VIDEO TRANSCRIPT

Ben Kreps:

Hey everyone, and welcome to the Mark Prater podcast where are aim is to connect our global family of Sovereign Grace churches with our Executive Director. Mark, it's been a while since you've given an update about things that are happening globally in Sovereign Grace. You have a couple of updates for us. The first one is an update from our friends in Ethiopia.

Mark Prater:

Yeah, it's a wonderful update. As many listeners or readers of this podcast know, Michael Granger planted a church there about two and a half years ago, actually right when the pandemic started. Trinity Fellowship, the church, actually grew during the pandemic. And once we got on the other side of some of the restrictions being lifted, the church really began to grow. And when he planted Trinity Fellowship, he also, in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, he also started a pastor's college that Josh Pannell leads as the Dean of that pastor's college. And so over the last year, they had 10 students who completed the pastor's college program, and graduated. They're now pursuing, many of those men, are now pursuing master's degrees in theological education. I believe there were 10 or 11 graduates from the pastor's college.

We have been interacting with Michael over the last couple of weeks. There are now three of them that are interns at Trinity Fellowship in Addis Ababa. And part of their internship is they're now beginning the ordination process. And he's hoping maybe by the end of this year that those men will be ordained as Sovereign Grace elders. So three Ethiopian men who graduated from that pastor's college and will be ordained elders in Sovereign Grace. It is just a wonderful thing and a wonderful update to hear in many ways, and I think Michael's long-term vision is at some point, maybe with one of those men, maybe not, but he would love to turn the senior pastorate role over to an Ethiopian, because it's a church obviously in Ethiopia.

So I share all of that because it is the fruit of just the hard work of Michael Granger and Josh Pannell. They had a big vision and they implemented that vision and it's good to see the fruit of that. Secondly, it's the fruit of partnership. There were partners in Sovereign Grace that either gave or traveled there. We had many Sovereign Grace pastors who taught at that pastor's college at Trinity Fellowship. And now there are Sovereign Grace pastors that are gonna participate in the ordination process by testing these men regarding their theological knowledge and readiness to be ordained as an elders.

And then it's the fruit of generosity. We've had a number of people give very generously to the Africa Development Fund. And without that financial support, we couldn't have established a pastor's college. It couldn't have been housed in the building that is very much a part of the pastor's college and made the pastor's college work. And now to see the fruit of that investment by seeing men who are going to be ordained and maybe do ministry, many of them are looking at campus ministry, in Addis Ababa and they're also looking at guys to potentially plant churches. So just a wonder of update in Ethiopia where you can just see God blessing the labors of pastors; Michael Granger and Josh Pannell in this case. And God blessing and multiplying the fruit of generosity in Ethiopia.

Ben Kreps:

Yeah, that's beautiful. I know many of us have been watching from the outset, as all of this developed and to see what God has done through their efforts is remarkable. And at the conference, hearing an update from Michael with just an obvious zeal to see the gospel advance in Ethiopia. So we're grateful that we all get to be a part of that in at least a small way as we watch God work. Alright. Let's move to a different part of the world, into a very difficult area of the world; war torn Ukraine. What's going on there?

Mark Prater:

Listeners to this podcast, the readers of this podcast, have heard me give an update regarding Ukraine before, but if you're a new listener to this podcast, we have a relationship with the Arche Church in Hamburg, Germany, which also has a pastor's college that Jeff Purswell has traveled to for probably 20 years now, and Todd. In fact, I was just on the phone with Josh Blount yesterday, and Josh is on his way to Hamburg right now to teach Hermeneutics at the German Pastor's College next week.

So again, those are expressions of partnership. One of those students that went through the German Pastor's College, Michael Othen, was sent from Hamburg, Germany to plant a church in Dnipro, Ukraine, the Arche Church Dnipro, Ukraine. And at that time, we didn't know the significance of that church plant and the way the Lord is now using that church to just care for the needs of refugees who have lost their homes. They've lost loved ones, they've really lost everything. And most of them are fleeing from the east trying to get to the west. They make their way through Dnipro. That church is a Red Cross designated center. So many people are sent there where they can get food and clothing and medical supplies and a hot shower. It's just amazing, the work that he is doing.

Just a couple of quick stories. On Christmas Day for their Christmas service, they have between seven and 800 people at their Christmas service, which is amazing because before the war, it was probably a church of about 150 to 200. So it's really increased because of the refugees that are there, partly because it's a warm building to go to. But as they're there, they're hearing the gospel. Some of them, for the very first time, literally, had not heard the gospel of Jesus Christ before and many of them are being saved. Michael is baptizing them. Just a number of specific stories I could tell. One man who grew up as a Jewish man but because of the way this church has reached out to him and cared for him, and as he heard the gospel, he's now become a Christian, as I understand. There's just one quick story. The other story is that they decided a couple days after Christmas to take a six hour trip to a more war ravaged city. Kherson, I believe is is the name of it. And to do an outreach there. And they had about 200 kids, along with adults that were there for this outreach.

And they brought at least a couple hundred bags of groceries, just food that people needed. And then they brought toys for the kids for Christmas. And the kids, he said, well, first were a little bit reluctant just because of what they've been through. They don't know who to trust. But as they got to relate to them and know them and just give them gifts, and then they shared the gospel. They told the Christmas story that leads to the telling of the gospel, obviously. And the pictures that he sent. It just brings tears to your eyes to see these young children being affected by war. And yet, just for a few minutes, just for a moment, if you can say it that way, there's a glimpse of normalcy and there's light and darkness, and there's peace when there's been a lot of upheaval.

So I really commend Michael and his church for taking that trip. Because it's a dangerous trip, but they just have a heart to reach people with the gospel. So that's a bit of an update from Ukraine. I mentioned maybe in a previous podcast, and our pastors would know this, we've been sending about $4,500 a week to Michael. We can get it to him that way. And we're attempting to raise about $235,000 for all of 2023. So we've got a commitment, we'll just keep sending that money at the same rate that we have been. And we're in the midst of raising that money now, I think we've raised about $50,000. So, if you hear this podcast or read it and you're interested in giving, you can go to the Sovereign Grace website, go to the give page, and give to the Europe Development Fund and just leave a note that it's earmarked for Ukraine and it's going to a good cause. It's going to not only meeting the needs, the practical needs that people have in Ukraine but meeting those needs is opening hearts to hear the gospel of Jesus Christ. And it's amazing to see the work, to hear about the work that Michael and his church are doing.

Ben Kreps:

Yeah. We are grateful for the example that Michael and his church is setting, setting for us and their faithfulness in crisis and their faithfulness in word and deed that is bearing fruit through the proclamation of the gospel. So it's a great opportunity for us to help play a small role in what's going on over there. So, Michael, we're praying for you if you're watching or reading this. And thank you everyone for watching or reading. Thank you, Mark, for the update. We'll see you here, Lord willing, next week. Bye for now.

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.