An update from Bert Turner, Pastor in Covenant of Grace Church, Copley, Ohio, and Emerging Nations Representative to Brazil…

It is a joy to bring an update from Brazil. The Lord is knitting our hearts together with five gifted, godly pastors that are pursuing adoption with Sovereign Grace Churches. My monthly Zoom calls with each of them are a joy as we discover the Lord has been leading us to the same theological and cultural values. Please pray for them and their churches. Also, please pray for my wife, Karen, and I as we plan to spend six weeks with them in Brazil this September and October.

FABIANO MEDEIROS & THE CLOSING OF THE SÃO PAULO CHURCH PLANT

After seven years of faithful preaching, pastoring and sacrificial service by Fabiano, Marcia and the family to plant a church with Sovereign Grace Churches in São Paulo, it seemed to be the will of the Lord to close the church plant at the end of last year. It would take volumes to recount how God-glorifying and grace-filled are the lives of Fabiano and Marcia. The humility of Christ in them inspires me every time I’m with them. 

Fabiano continues to be a great gift from the Lord as we respond to the Spirit’s leading to serve local churches in Brazil. It is a great joy, indeed, to announce that Fabiano successfully completed all requirements for ordination with Sovereign Grace Churches, including acing the oral exam with a wonderful display of a Spirit-filled pastoral heart. The Lower Great Lakes Regional Assembly confirmed Fabiano as the first Sovereign Grace Churches’ ordained pastor in Brazil.

GUILHERME GUIMARÃES - PASTOR OF PRIMEIRA IGREJA BATISTA NACIONAL NO BUTANTÃ, SÃO PAULO

The church Guilherme is leading was planted about five years ago through a charismatic Baptist convention in Brazil. Guilherme is very excited by the values and relational way we build in Sovereign Grace Churches. Guilherme is gifted to study and teach. He has undergraduate degrees in mathematics and theology and is mostly through a doctorate program at an Evangelical seminary. He currently teaches theology for a seminary and has been accepted into a rigorous Masters program in theology.

RICARDO SILVA RICCO – IGREJA FAROL IN MARÍLIA, SÃO PAULO

Igreja Farol is a recent church plant in the interior of the State of São Paulo. From his experience as a missionary to children and families in the prison system in Bolivia, Ricco has developed a children’s Sunday school curriculum that is remarkably similar in approach to the Gospel Story Curriculum. Ricco has the grace to reach people from all stations in life – including those trapped in poverty and crime. We have a lot to learn from him.

JADER BITENCOURT - PASTOR OF IGREJA BATISTA CASULO. PORTO ALEGRE, RIO GRANDE DO SUL 

Jader was saved out of a lifestyle where he played music in bars in a popular neighborhood in Porto Alegre. God led him back to that neighborhood in 2020 to plant a church with the help of Acts 29. The Lord is prospering the church in an area where there are almost no Gospel preaching churches. Jader has the unique gift of relating to those in the neighborhood while establishing a solidly Gospel-centered church community.

EMERSON SOARES – IGREJA GRAÇA SOBERANA IN RIO GRANDE, RIO GRANDE DO SUL

The Lord has done marvelous work preserving and flourishing this church. Since 2018 this church has walked through tragedy, division and the difficulties of COVID, yet, by God’s grace and Spirit empowered faithfulness they not only survived, they are thriving. The Lord has opened the door to a larger, better location for the church to gather and is adding to their number. Emerson has led humbly and wisely. He is also the lead on translation of the Moore Theological College course into Portuguese. Emerson and Tati are prayerfully making plans to attend the Pastors College in 2023.

There is so much to give thanks to God for… Soli Deo Gloria!

An update from Chris Deloglos, Pastor in Kingsway Community Church, US, and Emerging Nations Representative to Bolivia…

It’s a joy to share a brief Church Plant update for Iglesia Gracia Soberana Santa Cruz – (Sovereign Grace Church of Santa Cruz, Bolivia), as well as let you know how you can be praying for them at this time.

I had the wonderful opportunity on April 3rd to travel to Bolivia to participate in David Del Castillo’s ordination. What a huge blessing! David was ordained after much study and preparation and is our first ordained SGC pastor in Bolivia and South America! He is a graduate of the SG Pastors College and working hard to complete his MDiv at Southern Theological Seminary.  There is so much to thank God for about the work that is happening in Santa Cruz.

For those who are unaware, Jorge and Terre Del Castillo along with David and Jadwy Del Castillo and their two young daughters moved to Santa Cruz from La Paz, Bolivia in Jan 2020. The first church service began Feb 16, 2020. This is only one of three reformed churches in a city of 2 million people. Member testimonies describe the treasure of Gospel preaching that this church is bringing. Several are coming to the church in response to Jorge and David’s online messages. 

Strategically, the church is located in the center of Bolivia and South America which is a strategic advantage to reaching the country of Bolivia and all of South America.  This location offers men within the country and in surrounding countries (who could otherwise never afford to come to the US) the access to reformed theological training in the context of a local church. 

Currently, the church meets weekly (virtually or face to face) for Sunday service, weekly prayer, Bible Study, discipleship and worship rehearsal, as well as fellowship groups. Both David and Jorge share the preaching, teaching and counselling responsibilities while David also cares for matters of worship and administration. Several have come to the church after discovering the online gospel preaching.  The online events are attended by many including folks in other cities and even other countries. Please pray for God’s continued direction, supply and wisdom in this. 

The church is planning for its second annual all church conference wherein members and guests gather for three days of teaching, fellowship, worship, and community. Last year over 150 folks - church members, friends, guests, and fellow pastors-joined in. This year, plans (Oct 6-8) are being made for double this amount.

In addition, the Simeon Trust organization has been seeking a location in Santa Cruz to bring its training program.  David has recently been selected and appointed to conduct the Simeon Trust Conferences in Santa Cruz. Praise God!

In terms of prayer, there’s a couple of ways you can be praying for this dear Church at this time:

Summer 2023 Mission Trip - We are in process of planning a summer evangelistic mission trip to Santa Cruz, Bolivia to serve this church plant.  Please pray for this and if you want to come along with us, then please contact Kingsway Community Church for more information. 

Health Challenges - Please pray for healing.  Jorge has had six eye operations in the last ten months for detaching retinas (emergency surgery) and cataracts. He has partial vision in one eye and continues to need treatment. The surgeons are hopeful for a slow but full recovery. Nevertheless, this has severely restricted Jorge’s work ability.

Financial Challenges - The church was planted in 2020, opened its doors February 16, 2020, and two weeks later the Covid pandemic began.  Not ideal!  Since the onset of the pandemic, Covid has riddled this third world country of Bolivia with a severe number of fatalities, repeated extended government-imposed shutdowns, extreme curfews and meeting closures and restrictions. While these restrictions hav severely impacted the growth of the church, it has nevertheless continued to grow, albeit very slowly. Please pray therefore, for continued financial provision.

