It really WAS better together in Cebu
Dear All,
Friday’s Bottom Line:
Ministry in Cebu continues to go great, and the BT marriage seminar deeply impacted many couples. The Philippines section of this mission trip is coming to an end – a very successful end! – and as Scott travels on Sunday, while we thank God for all he’s doing through our team and their “generations” of disciples in the Philippines, we’re about to shift our focus to his work in Morocco.
Friday’s Prayer Requests:
1. Rest and refreshing for our key Filipino team members who have been going non-stop for nearly three weeks of intense ministry AND for the dozens of Filipino coaches to lead well as they begin many new DM groups.
2. The people who have attended the ~15 vision-castings, seminars, and church services this month to remember the things they have learned and keep applying them in their daily lives; for continued spiritual growth.
3. Judah, Jenni, and Scott to arrive safely in Morocco with all their luggage, and God to make a way for the specific pastors and church leaders that he want to receive from them in person to attend the two upcoming DM vision-castings with eager hearts. No plans of the enemy to prevail against them.
Friday’s Details:
First, here are a couple pictures from our team a few days ago as they prepared to fly to Cebu for the Thursday vision-casting and Friday marriage seminar.
His wife, Elsie, traveled overseas as a house helper when she was younger.”
After the Thursday DM vision-casting, Scott said, “15 pastors came to the disciple-makers vision-casting, and 100% of them signed up to join DM groups!” Here they are.
He continued, “We have only one couple trained to coach all those pastors, so that couple will lead one in-person group and another online group for those who came by boat.” Yes, by boat! You read that right. Scott said, “Some came three hours on a fast boat, and others came six hours on a slow boat to be at the meetings this week.”
That night, our team went to “10,000 Roses Café & More,” a popular tourist destination in Cordova, Cebu, famous for its field of artificial, LED-powered white roses that glow at night.
Located near the Cordova Tourism Center, this café offers a scenic spot to watch the sunset over the water and the CCLEX Bridge. At 5.5 miles, the CCLEX suspension-stayed bridge is the longest sea bridge in the Philippines. It connects Cebu City to Mactan Island, where our team is holding this week’s meetings.
Everybody had to register and pay a small fee to attend the Better Together marriage seminar.
Afterwards, Scott said, “Great seminar today. We had about 20 couples, with more than half being pastors. They so resonated with the story about getting their fulfillment from ministry instead of their marriage.”
And Angelica said, “Today it was like a family gathering because they are also the ones who attended the vision-casting. And I can feel the atmosphere that it was lighter, there is no resistance. They are all open for rebuke and correction. And also a lot of healing.”
Near the end, each couple spent time alone together confessing, repenting, and praying.
Afterwards, the Hero and Princess contests were judged, prizes were given…
Soon the rest of our team will fly back to their homes in Villasis, and Scott will depart for Morocco.
Why Morocco, you may ask? Great question. Here’s the short version of that story.
Some time back, Scott met a missionary here in the states named Tim who just happened to have grown up in Niger, Africa, a country of 29 million people. Tim is now home on furlough, but he lives in Morocco, where he oversees several churches and their pastors.
Scott and I also have longtime friends who just happen to lead a large ministry organization in Niger, and one of the pastors in that organization is Habibou (“hah-BEE-boo”). When Scott told Tim that we have friends in Niger, it turns out that Tim and Habibou actually KNOW each other (!!!), and Habibou and Tim are now in Scott’s DM group. They both want to introduce the DM process to others in their areas, and Tim has gotten a number of folks in Morocco involved. So Scott is now leading a group of Moroccan pastors, and our friends Judah and Jenni who here in SW Missouri are leading a group of Moroccan church leaders. Amazing!
Next week, Judah and Jenni will be flying east while Scott is flying west, and the three of them will meet in Morocco to hold two different vision-castings in two cities. We are excited about the opportunity to help the disciple-makers there expand the DM movement to more believers in their areas.
We are all REALLY encouraged to know you are praying regularly for our team and those they are reaching. Thank you!
Blessings,
Patty