Emerging Nations Leaders Retreat
VIDEO TRANSCRIPT
Benjamin Kreps:
Hey everyone and welcome to the Mark Prater podcast where our aim is to connect our global family of churches with our Executive Director. Mark, a couple of podcasts ago we talked about an Emerging Nations leadership gathering retreat in Guadalajara that happened last week. Can you give us an update about that?
Mark Prater:
Yeah, it did. It's so exciting because there were 22 men there from Puerto Rico, Costa Rica, Mexico, and Colombia. It's just exciting to see all those men gathered together—and I got to see it because I was able to zoom in. That retreat was led by Carlos Contreras, Joselo Mercado and Rich Richardson. Also, Abelardo Munoz and Hellman Avila were there to help lead as well. The purpose of the retreat was to teach on Sovereign Grace values and then give a chance for these men to build relationally, because all those men are pursuing a partnership with Sovereign Grace and want their churches adopted into Sovereign Grace.
I was invited to spend a couple of hours talking about leading through a crisis and suffering, and discussed it in a way that highlighted some of our values. The first thing I talked about, which I would tell any pastor, is that when a pastor is leading through crisis and suffering he needs to first and foremost tend to his own soul—make sure that his relationship with Christ is strong every day by being in his word and spending time with the savior. I think for all of us, when we walk through trial and suffering, but especially when you lead through it, you feel your desperate need for Jesus each and every day, which includes your need for his good news, his gospel working in your life, which is one of the values that we have.
The other thing we talked about is that because we build relationally in Sovereign Grace, there's not a time when a pastor feels like he's walking through suffering and crisis alone. Suffering and crisis can have that effect, it can isolate you, especially when you're in leadership. I wanted those brothers to know that doesn't happen in Sovereign Grace. We build relationally and you will never walk through crisis alone. So we talked a little bit about that and about a number of other things in that category of leading through suffering. Then we opened the floor to Q and A .
We also talked about the Statement of Faith. It was exciting to see them receive a copy of our new statement of faith translated into Spanish. They showed me a copy over the screen and I was just rejoicing in that. They were asking, "How do we help our church become accustomed to, or read the Statement of Faith?" We talked about preaching a short sermon series, for example, as one way to encourage them. So it was just a wonderful time.
There was a moment, Ben, where I saw these 22 men on my screen and my eyes were filled with tears because we talk about how we're pursuing partnerships globally in Sovereign Grace throughout the world, but to see their faces makes that a very real thing. It was such a privilege to be a part of it and I was so excited I got to be there. So thanks for asking about that.
I wanted to ask you a question because there was another significant event that happened last week that you were a part of. Can you tell us a little bit about that?
Benjamin Kreps:
Yeah, I had the opportunity, really the privilege, to be invited to be part of something called, I think loosely, the Antioch cohort. Maybe that is the official name. It's an endeavor from the church planting team, the National team led by Eric Turbedsky, to equip Sovereign Grace churches to plant Sovereign Grace churches. It's a year long program and process that, I believe, Eric and the team want to duplicate each year with another group of elders from different Sovereign Grace churches so they can work through equipping us. But really it's an opportunity.
This was the first retreat we had, last week, to gather together to be equipped, trained, to pray with each other, and to build relationally. It really had all the best aspects of our Sovereign Grace culture. So last week I went to El Paso, Texas, never been to Texas before, and it was a great time with five other wonderful elders from Sovereign Grace churches. Ricky Alcantar and Eric led the retreat and led well. We had a wonderful time praying together, crying out to God on behalf of our churches and for Sovereign Grace, when it comes to mission, and our personal lives as pastors. Then Ricky laid out a new Testament model for church planting gleaning insights from the church in Antioch in Acts 11, 12, and 13, which I think is going to serve us quite well in the days ahead, as we seek to inculcate this way of thinking about church planting—broadening out what it means to be church planting in Sovereign Grace, and being on mission together to include interdependent mission, supporting one another—in elders planting churches, not just finding single guys and throwing them out there.
I was encouraged personally. I was convicted personally on a number of fronts and we talked about those things as well, areas to grow. So we rejoiced in God's grace which is evident in our churches and across Sovereign Grace and also resolved in the days ahead to, by God's grace, grow and to step into what God has for us in our churches when it comes to mission and church planting. A wonderful time, a very memorable time. We were in El Paso, so a lot of tacos too, which was quite a blessing for me.
Mark Prater:
That's a very timely retreat for you because, from what you've told me before, for several months now, you've led your church to pray for a church plant. You said "Look, we don't have the planter, we don't have a church plant team, but what we can do is pray." Isn't that right?
Benjamin Kreps:
Yeah. In January, I preached in the church that the fields are ripe for harvest, and we need to pray for laborers in that harvest and together as a church. It’'s encouraging to see the whole church joined together and we're crying out to God together to provide us with the wisdom to plant, the people we need to plant, and the man to lead a plant. We're already seeing God's hand at work in our church and so much so that I wonder “How come I didn't do this a long time ago?" But, yeah, we've got a prayer meeting each month. A number of folks have committed for the whole year to gather together and pray for this in our church. It's alive and we're already seeing God's hand at work. And so we're just following where he leads and it's pretty exhilarating, actually.
Mark Prater:
It is, and thanks for going and making time to go. In just in one week—what happened in Guadalajara, what happened in El Paso, really strengthened us in our shared mission.
Benjamin Kreps:
Yes, Absolutely. So, thanks for serving those guys down there at that conference. Sounds like you were able to make a deposit of truth and some helpful thoughts as well. So thank you everyone for watching, and we'll see here next week, lord willing. Bye for now.