In 1 Peter 3.18a, we read:

‘For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God.’

As Peter pens those words we find ourselves on holy ground, as our attention is once again drawn to a Hill called Calvary, and to the wondrous cross upon which the Prince of Glory died. For through the substitutionary death of Jesus, who suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, we have now been brought back to God.

It’s a breathtaking and stunning reality. The penalty of our sin has been paid for, the sacrifice of our substitute was sufficient and through Him, we have now been brought near. And so knowing that and in awe of that, here’s how you can be praying to the One who is near in the month ahead…

1. Please pray for Jeremy Hetrick and his team as they plant Redeeming Grace Church, Mechanicsburg, PA, asking God to provide for all their needs, and to bless their services as they begin to gather this month.

2. Please pray for our new 2023-2024 US Pastors College students and their families from 3 different nations who have recently moved to Louisville, with classes having started at the end of August. Please ask God to provide for all their needs and to give them the grace to grow over the next year while at the PC.

3. Please pray for Pat Tedeschi and Greentree’s Muslim Outreach Team as they head over to London, UK, September 8th-18th. For many years Greentree has been partnering with a church plant to the Muslim community in London, where the majority of the church members are former Muslims. Please pray for this team as they join with the church members in doing evangelism, help to lead the church services, and encourage the new believers in the church.

4. Please pray for the Philippines Pastor’s Institute that launches this month in Madrid, Mindanao. Please pray for the 20 students, that they may be equipped as future leaders, pastors, and church planters for the Mindanao region.

5. Please pray for Joselo Mercado as he heads over to Santa Cruz, Bolivia, to serve at their annual SGC Bolivia Conference. Please pray that this is a wonderful time for both pastors and members, alike.

6. Please pray for our brothers and sisters in Pakistan who have been affected by the recent rioting. There were about 20-25 churches that were looted and burned as well as many homes of Christian families. One of those looted and destroyed churches is pastored by a man who is with the group that we have the privilege of partnering with in Pakistan. So please pray, that God would meet them in this time of great affliction and sorrow.

   … Once we were far off, but now we have been brought near. What a staggering reality that is.

An update from Mark Prater, Executive Director of Sovereign Grace Churches...

The best way to summarize what happened at the first Sovereign Grace Churches West Africa Pastors & Wives Conference is that a family of churches was born in West Africa known as Sovereign Grace. Attended by about 80 pastors and wives from 6 different West Africa nations, 2 of them French speaking, God worked to truly forge a family of churches.

Before I give you more specifics about the conference, I must tell you about what happened the day before the conference started. On Sunday, August 13, I had the joy of ordaining Dyonah Thomas, Senior Pastor of Grace Life Church, and our key leader in West Africa. The people of Grace Life were so excited that Sunday morning because they love Dyonah, and because Dyonah is our first ordained Sovereign Grace elder in West Africa. Their enthusiasm was not only seen in their hugs and words of encouragement but also in the gifts they gave Dyonah and me, which they insisted we must wear right away.

The conference kicked off with a dinner on Monday. This was good leadership on Dyonah’s part because he wanted to use every opportunity to build pastors and wives from 6 different nations together relationally. It was humbling to hear that the 25 people who came from Sierra Leone traveled 22 hours by car. The folks from Guinea traveled 26-27 hours by car just to come to the conference. I heard no complaining, only joy and gratitude that they arrived safely.

The theme of the conference, which “officially” started on Tuesday morning, was “God’s Unchanging Word in a Changing World.” Dyonah wisely chose this theme because churches in West Africa are doing ministry in a predominantly prosperity gospel culture. Additionally, churches in Sierra Leone and Guinea are also doing gospel ministry in a predominantly Muslim culture. In light of those challenges, along with the cultural pressures that all churches face, Dyonah wanted to center the first West Africa Pastors & Wives Conference on God’s Word, and a pastor’s responsibility to be faithful to God’s Word.

In light of the theme of the conference, every main session began with a call to worship from God’s Word. Like any other Sovereign Grace Conference, there was passionate singing, faithful biblical preaching, and rich fellowship, all of which celebrated the gospel.

On Tuesday, Dyonah preached what I believe is a foundational message for our churches in West Africa. The theme of his sermon is that we counter false teachers (e.g., prosperity gospel) by faithfully preaching the truth found in God’s Word. He told the pastors not to teach anything new but to teach what God has already spoken in His Word. He exhorted us to not wander off the ancient paths and remain faithful to what God has already given us in His Word. It was the right message for West Africa.

I preached 3 sermons, one on thriving in suffering because of God’s Word, one on preaching, and one on the future hope of West Africa. Bart Lipscomb joined me for this trip. Bart is the Senior Pastor of Christ Church in Conroe, Texas, USA. He preached on a pastor’s marriage, and how to remain faithful to God’s Word in all of pastoral ministry. I also invited friends from my church, Bob Wright, and Alfred and Virginia Essandoh to the conference. Alfred grew up in West Africa (Ghana), and so he and Virginia were eager to attend. Dyonah asked Bob to pray for the French speaking churches during one of the main sessions.

Dyonah has established key leaders in different nations to help build Sovereign Grace in West Africa. Samuel Kotee, Senior Pastor of Saving Grace Fellowship in Conakry, Guinea, Morlai Kamara, Senior Pastor of Sovereign Grace Life Church in Freetown, Sierra Leone, and Roland Blackie who is the Senior Pastor of another Grace Life Church in the Monrovia, Liberia area. Each of these men, along with Dyonah, led through the main sessions.

We also heard several inspiring testimonies during the conference. One of them was from Francis. Francis and his wife left good paying jobs in Sierra Leone to move to Monrovia, Liberia for a year to attend the Sovereign Grace West Africa Pastors and Planters Academy. He shared how 2 of C.J. Mahaney’s books, Humility, and The Cross Centered Life, were used to transform his life and prepare him for ministry. With the Academy completed, Francis and his family are headed back to Sierra Leone to plant another Sovereign Grace church in the Freetown area.

After spending 12 days in West Africa, I flew home with faith for our future in West Africa. We have like-minded pastors and wives who get our gospel-centrality, and who love our shared values and shaping virtues. Like all of us, regardless of where you live and pastor, they desire to plant and build Sovereign Grace churches in West Africa. I also have hope for our future because of God’s grace on Dyonah Thomas’ life. He is leading our efforts in West Africa so well. I told him before I got on the plane that “Sovereign Grace in West Africa is in good hands because of you.” May God bless his labors, and the labors of all the pastors in West Africa for the good of the gospel and the glory of Christ.

An update from Carlos Contreras, lead pastor of Sovereign Grace Church, Ciudad Juárez, Mexico and our key leader for Mexico...

Sunday August 20, 2023
This past Sunday was a historic day for our growing family of churches in Mexico. It had been over 10 years since we had sent out a team to plant a church, but on this Sunday in an unprecedented event we prayed and commissioned two men to plant two churches. Through God's initiation four years ago, he sovereignly sent us 2 men from different parts of the country to be discipled and trained in order to go back to their respective cities to plant churches.

As part of their training, both men went through and participated in all of the ministries of our church in Juárez. They also covered much theological study and preaching workshops as well as participation in a year-long Leadership Discipleship group.

Huajuapan, Oaxaca Church Plant

Israel Garcia with his wife Nohemi and two children.

The first of the two men is Israel García and his wife Nohemí. Israel was a leader in his home church in Huajuapan. They came to Juarez to explore a ministry opportunity and sought a Reformed church and so they found us. After their first year they felt a strong desire from the Lord to return home and plant a church with Sovereign Grace values. Israel is from the southern state of Oaxaca and they will be planting in Huajuapan which is the second largest city of that state. Israel is a computer programmer and works remotely from home, so he will be a bi-vocational pastor until the church can support him.