Once again, there is so much to thank God for about the work that is happening in Santa Cruz.

Ukraine is going through ongoing dark and worrying times. With the outbreak of war, fear and uncertainty are filling the whole nation. Every day brings more alarming news, with continued shelling and growing numbers of casualties. Yet in the midst of this evil and carnage, there are pastors and their churches in the Ukraine that are labouring hard to care for people, and to offer hope that can only be found in Jesus.

We are eager to pray for our brothers and sisters in Ukraine, what an important gift that is to them, and we’re also eager to support them financially in anyways that we can. 

To that end, we’ve been working closely with our partner Church in Germany - Arche Church, in Hamburg, throughout this difficult time. A few years ago, Arche Church planted a church in Ukraine with one of the PC graduates, a Ukrainian pastor. His Church is located in a place in Ukraine where people are fleeing from some of the Southern cities, port cities that are being heavily bombed. They’re making their way through his city on the way to the West, trying to find refuge and safety. They’ve set up 90 beds in their church, but typically on a given night, they’ll have over 150 people that arrive with the need for food and a place to sleep. 

To help partner with them in this, through the generous giving of personal donors and churches, we’ve been able to send out over $60,000 in support of this church’s relief efforts, money that we’ve been able to send over to them on a weekly basis. They are so very grateful for this gospel partnership, so much so that our contact on the ground (Pastors name name not included for his protection) wrote this to us just yesterday by way of an update:

           ‘Dear brothers and sisters. I just received the money. We thank the Lord for your commitment to the gospel, for the brotherhood of the cross, for your practical love. You point us to Christ. We spend your donations to receive refugees from the destroyed cities, we offer them hot meals, lodging, showers and administration for further movement to the West.  Also, we make food packages for migrants, for all those who have lost their jobs and livelihoods. We purchased a washer and dryer for the refugees. We refuel the cars of volunteers who transport people from the war zone in their cars. In addition, we help financially single mothers with children. We purchase the necessary medicines for patients with chronic diseases. We have not done this before on such a scale, but now, we are already "professionals" in social assistance to people and their accommodation. Of course, we want to show them Christ in us, and we are therefore looking for every opportunity to speak the gospel to suffering people. May the Lord Jesus be glorified in our ministry together with you.’

What a privilege we have to partner with these dear brothers and sisters in this way. Please pray that God would work to put a stop to the war in Ukraine, and that He would protect pastors and their churches as they labour for the gospel in the midst of very difficult circumstances.

In addition, if you or your church would like to give financially to support these relief efforts in Ukraine, then please give directly to the European Development Fund here (last one on the list), and your monies will then be sent directly to the church and pastor we’re working with. Right now, we’re able to get money over to Ukraine on a weekly basis, however, given the fluid circumstances there’s a chance our way of getting money over to Ukraine may close. If they do, we will look for a ‘plan b’, and do all we can to continue to get all financial gifts over to the Ukraine, and to where it’s needed most.

What a privilege we have to partner with our brothers and sisters in Ukraine in this way, as they seek to shine the light of the gospel, even in their darkest of the days. We’re so much better together. Soli Deo Gloria. 

Charles Spurgeon, in his book “The Power of Prayer in a Believers Life," writes:

“Do not bring before God stinted petitions and narrow desires, but remember, as high as the heavens are above the earth, so high are His ways above your ways and His thoughts above your thoughts. Ask, therefore, after a Godlike fashion, for great things, for you are before a great throne.” 

In God’s amazing kindness, you and I get to before his “great throne” and ask Him for “great things”. It’s an astounding reality, and so here are some ways you can be praying for our Global work over the next month…

1. Please pray for wisdom for Matthew Williams (Lead Pastor of Kingsway Community Church, VA, USA), as he travels to Namibia, to help Josh Kruger Jr. explore and pursue his desire of planting a Sovereign Grace church in Windhoek, Namibia. Josh and his wife, Lieze, have served as full-time missionaries in southern Africa for over a decade and long to see a gospel-centered witness established in the region. 

2. Please pray for Chris Deloglas (Pastor of Kingsway Community Church, VA, USA), as he travels to Santa Cruz, Bolivia, for the ordination service of David Del Castillo. Please pray for David & Jorge as they continue to faithfully serve and shepherd the church; for Jorge as he continues to struggle with some serious eye challenges due to retina detachments; and for their Church, Iglesia Gracia Soberana, that the Lord would bring good growth to their flock. 

3. Please pray for our ongoing conversations with our Chinese speaking Pastors College graduates. It’s our hope to begin planting some Sovereign Grace Chinese Churches in the US in 2023/24, an exciting endevour for everyone involved, and a dream that in God’s kindness, is increasingly becoming reality. 

4. Please pray for Myself (Australia), Mark Prater (USA), Ed O’Mara (Italy), Carlos Contreras (Mexico), Barnabas (Nepal), Jeffrey Jo (Philippines), Joselo Mercado (Latin America), Dyonah Thomas (West Africa), Michael Granger (East Africa), as well as Eric Turbedsky & Jon Payne (Leadership Team), as we gather for our very first Global Leaders Retreat – April 5th-8th, in Newport Beach, CA. Please pray that God would refresh each of these men, help us to build together relationally, and envision us for a future of increased global partnership. May this be a rich time together. 

5. Please continue to pray for ARK Church in Dnipro, Ukraine, led by our friend Pastor Michael. Michael is a dear friend of Jeff Purswell and a graduate of the German Pastors College, hosted by the Arche Church in Hamburg, Germany. In Michael’s own words, “please pray that the Lord will give His peace in the hearts of believers and remove all fear. For the Gospel of Jesus to be a stronghold and a strong foundation in rebellious circumstances. For believers to support one another and keep their eyes on Christ. And for Christians to witness the Gospel to unbelievers and help them find peace in Jesus.” You can hear an update on all that is taking place through our contacts in Ukraine by clicking here.

   … Together, may we take these “great things” and head to His “great throne”.

An update from Abelardo Muñoz, one of the pastors of Gracia Soberana de Ciudad Juarez, Mexico…

In 2014 our church, Iglesia Gracia Soberana de Juárez, asked the leaders of the Charles Simeon Trust to conduct an expository preaching workshop in our premises. They kindly agreed to do it, and in May of  that year we hosted what was the first 3-day workshop of this kind not only in México, but in all of continental Latin América (prior to this, only a few lectures had been taught to a few pastors in Cuba). The response of all the pastors who completed that first workshop was very enthusiastic, and we entered into a partnership with the Charles Simeon Trust in order to conduct a workshop in Juárez every year, which we’ve done ever since.

