A Tale of Two Teams
Dear All,
Sunday & Monday’s Summary:
Surprisingly, the pastor at the church where Scott preached Sunday morning took up an offering for him! That, plus the registrations paid by the DM group members at Monday’s DM summit in Kirinyaga covered 20% of the cost of the summit. That may not sound like a big deal, but trust me, it was. Following that powerful Monday summit led by Hillary and Scott, those who attended are now strategizing about how they can start new groups to “pay forward” what they have experienced through the disciple-making process. What encouraging news!
Mark and James flew (and did not drive six hours!) to Eldoret to hold a DM seminar there on Monday (great), and a wonderful DM summit the following day in Niavasha.
Tuesday’s Prayer Requests:
- God to bring healing and significant change to ministry marriages through the upcoming Better Together marriage seminar on Saturday.
- Grace and insight as our team plans for the three DM summits next week.
- Our leaders (at all levels) to thrive in the midst of the growing pains associated with setting things in order.
- Plenty of restful sleep for our team members; healing for Scott’s sore throat.
Recent and Upcoming Details:
The word God gave Scott for TTC in 2025 is “sustainability,” and Scott, the TTC board, and a number of our wonderful partners have been laser-focused on making the ministry sustainable in many ways. This includes adding personnel, establishing reproducible procedures, improving communication and documentation, upgrading and expanding TTC’s website and social media presence, and strengthening its financial foundation.
That latter one is why Scott was so pleased to see so many people register and pay to come to the DM summit in Kirinyaga (“kee-rin-YAH-guh”). Although the financial cost of that summit far outweighed the monies that came in, the fact that monies did come in(!!!) represents a mental shift among many of those who are being discipled. Scott said, “… it is a great start. In all my years ministering in Kenya (and India), we have never had registration like this. Hillary also shared about the need for Kenyans to support this Kenya DM movement. He spoke in their native vernacular and then it was translated to Swahili. I couldn’t understand it at all.” = )
Hillary speaking the truth in love
But Hillary’s words obviously made an impact. Scott said, “There were 90 attendees, and 14 signed up to join DM groups. Many of those currently in groups set a goal to start new groups by Dec 31, 2025. They understood that although they have received freely of the DM process, it wasn’t truly free. Their coach had to pay the cost. Now it is their turn to fall to the ground and die like a seed, so they can multiply.”
Planning how they can start new groups
While Hillary and Mark were leading this DM summit, James and Mark were leading a DM seminar some 200 miles away in Eldoret. Mark said, “James and I flew on Monday from Nairobi to Eldoret at around 6:00 AM and then had our disciple-makers seminar starting at 9:00 AM that same day. About 43 attended, and over 20 of them are eager to join DM groups.”
James telling it like it is
All these folks were at the Eldoret Disciple-Makers seminar!
Mark continued, “Then we had a disciple-makers summit today in Niavasha (“nee-uh-VAH-shuh”), and that took a 5-hour matatu ride, and that was exciting. [The summit] ended very well with all 70 that came being very energized and focused on wanting to start and raise more disciples out of the groups that they’ve already created.” (In this picture, James is grinning third from the left on the front row, and Mark is grinning on the back row.)
What a great crowd at the Niavasha summit!
James and Mark and Hillary and Scott will all wrap up their various regional seminars and summits on Wednesday. Then the four of them will have some down time together (down time? what is that?!?) back in Nairobi on Thursday and Friday to rest and plan before Saturday’s “Better Together” marriage seminar and next week’s much-anticipated summits.
For clarification, here’s a friendly review of terms: Unlike our DM seminars that introduce new pastors and church leaders to the disciple-making process, DM summits are special all-day meetings designed to encourage and further train people who are already involved in disciple-making at some level. The first summit next week will be for the many coaches who are leading groups. The next summit will host our regional “pillars” (leaders) who are discipling numerous coaches in a given area, and the third summit will minister to our national “pillars” who are spearheading the expansion of disciple-making throughout all of Kenya and in the surrounding nations.
In TTC’s organizational framework, we have many coaches, fewer regional pillars, and an even smaller handful of national pillars; I like to think of TTC’s levels of servant-leadership kind of like Jesus, who had his 70, his 12, and his 3. = )
Let’s close today with an exciting testimony Scott shared. Since we all know DM summits are designed for anybody who is “already involved in disciple-making at some level,” that could include any member of a disciple-makers group, a coach, a regional pillar, or a national pillar, right?
Well, two 20-something young men came to Hilary and Scott’s summit yesterday. They have each had rough lives, including alienation from their families, addictions, and living for years on the streets. A local church member has provided them a place to stay and got them involved in a disciple-makers group. Scott said, “Alex, in red, lived on the streets from age 9 to 25.” Can you believe that?!? “He has been greatly changed by the DM group, which he started attending 2 months ago. He said he has learned so much through the DM process, including forgiving his mom, and getting free from drugs. The other man, Edwin, has experienced similar growth.”
Edwin and Alex with Scott
Edwin and Alex were coming to a DM group and didn’t even have Bibles, but thanks to Hillary they do now. They are both so glad to be involved and are asking all kinds of questions as they grow in their faith. Praise God!
These are the kinds of results God is doing as YOU pray for our TTC team. Thank you for once again taking time to bring today’s prayer requests to him in faith!
Blessings,
Patty