Omar and Norma Soto, and their boys.

Joining Israel will be Omar and Norma Soto and their boys. They came to us as part of a joint venture with our sister church Christ’s Covenant Church in Winona Lake, Indiana. They had sent out Omar several years ago to do missionary work in the state of Oaxaca and Omar was excited to be a part of a new church plant in that same state. Israel is grateful that they will be planting with the support of the Soto family.

Both families will be heading out Saturday August 26th on a 3-day road trip driving from the northernmost Mexican border to Oaxaca which is one of the most southern states.

Reynosa, Tamaulipas Church Plant

The second man that surprised us by coming is Marcelo Torres. Marcelo is an industrial engineer who was working with a Korean company that manufactures automated production lines. His work would frequently bring him into Juarez and he would visit our church on Sundays. He says that finding Sovereign Grace was exactly what he had been looking for. He heard about our Fieles Pastors Conference and decided to come with his wife. From that experience they decided to talk to us regarding the possibility of Sovereign Grace planting a church in their hometown of Reynosa. Since we didn’t have a plan or a pastor to send in the near future we asked him if he would be willing to come and be trained in order to be sent back for that purpose. By God’s providence, within 2 months he was asked to relocate by his company and so Marcelo, his wife Ruth and his 3 sons moved to Juarez.

Reynosa is a border town in the state of Tamaulipas. It is located across the river from McAllen, Texas. It is an industrial city and very similar to Juarez but it also shares the unfortunate designation of being one of the most violent cities in the world. Marcelo has already scheduled a first evangelistic meeting to start in his home on September 16. Marcelo loves his home state and has a vision to reach the whole state of Tamaulipas with future church plants.

Marcelo and Ruth Torres, and their 3 sons.

This past Sunday we had the joy of praying for all 3 families and entrusting them to the care, guidance and purpose of the Holy Spirit in the new venture for the Kingdom of God. We would greatly appreciate your prayers for these families and future new churches and thank all of you who are partnering with us to make these plants possible.

An update from Michael, Pastor of our related church in Dnipro, Ukraine... (Full names concealed for security reasons)

On February 24, 2022, we woke up to explosions. The war had begun. In just a few days, the Russians occupied 20 percent of the territory of Ukraine and continuously launched rocket attacks on our city. We did not know how fast the Russian army would reach our city, all we could do was pray and constantly read news feeds about more and more destroyed cities in Ukraine. A food crisis began in the country, a transport collapse, huge queues at gas stations, and a failure of the banking system. I urged our church members to evacuate their wives and children to European countries or to the quieter western regions of Ukraine.

During the first few days of the war, 90 percent of church members left Dnipro. The remaining members of the church, as well as our friends and relatives, gathered together every day for prayer and mutual support. We wanted to be as effective as possible in helping our people, therefore, having assessed our capabilities, we converted the building of our church into a huge shelter, and on the third day of the war we received the first batch of refugees.

They were exhausted people, shell-shocked from explosions, pregnant women, children, old people, wounded. They came to us in cold trucks in the February frost, in personal cars, on which there were traces of bullets, some were brought by Christians who began to serve people and help with the evacuation. Very soon, all the free space in the church building was filled with mattresses. Hundreds and hundreds of refugees began to come to us around the clock.

Our small team of volunteers faced huge challenges to serve hundreds of people every day. Around the clock, we washed bedding, prepared hot meals, collected clothes, provided medical supplies, cared for the wounded, changed diapers for bedridden elderly, cared for children and pets, cleaned showers and toilets, and handled administrative matters. But there was the most important challenge thrown to us - to preach the gospel to the refugees. The war brought them a lot of suffering and pain, their houses were destroyed, their relatives were killed, they had no idea what to do next.

We felt powerless because we could not console their wounded hearts and we did not have optimistic forecasts for them about the outcome of the war, but we had the news of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ for our sins and the eternal hope that a merciful God gives people. We thought that because of the pain and broken hearts, no one would listen to us, but despite our scepticism, the refugees eagerly accepted the truth about Jesus and asked us to pray for them. Together with them we cried and rejoiced, prayed and thanked God for His grace.

We received seven and a half thousand refugees in our shelter during the first nine months of the war. Our greatest joy was that most of them heard the gospel of Jesus Christ and saw God's mercy towards them through our humble ministry. About a hundred thousand refugees have now settled in our city. Their situation is really distressing because rent prices have increased several times, there is little opportunity to find a job in the city and food prices have increased because of the war.

We continue to take care of the refugees and distribute 450 packages a week with basic food. Refugees come to our Sunday services and listen to sermons about Jesus. Most of them had never heard the Gospel before and have negative attitudes toward Protestants, but the Lord continues to open hearts and give them faith in Jesus Christ. After a year and a half of war, 30 people have now become new members of our church. In the middle of the week, most of the people at our prayer meetings, women's fellowship and children's club are immigrants from the destroyed cities of Ukraine.

Our modest efforts would be meaningless if we did not have the tremendous spiritual, prayerful and financial support of our partners in ministry from the Sovereign Grace family of churches. From the first days of the war until now, you have been supporting us. Your words of encouragement lift us out of discouragement and despair. Your generous donations allow us to feed thousands of the hungry and preach the eternal gospel of Jesus Christ to the war-torn people of Ukraine. We are eternally grateful to you for your faithfulness to the gospel and your evident love for Christ. We are not alone in our grief, you are with us, and this brings endless glory to our Savior Jesus Christ, who made us one spiritual family.

The war continues. As before, the Russians are bombing our cities, and civilians are still being killed. As before, Ukrainian soldiers are dying, and already 9 of my close friends have died defending our people. My parents were unable to evacuate and remain in occupied territory. Two months ago my father died and I couldn't be at his funeral. My mom had a heart attack, she's paralyzed, and there's no way I can help her. And we don't know when this war will end.

But one thing we know for sure is that God accompanies us with His grace in the darkest days of our lives. His grace shines brightly in our good Father's care for the eternal souls of suffering people.

Please note, if you’d like to directly give to this work in Ukraine you can do so via the European Development Fund. Please write ‘Help Ukraine’ in the note box, your contributions will be gladly received.

An update from Jeff Purswell, Director of Theology and Training for Sovereign Grace Churches and Dean of the US Pastors College...

It never gets old. Although we’re busily preparing for our incoming class at the Pastors College, we’re still reflecting upon and savoring all the ways that the Lord met us and answered our prayers for the recently graduated class of 2023.

In June we had the honor of celebrating the graduation of ten students, marking the completion of a rigorous course of study and the culmination of ten months of intense discipleship, growth, and training.

The men attended 35 weeks of classes, totaling over 800 hours of lectures and an additional 1000+ hours of outside work, reading, papers, and exams (one of the students tabulated the reading at 11,307 pages). On top of this were dozens of men’s and ladies’ groups, couples’ groups, individual and couples’ meetings with various PC staff, all designed to provide fellowship, care, and counsel, and all aimed at helping them “watch their lives” (1 Tim 4:16), their marriages, and their families. These men worked tirelessly, devoting themselves to the study of God’s Word and the pursuit of godliness, all the while serving their wives (the real heroes) and children at home. And all for the cause of the gospel and the glory of Jesus Christ in their lives, their homes, and, Lord willing, the ministries they will pursue in the future. I couldn’t be prouder of them.