The workshops had a strong and positive impact not only on the pastors preaching skills, but on their lives as well, and in order to make the workshops more accessible to a greater number of pastors from the central and the south regions of México, in 2018 we decided to conduct  two workshops annually, one in Juárez and the other in Guadalajara, the second largest city of the country, located in the west-central state of Jalisco. As expected, the response in Guadalajara was as positive as it had been in Juárez, as more and more pastors from all regions of our nation are eagerly looking for opportunities to be trained and grow in their expository, gospel-centered preaching skills.

This year’s workshop in Guadalajara took place from March 9th to the 11th, and we studied the book of Acts, which belongs to the biblical genre of Gospels/Acts. By the grace of God we had a total attendance of 55 pastors and/or teachers of God’s Word, with about 50% of them attending their first workshop. The participants came from 26 different churches and from 13 different states, and their level of preaching experience went from brand new leaders and/or pastors in training to seasoned pastors with over 30 years of experience.

The workshop went really well. All the attendees were very attentive to the instruction received, and they participated with enthusiasm during the hands on sessions of this training event. As a result, the main goals of the workshop were accomplished and all the pastors/teachers went back to their churches better equipped to handle with precision the precious Word of God. In this way, these workshops become a valuable means by which we can promote the crucial but rather ignored or neglected practice of gospel centered preaching in our nation. 

In addition, these workshops always give us wonderful opportunities to meet and connect with pastors who express an interest in knowing more about our dear family of churches, or to continue  the conversation and strengthen the relationships with those pastors who are already actively seeking adoption into our family of churches.

The workshop in Juárez took place from March the 14th  to the 16th, and the biblical genre and book under study was the same as in Guadalajara. Mostly due to our remote location, the attendance in Juárez is always smaller, and about 30 pastors/teachers came to our workshop this year, and for almost 50% of them this was their first workshop. We had 20 different churches represented at the workshop, most of them from our city, and despite the distance, we had pastors from six other cities. As was the case in Guadalajara, the workshop in Juárez was also successful, and the main goals of motivating and equipping the pastors/teachers to handle with precision the word of truth were accomplished.

On Saturday March the 5th, Hellman Ávila (senior pastor of Iglesia Misión de Gracia in El Paso, Texas) and myself, accompanied by Jaime Chow (associate pastor in Misión de Gracia) and Manolo Quintal (senior pastor of Iglesia Gracia Sublime in Silao, Gto., Méx.), then had the joy and privilege of conducting the ordination ceremony of Enrique Villegas, senior pastor of Iglesia Gracia Soberana of Orizaba, Veracruz, México. 

Enrique is a fine young pastor who began his ordination process early last year. He  passed all his written and oral exams with flying colors, and then he completed the rest of the ordination requirements during the first two months of this year. He is married to Maricruz, and they have two pre-adolescent daughters. He began serving what is now Iglesia Gracia Soberana de Orizaba about seven years ago, and continues to serve as the only elder of that church.

Besides the members of the church, the ordination ceremony was attended by several local pastors who are friends of Enrique, and by the pastor, leaders and wives of a sister Sovereign Grace church in the nearby city of Córdoba, Veracruz. The ordination ceremony was solemn and moving, as Enrique acknowledged the Statement of Faith of SGC as his very own faith, and as he declared his submission to the biblical principles contained in the BCO of SGC. And the congregation affirmed their willingness to submit and respond to his leadership and to support his ministry among them.

All ordinations are very significant, and Enrique’s ordination is also special because with his ordination we now have in our region, five churches with at least one SGC ordained pastor, which enables us to continue moving forward in the process of eventually becoming a Sovereign Grace Nation outside of the USA. We thank God for raising up men like Enrique, and look forward to all the fruit his ministry will bear for the advancement of the Gospel in our dear nation of México.      

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

February of this year marked the 20th anniversary of the founding of Covenant Mercies, the nonprofit organization I lead from my role on the pastoral team at Covenant Fellowship Church in Glen Mills, PA.  There is something about a milestone like this that puts a person in a reflective mood, with at least one eye on the rearview mirror.  That has certainly been the case for us in Covenant Mercies.  

It is amazing to recall that, at the time of our founding in 2002, we knew none of the African friends we now regard as family; and not only family, but integral partners in ministry.  It is no overstatement to say that without these dear brothers and sisters, it would be impossible for us to carry out the mission we so deeply believe God has called us to fulfill. 

In collaboration with these friends and partners, we are now serving approximately 1,600 fatherless children in Uganda, Zambia, and Ethiopia.  In two of those countries, we are also working together to build and develop Christian schools where the vast majority of our sponsored kids receive their education.  Year by year, we are seeing an ever-increasing number of students – many of whom started in our program as small children – graduate from high school, vocational school, and even university.  Most would not have expected to attend high school at all (let alone graduate), yet now they are stepping into the future as competent young adults who are ready to make an impact in their workplaces, churches, and communities. 

Looking in that rearview mirror brings us a lot of joy and satisfaction these days.  But by God’s grace, we reach our 20th anniversary with exciting new opportunities in front of us as well.

Readers of this newsletter will already be familiar with Dyonah Thomas and GraceLife Church in Liberia.  Recognizing quality education as an intensely felt need in their community, this church launched GraceLife Academy a few years ago.  Through this school, they are already touching the lives of dozens of children in the local community, and they are ambitious for much more.  I am therefore thrilled to announce that, in collaboration with GraceLife Church, Covenant Mercies is launching its Orphan Sponsorship Program in Liberia this month.  Lord willing, we will also work together to build and develop GraceLife Academy’s permanent campus on a plot of land just a 5-minute walk from the church.

One of the primary lessons we have learned through 20 years of ministry in sub-Saharan Africa is that quality Christian education is a key element to the success of our mission.  Finding compatible partners like our new friends at GraceLife is therefore an answer to prayer for us, and a tremendous opportunity.  

The team in Liberia is currently working with engineers to develop a comprehensive site plan for GraceLife Academy’s campus, and a coalition of donors has made a $50,000 matching challenge to help us raise the funds needed for Phase One construction.  What a way to turn the corner into our third decade in ministry!

Looking in the rearview mirror is gratifying indeed, but we are even more excited to be celebrating 20 years while looking forward.  God has been exceedingly gracious to bring us into partnership with our friends at GraceLife, and we look forward to seeing his plan unfold in the lives of countless children in the years to come. 

An update from Brendan Willis, one of the pastors of Sovereign Grace Church, Sydney, Australia…

To be a part of a Sovereign Grace church is to be a part of a global family. 

