2023 Pastors Conference Session 5

Global Missions Update - Dave Taylor

It is amazing to consider all that the Lord is doing around the world in our family of churches - 46 countries, six continents.

Who would have thought it? It's just incredible to see 46 countries, six continents, and yet one family in the name of Jesus Christ.

It's my privilege this evening to tell you some of the stories of the things that are happening around the world. It's impossible to talk about 46 countries with stories - that would give me about 15 seconds per country, which is tricky.

I do want to tell you some of the stories that you may be encouraged, and in part, I tell you stories to honor them as well. Men and women that you may never actually meet, but who are part of the Sovereign Grace Church family, and we are proud to call brothers and sisters.

It was in March of this year that we got to have our very first Asia-Pacific Pastors and Wives Conference.

In 2015, I first gathered our pastors and wives in Sydney, Australia, and there was a grand total of 12 of us. In Manila, Philippines this year, we gathered and there was over 120 people in the room that would call themselves Sovereign Grace Pastors and Wives. As I got to preach on that occasion, just beginning to look around the room, it was a pure joy to do so.

Over to my right was Jeffrey Joe. Jeffrey Joe is the leader of CCSGM in Cavite, Manila, Philippines. I got to meet Jeffrey in March of 2017 at a conference we were putting on just to clarify our values and virtues so that the brothers and sisters there would be clear what they were looking to join. One man in the crowd on that occasion was Jeff. I was instantly taken to him as I got to know him, so much so that when I got home, I booked a return ticket to go to Manila that year. What I discovered that was a church that somehow, God's kindness, had been on a parallel course with us for 20 years. Because they were preaching the same things with the same values and the same virtues. It was a joy to behold.

They just hadn't heard of Sovereign Grace yet.

They became a Sovereign Grace Church.

Now, we have six Emerging Nation partnership churches in the Philippines. Two more are likely to be adopted in the next six months and another 20 in the next two years. Next year, they're having a Sovereign Grace Worship God Philippines conference. I spoke to Jeffrey a little while ago and said, "What are you going to book as a venue for this?" He showed me the picture. It was the International Convention Center that holds 4,000 people. I said, "That seemed maybe a touch ambitious." He said, "It is not ambitious at all."

They opened the booking two weeks ago. They've already sold 1,500 tickets for Worship God in the Philippines. They appear to like our music, as do we.

Jeffrey Joe is sitting to my right-hand side. Next to him is Songwon Kang, a brother who's faithfully been building Lord's Grace Church in Seoul, South Korea for over a decade in a difficult culture. He's particularly put emphasis not only on the gospel, but the gospel and family, because that is a culture where people will work 60, 70, 80 hours a week as a norm. He wanted to make sure that they were building a church that was grounded on the gospel and that was going to be multigenerational.

When you go to that church and are with them, you realize that is exactly what's happened. Songwon Kang was there with his three interns as he starts to think about planting more churches in Seoul, South Korea.

To my left then was JP Reveri, our Indian brother who leads Calvary Gospel Church in Andhra Pradesh in India. An incredible story himself. He leads a church in a community that is largely Hindu, that is opposed to the gospel so much so that the only building he can hire is his own house. They built another room on their house so they could gather as a church in the house - The problem is they went from 10 to 20 to 30.

I've seen shots actually of him walking around with a cow and a speaker, just trying to tell people around him about Jesus. They now gather and have 70 to 80 people in his house, which obviously isn't working very well. They're in the process of considering to actually build a Christian school there so they can tell more people about Jesus so they can gather as a church.

JP's there and then to his left is a brother that I've got to know recently from Pakistan. We have been relating to this brother and indeed many like him for many years, but I never actually met him before. Other brothers have in Sovereign Grace, but it was my first time.

What was instantly clear about this brother was his joy. He has one of those infectious laughs that when he laughs, you just want to laugh, one of those types of guys. So you are laughing, he's laughing and we're just having this laugh fest, but no one said anything yet. He was so filled with joy and yet this joy was not commensurate to necessarily what he was facing in his life in a natural sense. He was relaying to me a story of how just a few weeks before the conference, a Muslim had shot through his window and just missed his wife.