We entered last year with high expectations and fervent prayers, and it was a privilege to witness the particular ways in which the Lord refreshed, strengthened, provided, and worked through these men and their families. He supplied remarkable faith to all the PC wives, especially to the three who arrived with babies on the way as they embraced the challenge of delivering a child in an unfamiliar city and caring for their newborns in the midst of a demanding family schedule. He sustained another PC wife who had to undergo emergency appendicitis in the middle of the year, as the rest of the class rallied around this family to care for them. He gave astounding stamina to another student who shouldered the heavy workload of the PC while completing his PhD (a feat we would not typically recommend). The Lord opened doors for the gospel through another student and his wife as they reached out to their neighbors through game nights and a weekly Bible study in their apartment complex. He refreshed all of us and broadened our vision for the gospel’s global reach through Rocco Dalia, who hails from Italy, and his wife Mady (from Romania), as they came to us from the UK and prepared to return to Italy for an SGC church along with Ed and Robin O’Mara. Sovereign Grace Church of Louisville was also refreshed through Rocco, who represented his class in preaching to the PC’s host church.

It’s impossible to recount all the ways the Lord matured these men, strengthened these marriages, forged life-long friendships, inflamed a hunger for God and his Word, instilled gospel values, and infused them and their families with Christ-exalting joy, even as they encountered disappointing set-backs, redirections, and unexpected trials. These are gospel men, and men who love the local church because they love our Savior. Our lives are richer because of them, and our hearts were full as we sent them out. And by God’s grace, Sovereign Grace will be stronger and more fruitful as they take their place in local churches to serve the cause of the gospel and care for those for whom Christ shed his precious blood.

It is these answers to prayer that kindle in us fresh gratefulness to the Lord and faith in his goodness as we look ahead. Please join us in praying for the class of 2023 as they labor in the corners of the harvest to which the Lord has called them. And please pray for the incoming class of 2024—that  the Lord would again fulfill our renewed requests for his name to be magnified in every heart, mind, and life associated with the Pastors College. 

An update from Jeffrey T. Jo, Senior Pastor of Cross of Christ Salvation Gospel Ministries (CCSGM) in Manila, Philippines, and National Leader for our work in the Philippines...

I remember it clearly when, 5 years ago with my fellow pastors, we were thinking about planting a church either within or outside the Philippines. One location which the Lord placed on our hearts was Dasmariñas, a city in the upland area of Cavite. We only knew one family there who used to be members of our church in Kawit (a municipality, in the lowland area of Cavite and almost 20kms away from Dasmariñas city). Nonetheless, that day we decided to entrust our hearts to plant a church in that area to the Lord. While waiting, we were constantly equipping others to do the works of ministry, raising more workers to serve His people for their joy, and at the same time training church planters. Last year, we started planting a church in Imus and we sent four families to work there which has now grown to a regular attendance of 50 adults.

On the 9th of July, God was so kind to us in answering our prayers to make His name known in Dasmariñas city. During the pandemic season, I had begun doing an online bible study and out of this group of people some were requesting a Sunday worship service. We saw this as God's green flag for us to start one. We rented a 90 square meter space on the second floor of a commercial building just in front of a public market and near residential houses for P18,000/month or $333USD. We also renovated the place to make it suitable for ministry functions. Half of it is currently being used as our sanctuary and the other half is being used for children’s ministry.

We had our first Sunday gathering on July 23rd, bringing with us an 8-man team from our Kawit church. It was a well attended worship service and my first sermon was about the significance of the gospel in our church gathering. We now have a regular online Bible study every Friday evening studying Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, we offer pastoral care through home visitations every Saturday and in the afternoon a face-to-face prayer meeting in the ministry facility.  

It’s been more than a month now and we are seeing the grace of God in the lives of the people whom we are ministering to week after week. We emphasize in our conversations the importance of people living out the gospel in their marriages, their family and in their workplaces, for most of them are ''career women". For this reason, every Sunday before the preaching of the word, we have assigned couples from our Kawit church to share their life testimony about how the gospel of Christ saved them and changes their lives.

Our elders have been training and preparing Jomarie and his wife Nica to shepherd this new church plant early next year. Jomarie, or Jom for short, is one of our intern elders and soon to be a candidate for SGC ordination. Jom resigned from his US based work last May in the midst of a promotion into a junior vice president role. Now, he is one of our full-time staff members who has been a fruitful co-laborer in God’s vineyard here in Cavite. We hope that in these next six months of ministry here in Dasmariñas city, this would introduce and encourage Jom and Nica in all aspects of church life, solidifying not only their soteriology but also their ecclesiology.

All honor and praise be unto God who has called us out of darkness and into His marvelous light. Please continue to pray for our new church plant here in Damariñas city, Cavite, Philippines. As what Hudson Taylor once declared, “God’s work done in God’s way will never lack God’s supply.”

For the glory of the gospel of Christ!

The Contreras, the Cambra, the Ruiz and the Vinetas gathering for a special Sunday dinner.

An update from Carlos Contreras, lead pastor of Sovereign Grace Church, Ciudad Juárez, Mexico and our key leader for Mexico...

For the past 5 years God has opened the door for us to serve 3 churches in the Habana province in Cuba. We first met these pastors as we were exploring the possibility of planting a church there. However, it quickly became evident that planting a church was not a viable plan, but God had instead been preparing the hearts of 3 local pastors who were eager to relate to Sovereign Grace Churches.

The three pastors of these churches are Eddy Cambra, pastor of Iglesia Biblica de la Gracia, Pablo Ruiz, pastor of Iglesia Biblica de Jesucristo (both in the area of Boyeros), and Juan Viñeta, pastor of Iglesia Biblica Emanuel in the area of Arroyo Naranjo. These churches share our values and are growing in understanding and applying them as well as our historical formative virtues. We are aware that because of so many limitations, it may take many years for these churches to “officially” join Sovereign Grace, but we are already joined in heart by our mutual love and respect for each other.

Preaching at Juan’s church.

After a couple of visits, I invited Joselo Mercado and Josué Rodriguez to join me for a time of teaching and fellowship in Cuba. The church they serve, Gracia Soberana de Gaithersburg has partnered with our church to help support and encourage these pastors, their families, and churches. Our joint plan is for us to visit Cuba twice each year to continue equipping and encouraging these pastors and their churches, as well as to bring them much needed relief in their incredibly difficult life conditions due to the severe depressed economy that the country is experiencing.

To help you understand their conditions let me illustrate it like this. What seems trivial to us like procuring supplies and food by going to the supermarket or the pharmacy and spending maybe 1 or 2 hours a week, is an ever-time-consuming effort of survival for them. Procuring a loaf of bread may take you 4 hours, markets might only have 2 or 3 farm items, and they only get a couple of pounds of chicken and rice a month from government stores. There is no milk, there are no basic medicines like analgesics or antibiotics or basic items like batteries for a glucose meter. So even if you have money, there isn’t much you can buy. And yet there is joy and gratitude in their hearts because of God’s grace in their lives.

Carlos and his wife, Kena in front of the house where the second floor apartment is rented for fellowship and teaching.

This past June I had the joy of being able to take my wife with me to encourage the wives of these men also. For the past 3 years we have been meeting together in a rented apartment that has a large living room area as well as a well-equipped kitchen. There we enjoy extended times of fellowship and teaching as well as wonderful times of sharing meals and laughs. Because the government of Cuba has greatly relaxed their customs limitations, we were able to pack our luggage with large amounts of books, medicine, scarce materials, and much needed supplies that they can use for their own families but also to distribute among the members of their churches as needed.