Though for some this might conjure up awkward memories of the extended family gathered around the table at thanksgiving, we mean family in the best sense. We mean family with its great richness of relationship. Family with the deep commitment and loyalty of its members to one another. And family in the radical generosity members will often show towards each other in times of need. Families at their best support one another as they journey through life together. 

Our experience of partnership with Sovereign Grace Churches in Sydney has been nothing short of family at its best! So many churches have sacrificially sown into our two churches over the years and none more so than Covenant Fellowship in Glen Mills PA. The Covenant Fellowship team have prayed for us, supported us financially, loaned us Mark Prater (not once but twice), taken on an intern, given of their time to supporting our pastors and even sent out their church prophecy team! 

This past March in another act of generosity, Covenant Fellowship also sent out Andy Farmer to join us for the week. Andy Farmer – who has been a pastor at Covenant Fellowship for more than 25 years – was a wonderful blessing to both our churches in his week with us. When he wasn’t sipping beer at the Opera house or milking an Eastern Taipan (This is for real – check it out on YouTube) we put him hard to work serving both the church in Wahroonga and Parramatta. 

Andy served his socks off in Sydney. Here are two of the highlights. 

Andy ran a full day training seminar for all of our small group leaders and their assistants across both our churches called “The Gospel, Counselling & Mental Health”. This was such a wonderful time for all our group leaders as we paused to consider a topic that is often the cause of much confusion. It was a jam-packed day as Andy outlined the basic structure of the mental health system in Australia, its limitations in a fallen world and our calling as Christians to move towards others in love as the Holy Spirit works in our midst. It was wonderful to see the way Andy dealt with the many questions our leaders had with great compassion and wisdom.

On the final night of Andy’s trip we ran an evening for our churches and any guests in the community called, “Dealing With The Realities of Mental Health”. Despite having a significant COVID outbreak and multiple church members in isolation it was a full house with many people deeply affected by the content shared on the night. I’ve had multiple conversations with members of our church who have had significant struggles with mental health and who described the night as ‘eye opening’. In addition, a follow up conversation with a non-Christian friend who also attended the evening has led to them signing up for an Alpha course we are running as a church! 

When I pause and consider our partnership with churches like Covenant Fellowship it’s hard to feel anything but overwhelming gratitude. The amount of time and energy they have sowed into us is so incredibly generous you could be excused for questioning their discernment. 

But this is family. And as churches we look to the future eager to follow in their example. As Paul wrote in his letter to the Philippians,

“I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy, because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now.” (Philippians 1:3–5) 

From everything I’ve seen and heard, Josh Pannell has been doing a marvellous job of leading our Sovereign Grace Pastors College in Ethiopia!

They got off to a wonderful start in September, but then with the war in Ethiopia beginning to get so close to Addis Ababa - November, December & January had some unavoidable setbacks. There were a few weeks in which it appeared the PC might not survive. But under the leadership and hardwork of Josh, often carrying double the weight in those difficult days by teaching classes that he had never intended to teach, the pulled through and are now very much back in business! 

Just recently Mark Prater, our SG Executive Director, went out to teach at the Pastors College and spend time with Josh Pannell, Michael Granger and Trinity Fellowship Church. He was deeply moved and encouraged by the time, you can hear all about it below... Wonderful stuff!

Trinity Fellowship Pastors College

Ethiopia And The Future With Africa

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 our Pastors in Belarus - Sergei and Philip. They recently told Kyle Huber (Lead Pastor of Greentree Church, NJ) that it appears Belarusian troops are entering Ukraine, which pierces the heart of the Belarusian people. In addition the government has begun calling up all men from 18-25 for military service. Beyond the obvious desire for peace, please pray that God gives our Pastors wisdom for how to speak into these issues from their pulpits, understanding that this could be dangerous for all involved. May God graciously guide their steps.

2. Please pray for ARK Church in Dnipro, Ukraine, led by our friend Michael Ostanin. Michael is a dear friend of Jeff Purswell and a graduate of the German Pastors College, hosted by the Arche Church in Hamburg, Germany. In Michael’s own words, “please pray that the Lord will give His peace in the hearts of believers and remove all fear. For the Gospel of Jesus to be a stronghold and a strong foundation in rebellious circumstances. For believers to support one another and keep their eyes on Christ. And for Christians to witness the Gospel to unbelievers and help them find peace in Jesus.” Come, Lord Jesus!

3. Please pray for one of our SG Missionary families as they head back to Thailand this week, after extended furlough in the US. That God would knit them quickly back into the Thai community, graciously watch over their travels, and truly establish the work of the hands.

4. Please pray for Mark Prater as he heads to Ethiopia, March 4-13. Pray for his time with Trinity Fellowship on Sunday, March 6 where he will have the privilege to preach and worship with the people of Trinity Fellowship. Please pray also for the Pastors College class that he's teaching March 8-11, teaching on Pneumatology. Pray for the Spirit to lead them that week as they not only engage sound doctrine, but also His presence.

5. Please pray for Riley Spring (Sovereign Grace Church, Parramatta, Australia) and Myself, as we head to Canberra 10th-12th March, to meet with a small group of folk who are expressing an interest in Sovereign Grace planting a Church in their city. Please pray for wisdom and faith as we explore this opportunity together.

6. Please pray for Joselo Mercado, Lead Pastor of Iglesia Gracia Soberana in Gaithersburg, as he a heads to Puerto Rico, this month, to take part in a planning retreat for Reformados, a significant work in Puerto Rico.

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

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

We are very excited that after much planning and preparation our inaugural SGC Australia Pastors & Planters Academy has kicked off! 

The Academy is a program designed to train future Sovereign Grace Pastors and Planters to serve in and plant Sovereign Grace Churches, the Sovereign Grace way. It was birthed out of a desire to help codify what we’ve been doing informally and over a long period of time into a consistent leadership development program for people within our churches and to give a pathway for new guys coming in so that we can plant more enduring churches across Australia. 

The Academy involves a relational process of training, caring for, assessing, and deploying qualified men to be faithful and healthy pastors. All the while focussing in on their character, convictions, competency and compatibility. 

Every week the Academy students will gather to study through 10 different modules designed to help equip and train them for a life-time of fruitful ministry. These modules are based around our 7 Shared Values and will involve lots of reading and assignments to go along with these days together. 

Monthly, they and their wives will then come together for our 'Leadership Cohort' growing in their marriage, parenting, and family life. They will also be placed in Fellowship Groups to further grow in key areas of character and holiness. In these groups we will take them through the cultural values of a Sovereign Grace Church so that these men can see the biblical basis for who we are and be challenged to grow and develop in these areas. Their wives likewise, will be invited to join our Regional Ladies Discipleship Nights for Pastor’s wives, led by Emma Taylor.

