Everybody needs some R&R, so before going their separate ways, our Philippines Disciple-Makers Movement (PDMM) team wrapped up their past three weeks of ministry by sharing a special day of fun and relaxation together out by the islands. = )
Sunday’s Prayer Requests:
1. Easy travels and a smooth transition to whatever is next for each of our faithful PDMM team members, Wilson, Angelica, and Pastor Daniel. God to give them time to re-connect with their own family members and their church families.
2. More Filipino DM coaches to be trained and and start and lead groups. The PDMM to be well-administrated and function effectively as it grows and expands
3. Scott to be healthy, strong, and focused on the ministry with Judah and Jenni in Morocco this week.
Sunday’s Details:
Backing up to Friday… during the Better Together marriage seminar, lunch for our team and the attending couples was a famous Cebu food, lechon baboy (whole roasted pig), the most iconic centerpiece for Filipino celebrations. Scott energetically attacked the main dish.
Gives new meaning to the phrase “… like a stuck pig!”
That evening the team and their hosts played silly games together, including “Spot-It” and “Taco, Cat, Goat, Cheese, Pizza.” These pastors don’t often have fun, or make time to have fun, so modeling that to our DM leaders is really important to Scott.
Game night with friends; looks like Wilson (near right) won that one!
Then on Saturday, they all went on a grand adventure. Scott said, “We’re going to the islands!”
On the boat heading to their adventurous spot
As far as I can tell, a good time was had by all, and Scott the explorer said, “I found this starfish while snorkeling near an island near Cebu, Philippines today. The view underwater is so beautiful!”
My Hero holding his star!
Finally, I’ll add this. When our kids were young, we’d watch Olympic gymnastics and diving competitions on TV and somewhat humorously criticize the scores judges from certain countries gave to athletes from certain other countries. In real life, we’d also “score” Scott’s degree of difficulty and form when he did crazy jumps from Big Rock into the creek near our house. That’s the context for his comment (“East German judge gave me a generous 5.5 for effort.”) about [this video clip!]
I’m sure the whole gang had a lot of fun on Saturday. Thank you for praying for them again today as the Philippines part of this great mission trip concludes. They all really appreciate knowing we are praying regularly for them. As you read this, Scott is on his way to Morocco to see what God is doing – and will do – there!!!
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.
“Today will be Pastor Daniel’s first time to fly! His wife, Elsie, traveled overseas as a house helper when she was younger.”Our traveling team heading to Cebu to raise disciple-makers! (Angelica, Wilson, Scott, Daniel, Elsie)
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.
Our leaders meeting with the 15 pastors who signed up to join DM groups
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.”
CCLEX bridge in July 2024Eating by the sea in Cebu (bridge in the background)
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.”
Scott teaching the couples
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…
… and here are all the happy Better Together couples!
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!
Pastor Arnel and our team are working on follow-up from last weekend’s meetings where 180of the 386 attendees registered to join disciple-makers groups. WOW! Our folks will fly out to Cebu on Wednesday for a vision-casting, marriage seminar, and church service. Our first-ever South American group met yesterday(!), and plans are underway for two vision-castings in Morocco next week.
Tuesday’s Prayer Requests:
1. The Holy Spirit to empower and direct the 15 coaches who are now setting up and kicking off DM groups for 180 new people following last weekend’s seminars among the Foursquare pastors.
2. Good attendance at our team’s meetings in Cebu on Thursday and Friday; for the pastors and church leaders who attend to see the need for raising up disciple-makers, understand the cost, and be willing to commit to the process.
3. Those in the new Peru/Columbia DM group to develop close relationships with each other as they work on their lessons and meet for accountability and iron-sharpening-iron discussion each week.
4. Safety for Scott as he travels to Morocco next week; God to guide and energize the vision-casting sessions there and solidify TTC’s ongoing outreach in that nation.
Tuesday’s Details:
Pastor Arnel (“ar-NELL”) is the provincial director of the five divisions of the Foursquare denomination in the province of Pangasinan, an area about the size of Delaware where our Philippines command center is located. Pastor Arnel has been in Scott’s DM group for some time and has been so impacted by the DM process that he wants ALL the Foursquare pastors under his oversight to have the opportunity to experience it. That is why he brought 386 folks to last weekend’s seminars.
