Rejoice with us! After nine months of sowing and dozens of visits, God is expanding the TTC Disciple-Makers Movement (DMM) into Kampala, Uganda! Praise the Lord! But first…
*** Mark your calendar! TTC Missions Banquet, Tuesday, September 15th in Forsyth, MO.
Prayer Requests:
Philippines – Pray for the establishment of the 25+ new DM groups that have been launched following Scott’s recent mission trip.
Uganda – Pray for Collins as he coaches his disciples who have just begun coaching the new Kampala DM groups (incredible details below).
New Nations – We have started—and/or are in conversation with leaders to start—DM groups in Peru, Columbia, Nigeria, DRC (Congo), Niger, and Zimbabwe. Pray for God to guide Scott and our other DMM leaders as they navigate these amazing opportunities.
And now, here’s the Kampala story!
Kampala is the capital of Uganda, a land-locked country to the west of Kenya. Uganda is a poor country, with over 40% of the population subsisting on less than $2.00 per day. But thankfully, through the efforts of one man, many are no longer starving for the Word of God!
Uganda, Kenya, and the Ugandan flag
In 2023, a young man named Collins was living with his family in western Kenya, just across the border from Uganda. He and his wife run a small store (the size of an average bedroom closet in the U.S.) selling convenience items.
Collins with his lovely family
Collins joined the DM movement, and after being trained, began coaching DM groups. He led one DM group that his pastor attended, and now his pastor is coaching two DM groups as well.
In early March 2026, Collins was asked to take over two fledgling DM groups in Kampala, 6.5 hours away. The odds of success were not good. The prior DM coach had collected money from the group members for their Pressing Toward the Mark (PTM) discipleship workbooks and money from the Kenya DM Movement leaders for travel expenses and had run away with it. By the time Collins showed up, the groups had not met for eight weeks, and although few of the church members could read or speak English, the PTM workbook had not been translated into the local dialect, Luganda.
Collins was undaunted.
He began traveling those 6.5 hours to Kampala by bus every Tuesday morning, arriving in time to coach one DM group at 5 PM, followed by a second DM group at 7 PM, and eventually a third DM group at 9 PM. Then, after sleeping on the couch in a local pastor’s house, he returned 6.5 hours home by bus.
Collins’ hard work and persistence is paying off! After 15 weeks of coaching and 210 hours of bus travel back and forth, six of his Ugandan disciples have now launched their own groups! And one of those disciples has translated PTM Volume 1 into the Luganda language, which reads like this…
… and has begun translation work on PTM Volume 2!
In about six months, our team from Kenya plans to travel to Kampala to hold vision-casting meetings to introduce the DM process to more Ugandan pastors and leaders.
Would you help us fund the translation of our discipleship materials into Luganda, pay our Kenya team’s travel expenses, and help us bless Collins’ family for all the time he has invested to reach these precious Ugandan people? (For online giving, click here, and select fund “Uganda Outreach,” or mail a check to Take the Challenge, 8053 US Hwy 160, Walnut Shade, MO 65771 with “Uganda Outreach” on the memo line.)
We deeply appreciate your prayers and support! Thank you in advance for helping us help others like Collins “take the challenge” of making Jesus’ last command their first priority.
Blessings,
Scott and Patty Roberts and the Growing Take the Challenge Team
I just realized that I FORGOT to let you know that Scott, Judah, and Jenni are all safely back home in SW Missouri. Since Scott had already traveled 2/3 of the way around the world from the Philippines to Morocco some 10 days ago, his body has processed part of the jet lag, and he has hit the ground running and is doing well.
Thank you all for your faithful prayers over the past 4 1/2 weeks. God has heard and is answering!
God has answered our (YOUR) prayers, and Saturday’s vision-casting in Marrakech produced three new groups of believers ready to enter the disciple-making process! (BTW, I’ve seen that city spelled four different ways, so despite wanting to be consistent, I don’t know which is correct.) Our team is now back in Casablanca on the Mediterranean Sea, where they have just wrapped up their final vision-casting of this trip. Jenni sent us some great updates and pictures from the past several days (see below), and My Hero will be HOME Monday evening!!! = )
Sunday’s Prayer Requests:
1.The coaches of our Morocco teams to effectively reproduce in their new group members what has been invested into them for the past several months.