On Tuesday 1 Feb, we had our Orientation Dinner with the Academy students and their wives to meet one another, share a meal and gain an overview of the year. On Wed 2 Feb, we then had our first day of class. We began with worship and prayer, gave the guys some of their textbooks for the year (Systematic Theology - Grudem, Historical Theology - Allison) and their reading for Module 1: ‘The Theology and Practice of Pastoral Ministry’.

This unit is designed to help them gain a theologically informed understanding of the role of a Pastor as biblically defined. The primary model in the Scriptures is that of a ‘Shepherd’ and, therefore, Pastoral ministry ought to geared around pastoring the precious flock of God that he is called to serve by the Chief Shepherd.

We began by sitting under two seminal messages from CJ Mahaney - ‘The Pastor’s Charge’ Part 1 and Part 2 and then in the afternoon they got stuck into their reading assignments and discussion groups.

Please be praying for our students and their wives over this next twelve months. These are exciting times for us here in Australia!

Andrew and Kat Leung, Richard and Rebecca Song, Jack and Zara Packham, Austin and Ivy Loke, Joel and Jamie Seric

An update from Todd Peterson, Pastor of Cross of Grace Church, El Paso, TX, and Key Leader for our STM Project…

If you’ve ever been on a short-term missions (STM) trip, then you understand what a life changing experience it can be. Experiencing first-hand the challenges and struggles of life that many people experience living in third world countries and being able to, if only for a short period of time, show them the love of Jesus by meeting some of those significant needs is an experience that can reshape your perspective for the rest of your life.  

Understanding that organizing and executing one of these types of trips is very challenging, we wanted to find a way to open up the opportunity for this life changing experience to as many people as possible in Sovereign Grace.  Therefore, with that in mind and as a starting place, we’d like to ask any SG Churches who already organize their own STM trips, to consider if they might be opening up a few spots for people in other Sovereign Grace Churches to join them.  

To facilitate this, we’ve created a webpage on the SG Missions website, that will enable churches to post a detailed summary of the trip they are hosting (click here). The website walks you through the process of posting the most relevant details of the trip so people outside the church can understand elements like the location, mission, costs, and even any skillsets needed for the trip.  It also allows you to attach a more detailed “FAQ” type document if you have one, and if not, walks you through how you might be able to develop one. 

Our hope is that once the details are entered into the website a trip profile is created and posted, we can spread the word, and people from other churches can then go view the trips and their details, find a trip that might fit them, and send an application to the trip leader.  The trip leader can then work with the applicants to decide if they would be a good fit for the team and the mission of the trip. 

Our vision would be to eventually have a map of the world dotted with locations where missions trips are taking place and churches that are being connected through the opportunity to go and serve the nations together in the name of Jesus. 

As an initial step, would you please consider joining us in this effort by submitting your trip on our website? As this is a brand-new venture, your patience in advance is appreciated, but if we could get these trips uploaded and posted in the next 3-6 weeks, that would be great. We look forward to seeing what God may do through these trips. 

An update from Jeffrey Jo, Lead Pastor of CCSGM in Cavite, Manila, and Key Leader for Sovereign Grace Churches in the Philippines...

It was November 17, 2021 when thirteen pastors both from Manila and Mindanao met with Dave Taylor and David York via zoom to talk about their desire to be part of Sovereign Grace Churches. I have served alongside most of these men for many years, and for well over a year we’ve talked together about the importance of being part of this family of churches not only for partnership in the gospel of Christ but also for the blessings of accountability and doctrinal purity for the future generations of the church. All the pastors were greatly encouraged by the welcoming spirit and encouraging words by these servants of God. Indeed after just a week, they had all signed the letter of intent with the hope to ‘finish the race’ of the ordination process and be fully a part of Sovereign Grace Churches.

Knowing the ‘challenges’ ahead, they were both excited and ‘nervous’ for it will be their first time to go through a lengthy process of reading, studying, writing and taking both a written and oral exam, not to mention that they will go through it in a foreign language. Moreover, some of them haven’t had the opportunity to finish college due to poverty (Surigao del Sur was the third poorest province in Mindanao 15 years ago). Realizing the validity of their concerns but at the same time seeing their eagerness to be part of our family of churches, I was moved with compassion to serve them by assuring them that I will be giving part of my time to assist them, check on them, and pray for and with them. 

Through the help of David York, we created a systematic pattern on what to accomplish each month for eight (8) months—their readings, SGC statement of faith and shared values, and also the required papers. I am therefore doing the following to serve them:

• Encouraging and praying for them at least once a week.

• Advising them on how to read the recommended books correctly...

  • Spend 2 hours every morning for Systematic Theology and 2 hours every evening for Historical Theology with a notebook and a pen beside them so that they can take note on things they cannot understand.

  • To repeat read every assigned chapter of the books.

• Twice a month, I am having a zoom meeting with them to discuss what they read by teaching them the summary of every chapter on both in Systematic Theology and Historical Theology. In addition to this, portions of both the SGC shared values and statement of faith will be addressed as well. 

I believe in these ways I may be able to assist them not only in meeting their ordination requirements but help them to fully understand solid biblical foundations both in life and ministry, and to be able to firmly stand on our doctrinal convictions as a denomination. I greatly hope to see them all be ordained as SGC Pastors. 

These are their names and I would like to ask you to please mention them in your prayers... 

• Francis Mariano- a fellow elder in Kawit, Cavite but soon to plant a church in Imus, Cavite

• Rey Lacbayo- pastor, Cross of Christ Salvation Gospel Ministries, Cavite City

• George Jimenez- pastor, Cross of Christ Sovereign Gospel Ministries, Gen.Trias, Cavite

• Oscar Tagyam- pastor, Cross of Christ Salvation Gospel Ministries, Carascal, Surigao del Sur (SDS)

• Leonor Ombo- pastor, Cross of Christ Salvation Gospel Ministries, Pantukan, SDS

• Francisco Omba- pastor, Cross of Christ Salvation Gospel Ministries, Langka, SDS

• Rolando Agyang- pastor, Cross of Christ Salvation Gospel Ministries, Cabangahan, SDS

• Christopher Lorenti- pastor, Cross of Christ Salvation Gospel Ministries, Gango, SDS

• Patricio Dalipe- pastor, Cross of Christ Salvation Gospel Ministries, Madrid, SDS

• Joseph Piamonte- Cross of Christ Salvation Gospel Ministries, San Miguel, SDS

• Rogelio Martinez- Cross of Christ Salvation Gospel Ministries, Maitum, SDS

• Ronnie Bautista- Cross of Christ Salvation Gospel Ministries, Tandag City, SDS

• Caloy San Jose- pastor, River of Life Gospel Church, Rizal, Manila

I believe that the God who has called them into His vineyard will sustain them in this process of ordination and I’m therefore praying that they will be doing this with glad and sincere hearts knowing that this pleases the Lord and equips them well as they shepherd the dearest place on earth…Christ’s Church!