Mirelcy (Pablo’s wife), Mercedes (Eddy’s wife), Ana (Juan’s wife) and Kena (Carlos’ wife).

My wife was very happy to fulfill specific requests from the ladies that we had not been able to do in the past. A sad note on this last visit was that they shared that there had been a little more supply available, but it was because thousands of people have left the country in these last couple of months, seeking a better life somewhere else.

These visits are only possible because of the generous financial support of our family of churches. Thank you because this allows us to not just serve these men and their churches, but also to bring some relief and hope to them. I share some pictures so that you may connect some faces to this report and ask you to please pray for these men, their families and their churches.

A joint Sunday morning gathering of the three churches.

In a recent prayer request 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. Pray that God would give the members and pastors of Sovereign Grace Churches opportunities to share the gospel with unbelievers in our communities and workplaces.

2. Pray for Jeremy Hetrick and his team as they plant Redeeming Grace Church in the Harrisburg, PA, area asking God to provide for all their needs, and to bless their first service in September 2023.

3. Pray for the Ark Church in Dnipro, Ukraine asking God to protect them, and to use them to meet practical needs, and to offer gospel hope to people impacted by the war.

4. Pray for our most recent church plant in the Philippines; Cross of Christ Salvation Gospel Ministries in Dasmarinas City, Philippines (Manila area) asking God to provide for their needs and to draw unbelievers to this new church.

5. Pray for the Fieles Conference in Juarez, Mexico, August 9-11, 2023, asking God to encourage, equip, and strengthen the pastors and wives aUending from Mexico and Latin America. Pray also for Carlos Contreras as he leads this strategic conference.

6. Pray for our new 2023-2024 Pastors College students and their families from 3 different nations who will be moving to Louisville, KY before classes start at the end of August, asking God to provide for them and to give them grace to grow over the next year while at the PC.

7. Pray for the first Sovereign Grace Churches West Africa Pastors & Wives Conference, August 15-17, 2023, in Monrovia Liberia asking God to encourage, equip, and strengthen the pastors and wives attending from 6 different West Africa nations. Pray for Dyonah Thomas who will lead this conference. Pray also for Mark Prater and Bart Lipscomb who will be preaching at the conference along with Dyonah.

8. Pray for the Sovereign Grace Churches Executive Committee retreat in Louisville, KY, August 21-24, 2023, asking God to give the 9 men on this committee wisdom and help in fulfilling their responsibility of overseeing and evaluating the Leadership Team.

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

   … We really are better “together”.

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

Recently, Sovereign Grace Churches Australia had our 2nd combined churches Retreat, what we call “Together”. It was so great to see our family of churches come together to hear from God’s word, worship and fellowship as one body, united by our love for Christ! The theme for the weekend was: “Zealous for the Name of Christ”, which gave us an opportunity to hear about and think through God’s call on His people: “Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in Spirit, serve the Lord.” (Romans 12:11)

I chose this topic, inspired by Jeff Purswell’s excellent message from the Pastor’s Conference last year, because zeal for Jesus was really the thing that drew me to Sovereign Grace in the first place. It’s been a virtue of SG here in Australia and it’s something I don’t want us to lose or grow slothful in. It was clear that this was a topic we needed as the Lord moved in so many people’s lives to be refreshed and recommitted to a whole-hearted devotion to Christ again.

Originally, Jeff and Julie Purswell were coming out for our Retreat but unfortunately due to unforeseen circumstances they weren’t able to come. However, in God’s kindness, Mark and Jill Prater made the massive call to come out and be with us all for the week which was such a blessing and a wonderful expression of our partnership.

We had three main preaching sessions over our Retreat:

1.     A Zealous People - Riley Spring (Romans 12:11) - Apple, Spotify, Website

2.     Zealous For Jesus - Mark Prater (Colossians 1:15-20) - Apple, Spotify, Website

3.     Zealous For Home - Brendan Willis (Philippians 3:3 - 4:1) - Apple, Spotify, Website

Aside from the amazing times we had in our sessions there was so many other great things that happened on our time away together. Firstly, most of our two churches were able to come! It was a joy to see everyone interact, get to know each other, eat together and have fun. Secondly, the children were served so well by various volunteers as they studied parables from the ‘Listen Up!’ curriculum. Thirdly, on the Saturday afternoon there were various free time options people could sign up for to have fun and meet each other: basketball, beach walking, craft, scavenger hunt, board games, and more. Additionally, we were served so well by so many volunteers across our churches who did so much work with all the music, creatives, registrations, gift bags, and more.

Finally, it wouldn’t be an SG Australia church retreat without something ridiculous happening! In the introduction to Mark Prater’s message on the Saturday Night he mentioned a world-record breaking event that occurred in Australia recently where over 5000 people gathered to do the Tina Turner ‘Nutbush’ dance (if you don’t know the dance…let me educate you: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xTiLknvewlM). After Mark’s fantastic and powerful message on the glory of Christ, there was no other more appropriate way for us to celebrate than to do the Nutbush all together as a group. Yep, ridiculous!

After Retreat, we were served so well by Mark Prater meeting with the pastors and pastoral interns from our churches for a day of training, fellowship and prayer. On that day, Jill also met with the wives for lunch and then in the evening we all gathered together for a ‘Night with Mark and Jill’, so that we could glean wisdom from them on marriage, parenting and ministry.

It was a rich time, and we are very grateful to God for our joyful partnership here in Australia and how we are connected with our broader family of Sovereign Grace Churches across the world.

As we look ahead to the future for Sovereign Grace Australia our aim is to keep the main thing the main thing, love Jesus and live fervently for Him. Our focus, first and foremost, will be to continue to strengthen our two growing local churches, and then to raise up more Gospel workers for the future for church planting, perhaps even establishing a ‘Pastors College’ here in Australia. In January we also have the joy of sending over 10 of our young adults to the US for the RELAY Conference, and we’ll also visit with our friends at SGC Orange on our way through.

Please be praying for us!

An update from Leo Parris, Pastor at Covenant Fellowship Church, Glen Mills, Pennsylvania, USA…

Mountain top experiences are precious in the Christian experience. They’re not our daily experience, but when we encounter God in remarkable ways it fills our sails with energy to continue our journey in times of storms and doldrums. Our church just returned from a short-term missions trip to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, and it’s safe to say our sails are bursting at the seams!

We took 9 youth and 10 adults to this city to run a Youth Camp for high schoolers that are a part of Covenant Mercies (CM) there. CM (as you’ve likely heard) is a ministry that is run by Doug Hayes, one of the pastors at our church, that exists to serve orphans in collaboration with indigenous local churches in the developing world. Many of the students that we spent time with had been sponsored for several years. But prior to this past year, Ethiopian laws had hand-cuffed the program and prevented open preaching of the gospel to those in the program. By God’s grace, last year that law changed and allowed CM to form this camp as the first public exposure to gospel preaching for the kids in this program. This was an incredible opportunity but was not without difficulty.

We had planned to camp outside of Addis Ababa, but leading up to the trip stories of rural kidnappings forced us to change locations only days before our flight departed. The CM team worked around the clock and found us a wonderful location within the city. Still, as the camp kicked off, the kids were clearly afraid of us and reluctant to talk. A massive language barrier and the newness of having the whole program together didn’t help these initial moments. But as we played games, ate together (actually feeding each other as a cultural act of affection - “gusha”), and heard message after message of 100-proof gospel, affection and openness began to grow.