2. Safety and protection for the growing number of believers and disciple-makers in Morocco.
3. Grace, strength, peace, and good health for Jenni, Judah, and Scott as they return to the states today and tomorrow; for they and their luggage to arrive home intact and on time.
Sunday’s Details:
On Thursday, following a meeting with the local pastor who is hosting them, Scott, Judah, and Jenni visited a lady who hosts a persecuted church in her home. Jenni said, “She has dozens of young people living with her who have come to her in need in various ways and have come to call her Mama. She told us a story of a time when she was expecting four visitors and was struggling to make the cheapest meal she could eek out for them with what little she had…and instead of 4, 25 people showed up! Besides her own household! She prayed that the food would not run out, and it kept going and going until everyone was full…and people took home leftovers. What a blessing it was to meet this woman who is quietly living out the gospel without applause or support.”
Local mosque
That afternoon, Jenni had the privilege to share a devotion time with the church’s worship team and then to practice with them for Sunday. “After that, four of our Moroccan kids [who are in J & J’s online DM group] took us out to experience Marrakech at night. Because of the heat during the days, it is a city oriented toward night life.”
Mosque with minaret (tower) at night
“We went back to the mosque where we saw men inside doing their prayers.”
Praying to Allah in the mosque. This occurs five times a day: Before dawn, Midday, Afternoon, At sunset, At night
“We got some very fresh juice from the juice stands and saw the old city square abuzz with music and dancing and activity. We rode a horse-drawn carriage through the city and were escorted safely home by our gracious guides by 1AM.”
What great smiles! And gotta’ love that Branson T-shirt!Carriage ride at midnight!Jenni and JudahJudah preaching
They did some sightseeing on Friday, and that evening, they “went with Tim and Scott to the underground church where Scott had a very rare opportunity to preach.”
Preaching in an underground church
Morocco is a closed country (i.e., not officially open to Christianity), and for the sake of the believers there, we have to be very careful what we share about ministry there. While we think it is unlikely that Americans would be detained, locals who associate with such suspected “infidels” could be. In some closed countries, people who convert from Islam to Christianity are alienated, disowned by family, denied opportunities for education and/or work, fined, imprisoned, or even tortured. The cost to follow Jesus can be very high.
NOTE: “Underground” churches are not literally in basements, but are usually rather small, inconspicuous gatherings of believers, often meeting in an apartment. Scott is familiar with that situation having ministered in a different closed country some time ago.
Jenni said, “It was a profound experience listening to the Arabic worship coming from the lips of people who have faced serious consequences for their faith. One young man had been picked up off the street and taken in [arrested?] after his father beat him and left him for dead for converting to Christianity. And now he is leading worship. It was truly beautiful.” Scott said he expects that young man to be a pastor someday.
A multi-national “family” of disciple-makersAll hands on deck
As I type this on Sunday afternoon MO time, our team has concluded their final six-hour DM vision-casting in Casablanca, and I expect that more people have signed up to join DM groups.
We are so humbled and honored to be a part of helping expand the disciple-makers movement in Morocco and other nations of the world, and although you may be tired of hearing me say it, we are SO thankful to know that you are praying for our teams and those they are training. Would you please pray for them again today?
Our team in Morocco is in its final two days of ministry, and in this closed country their activities now are very significant. I expect to have more information and explain the situation more clearly tomorrow, but we really need your prayers undergirding their activities right now.
Pray for…
1. Spiritual and physical safety for all involved; protection from all demonic forces. Nothing to hinder what God wants to do today and tomorrow in another city.
2. The Holy Spirit to move on the hearts of those currently at the vision-casting in Marrakesh…
3. Believers to count the cost for becoming disciple-makers and make that choice now.
4. Enough trained coaches to lead whatever new DM groups are formed.
5. Wisdom for our team (Pastor Tim, Judah, Jenni, Scott) as they speak and interact with folks on Saturday and Sunday.
Our Morocco team members (Pastor Tim, Judah, Jenni, and Scott) are beating the heat, meeting in person with Judah and Jenni’s online group members, and planning for Saturday’s vision-casting there in Marrakesh.
