Building Together in West Africa

An update from Bart Lipscomb, Senior Pastor of Christ Church of Conroe, TX and Sovereign Grace Area Leader for Africa...

In late May, Leo Parris and I had the privilege to participate in a young adults’ conference being hosted by Sovereign Grace Life Church in Freetown, Sierra Leone. It was such a joy to be with that local church, to see the wonderful Gospel work happening and to spend time with brothers from all over West Africa who came in to participate. Lead pastor Morlai Kamara and his team of elders did an excellent job selecting the topics and order of messages. And, many tireless servants happily labored behind the scenes in hot conditions to feed and host the attendees!

There were so many highlights, it is hard to pick a few. But, one that really stood out to me was a Q&A panel that took place after one of the main sessions. It included a moderator from Liberia and leaders from Guinea, Sierra Leone and the US all sitting together fielding questions with Bibles open. It was a wonderful reminder of how we are truly becoming a global family of churches.

There are many denominations present in West Africa, some doing very good work. However, because of the overwhelming prevalence of prosperity teaching, Islam and works based salvation, the light of the Gospel is still veiled for so many. That’s why the clarity and power present in each of the messages was really encouraging. It was obvious light bulbs were going off, especially for people coming from other churches around Freetown who were invited to participate. Based on the questions being asked by the young people, the open declaration of God’s Word was definitely hitting the mark and affecting hearts. Pray those seeds fall in good soil!

After the conference each night, we were all able to stay up late. We ate together and spent unhurried time hearing personal updates from the brothers, learning about the challenges they face in their contexts, and fiercely, but healthily, debating some heavy theological topics. Each of the pastors participating was coming from a candidate church and is pursuing their ordination. So, those times were precious and a major answer to what we were praying for in getting everyone together in the same place.

And, finally, once the conference wrapped up, we were able to all go spend an afternoon outing at the beach, including renting a court for a very competitive football (soccer) match. The laughter and trash talk ensued! It was the perfect way to continue building that comradery that is a mark of SGC all over the world. And, I believe the bonds created and strengthened throughout the week are going to yield a lot of fruit in the years ahead.

Moving forward, there is still much work and many challenges. Daily life in this part of Africa is hard. Gospel work in a dark place is hard. But, we left there with full hearts and a sense of strong faith for the future. The Lord Jesus is building his church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it!

Please pray for the brothers who are serving this network of local churches - Morlai Kamara, Francis George, George Conteh, Sallieu Conteh, Roland Blackie, Emmanuel Willie, Harrison Suah, Joe Kolliegbo, and Samuel Kotee, Jr. Pray for their walk with and affection for Christ to grow. Pray for their marriages and homes to be enriched by the Gospel. Pray for their theological discernment and boldness to increase. Pray for their financial needs to be met. And, pray for a mighty anointing on the work, that many souls will be saved through faithful, Christ-exalting local churches in West Africa.

I am so glad to be a part of a family of churches who takes the Great Commission to heart, roles up our sleeves and gets to work. You already are and will continue to make a massively outsized impact on the continent of Africa, all for the glory of King Jesus and the radiance of his Bride!