I said, "Brother, what did you do?" He said, "Well, we sat around the table, my wife and I, and my mother-in-law, who also lives with them, and we just prayed for grace and faith. Then we decided we just carry on doing exactly what we're doing." He's also a principal in a school, a Christian school. He was telling me about every morning he goes in at 5:00 AM because the Muslims will throw the Quran over the fence all the time at this Christian school.

He'll go in at 5:00 AM every morning just to pick them all up and put them in the bin so they can proclaim Christ for the rest of the day. I said, "Brother, my understanding is that you would love to bring your family of churches to be a part of Sovereign Grace, and that's what you've been working towards for some time. My understanding is there are 100 churches that you are bringing in or seeking to bring into Sovereign Grace. Is that correct?"

He said, "Oh, brother, no, no, it's not 100 churches. It's 400 churches." I said, "Oh, that's slightly different to what I thought." Then he starts relaying to me the stories of these local churches and I was just moved. Because these churches are all based around brick pits. It's effectively Christian slavery, and they work there seven days a week, men and women and children. He gathers them into churches and all these brick pits all across the area that we get to serve him. As I was asking them about these churches and trying to find out what are they like, he says, "Well, some people have Bibles in the flesh. Many people just have audio bibles.

What they do is as they work in the brick pits, these Christian brothers and sisters listen-- Our family, as they're serving in the brick pits there and working there, they listen to the Bible as much as they possibly can." I said, "Well, why do they do that?" He said, "Well, for a first it's the God that they believe in and they want to build it into their hearts, but secondarily, they truly believe that in their lifetime, because of the Muslim influence, they're likely to lose their Bibles, so they're seeking to memorize the entire Bible, to hide it in their hearts, just in case."

Next time you struggle to memorize a verse, remember our brothers and sisters in Pakistan.

They're seeking to memorize the Bible and hide it in their hearts.

It was in June this year that I got to then go to Europe, and what a privilege that was. We were going to attend the Sovereign Grace Europe Pastor's Retreat. On the way, I got to stop in Germany and finally visit the Arche Church in Hamburg, Germany. I never got to go there when I lived in England, and fortunate we'd only be an hour away, but now I live on the other side of the world, [chuckles] and I got to go to Germany and visit this church.

What a wonderful, wonderful church it is. I got to visit on the International Sunday. They have over 50 nationalities in the congregation of this local church. It was an absolute joy and treat. It really was a taste of heaven to worship with them. At the end of the service, we went outside and they had different nationalities, all having stalls set up, all serving different food from different nations. It was a joy and it was around a dinner table then that lunchtime that I got to meet Michael, from Ukraine. He had come in to visit, to have a degree of rest, but also to get supplies so he could return to Ukraine. Michael leads the Arche Church in Dnipro, Ukraine.

As many of you'd know, once the war broke out in February of last year, 90% of Michael's church left. Some of the young men, obviously, needed to go to war, other families needed to move west to get out of the war. He was left with basically elderly people and other people that couldn't move. This small church. Then he completely changed up that it would not only proclaim Christ, but it would care for the poor and the needs in that area. This 10% of the remaining part of the church, they bought mattresses, they bought food. They now serve over 500 refugees every single week. These people serve them 24 hours a day, seven days a week. This small band of brothers and sisters not only care for their physical needs, but they care for their spiritual needs. They are proclaiming Christ and him crucified. Their Bible studies are going through the roof. On a Sunday they're gathering with a full house as Christ is being proclaimed. I got to meet with him and it was just humbling to be aware, again, this is our family. This is the brothers and sisters that we get to do life with.

Just a few days later that I was in Poland for our European Pastors Retreat, and what a special time that was, brothers gathered from Belarus, and Turkey, and England, and Italy, and Czech Republic, and Poland. There were many highlights during that retreat. One of them was echoing what Ed was talking about, just the Belarusian brothers. I hadn't met them before. These guys men's men. They have muscles on muscles. [laughter] They have muscles on their ears. These guys have got it all going on. These are strong men. They're probably not given to crying a ton.