There was a decisive turning point in the trip as Abenezer Djene (AB) began to preach to the camp. AB is a graduate of Trinity Fellowship Pastors College, which Josh Pannell heads as dean. AB led worship skillfully throughout the camp in the local language. As he began to share he pressed home the question, “Do you know what will happen when you die?” Then he spoke from Romans 5:8 directly into the world of the youth. AB grew up in an orthodox family and knows the world that the kids inhabit. He spoke to their fears and offered them the gospel of grace instead of works.

Conversations were radically different from this moment on. Several placed their trust in Christ. Songs and chants boomed from the dining hall. Worship was expressive. The Spirit was moving.

As the youth began to head towards their buses, the moment of departure couldn’t have been more different than their arrival. Many were crying. None wanted to leave. It was a holy moment for us. A few days later Doug shared a list of people that had been engaging with CM staff on spiritual questions. It was so encouraging to see that God had worked mightily in these student’s hearts during camp, but even more so to know that they were going to continue to be discipled in the days ahead. 

We ended our trip by worshipping and enjoying fellowship with our sister church, Trinity Fellowship Church, led by Michael Granger. This was such a delight. Michael is doing a phenomenal job leading his church. They are thriving as they keep Jesus central and seek to reach their city with the gospel of Jesus.

Missions trips like these always come with challenges and a high cost, but may I gently encourage you to do them anyway? When carefully planned, they can be massively beneficial to our partnership in the gospel. These trips also make a radical impact in forming our people into the image of Christ. Our team returned excited about what God was doing among the nations and in our lives, and with our own struggles more fully entrusted to our savior. These trips can also be key in inspiring future long-term missionaries. I hope you’ll think strategically and plan sacrificially to take steps to deepen your global partnership through short-term missions trips.

An update from Kyle Huber, Lead Pastor of Greentree Church, Egg Harbor, New Jersey, USA, and Emerging Nations Representative to Belarus…

The pastors who have been our key contacts in Belarus had to flee their country, but they remain fully engaged in the work of the local church! Due to the threat of imprisonment, Sergei and Philip are now refugees in Poland. The pain of leaving their homes, families and church is an emotional trauma that is not easily overcome. Yet, they immediately began setting the foundation for a new church among the hundreds of thousands of Belarusian refugees in Poland.

Philip, Sergei and their wives.

They currently have a discipleship group of 15-20 people who have agreed to move toward becoming a church plant. Recently, they were able to rent space in a Polish Church to meet each week. This will bring some needed stability as they were having to meet in various public locations. Sergei and Philip recognize they will have to proceed slowly and patiently since every team member is also a refugee trying to work through the pain of loss and separation. A significant part of this pain is the regular news about friends who are being imprisoned simply for expressing opinions the government doesn’t like.

Sergei and Philip have been developing friendships with pastors in Poland allowing them to better understand the spiritual climate in Poland and the condition of the evangelical church there. While the dominant religion in Belarus is Russian Orthodox, Poland is a strongly Catholic nation. The evangelical Christian community in both nations is less than half of one percent of the total population.

Both pastors continue to disciple the leaders they left behind in the church they planted nine years ago in Minsk, Belarus. The evidence of their faithfulness to shepherd their previous congregation is revealed in the way it continues to flourish despite losing its pastors and having to navigate life in an oppressive environment.

In June, the Sovereign Grace European Fellowship held a retreat in Warsaw, Poland, enabling us to serve our Belarusian brothers. Along with several pastors from various areas in Europe, eight Belarusian leaders were in attendance. Half of these men now reside in Poland and half made the trip from Belarus to attend. This was a time of care and prayer for hurting brothers, while still looking toward the future of how Sovereign Grace Churches can strengthen the gospel work these faithful pastors are eager to continue.

Some of the ways we can support these men with our prayers:

• The Belarusian government is requiring all churches to re-register. No one knows the implications of this, but the purpose undoubtedly will be to restrict and control. 

• One Belarusian pastor shared that the government has said it will confiscate the building they are renovating as a church because the project hasn’t been completed within two years.

• Financial conditions in Belarus are very difficult as many western companies have left the country and have required their employees to leave as well.

• The war in neighboring Ukraine is a source of upheaval and heartbreak. All young men have to register with the military and face the potential of being drawn into the conflict.

• Following the recent Wagner Group insurrection in Russia, the Belarusian President has invited these mercenary troops to Belarus. No one knows the implications of having these forces stationed there.

• Freedom for the thousands of innocent citizens languishing in Belarusian prisons and labor camps.

• Pray for more young men to be raised up and trained as pastors.

• Above all, pray for gospel fruit as God’s people share their abiding hope to people surrounded by hopelessness.

Although conditions in Belarus are difficult, it is easier to engage in gospel conversations with people because uncertainty and despair are such a common experience. Many young people in particular, are interested in learning what the Bible has to say to them.

Praise to God for allowing us to stand with His people in these difficult places!

Please join us in praying for our incoming Pastors College students and their families as they'll start arriving in Louisville in a few weeks.  Thank you!

John Piper famously writes,

‘Missions is not the ultimate goal of the church. Worship is. Missions exists because worship doesn’t. Worship is ultimate, not missions, because God is ultimate, not man. When this age is over, and the countless millions of the redeemed fall on their faces before the throne of God, millions will be no more. It is a temporary necessity. But worship abides forever.’

I believe Mr Piper is right. Missions exist because so many people in our neighborhoods and nations have yet to receive their invites to the incredible marriage supper of the Lamb. And in His incredible kindness, He’s entrusted us with the privilege of giving out those invites, to every tribe, language and nation.

I was recently at the Arche Church in Hamburg, our partner Church in Germany, enjoying their annual International Sunday. One of the ways they celebrate that Sunday is with a choir made up of members of the congregation from over 56 different countries…. It was a real taste of heaven! What a marriage supper of the Lamb it will surely be!

We’re eager then to keep giving out the invites, and so here’s how you can be praying for us in the month ahead…

1. Please pray for the 10 men and their families that are finishing up this week at the SG West Africa Planters & Pastors Academy in Monrovia, Liberia. They will be engaging in six months of Pastoral Internship now, in Churches in Liberia, Guinea & Sierra Leonne, with a view to 3-4 SG Church Plants in 2024-25. Please pray for them as they relocate their families to their new places of service, early this month.

2. Please pray for Ed & Robyn O’Mara and Rocco & Mary Dalia as they relocate to Torino, Italy to launch our first SG Church Plant there. After many months of planning and training, it’s finally time. Please pray for these two dear families, that the Lord would quickly establish the work of their hands and bring much peace and joy to the settle into their new homes.

3. Please pray for Riley Spring as he leads the SGC Australian ‘celebration’ event - ‘Together 2023’, on the weekend of 21st-23rd July. Please also pray for Mark & Jill Prater as they head over to serve us during that time. Likewise, please pray for Austin & Emma Momber. Austin is a graduate of the US Pastors College and is seriously considering relocating to Australia to serve here. Please pray for much grace and wisdom for him & Emma as they consider this move.

4. Please pray for the various SG Development Committees (LATAM, Europe, Africa & Asia-Pacific) that meet at this time of year to discuss financial plans for the year ahead (Sept 23-Aug 24). Please pray for much wisdom, faith and insight for all the SG Pastors involved in these.

5. Please continue to pray for the ARK Church in Dnipro, Ukraine, led by our friend Michael Ostanin. They continue to feed over 400 people a week, care for refugees on a daily basis, and share the good news of Jesus Christ with any and all that will listen. They are doing amazing work in Ukraine, may we never tire of upholding them in our prayers.

… For the Audience of One, may we never stop giving out these invites!

