2,500 Miles Apart
Dear All,
Friday’s Bottom Line:
Although they are now about 2,500 miles apart, things are going well for our wonderful team in the Philippines and for Scott in Nepal!
Friday’s Prayer Requests:
1. Saturday’s Filipino vision-casting DM Seminar in Isabella to be as well-received and productive as the Friday one in Tarlac was!
2. God to give Scott clear direction on what to preach in Saturday’s church service in City #3, and the DM summit late Sartuday and early Sunday to be great encouragement for the disciples there.
3. Favor, health, strength, and discernment for our all of our missionaries and DM coaches in the Philippines in Nepal.
Friday’s Details:
Mark and his family have a little over a week more in the Philippines with national directors Wilson and Angelica and the rest of the team there. Concerning their Friday DM seminar, Mark said “Today we held a vision casting in Tarlac City. It went great. I think we had about 30 that came and 14 pastors signed up to do groups. The coaches have already placed them in groups, and they will start meeting next week. This is a city of almost 500,000, and these pastors are all part of groups of churches, and they want to be found faithful raising up disciples! Very exciting.”
Here are some photos from that seminar. First, Mark explaining the difference between believers and disciples.
Meanwhile, Scott arrived in Nepal, and while I know this may be hard to believe, the truth is that not everyone in that country is thrilled about TTC’s passion for raising disciple-makers. So, for the sake of the Nepali coaches, disciples, and believers there, I will just use numbers instead of city names in that nation. Scott landed in #1 and spent the night in a hotel there before flying on to #2, where he met our friend and coordinator, Mohan (“MOE-hahn”). He sent us a few interesting “culture” pictures. = )
Scott knows I collect funny signs, so he sent me the following. It looks like it was a decal on a window, maybe on a shuttle bus at the airport in #1 or #2.
From #2, they had a short, 30-minute drive on Friday to #3, where they held a DM seminar. That night they returned to where they are staying in #2.
Unlike the U.S. with our five-day work week, Nepal has a six-day work week that runs Sunday through Friday, so churches hold their weekly services on Saturday. This Saturday (Friday night MO time), Scott will preach at their regular church service in the morning and then hold a DM Summit Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning. This summit will be a special time for everyone in that area who is in a DM group to join together for encouragement and training. As was the pattern in the Philippines (and in Kenya for that matter) the disciples will leave after the DM summit, but the coaches will stay on for a more intimate and more advanced Coaches Summit on Sunday afternoon and Monday morning.
Don’t feel pressured to remember all those details; God knows them! I just wanted to try to explain what we think will be going on in Nepal over the next few days. Of course, schedules and details are subject to change, and we know the Holy Spirit is the ultimate project planner!
Thank you for your encouragement and prayers during this mission trip. If you want to get a message to Scott, Mark, or any of our team members, you can reply to the email or text that notified you about this blog post, and I will pass your message on to whomever.
Thanks for your faithful prayers!
Blessings,
Patty