May it all be for His glory!

An update from Michael Granger, Lead Pastor of Trinity Fellowship in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia…

October 31st, 2021 was a wonderful Sunday! It marked 10 months since our official launch as Trinity Fellowship. We had nearly 120 in attendance and there was a buzz of excitement that God was moving in very real ways. We had just finished our first expositional series through Philippians. The Pastors College was steaming ahead like a well-oiled machine. It was Reformation Day. And, it was my birthday. 

Little did we know that all was about to change. That same day two cities just North of Addis Ababa were being taken by a rebel military. By Monday night the US Embassy had labeled Ethiopia a Red Level #4: Do not Travel, and was emailing all Americans to evacuate the country immediately. Daily we were being informed of the threat of an imminent Addis Ababa invasion by rebel forces. And by the following Sunday our church attendance was cut in half. The “movement" came to what felt like a screeching halt. A number of brothers approached me with tears in their eyes fearing the worst, saying, “I thought God was starting a gospel movement in our country.” 

We experienced decisional fatigue. In light of the constant flood of information, it felt like we were making what could be, life-altering decisions on a daily basis. One friend put it like this, “I simply didn’t want to respond to anything with a question mark on the end of it.” And yet, questions kept coming, and decisions needed to be made. Do we stay or go?

Pastoral ministry is not something to be entered lightly. Nor is it to be exited lightly. My logic went something like this ... "If Christ the Good Shepherd could drain his veins for these saints at Trinity Fellowship, then surely I can endure a little difficultly as their under-shepherd. In John 10:12-13 Jesus says, 'He who is a hired hand and not a shepherd, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. He flees because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep.’" With this in mind I thought upon how Christ, the Good Shepherd, and owner of the sheep has made me an under-shepherd, and I'm to endeavor to be like him - "and he gave shepherds" (Eph. 4:11). My responsibility during a war is to equip His sheep for ministry. And at the time, that meant teaching them to be gospel-centered - to trust Jesus - even in a war. I was called to stay so as to ever be pointing to the Good Shepherd - precious Jesus.

So I stayed but I sent my family to the States. I stayed and we limped along for a while. For a while, Trinity Fellowship was a bruised reed, a smoldering wick. And we didn’t know if we’d make it. But he's a gentle and merciful savior, "a bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not quench."

November and December were bleak. Our Pastors College went online because our professors had travel issues due to the war and the Omicron variant. A number of professors flat out canceled on us. And the morale of our students, who really are the backbone of our church, plummeted. I had more brothers and sisters confess they were wrestling with suicidal thoughts in the past few months than in my whole life combined. But the Lord never left us. It was the right decision to stay, and I knew it the moment a single mother came up to me after a service saying, "I'm no longer afraid to die."

In late December my family returned to Ethiopia. We celebrated our 1-year anniversary as a church (pictured below). And by mid January it appeared that our baby church would survive. The threat of invasion has ceased as the rebels were pushed back and effectively defeated. Night gave way to day, and our limping slowly began to pick up running momentum once again.

In recent weeks our attendance has once again increased to over 100 and professors are traveling to Ethiopia to teach at the PC.

One recent story evidencing that the Son is shining upon us happened just last week. For several months a young man named Nebiyou from the Baha'i religion has had business dealings with an Ethiopian gentleman from our church named Joshua Mengisha. Recently Joshua was explaining the exclusivity of Christ for salvation from sins and it caught Nebiyou's attention. He said he wanted to learn more and Joshua directed him to reach out to me. Last Tuesday night Nebiyou contacted me asking if I would tell him more about Jesus because he was having suicidal thoughts. I shared with him the gospel and he made a confession of faith. We met two days later and more fully explained subsitiutionary atonement from Isaiah 53 and he said "I understand and I believe in Jesus, and I want to testify about him to everyone!" The Lord brought him from darkness into his marvelous light! What a gentle a merciful savior he is!

In Matthew 28.19-20, Jesus himself tells us to,

“Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

There’s no doubt that Jesus is with us in this mission, without Him we have no hope in it at all! Yet there’s also no doubt, that we’re called to “go”. The job of global mission is not done, there are still so many unreached people groups across the world. So many people groups that have never heard of the name of Jesus and that are still therefore dead in their trespasses and sins, and so far from the Lord.

It’s therefore been so encouraging to me to have had some much contact in the last few weeks through the ‘Missionaries’ tab on our new ’SGC Missions’ website. We’re eager to play our part in this great commission as Sovereign Grace Churches, not just to the reached of the world, but also the unreached, nations that house some 3.23 billion people, some 41% of the world’s population.

I share this video with you below, a six minute video that starts and ends with John Piper talking about the unreached and missions, and has recently stirred and challenged me afresh in this. Maybe you’re reading this and this specific call of God is for you?

May our Saviour and King truly give us courage in this great endeavour, and establish the work of our hands. All for His glorious Name!

On January 21-22, the National Church Planting Group offered a Church Planter Assessment Weekender in Irvine, CA.  The purpose of the “weekender” was to come alongside potential church planting couples, to serve them and care for them, by offering discernment regarding their next steps in ministry.  

 The Church Planter Assessment Weekender rose from the burden of the National Church Planting Group to serve local elderships and regional church planting committees that might not have the same "in house" resources for evaluating potential church planting couples that some other Sovereign Grace churches have.  

 To this end, the National Church Planting Group assembled an “assessment team” of experienced church planting couples, each of whom also serve in extra-local capacities for Sovereign Grace Churches.

 To be sure, the “assessment team” does not possess the ability to determine, infallibly, whether or a not a potential church planting couple can or will effectively plant a church.  The ultimate determining factor in that regard is God.  Nor does the “assessment team” possess the authority to decide if a potential church planting couple should, or should not, be deployed to plant a church.  That authority resides in their local elderships, together with their regional church planting committees.  However, the “assessment team” is able, with God’s help, to pay careful attention for the presence of leading indicators that consistently contribute to fruitful church planters.   Our aim is to offer discernment.  

 The five couples who participated in the weekender, did preparatory homework ahead of time.  Over the course of two days, they each told their “story” – an exercise designed to evaluate self-awareness, self-preservation, resilience, critical shaping influences, as well as their comfort level with who and how God has made them to be.  Each couple completed a marriage “check-up” inventory.  Each of the individuals had the opportunity to communicate the essentials of the Gospel.  Each of the men preached a mini sermon.  Each couple took turns “envisioning” us (as if we were potential launch team members) with the distinctives, location, target demographic, and burden for their respective and potential church plants.   Our matrix was essentially “The Planter, The Place, and Sovereign Grace.”  We looked for alignment between the man, the couple, the location they were considering, their relationship to their local Sovereign Grace Church, as well as their commitment to Sovereign Grace values and embodiment of Sovereign Grace culture.