Yet there were many occasions where these brothers were just breaking down in tears, sharing of some of the things they're walking through. It was then that Giuseppe, our dear Italian brother, I'd never seen the gift of hugging before, but it's a spiritual gift. [laughter] He would just go and he would hug these brothers and he'd put their head on his shoulder and everyone would weep. It was one of those moments as you oversee what the Lord is doing that you're just aware this is sovereign Christ, because you found a home, you found a family that you can relate to.

It was that same day that I got to go out with a very dear young couple that I actually spoke about at last year's pastors' conference. She was the young lady that actually held up a Bible verse in Belarus and got arrested for it. She was holding up a Bible verse during the protest many years ago or a couple of years ago. She was arrested for that. Not there and then. The police actually broke into their home one evening. She dragged her out of bed and took her off to prison for two and a half months. She's 26 years old, just a young girl, and in God's kindness, they actually let her out for 10 days so she could just get her goods in order before having to go back in for two years hard labor.

The Lord arranged it so they could actually escape and flee the country. They're now refugees living in another country, and in Poland, I got to meet them, and it was an honor. To represent you and represent Jesus to care for them, to encourage them and love them. One of the evenings where I had a meal with them, I just said to her, "I heard you like singing." She said, "I do." "What's your favorite song?" She said, "Well, it's All I Have Is Christ." "Now is a good time to smash it out. Let's do this." [laughter] She just goes for it. She's going for it. In Belarusian, she's smashing out, All I Have Is Christ. As she's singing, my Turkish brother to my left starts smashing it out in Turkish.

I'm giving it a go in English.

We're all in. [laughter]

Again, it was just one of those moments where you think, "Thank you, Lord." The Sovereign Grace is not just about planting churches and seeking to win the world for Jesus, though we are that. We're also about strengthening churches, which means caring for people, and what a privilege. What a privilege to sit together and sing, All I have Is Christ, and be aware, Lord, you're at work here, building us together as brothers and sisters. Latin America, Carlos Contreras, 35 years ago, started to get involved in Sovereign Grace. For those of you that are old, that have been around a while, you will remember him in the '80s.

For those of you you weren't born, sorry, he was here. [laughter]

Back then, Mexico was just one church. That church has thrived. The Lord has been so wonderfully kind to them. That church now leads the Fieles Conference in Juárez, Mexico. Just a couple of months ago, they had yet another Fieles Conference. Over 600 pastors and wives were present from 110 churches and 23 Mexican states, which is 70% of their nation represented. Now in Mexico, there are five Sovereign Grace churches. They're in the process of adopting eight other churches. They planted two churches just this year.

Just on Monday, as we said before, we had the privilege of ordaining them and setting them in effect, as a very first Sovereign Grace ecclesiastical nation. What a thrill to be able to see what the Lord has done in that country. Then there's Joselo Mercado - everywhere: Colombia, Bolivia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Puerto Rico, Venezuela, Argentina. He's home now and again. It's wonderful. He's just so busy serving the Lord. If you see photos, he's often got his family with him as they serve together.

Then there's Africa. Michael Granger planted Trinity Fellowship Church in Addis Ababa in 2020. They started in a home.

It didn't take long before they needed a venue. They got a venue, and they bought 100 seats. Well, it didn't take long before those 100 seats were filled, so they bought 100 more. When I visited with them last year, those seats were already beginning to fill up. Now there is standing room only at the back and people sitting at the front, they're looking for a facility that will hold at least 500 people, as men and women are giving their lives to the Lord and being added to a Gospel Center church. In spring of 2021, they also launched Trinity Fellowship Pastors' College - 11 students led by Josh Bonnell from Six Nations, including Somaliland, Somalia, Kenya, Rwanda, in the US, and Ethiopia.

