hearted, and renew the faith of the wandering, what a privilege! We couldn’t have done it without the continual support of our sending church! SG Sydney have poured into us by continuing to mentor me and support our marriage, they have filled the pulpit monthly, and we have partnered together in many cross-church discipleship opportunities!

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One of the most remarkable aspects of our first year is the joyful and sacrificial service of our members who have given their lives to helping make it all happen. With every awesome event, walk-up outreach, church service and life group, our members have gone above and beyond to use their time, talents, and treasures in service to the King of Kings. It truly moves me as a pastor to see the saints serve with such eager willingness, creativity, perseverance and skill!

Let me share with you Jordan’s story as one small example of how God is using our church. Jordan arrived in Australia from the Philippines and she and her husband visited our church because they were staying with some of our members. Jordan grew up Roman Catholic and was always uncertain of her future destiny even though she went to mass, confession, and services regularly. 

“I did all those things out of fear – fear from getting reprimanded by my parents, fear of getting judged by other members of the community, and most of all, fear of going to hell for not doing good. There was a time when I even went to confession on a weekly basis because I kept sinning and I was afraid to die and go to hell just because I missed to confess my sins to a priest. And even though I religiously confessed, I did not strongly believe that I was saved.”

During College she went searching for truth and found herself attending different churches but eventually sucked into new age religion and astrology. When she arrived in Australia she loved attending our church but it wasn’t until we preached through Ephesians 6 on spiritual warfare that she realised she needed to completely leave her new-age religion behind and follow Jesus. 

“It was when we were going through Ephesians 6 when I felt a strong kick in my gut that I was doing everything wrong. Everything that I used to believe, everything that I held on to, everything that I thought would give me peace and salvation just dissolved. It was as if an ice-cold bucket of water was splashed to clean the dirt off my face that allowed me to open my eyes to see the only truth – that Jesus died on the cross for me and has saved me completely from eternal damnation. My salvation is not a result of my good works, but because of His grace through faith. From that moment, the word “sovereign” just started to make sense to me. I mean, I always knew the dictionary meaning of the word, but it was just that – flat. I have never felt so free and at peace and being able to surrender all my fears and anxieties. And those who know me well, would all agree that I am, or now used to be, a total control freak. On repentance, I have shared with the ladies in our life group that over my 34 years of living, I think it was only twice or thrice when I can honestly say that I felt the agonising remorse for my sins. So now, I’m declaring my choice to constantly repent and follow Jesus. Jesus is now and forevermore my Lord and Saviour.”

Isn’t that amazing!? We don’t know what our future holds as a Church, but He does, and we just hope that we get to meet more Jordan’s and see more people liberated from sin and death and brought into new life in Christ! And we want to do this in partnership with Sovereign Grace Churches, our family! Our mission is to be a church passionate about knowing, applying and proclaiming the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ in Parramatta, please pray for us as we seek to make this happen for God’s glory and the good of our city!

The following video was played at their one year anniversary celebration. Enjoy!

An update from Michael Granger, Sovereign Grace Church Planter in Ethiopia…

On April 11th of this year, just one day before what was supposed-to-be the official launch of Trinity Fellowship in Addis Ababa, the government of Ethiopia put out a new policy restricting gatherings to no more than 4 individuals. What quickly came about was the temptation to dwell on and be depressed concerning what was "supposed to be” rather than to live in and respond to the reality of what actually was. Real-life was not what we had planned in our minds, put down on paper, nor was it what others had approved in the form of a prospectus for ministry. It was nothing we could have foreseen. As real-life was being stuck inside for months stacked on months. Months in which we had to drop to our knees and cry out to God for wisdom and direction, and months wherein we feel confident that he has abundantly given us more than we could’ve asked or imagined. 

Our little church planting team spent many of the months between April and now working on a new project in the absence of our ability to hold Sunday gatherings. My energy has been spent writing a 140-page book specifically contextualized for Ethiopia about sin and the gospel. It is essentially an introduction to the doctrine of sin and how God deals with it. With our people in mind, its purpose is to confront two of the major enemies of the cross out here in Ethiopia: legalism and the prosperity gospel. We desire to answer the questions: "Why did the Father send the Son?” and "What is at the heart of the cross?" Jesus dying in the place of sinners who deserved judgment for their sin. Currently the book is in translation to Amharic. 

As for Abenezer, my ministry partner, he is producing an album, the content of which correlates with the themes of the book: A Fallen World, My Sin, God’s Justice & Judgment, The Gospel, and Sanctification. Each song was written by our church planting team in Amharic with three criteria:1) Song themes matching those of the book; 2) Songs that are gospel-centered; & 3) Songs written for congregational church singing. Currently, it is under production and we’re nearing the end. And can I be candid with you? Full disclosure… The album is bangin! 

But now the months of not doing what we specifically came here to do have ended. Recently there was a turn of events in our nation. At the end of September, the government reversed its prohibition of church services. So it is with abounding joy I report that on Sunday, October 4th Trinity Fellowship Church in Addis Ababa was finally established. We began with a call to worship from Isaiah 40:9-11 “Behold your God”. That was followed by Bob Kauflin and Jon Althoff’s song He is Our God. Our singing was followed by a pastoral prayer and then I preached from Hebrews 11:39-12:2 Looking Unto Jesus. It was the first of a 3 part series entitled Why We’re Gospel-Centered. We concluded our service by taking communion together. It was a sweet sweet sweet sweet sweet time with one another and with our dear Savior. The last words of the service were, “As my dear pastor and friend, CJ Mahaney always concludes, 'I wish tomorrow were Sunday!'” 

I write to you from what is now the sweetest place on earth for us, Trinity Fellowship in Addis Ababa. Thank you for praying for us. And thank you for welcoming us into what the Lord is doing with and through Sovereign Grace Churches. 

A report from Carlos Contreras, Senior Pastor of Gracia Soberana de Ciudad Juarez and SGC Representative to Mexico & Latin America…

A week ago we traveled to the beautiful historic state of Guanajuato, in the central part of Mexico. The church Iglesia Bíblica Gracia Sublime meets in the city of Silao, where this past Saturday, September 12th, we had the privilege of ordaining Manolo Quintal as an elder in Sovereign Grace Churches in a special outdoor event. Manolo has been serving this church as a pastor for more than 10 years and is now the first SGC ordained elder from an adopted church in the Mexico region of SGC. 

This is also a landmark ordination, since Manolo chose to fulfill all the requirements for ordination in SGC and is the first pastor prepared for ordination by following the Spanish Ordination Guide. During the ceremony I had the privilege to share a message on the weight and the blessing of the pastoral call, as well as the biblical requirements for eldership. Following, Abelardo Muñoz described the biblical and theological study and tests required of Manolo, praising him for his faithfulness and excellent results.

Testimonies were given to affirm God's calling of Manolo as a pastor, that also highlighted his humility, tenderness, teachability and love, all of which led him to seek adoption into SGC in order to lead God's church faithfully. SGC regional pastors attended from nearby churches in Arandas and Guadalajara and many of them were witnesses to the event through the live internet feed. Other local pastors from the cities of Guanajuato, León and Moroleón were also present.

After Manolo and the congregation responded forcefully to the charges presented to them, we prayed and laid hands on Manolo who was accompanied by his wife Betty. In all it was a moving and heartfelt occasion in the life of Manolo, his family, his team and this newly adopted church.

We are thankful and marvel at the kindness of God who is bringing every year more like-minded churches and pastors to SGC with the desire to join our family of churches. Please join us in praying that God will raise up many other faithful men in Mexico and Latin America to carry on the noble task of caring and leading His church.