 We ended by sharing with them our observations and one of three possible recommendations.  1) "Move ahead in taking next steps with local eldership and regional church planting committee."  2) "Move ahead with taking next steps, but with conditions to address certain “risk factors” before entering the church planting "pipeline." 3) "We do not recommend moving forward at this time, and for the following reasons . . . " These observations and recommendations were then forwarded in a summary report to the pastor’s and elderships who had sent the couples to the assessment weekender.  

 It is with eager and joyful anticipation that we anticipate hearing about specific plans for new Sovereign Grace church plants emerging in the coming months.  It is the prayerful desire of the National Church Planting Group that the “assessment weekender” might serve Sovereign Grace Churches in the coming years for planting healthy, fruitful, enduring churches to the praise of God’s glorious grace.

Greg serves on the National Church Planting Group, leading Assessment events . Our next event is scheduled for January 20 -21 in Irvine, CA. He is the church planter and senior pastor of Emmaus Road Church in Sioux Falls, SD.

The new year is so often a time for resolutions, some spiritual, and some personal. They can have a good place in our lives and can be such a blessing. But nothing compares to God’s incredible resolutions to us, and in Isaiah 41.10 we have one such resolution: 

            ‘Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.’

What a faith building, comforting and inspiring reality this is! This is the One who watches over our lives and endeavours. A King who is always with us, who is our God, and who promises to strengthen us and help us and uphold us with His righteous right hand. It’s a promise!

And so as we trust in Him, and pray to Him, here’s some ways you can be lifting up our global endeavours up to Him this month…

1. Please pray for the many churches that are in the process of adoption into Sovereign Grace in Latin America. These would include: Durango, Mexico – Torreon, Mexico – Arrandas, Mexico – Moroleon, Mexico – Orizababa, Mexico – Cordoba, Mexico – Playa Azul, Costa Rica – Cartago, Costa Rica – San Jose, Costa Rica – Cali, Colombia – Sao Paulo, Brazil – Rio Grande, Brazil – Palabra de Vida, Venezuela.

2. Please pray for McDonald Chanda and Cheila Chisulo, as they continue their Ordination process in Zambia, and as they prepare, God-willing, to lead Christ Community Church in Ndola, Zambia, and the Copperbelt Pastors College, founded by our dear friend Wilbroad Chanda. 

3. Please pray for our SG family on the ground in Turkey as they continue to learn the language, acclimatise to the culture, and reach the lost in this country. They have been there for over a year now and are making some encouraging in-roads. 

4. Please pray for Sovereign Grace Churches, Australia, as we launch the Planters & Pastors Academy this month, with a view to further church plants and adoptions in our country. With five men signed up for the year, may the Lord give much to wisdom, favour and grace to everyone involved.

5. Please pray for the 4 Church Plants that we have planned for Asia-Pacific over the next 24 months: Cavite – Philippines (2022/23), Bonbon – Philippines (2022/23), Negros Occidental – Philippines (2022/23), Kathmandu – Nepal (2022/23).

… May He strengthen us, help us and uphold us in all that we do!

For many years now, the US Northwest, Midwest Region has been relating to and working with some Churches in Pakistan, with one of the expressions of that partnership being supporting them in their Christmas outreach. Here’s a report from our key leader in Pakistan, on the fruits of that outreach and partnership...  

Before providing you with the detail of our Christmas outreach I would like to thank you on behalf of our people from different villages, brick factories, widows, and orphans. Please accept warm greetings and gratitude from all our people. If we are able to reach these families on this special occasion with the gifts, it is only because of your generosity, kindness, and love. It was impossible for us to help our people by ourselves, but you made it possible. We know life is not easy around the world especially during this COVID situation. Everyone is struggling with their own needs. But still, you provided the funds for the families just like a person cares for their own loved ones. Christmas is a special time, we not only share the good news but also provide people with their basic needs. Thank you so much. 

Like in the past, before distributing, our team members found out the neediest families in the villages, then we finalized the lists for the distribution. Always our first preference is widows and orphans. When we organized the lists one widow visited with her young kids, she said that she knows orphan children who are working in the brick factories. They don’t have anything to celebrate our King’s birthday. The main purpose of her visit was to inform us about the orphan children. You can see her heart, she is a widow and is surviving hand to mouth, but she was worried for other children. I asked her, “don’t you need anything for yourself this Christmas?”, she said that I am praying, and I know that God will provide. Her conversation impressed me very much and gave me more faith and conviction that we need to care for others. 

We chose 5 different central points this year, for the distributions, where we invited the families who are living nearby. We distributed food items, goats, sewing machines, blankets, and warm jackets. One of the girls, when she received the sewing machine, she was crying with joy. She said I cannot believe that now I have my own machine to stitch clothes. It was my dream to buy one, but I couldn’t afford it. Now I will stitch clothes and earn money for my family. 

When we distributed warm jackets, the mothers were so thankful to God for this blessing, and they were very thankful to all of our brothers and sisters who provided the funds for this blessing. One of the mothers said that we have seen this kind of nice jacket only in shops, but the people don’t even allow them to touch them. We are so thankful that God has blessed us with these warm jackets. One of the widows said the food items are really a blessing, and when we cook and eat, we will pray for our brothers and sisters who made this possible. 

One of the old women was particularly thankful for the blanket. She said, “it is so warm and nice, this blanket will save me in the winter and now I will not be sick anymore in the winter season”.  When we gave the goats to the families, one of the family's children said with joy that now we will be able to drink fresh milk and become healthier. They were so very happy and when they were sharing this, they had a big smile on their face.  

Overall, we distributed 130 goats, 450 food packages, 210 coats, and 70 sewing machines. Once again on behalf of our team, I am very thankful for your generosity and kindness. I wish you a very happy and prosperous new year. May this year bring many blessings to you and your families. Through your kind support, you have helped us so much. May God bless you and your families abundantly. 

An update from Jeffrey Jo, Lead Pastor of CCSGM in Cavite, Manila, and Key Leader for Sovereign Grace Churches in the Philippines...

It was the third week of November last year, when the Philippine government decided to ease back and place the whole country into level 2 restrictions when it comes to the pandemic situation. This meant that they eased up travel requirements, and so that was when we grabbed the opportunity to visit our nine churches In Surigao del Sur. It is a place that is part of Mindanao, south of the Philippines. The Mindanao island group is home to the majority of the Filipino Muslims. Of Mindanao's 24,135,775 population, Muslims make up about 23.39% of the island's entire population, and so some 93% of the entire Islamic population of our country resides in these islands. 