An update from Ed O'Mara, SG Church Planter in Italy and SG Area Leader for Europe…

Partnership is biblical, and it is a gift! Until 1 year ago, my regular experience was being meaningfully partnered with other Sovereign Grace local churches. Having moved to Europe in July 2023 we came to a continent where interdependency is lacking. In my country, Italy, churches battle for turf rather than serve one another. The gospel witness is so lacking in some countries that the nearest like-minded, theologically-grounded church could be in a country where a different language is spoken. The result is that pastors in Europe often feel alone and are tempted to think their work is futile. Europe needs rich gospel partnership.

That is one reason I am so grateful for Sovereign Grace: the leaders and members of Sovereign Grace across the globe are making an investment in Europe for the glory of God, the good of pastors, and for local churches. A recent expression of this was our first Sovereign Grace Europe retreat. Pastors from Belarus, Poland, Italy, the UK, Turkey, and Czech Republic gathered in Warsaw from 21-23 June to receive refreshment from God’s Word, build relational connections, and begin dreaming about what SGC-Europe could be. We were joined by Mark Prater and Dave Taylor, who invested care and teaching as well as Kyle Huber who has significantly invested in the Belarussian pastors and connected them to SGC.

The Lord’s presence bound us together as we ministered grace to one another. Rather than my words, listen to those who have been serving for a significant time in Europe and yet missing the joys and fruits of gospel partnership:

Italian pastor, Giuseppe Fortuna, commented that he has been searching for a church family that is “home” for so many years and believes he finally found it in Sovereign Grace. An Eastern European pastor said that in over 25 years of ministry combined he had not experienced the love and care he felt in just 3 days together in this retreat. His peer from Belarus recounted the sad reality that pastors in his country feel like orphan pastors without help or mentorship. He looked me in the eye and said “Today, I feel the grace of Jesus” and continued to say that our partnership in Sovereign Grace is by far the healthiest church group he has ever seen.

A younger pastor from Belarus noted how he isn’t used to being loved and cared for but rather being treated like a second-class citizen. He was astounded by the love and grace of Jesus in a new way through our retreat. Peter Bowley, from the SG church in the UK, said “I have experienced many highlights in my life, and being with you men last week ranks as one of the most significant… I pray that this is just the start of a God-glorifying partnership in the spread of the gospel in Europe,” while our Pastor in Turkey noted that the retreat “was an invaluable and precious time… like water to my weary soul and spurs my prayers on for what the Lord might and can do in Turkey.”

Friends, partnership matters! The impact on pastors and local churches cannot be measured! I hope you hear in these comments, not how great Sovereign Grace is; what do we have that we haven’t been given? Rather, hear how great God is and how kind He has been to our family of churches to solidify us in partnership!

This is just the beginning for SGC-Europe! Interest is growing in Sweden, Russia, and Ukraine. We have partners in Germany and Italy (including my co-planter Rocco Dalia) who, though they couldn’t be with us for this retreat, have a big part to play. We are eagerly planning how to connect regularly as pastors and looking forward to our next gathering to sharpen our theological understanding and deepen our partnership.

God is at work in our family of churches! This is not for our glory or renown or to grow the name of Sovereign Grace, but to grow the reputation of the Lord as churches are planted, the lost are converted, and every corner of the earth is filled with the knowledge of our King! Thank you for your contribution to this amazing partnership we have been gifted. It is making a difference in pastors’ lives in Europe and across the globe and it is bringing glory to Jesus. So please keep praying and giving and playing the part God is granted to you to play – all for His renown!

We’ve just wrapped up a multi-year training with some dear brothers and pastors from Pakistan. Dave Quilla, Pastor of Covenant Life Fellowship in Roseburg, Oregon, USA gives us this update…

For the last six years, Sovereign Grace Pastors have been partnering with TLI (Training Leaders International) to provide theological training to pastors from Pakistan. Several Sovereign Grace Pastors (Nate Treguboff, Dave Quilla & Josh Montague) have recently returned from the middle east and the final course in the TLI series. It was a “Doozie” of a book – Revelation. The completion of this course concludes this chapter in our partnership with these dear pastors.

The courses have covered all of the major literary types in scripture including narrative, gospel, historical, wisdom, poetry, prophecy, letter, and concluded with apocalyptic. It has been a wonderful experience for the SGC pastors as we have watched our Pakistani brothers grow in their understanding of the Word of God and their confidence in teaching/preaching the Bible to their people. We were also excited to learn on this trip that they have been conducting seminars not only for their leaders, but for pastors outside of their group of churches so that other churches in Pakistan may benefit from what they have learned.

Being with these men always produces a mixture of emotions. Our Pakistani brothers are incredibly joyful and happy, they love to pray and worship together. They encourage and support each other and truly love to be pastors. Evening conversations though are humbling. These men face real persecution and challenges that many pastors in the west have no experience with.  

Their church buildings have been destroyed at times, precious funds are stolen, several pastors have had their homes shot up by angry mobs. Many of their church members are enslaved by harsh and wicked factory owners with little to no hope of getting out from that oppression. False teachers abound and many are pressured to convert to Islam. Yet in the midst of these difficulties, they express incredible joy and hope in Christ.

And in the midst of this persecution, trials and struggles, the gospel marches on and is producing much fruit in Pakistan. Pastor “S” has seen over 4,000 people come to faith and be baptized in his 30 years of ministry. Pastor “A” has had the privilege of baptizing nearly 2,000 over a 15 year ministry. This year they have baptized nearly 100 people so far.  

These men care for nearly 400 churches in the cities and villages in their area. They go out in groups most evenings to conduct prayer meetings and Bible studies in several villages each night. Their day often ends well past midnight. One pastor does 10-12 services each Sunday! His day begins at 5am and it is well into the night before he returns home.

As we close one chapter, the TLI Training, we eagerly look forward to the next. These brothers desire to continue their partnership with SGC and we are eager to continue as well. Next up is to get boots on the ground in Pakistan to see and observe firsthand the ministry of these brothers and they are eager to have us visit. We hope to send 2-3 SG pastors into Pakistan in the winter of 2024. The current political and economic climate in Pakistan will make this a bit challenging. It may also draw unwanted attention to these brothers and their churches so we need to proceed cautiously and with wisdom.

We will also begin the process of preparing a number of these men for the SGC ordination process. The language barrier is a bit of a challenge, but we hope to learn from the process Jeffrey Jo developed in the Philippines and apply it to Pakistan. We have translated the SG Statement of Faith into their language and will soon have the Sovereign Grace Journals on our “7 Shared Values” and “Our Shaping Virtues” ready for them as well. As further funding becomes available, we will continue to translate more materials for them.

Please continue to pray for these men as they faithfully serve their churches and for our continued partnership with the church in Pakistan.

An update from Billy Raies, Senior Pastor of Sovereign Grace Church Midland, Texas, USA…

In March of this year, we were thankful to be able to resume what had become for us annual ministry/mission trips to Nepal after being unable to do so for a couple of years due to covid. During those early years, our efforts mainly involved coming alongside our key leader in Nepal, in his pursuit of seeking to strengthen, equip and encourage as many pastors as possible through small pastors conferences (20-30 in attendance) throughout Nepal for those who were planting churches or pastoring churches among the unreached people groups of that country. He has strong convictions that the Seven Shared Values of Sovereign Grace Churches provides a substantial foundation for equipping pastors for gospel centered ministry and mission and he joyfully wants to tell anyone who will listen how these biblical values can bless pastors and churches.

