Ethiopia and the Future With Africa
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, guys that saw the podcast last week know that you were in Ethiopia. Last week on the pod you interviewed some of the students at the pastor's college, but you were teaching at that pastor's college and also spending time with the church there in Ethiopia. What was your experience like?
Mark Prater:
It was a wonderful experience to be with the men. If you watched last week's podcast you saw and heard from some of them. We just connected well relationally, had good theological conversations and I grew to both respect and love them. I miss them already, but I thought it'd be good for everyone that listens to this podcast and prays for our mission in Sovereign Grace to understand why the pastor's college is so important being in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Addis Ababa, Ethiopia is a city of about 10 million people. It's a huge city. And if you're gonna fly somewhere in Africa, typically you're gonna fly through Addis Ababa given the size of the airport. So that's a reason why it's so strategic. Additionally, the African Union is based there in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Josh Pannel actually drove me by the building. It's a huge building also. I didn't know this: it is the second largest city or the second city in the world that has the most embassies from other countries, second to Washington DC. So there's a number of embassies from other nations there, especially nations in Africa, the point being is that it seems that if you're gonna reach Africa, it's gonna be through Addis Ababa, Ethiopia because of its strategic city. Also their current prime minister is a Christian actually; seems to be a genuine Christian, and has real vision, not only for Ethiopia, but for all of Africa. So there's his influence at this point in time. And Addis Ababa is a strategic city, not only to reach East Africa with the gospel, I believe the entire continent with the gospel.
Benjamin Kreps:
Yeah. Excellent. So it is wonderful to see what's developing there, humanly speaking, through the efforts of Josh and Michael and the other pastors there. Certainly we attribute it all to God's activity and his glory. The latest Sovereign Grace missions video was just released about Ethiopia. I found it very encouraging. We're actually showing it at church tomorrow morning. When you think about what God is doing there, what are your hopes for the pastor's college, for that church, and what is potentially in the future in Ethiopia?
Mark Prater:
My hopes and my prayers for Ethiopia are really fueled by Michael Granger's vision, Josh Pannell's vision for Ethiopia, Addis Ababa. And then from there, reaching East Africa and possibly the entire continent. So as I was talking with Michael when I was there, his vision is to plant five churches in the next 10 years. And to plant those in different parts of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. In fact, we were talking about certain sections of the city where he could plant, and I got to know some of the students we were talking about, who could possibly plant together. And that's just an important part of our strategy, to reach the lost with the gospel, not only in Ethiopia, but in East Africa and throughout the continent, because from Addis Ababa, you can plant other churches.
So that's just one reason why that pastor's college is so important and so strategic with the men that you saw in that video last week, or you heard from last week; they're the future of Sovereign Grace in East Africa and maybe beyond East Africa. So pray for those men. And If you didn't look at that podcast or listen to it, I'd encourage you to go back and listen to it. The other thing that we talked about quite a bit was developing gospel-centered resources in Amharic, which is the native language there. Many read English, many understand English, but it'll be more effective if the resources are written in Amharic and sent out throughout Ethiopia. So we talked a little bit about that and why producing resources is important. In fact, just last year, Michael Granger produced a book on gospel centrality, essentially that he's using now, and is, I think, a first step in strategically publishing mission-related and church-based publications that will help us advance the gospel in East Africa and maybe the rest of the continent.
Benjamin Kreps:
Excellent. It's inspiring to hear that vision and that godly ambition for the glory of Christ to be spread throughout Africa, that God has put in those men. So Josh and Michael, we thank God for you and your example, and Mark, thank you for your thoughts and thank you all for watching or reading. We'll see you here next week, Lord willing. Bye for now.