Thursday’s Prayer Requests:
1. This one is time-critical: From 1:00 PM to 4:00 PM Thursday MO time, our team will be holding a special meeting with eight people who have been trained in groups for several months, but who have not yet stepped up to lead new groups. The upcoming two vision-castings (Saturday and Sunday) are the main reasons for this mission trip to Morocco, and we need trained coaches to be standing in the wings ready to lead the new groups we expect attendees to sign up for. These eight people are those potential coaches, so would you please pray NOW for them to step up during today’s special meeting and be willing to lead groups?
2. Cooler weather and that the heat will not affect our team’s ability to function well and sleep at night.
3. Believers in the Marrakesh and Casablanca areas know about the Saturday and Sunday vision-castings and come eager to join groups and experience the disciple-making process firsthand.
Thursday’s Details:
Any time God connects TTC with potential disciple-makers in a new country, there’s a lot of ground work to be done to get the DM movement going and growing there. It often starts with just one or two contacts. Sometimes it explodes suddenly and rapidly like we’ve seen in the Philippines over the past couple years, and sometimes it’s slow and steady for a while before it really takes off like it has in Kenya. God knows exactly what he’s doing in Morocco, and our job is to join him in it; that’s what Pastor Tim, Scott, Jenni, and Judah are doing, so our prayer support and encouragement is vital!
In these updates, addition to sharing the important spiritual work that’s happening, I try to also explain what I can about the culture of a place, and like all cultures, Morocco’s is truly unique. Jenni has been the primary scribe for us in Morocco this week, so please enjoy her updates and pictures.
(These were written over the past few days. Note that when she and Judah left the states last week, the high was 58…)
“The high in Marrakesh today was 108. And yes, it is a DRY heat! We are literally in the Sahara Dessert. The home where we are staying is absolutely lovely…and does not have air conditioning. The pastor brought in a stand-alone AC unit to try to cool down the room where we will sleep.
“We had to hurry to acquire some groceries for tomorrow because everything will be closed down for the Muslim holy day of Eid al-Adha. Each family will be slaughtering a sheep tomorrow morning right in the middle of the city.
“Another first today was seeing sheep being transported into the city in the back seat of a minivan! Many little lambs are going to lose their lives tomorrow morning. It’s sad that they don’t know this is not required anymore.”
If you zoom in, you may be able to see a lamb standing to the right of the green foliage in the central part of this compound.
A lamb waiting to be sacrificed today
Scott said, “You’ve never seen so many goat heads being burned in one place.”
Heads will burn
This whole event gives new meaning to goat roast…
Sacrificial fire
Jenni continued, “The BEST part of today was having dinner with our Moroccan discipleship group this evening. It was so nice to sit around the table from all of them instead of talking to them through a screen. We tried tangine (a Moroccan dish cooked in a big clay dish) and shared communion with these loved ones.”
Several of Judah and Jenni’s group membersThe Lord’s supper, even in a Muslim nation
“On Wednesday, we (Pastor Tim, Scott, Judah, and I) met over lunch with some area pastors and staff members from an underground Moroccan church. The worship leader led some worship in Arabic, and we could sing along in English. It was beautiful!
“In the evening, I led some worship and Judah, and I shared our testimony at a prayer meeting in an apartment they call ‘meeting place.’ [This is to avoid suspicion, as believers must meet under cover there.] There were around 20 in attendance, including three from our discipleship group.”
And the next day, she said, “The streets have been abandoned, and most businesses closed down for the Eid holiday (except for the people burning sheep heads on the sidewalks—that is quite a unique smell!). The cost for each family to purchase and sacrifice a lamb is considerable, so they don’t waste anything! Last year, the king of Morocco declared that he would give the people a financial reprieve by sacrificing one lamb for all of the people. Isn’t that interesting? He probably had no idea he was illustrating the gospel.”
Here’s a picture of sunrise from the roof of their house.
Jenni ended with this: “THANK YOU for your prayers! The temperatures are dropping! It was actually cool last night. 65 degrees felt so good! I’ve never been so happy to wake up cold.”
We are all so grateful for your partnership in prayer during this trip. Please don’t stop now!
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