During our trip in March, we focused the majority of our time in meeting with our key leader and his elders because he has increasingly become interested in pursuing a partnership with Sovereign Grace. These meetings were to help them take the first steps in The Partnership Pathway. God gave us grace to begin building deeper relationships with his elder team and to begin to unpack our value of elder governed and elder led churches. On our last day of the trip, the pastor asked if we could come back to teach a pastors conference on our Seven Shared Values for the network of churches he has been a part of for many years. He thought that this would be a way to minister to many pastors, pastors' wives and missionaries at one time rather than merely traveling around the country during our trips there. In total, he said there were 167 churches affiliated with this network in Nepal and India and they estimated an attendance of approximately 400. We asked when the conference would be… assuming he meant some time in 2024. He asked, “Could you come back in May…just a few months from now?”

After spending time in prayer and discussion with our local eldership and with Dave Taylor (Director of Global Missions) and Jeffrey Jo (SGC Philippines - National Leader), we believed we should accept our key leader's invitation, but to not merely minister at the Pastors Conference, but to also seek to help him and his team continue to make progress on The Partnership Pathway. Our team was made up of Pastors Jeffrey Jo and Rey Lacbayo from the Philippines and Steve Avampato and myself from Sovereign Grace Church of Midland, Texas, USA. 

The conference began with 114 churches represented and an attendance that was around the 400 people that were initially anticipated. The first two days of the conference, we taught on three of The Seven Shared Values each day and on the third day, taught the seventh shared value. Each teaching session was about 90 minutes due to the time it took to teach and translate the teaching. Our key leader said that he knew God was at work and that the people were being blessed by the teaching because at the end of the third session on the first day of the conference, after the people had already listened to 4 ½ hours of preaching and translation, no one got up from their seats to leave. They actually said they wanted to hear more teaching! One of the members of their leadership team said that another evidence of God being at work was that the attendance grew on the second day of the conference and grew again on the third day, even though there was only one teaching session! They said that the people were calling other pastors and leaders they knew in the area to come and hear and see what God was doing in the conference!

We felt very much at home with these precious brothers and sisters as their conference had many of the same elements that we value so much at our Pastor’s Conferences. There was passionate worship, devotion to prayer, dependence upon God’s grace, desire for God’s Word to be the central element of the conference, testimonies of God’s work through church planting locally and globally, training future pastors, humility and love displayed in their fellowship and encouragement with one another and gratitude for their leadership. We were also in awe of their commitment to help ensure that a lack of finances would not prevent a pastor from attending. They sought to raise funds to help offset travel costs to the conference. Some pastors were so committed to getting to the conference that they walked for one or two days just to get to a bus that could take them into Kathmandu on the third day! And, because there is so much poverty in Nepal, the members of the Kathmandu churches in their church network prepared breakfast, lunch and dinner for each of the approximately 450 people in attendance over the two and a half days of the conference. In addition, they provided cots and mattresses to house as many of the attendees as possible on the church property.

Following the conference we were able to spend some extended time with our key leader and a few of his elders. It seemed that God used the teaching of The Seven Shared Values during the conference to only strengthen their interest in learning more about partnership with Sovereign Grace and desiring for other churches to experience gospel centered teaching, preaching and ministry from Sovereign Grace Churches. We were so blessed to have Jeff and Rey bring encouragement and testimonies for how pastors and churches in the Philippines have come to partner with Sovereign Grace Churches. They skillfully and graciously cast vision and provided strategic thinking as to how they too could continue to make progress down The Partnership Path. Steve, from our church could not participate in these meetings due to illness but I sought to represent the wisdom and planning ideas that he had imparted to me and our team prior to leaving Midland.

Our key leader in Nepal is in a unique situation in that not only has his church planted many churches, but he is also a much respected and dearly loved leader in this network of 167 churches. He said that the conference was very important to him in that he hoped it communicated that his desire is not to pull away from fellowship with these beloved leaders but instead hopes to bless and serve them by bringing the ministry of Sovereign Grace closer to them. In addition, he wants to proceed very carefully and cautiously because historically, Nepali churches who have affiliated with denominations based outside of Nepal are accused of doing so only because of the money they receive.

Our key leader's elders said that they had already started to hear feedback from those who attended the conference that they hoped that we might return to minister at their 2024 conference. The elders added that if this were to happen, they would need to find a larger meeting space because they believed that those who attended this conference would desire to bring many more of their leaders as well as to invite pastors and leaders from other churches! Jeff proposed that if we did return next year, that perhaps the conference could revolve around The Seven Shaping Virtues of Sovereign Grace, which only made our key leader and his elders more excited about the possibilities!

We cannot thank the pastors and churches of Sovereign Grace enough for their sacrificial giving to the Emerging Nations funds that makes trips and ministry like this possible! In addition, we are so very grateful to all those who prayed for us during this time! The Lord answered your prayers in countless ways including sustaining Steve and I during a fairly serious illness during the last few days of our time in Nepal. I am humbled and joyful to say that your prayers were used by God to manifest His power to minister in my weakness in ways I have never before experienced! Please continue to pray for our key leader, his elders and their church! It is such a privilege and honor to partner with such a precious family of churches for the glory of God and the advancement of the gospel! Thank you from the bottom of our hearts!

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

We just finished our final retreat for the 2022-23 Church Planters Cohort and I’m thrilled to be up close and personal to what God is doing in stateside church planting in Sovereign Grace. The Church Planting Cohort is a structured equipping and advisory program run by the National Church Planting Group. For the past six years, I’ve had the privilege of walking with a small group of church planters each year who are drawn together through retreats and virtual conversations to turn church-planting hopes into church-planting realities.  

This year we had three planters complete the cohort program. The notable thing about this group is how diverse their plans and mission strategies are. Jeremy Hetrick will be launching Redeeming Grace Church in Mechanicsburg, PA. This is a bold initiative by Living Hope Church in Middletown, PA to send a number of its best people to start a new work across the Susquehanna River in central Pennsylvania. Redeeming Grace will be launching this fall. Gabe Magill is a Sovereign Grace elder from Philadelphia who has moved to the opposite end of the state and joined a new region to lay the groundwork for planting a church in Warren, PA. Perry Wang is doing a church planting internship at Risen Hope Church in Summerville, SC with the intent of starting a Mandarin-speaking Chinese church in the Charleston area.

You would think that such different kinds of plants would make it difficult to find common ground to work together in a cohort. But these brothers and their wives carry with them much deeper commonality than missional strategy. They carry above all the message of the Gospel, to be built into the fabric of a church and lived out in the locations where God sends them. And they carry our Sovereign Grace shared values and shaping virtues in the mission as well.

So what happened in the cohort? Each month we met together to talk about a key aspect of church planting - like building planting teams and leadership, planting with a clear mission and strategy, foundations for strong organization and administration, and enduring care for the planter’s soul and his family’s well-being. We involve other Sovereign Grace pastors and leaders who specialize in areas church planters need to learn and grow. The cohort includes three retreats where we spend concentrated time in discussion on key issues in planting. One of the retreats is a couple’s retreat, where the focus is on the care of marriage and family in and beyond the church planting experience.

Jeremy observes, “This cohort year has flown by, but not without an amazing deposit being given to us church planters. As I reflect upon the past year, I am amazed at how, at each step of the journey I was given the next step or next category of wisdom for the journey. From how to do interest meetings, to how to relate to your sending church, to how to build a team, to how to put together your prospectus and leadership team, and many other practical things, I really have felt the care and investment of Sovereign Grace Churches into my leadership and our church plant. Each cohort retreat Andy provided a time of refreshment and perspective on church planting, including historical tours (including a Great Awakening tour at our most recent retreat). On these tours he so aptly applied history lessons to give us broader perspective in our gospel endeavors. I so appreciated our time when we did our marriage retreat as well. Kate and I came away encouraged to continue to grow in gracious speech in our marriage and parenting so that our family is built up in the gospel of grace and is sustained through this difficult and labor-intensive work."

