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, as we record this podcast, we're just a few days away from the Pastors Conference and something we've enjoyed over the years is having a number of pastors and guests come in from other countries to our Pastors Conference here in the states. It's a little more limited because of shutdowns and things going on with the pandemic, but there are people coming aren't there?

Mark Prater:

There are. I'm so excited to be together. And it's amazing to me that we have pastors and and wives and guests that are traveling from at least 11 different countries from outside the United States to Orlando to be with us at our conference. And that's an amazing number because many of our brothers and sisters in the Asia Pacific part of the world simply can't make it to the states primarily due to COVID restrictions. So if you're listening to this podcast and you're an American, when you see these brothers and sisters traveling to our conference and you greet them at the conference from other nations, please welcome them and thank them for making the long trip to be together with us in Orlando.

Benjamin Kreps:

Yeah, that will be wonderful. In just a few days when it all goes down. Yeah, I can't wait. Another thing though, you have an update for us. Those of us who've been following along with Michael Granger and the Pannells and the church plant in Ethiopia have probably been watching the headlines telling us about unrest in Ethiopia. You have an update for us about what's going on there.

Mark Prater:

I do. I got an email from Michael Granger yesterday, actually. And if you're following the news, as you said Ben, there's war happening in Ethiopia between the Ethiopian government and the TPLF, I believe that's the Tigray People's Liberation Front. And they took a city about 250 miles north of Addis Ababa just this week. And so the prime minister of Ethiopia, from what Michael told me, declared a state of emergency and said to the Ethiopian citizens, be prepared to defend yourselves. The U S government designated Ethiopia as a level 4 travel advisory, which basically means do not travel to Ethiopia. And then the embassy, the US Embassy there in Ethiopia recommended that US citizens consider evacuating the country using commercial airlines.

So they're in Ethiopia. Michael obviously is an American, Josh Pannell and his family, and there's another American family there, the Thomases. What Michael told me, at least the plan right now, was for the Pannells and the Thomases to temporarily leave the country. Josh was headed to the Pastors Conference anyway, Michael was as well, but he's decided to stay. What Michael's going to do is evacuate his family temporarily and then stay with the church there in Addis Ababa. There are about 120 people that are gathering at Trinity Fellowship on Sunday. So he wants to stay there and be with his people. And it's an amazing thing. It really reveals not only to us, but more importantly to the members of that church, Michael's pastoral heart for them. And he plans to remain there in Addis Ababa unless American citizens are somehow targeted in violence, or if the Ethiopian government orders US citizens to leave. In that case, he would, but the plan is for him to stay and he won't be at the Pastors Conference.

So I wanted to share that for a couple of reasons. First of all, please pray for Ethiopia. Pray for that nation. Pray for Trinity Fellowship Church, that God would protect that church and then pray for the Grangers and the Pannells and the Thomases just asking God to give them wisdom if they do travel or evacuate temporarily, that they could do that safely. The second reason I'm bringing that up is because as we partner with brothers and sisters and with churches throughout the world, we're going to hear these kinds of stories, whether it's a war or whether it's persecution.

And I think for us that are in churches here in the states, as Americans, when we hear that it should put things in perspective. First of all, when I hear about what's happening in Ethiopia, the challenges I'm facing suddenly seem very small. And so that's one thing. And I think, secondly, it's just going to shape who we are as a family of churches in the future; that we're going to find ways as Americans to pray for, partner with, support, encourage and love those who may be facing challenges like the Grangers are facing, and the Pannells are facing, or the persecution that some of our brothers and sisters are currently facing throughout the world. And that'll shape us as a family of churches. And another reason why I wanted folks to hear this is to just give an update on what's happening in Ethiopia.

Benjamin Kreps:

Yeah. Well, thanks for the update. I'm confident many, many people in Sovereign Grace will be praying for all involved in Ethiopia as we look forward to peace coming back into that country, Lord willing. So thanks, Mark. And thank you all for watching or reading. We'll see you here soon. Bye for now.