In spite of the insurgencies in the area, God has made it possible for us to plant 9 churches in that region in the past 15 years. These churches birthed other churches in their localities and are still doing church planting activities even as I write today. In the midst of these two years of pandemic, God, in His providence, causes His churches to grow with new converts publicly declaring their faith expressed through water baptism. And this was the reason why we visited them last November 23, that we may encourage them in their young faith in Christ and teach them the great significance of being part of a local church.

Along with my fellow elders, we divided ourselves so that we can visit all nine churches, proclaiming the gospel of Christ and taking the time to talk to our fellow elders on their biblical leadership both in their family and in the local church. On the last day of our stay with them, we gathered all the elders and key church leaders for a conference designed to help them see how God values discipleship in His church. We were only expecting about 90 to attend, but there were over 160 people on the day that arrived hungry to hear His word. It was such a wonderful time of learning, serving and praying for our co-laborers in God’s vineyard in that area. 

My fellow elders Rey, Francis and I were humbled to minister to these brothers, and also to learn from them. Moreover, a pastor from a nearby province attended the said conference and he spoke to me. Amazed by the gospel-centered preaching, he asked me if we may meet again in their region, Agusan del Sur, and minister to his pastor friends and churches as well, even just for a day. And I assured him that as God permits, we will!

We are planning to go back next by the third week of March so that we may do a follow through on what we have taught them. This time we will be bringing our wives with us with a hope to have a small conference on the importance of biblical marriage in the ministry. Moreover, since a lot of young people and adults wanted to seriously study the bible and be equipped for service so as to reach the whole of Mindanao with the gospel of Christ, we are looking forward to establishing a gospel-centered, church-planting Bible school in that region. 

Please pray for us as we continue to pray to the Lord of the harvest to send more workers on this field ripe for harvest, for the gospel’s sake and for His glory. May His wonderful will be done. 

Please click below for a short video on the trip…

An update from Dyonah Thomas, Lead Pastor of Grace Life Church, Monrovia and Key Leader for Sovereign Grace Churches, in West Africa...

It is always a great Joy in Christ and in the life of our local church when the Lord calls, trains and the allows the sending of a team to plant a new Church here in West Africa. In the last six years, we have had the joy of directly planting four other churches as a local church, and so December 2021 marked our fifth. 

#7 as the community is called, has been a unique plant for us in preparation and sending. Emmanuel, our Church Planter, enrolled a few years back in our Grace Life College two-year pastoral training course. Upon graduation he was clear and passionate about planting with Grace Life, and his decision came at a time when we had made a decision to enroll men into a ‘trial’ live-in internship, where we could train and invest in them and their families’ lives, and more intentionally develop their convictions and competency, before sending them out. Emmanuel and Mariam were assessed and invited to relocate to Gracelife Jlazon and give one and half years of their life learning, watching ministry happen, participating in ministry, getting clarity on the gospel and how it shapes every facet of life, as well as time to prayerfully think through where God was calling them to go and plant

Emmanuel watched, learned, and participated in ministry alongside other elders, and his wife and children integrated well into church family life. With the guidance of the Elder team, Emmanuel then built a team from within the local church, a team that was then trained alongside him in so many ways. Together then, the team started engaging and building relationships in #7 for the new church plant.  

We called the process a ‘trial’ because we’d never done it quite like this before, but having now walked this through with Emmanuel, we plan to launch a full-time church planting residency in June of this year, with several other men, as a catalyst of discovering, developing and deploying men to gospel planting within the West Africa region. 

Finding godly men to lead and putting together a team of gifted individuals to support the plant is crucial, but funding likewise could not be more critical. We are therefore so grateful for the support we have received from the Sovereign Grace African Development Fund. Through this funding, we were able to launch this plant, as well as relocate three families in the process, and secure a long-term lease on a property to develop as a place of worship. 

We were so humbled and thankful to send out the Gracelife #7 church planting team on December 19 2021. It was a wonderful day!

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

Dear Friends, it is a pleasure to be able to address to you again, although I have a lot to tell you I will try to be punctual so that it is not a very long report! 

A few months ago, I was asking for prayer the upcoming conference here in Bolivia, and the truth is only by God’s grace it was a success. Places were filled very quickly and we had to close registrations earlier than expected. The theme "the centrality of the Gospel" was very appropriate, it allowed us to remind many of the importance of this need and introduce the topic to others. We were also able to give away a couple of books. One of the things that most impacted me was a young man thanking our church a few weeks later; helping us to understand the great impact that the conference had on him, but also the book of "The Cross Centered Life" by C.J. Mahaney. It led me to reflect on the importance of continuing to share these truths and not taking for granted some of the things that God has allowed us to see, but instead preaching on them again and again. 

In truth, the participation of Joselo Mercado, Matthew Williams, Chris Deloglos, Jacobis Aldana, Johnny Dueri and Oscar Vargas was of the utmost importance. And it allowed many of us to grow and understand many truths. But also, our church did an extraordinary job hosting the conference with very limited hands. I really believe this was so good for our church and they did so well!

After our conference, we were then able to go to the SG Pastors Conference, and on the way Jadwy and me visited some of the many churches that have supported us in different ways. It really is amazing to see the commitment and support we receive from so many churches and people who are with us and part of building the church here in Bolivia.The Pastors Conference was very excellent once again. We very much missed not being able to be together last year, so the fact that we could be together this year was a joy. The theme was very good, and really appropriate. But above all the communion was excellent.

Something important that happened at the conference, and that I wanted to share with you, is that because last year there was no trips for us because of the pandemic, the whole ordination process was postponed to this year. And thanks to the Lord, at the Pastors Conference I was able to conclude my process with the oral examination, and then be evaluated by my region. And thank God in both cases they approved me!

Now Chris Deloglos is working on the ordination service. I want to thank God for the theological committee. Because this process is so good, I can see that my theological perception in so many aspects has grown remarkably thanks to this step. I want to thank all the people who were involved in evaluating me in any part of the process - Matthew Williams, Abelardo Muñoz, Chris Deloglos, Manolo Quintanal, Hellman Avila and Alejandro Anchondo. Thank you for leading me in this process.

With regard to the church here in Bolivia, we can see that God has already consolidated a base group, and that it continues to grow. We can really see a small church now. We just finished a series based on the book of Ephesians and are now in the middle of a series on the book of Ruth. In addition, we are praying and planning for a topical series next year on the church, that will lead us to church membership. Even though in Sovereign Grace membership is so common, here in Bolivia people don´t know much about it, so we pray for wisdom as we prepare the ground for that series and topic.  

God bless you very much.