Perry also shared some of his experiences, “I was cared for and trained well in the cohort, through the seasoned pastors and fellow church planters, in the areas of leadership, marriage, church administration, website, interest meeting, planting core team, and so many practical things. For me, relatively new to Sovereign Grace churches, and an international, one of the most important things is that I experienced Sovereign Grace culture and the shaping virtues in this group. During the marriage retreat in Philly, my wife, Ruth, got sick. There was medicine that would help her but it was in the city in Chinatown. I could take an Uber to get it. But when Andy knew this, the whole team decided to go to Chinatown to get the Chinese herb. Then we cooked them at Andy's house. This made us feel like family."

Gabe may sum up the cohort experience best for all of us. “Thank you all for your courage in stepping out into new places with the Gospel! It is far easier pursuing this work knowing we are not alone in it.” 

If you are anticipating a church plant, as a planter, as a sending church, or as a region, please feel free to contact me at afarmer@covfel.org to talk about how the cohort program might serve your purposes.

Each week Mark Prater & Ben Kreps put out a podcast, where their aim is to connect our global family of Sovereign Grace churches with our executive director, and over the last few months, they’ve been putting out some excellent episodes relating to SGC Missions!

Please find them all below… Enjoy!

1. The Value of Gospel Mission in the States

2. SG Europe Pastors Retreat

3. Churches Serving in our Shared Mission

4. Giving to Gospel Mission

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 National US Church Planting Group as they meet for a final retreat with the 2022-23 Church Planting Cohort, June 15th-18th. With 3-4 US Church Plants planned for the next 12 months, this is such an important time together.

2. Please pray for Nate Treguboff (Cross of Grace, Minnesota), Josh Montague (Cross of Grace, TLI), Dave Quilla (Covenant Life Fellowship, Oregon) and Joshua Chambers (formerly of TLI) as they travel to Amman, Jordan, June 8-16th, to train ten Pastors from Pakistan. These Pakistani Pastors have a long relationship with our family of Churches, represent some 400 Churches, and are keen to pursue full partnership with Sovereign Grace. This is the final instalment of a five year endeavour and so please pray for safety, for fruitful classes and for wisdom and understanding on wise next steps in this great opportunity.

3. Please pray Justin Crews and Spencer Vaughn (Sovereign Grace Community Church, Roanoke, US) as they head to teach at the Gracelife Pastors & Planters Academy in Liberia, with our friend Dyonah Thomas, June 19th-26th. Please also pray for their strategic trip to Sierra Leone to put boots on the ground as we look to a possible SG Church Plant in 2024. Exciting times!! In addition, please pray for Andy Farmer (Covenant Fellowship, Glenn Mills, USA) as he heads to teach at the Trinity Fellowship Pastors College in Ethiopia, June 16th-19th. Would this be a rich and blessed time for everyone involved,

4. Please pray for the Pastors who will be coming in from Germany, Prague, Italy, Belarus, Turkey, Sweden, and the UK, for this month’s SGC Europe Pastors Retreat, June 20-23rd. They will be joined by Mark Prater (SG Executive Director) and Dave Taylor (SG Director of Global Missions), as they dream together and plan together for the future of Sovereign Grace Churches in Europe.

5. Please pray that God would continue to provide financially for Sovereign Grace Churches so that we can fund the gospel opportunities He is giving us throughout the world. We really do have more opportunities than we can fund and so we are so in need of His grace in this.

6. Please continue to pray for the ARK Church in Dnipro, Ukraine, led by our friend Michael Ostanin. This dear church continues to feed over 400 people a week, care for refugees on a daily basis, and share the good news of Jesus Christ with any and all that will listen. They are doing an amazing work in Ukraine, may we never tire of praying for these dears saints.

… May His grace abound to us all.

An update from Bob Kauflin, Director of Sovereign Grace Music…

David Zimmer and I recently had the joy of visiting Sovereign Grace Church Sydney and Paramatta, led by Dave Taylor and Riley Spring.

We arrived Friday morning, 28 April, and spent the day in Sydney. On Saturday, we led a workshop for musicians from both churches in the morning, rehearsed in the afternoon, and led a 'Gathering Around the Gospel' event that night for about 300 people. On Sunday we were with Sovereign Grace Church Sydney. 

We spent most of Monday with Colin Buchanan, a humble songwriter/artist who is known in Australia for his kids' music. He also recently co-authored the song “Jesus, Strong and Kind” with CityAlight. On Tuesday we met with pastors from both churches to talk about priorities in our Sunday gatherings, and that night we met with the leaders and wives to talk about marriage, parenting, and ministry.

On Wednesday through to late Saturday we led a Worship Matters Intensive for musicians from our churches as well as churches in Sydney, Perth, Tokyo, and Manila. It was a feast of fellowship and encouragement.

On Sunday, we served at Sovereign Grace Church Paramatta, and after lunch with the church, spent the evening debriefing with Dave and Riley. We left the next day, but not before squeezing in a trip to a wildlife park where we could pet a koala and feed some kangaroos.

Of the many takeaways from our time in Sydney, here are four that deeply impacted us.

Gospel-rooted community marked by servanthood and generosity.

From the moment we arrived until boarding the plane for home we were surrounded by people who made sure we had everything we needed. It began with Dave and Riley, who spent what I’m sure was an excessive amount of time with us. Rebecca Song and other admins were also stellar. But the heart to serve extended beyond those whose job it was to care for us. Dave’s three older children joyfully served the groups that descended upon their home. Church members provided rides, meeting places, and meals. We never felt unattended to or uncared for. And that thoughtful generosity extended to others as well.

A commitment to train leaders.

David and I spent a good bit of time investing in leaders, whether it was the pastoral teams, leadership couples, or leaders from other churches at the Worship Matters Intensive. Dave and Riley aren’t simply interested in meetings that draw crowds but churches that invest in the future. Their example of friendship and mutual support both models what ministry can look like and inspires others to pursue the same kind of Christ-exalting leadership. We observed a number of present and potential leaders like Andrew Leung, Henry Burnett, and others who are joyfully laying down their lives to serve.

Sovereign Grace Music partnering with Sovereign Grace Churches.

I never tire of saying Sovereign Grace Music wouldn’t exist apart from our churches. We saw the fruit of that connection as numerous people mentioned they learned about our churches through singing our songs. It was also exciting to spend an evening planning two 'Worship God' conferences in the Philippines in 2024 that would capitalize on people’s awareness of Sovereign Grace Music as well as strengthen our already established churches.

A passion to proclaim the gospel locally and globally.

We encountered a mission mindset everywhere we went. One Sunday morning a mom with young kids told me how she had met with a new believer that morning for Bible study. Riley reached out to a gentleman passing by the church building during the intensive who showed up that Sunday. Church members surrounded guests, wanting to know more about them. Beyond the local church level, we saw a joyful expectation of planting and partnering with healthy churches in other parts of Sydney, Australia, Japan, Korea, the Philippines and more. Jesus’ words in Acts 1:8, “You will be my witnesses…to the ends of the earth,” clearly resounded in people’s hearts.

Looking back, I think we received much more than we gave in Australia. We came home strengthened, inspired, and changed by the real fruit of gospel partnership. And we’re more grateful than ever that Christ is building his church and “the gates of hell shall not prevail against it” (Matthew 16:18).