They're in the process of ordaining three brothers from Africa, one of which will plant a Sovereign Grace Church in Kenya next year. Then Zambia, led by MacDonald Chanda, Chala Chizulo, and Steven.

What a thrill to see these brothers moving forward in Will Broad Chandler's honor!

They were young men that had been trained by him, and now they are giving their lives away to serve Christ Community Church, in Andorra, and the Copperbelt Pastor's College. They're going to be joined next year in a local country context in Namibia by Josh Krueger. Josh Krueger was a southern African missionary for many years in Namibia, but he got the bug that it was all about planting churches rather than just telling people about Jesus.

He wanted to plant a Sovereign Grace Church. Through a long relationship with the Kingsway Community Church and Matthew Williams, he came over here for the last year. He is here with us tonight. He's just completed his ordination process. He's going to be ordained, and he's gone back as a sovereign grace-ordained pastor to plant in Namibia.

Then in West Africa, we have my friend Dyona Thomas, who leads Grace Life Church in Monrovia, Liberia. He's doing an incredible job with just a heart for all of West Africa, and I thought you might want to hear from him this evening. He's been stuck inside because of COVID for several years. Your government has given him a visa. Praise God.

Congregation: Amen.

Speaker 1: Let's welcome him as he comes up and shares his story.

[applause]

Thomas: It is a great joy to be here tonight and to be part of this family. You are truly a family, and I do feel that. I do feel welcome, and I do feel that I'm part of a family. Amen.

I'd like to begin by reading John 13:17–7. Jesus replied, "You do not realize now what I'm doing, but later you'll understand." There are many things in my life and our lives with the Lord that we do not realize what the God is doing, but later we get to understand some and so and so. That is a story with what we now call in Sovereign Grace, West Africa.

Every morning I did not know and realized what a lot was doing, what the Lord was up to, but now we getting to understand some of it. I recall in May, 2013, my email to Matt Prater. I pulled it a few days ago when I wrote this, and I sent it to him. In my words, I wrote, inviting him to get Sovereign Grace to partner with us with a vision to know the gospel and to plant gospel churches in the areas of West Africa. This, I said, was a Macedonian call. Today is 10 years and six months, and I don't even understand what I knew what I was ready saying this time. What I really understood, gospel centrality.

The Lord has allowed us to plant a church, led us to plant a church in a community that was the center for witchcraft, voodoo, and secret society. They carved out altars in the trees of worship and practiced blood sacrifice and female circumcision. We purchased this property, but his grace and fell the whole forest down, and many will fear for their lives. Today, as Romans 1:6 says, "I’m not ashamed of the gospel because it is a power of the law that brings salvation to everyone." The gospel has triumph in that place.

The gospel, through Grace Life Ministry, has touched a community as we consistently verbally proclaim the gospel, but also with practical demonstration with mixing the formation of a Christian school, food distribution and clothing, including those who were part of that society. Today on that former site of blood sacrifice, of witchcraft, and voodoo practices stands a place where the one and only true God is worshipped. Where the powerful gospel of grace is proclaimed.

[applause]

A place where many gather to worship the one God, but also the place where planters and pastors at Equip for multiplying gospel-centered churches across West Africa. We have a seminary that it's there, which is the beacon of hope for theological training all over West Africa. We have 110 students come from four different nations. We've been able to graduate 75 in the last six years, and they're all serving in different nations of the world. Several years ago, through the great mentorship of my friend Dave Theater, we started thinking about how do we pull from this bigger group, and raise up pastors who would multiply Sovereign Grace Churches in West Africa.

We launched Pastor and Planters Academy, and today we have nine churches spread out. One is a full Sovereign Grace Church, eight of them are partnered candidate churches, and all of the graduation none of these guys are currently in automation process. Alongside these churches, we started planting Christian schools. We've learned planting Christian schools alongside churches in low and middle-income countries serve as an opportunity for intentionally discipling the next generation of leaders in a Christ-like environment, proclaiming the gospel to them, but also making the gospel visible for them to see.

