Conference Highlights

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, folks probably noticed that they did not have a podcast in their inbox this past week because we were at the pastors conference and we had full schedules, especially you, but what a time it was at the conference. We worshiped, we feasted and fellowshipped with friends, we rejoiced in Christ. One of the ladies that came along, a couple that we brought with us, she said for her it was like a taste of heaven on earth. And I agree with that. So everyone there experienced a lot of life, a lot of joy, a lot of Jesus. We come back happy pastors. You have some highlights for us though, including you had mentioned during the conference that there were a number of brothers and sisters that were live-streaming the event globally, that couldn't make it into the country for the conference. Tell us a little bit about that.

Mark Prater:

I'd love to. First of all, God smiled upon our conference and did more than we could ask or even think to ask as Ephesians 3 talks about when we plan and when we pray for the conference. He was just so good to us. I did mention at the conference that there were a number of pastors along with their wives who couldn't travel into the states this year either because of COVID restrictions or because of immigration issues. Some of those immigration issues, really is a backlog because of COVID. So it points back to the pandemic. So we arranged for them to watch the conference via live-stream. And off the top of my head, I believe we had pastors and wives watching from at least 10 different nations, which was so encouraging. And one of the things we did is we had the conference translated in Spanish, not only for pastors who were at the conference who only spoke Spanish, but also for those from Latin America that were watching the live stream.

Jorge Pardot is a member of Covenant Fellowship Church, where I attend. He leads a small group. He's Puerto Rican born and speaks Spanish fluently, obviously English, and French. He's a real guy when it comes to languages. And the feedback I got, actually from a pastor in Costa Rica who was watching the live stream was like "his translation was really good". So just to celebrate that, that even though they couldn't come to the states, there were brothers and sisters throughout the world that were benefiting from the conference live-stream.

Benjamin Kreps:

Wonderful. Now back a little bit ago, when we were preparing to go to the conference, you talked about how there were some Chinese brothers that were going to be joining us at the conference. I actually had the pleasure of having dinner at the global dinner, sitting at a table with some of these brothers, getting to know them; remarkable, impressive men and their wives as well. You met with them. Tell us about what happened.

Mark Prater:

Met with them on Wednesday evening for dinner after the last main session. I met with them along with Brian Chesemore and Mike Seaver, and we had seven, I think, or eight. I can't remember exactly, seven or eight Chinese pastors there, along with their wives. And just to echo what you just said, Ben, they are impressive. They are godly, they are humble. They are very bright. And they were a lot of fun actually to be with as well. We laughed a lot. And the purpose of that meeting was just to hear from them about their desire to plant Sovereign Grace Chinese speaking churches both here in the states and in mainland China. And so what Brian and Mike and I did was really do a lot of listening to them and draw them out of what that might look like and what they would need. We just took a bunch of notes. So the next step is for Mike and Brian and I to meet via Zoom and try to assemble some sort of plan, if that's the right word to use. And then we'll follow up with those Chinese brothers and kind of continue the conversation. So if you're listening to this podcast, watching it, or reading the transcript, please pray that God would give us wisdom and next steps to see what would be wonderful; Sovereign Grace planting Chinese speaking churches.

Benjamin Kreps:

It really would be wonderful to see that happen. One more thing, at the Council of Elders, we happily passed the Global Partnership Plan. During the Council of Elders this was a happy moment. But you actually have some news that coincides with our passing of that plan.

Mark Prater:

I do. There were many happy moments, by the way, in the Council of Elders meeting, weren't there? This was just such a good Council of Elders meeting. The day before our conference started we, the council, did approve as you just said, the Global Partnership Plan BCO amendments. And when I was urging the council to approve them before the vote was taken, I actually did that in my state of the union message, I said that there were pastors throughout the world that were watching this council and the decisions they would make on that day regarding these amendments. And the illustration I used was pastors representing 19 different churches in the Philippines were watching this decision because they're ready to act and formally become a candidate church. Well guess what? Yesterday morning, I got a text from Dave Taylor. It had a picture of a screen where he's having a Zoom meeting. He and Dave York are leading a Zoom meeting with a number of Filipino pastors who are saying, okay, we know the BCO amendments passed, what do we do to become a candidate church? And all of those guys and more, are going to step into the ordination process as well. So really already, they wasted no time. Dave Taylor wasted no time. Our brothers in the Philippines wasted no time in acting on the council's decision to become candidate churches. So that was just exciting for me to get that text. And I wanted to share it with all of our listeners on this podcast.

Benjamin Kreps:

That's just wonderful news. We're so grateful for our brothers in the Philippines. So now for me, it was a pleasure to hear about Nilo Ebo being ordained, because I went to the Pastors College with him. So praise God for what he's doing there in the Philippines. Thank you, Mark, for leading the conference, you did an excellent job. And for those who don't know, Erin Radano actually edits this podcast. And so thank you, Erin, for we know that a conference like that doesn't happen without your administration and help. It was so good to be with everyone at the conference. Happy also to return home to our local churches, where we continue to celebrate the savior with those whom we love the most. So thanks everyone for watching. We'll see you here soon. Bye for now.