We found that out all the years and 90% of our students come to our church, so we have a very big Sunday school program. We also found that 60% of the parents interact with pastors who teach on our campus come to know Christ, and come to know the Lord. Very grateful for our partnership with Covenant Mercy, who partnered with one of our school and giving hope to many children, and putting up a campus for a very neat learning environment.

In the coming years, we are building partnerships with French-speaking West Africa. West Africa is divided into English-speaking and French-speaking. They are 12 nations comprising the French-speaking West Africa, those nations are influenced by Animism, Voodooism, and tradition religious practice. There are many of them that are still very least access, with no gospel proclamation and lack of gospel-centered churches. Our current engagement with three French-speaking families in Abidjan City, the goal is to actively mentor them and work with them in the next two or three years to carve out a vision for Antioch Church in Abidjan City, which is a multinational city.

Last year in August, the Lord graciously helped us to gather for the very first time from six nations for our first pastors and wives conference. Thanks to our brother Mark Fearther, Bob Wright, and Beth Lipscomb, who came and serve these brothers and their wives. There were 30 Grace life elders and their wives. There were 12 all of the pastors who just came to watch and see.

At the end of the last day, one of the visitors pulled me onside to my office, Pastor Joshua and his wife, the wife followed him. He traveled from Liberia and South Eastern nation, 14 hours ride on the rough roads. He represent 23 churches in the network. He sat down before my decks and in tears and said, "This is where I want to be. I want to be part of you guys. Can you come and let's talk through how you and your team can work and train us and take us through the process of joining us?"

Many of this wouldn't have happened without the care of many brothers from here with all of you who have prayed and supported. Many brothers who have come physically to help. Our dear brother Bruce Chicks, he taught three weeks of classes there. Our dear brother Josh Pannell, he traveled for three weeks to teach in our college. Leo Paris has taught. Justin and Spencer from Bruce's Church. Our brother Dave, in Raleigh. Our dear brother [Maybe: Doc Hayes] who make countless trips to serve Covenant Mercy, but alongside also serve our pastor.

I want to give special thanks before I close him, my dear friend and brother Dave. Dave have mentored me, care for me, care for my soul and my family and much of this is because of his importing his care. I'm very grateful to all of you. May the Lord bless you.

[applause]

Taylor: The Lord is doing a lot of stuff. In God's kindness we get to be a part of it. It is my observation that the Lord is doing a lot here in North America as well with you guys. Two churches planted in the last year, Valley Creek Church, Melbourne - that do need the lights back for the weekend. Redeeming Grace Church in Mechanicsburg in the next two years, you have other five other plants organized. In Warren, and Tampa, and Knoxville, and Columbia, the first Chinese-speaking plant in Gaithersburg. It's going to happen the next two years.

You have the Antioch Project. I wish I could be a part of that. The Small Towns project, the National Church Planting Assessment Group is booming.

You have eight couples on that for January.

Then we see the third generation of Sovereign Grace starting to come through as well. Just this last weekend, I had the privilege of being at Cornerstone Church in Knoxville and never been to that church before, but wonderfully, led by Bill Kittrell and the team there. It was a joy to be with them. On the Sunday before my wife and I left, we got to hang out with the VFC team. The university campus ministry, and what a joy that was sitting in the basement with them, aware that I'm old enough to be their parents.

When did I become my mom and dad? I don't know.

This group of young men and women, there was over 25 of them. There are either students or interns that are giving their lives away to tell people about Jesus on the Tennessee campus. One by one we were going round and they're sharing story after story of people they've told just in the last few weeks about Jesus seeking to invite them to church, seeking to win them to Christ.

I was a happy, happy pastor as I sat there and thought, this is our future.

We have a wonderful story to tell. 46 countries, 6 continents, but one family. And, my friends, I want you to understand it is HIS story.

Romans 11:36, "For from him and through him and to him are all things. It is all his doing. The alpha and the Omega, the king of kings and the Lord of Lords."

Everything you've heard this evening is all his wonderful story. To him, be glory forever and ever. Amen.

Congregation: Amen.