Today Scott said, “We spent the morning with Pastor Arnel discussing the new DM groups for the 180 who signed up…
Elsie & Pastor Daniel, My Hero, Pastor Arnel, _Pastors Wilson & Angelica
… He agreed to join our monthly meeting to discuss how the groups are going. We also made plans for the next two generations of DM groups. Once the pastors in these new groups have been trained, the Philippine Disciple-Makers Movement (PDMM) will hold vision-castings in cities in each of those five Foursquare divisions so we can expand the PDMM to other churches outside the Foursquare denomination.”
Wednesday, the five pictured above (minus Pastor Arnel) will fly 1.5 hours to Cebu, where they will spend several days investing into local pastors there with a DM vision-casting and a Better Together marriage seminar for ministry couples. All the material in those seminars is totally based on the Bible, so we fully expect things to go well.
In other news, Scott added that the rainy season has started in the Philippines and it’s [raining a lot harder] here than it is here in SW Missouri!
Meanwhile, our first-ever group of native Spanish speakers (although the group is actually being held in English because the two coaches are American) met last night with several people from Peru, two from Columbia, and a student from Venezuela who has a vision to take the Disciple-Makers Movement to his country. They discussed the first lesson, “New Life in Christ!”
First meeting of the “Peru” DM group!
Finally, you may have heard on the news that some people certain parts of the world (ahem, Iran) have not been especially happy with the UAE (United Arab Emirates) in recent weeks and have launched drone and missile strikes against that nation. On Sunday and Monday, Scott will be flying from Manila in the Philippines to Dubai in the UAE to Casablanca in Morocco. May there be no unrest or delays as he travels westward!
You might be tired of reading my requests for your PRAYERS, but they are vitally important for all our teams all over the world – and especially for my husband. = ) Thank you very much!
WOW! Friday and Saturday’s marriage seminar and vision-casting for the Foursquare pastors in Dagupan were tremendous and had excellent results. Then, after Scott preached there Sunday morning, he, Wilson, and Angelica drove S and S more than two hours to a hotel in Manila near the airport they’ll fly home from on Monday. Wilson, Angelica, and Scott have now driven back “home” to Villasis for a couple much-needed “unscheduled” days before they, along with Pastor Daniel and his wife, fly to a whole different part of the country for their final Filipino vision-casting and marriage seminar of this trip. After that, Scott will scoot 1/3 of the way around the world to Morocco. = )
Sunday’s Prayer Requests:
1. Rest, refreshing, and renewal for our Faithful Four: Wilson and Angelica, Pastor Daniel (who skipped the airport run), and Scott. Also healing of Scott’s right elbow, which has been troubling him.
2. The couples who attended the Better Together marriage seminar to keep applying what they learned and communicate more deeply with each other than they have in the past.
3. Grace for the 15 DM coaches to quickly connect with their new group members and hold their first group meetings THIS month! Energy and momentum in each group and close relationships to develop naturally among members as they all share the same vision and goals.
4. Nothing to hinder what God wants to do through our team in the hearts of the pastors and couples coming to the Thursday/Friday meetings in Cebu City.
5. Safety for everybody and their luggage to arrive with them on all their various flights to various locations this week!
Sunday’s Details:
59 couples came to the Better Together marriage seminar on Friday. They started with worship.
That marriage seminar is broken into several sessions, and near the end, there’s always a time for each couple to spend some time one-on-one to confess sins, repent, and ask for and receive forgiveness. Angelica sent us several pictures of those special couples’ times.
She said, “How can I start? 😊 We had 59 couples attended the seminar and it went, well.. more than we expected. As you can see from the pictures, there was healing, restoration and forgiveness going on. Just taking this picture a while ago, I said to Pastor Scott, ‘I want to cry because there is no right words to describe that moment.’ You can just feel the sincerity, and the atmosphere was great seeing all the couples having a heart-to-heart talk. 😇”
That evening, Scott, who had not been feeling well, said, “Made it through today’s BT seminar. Yay! I didn’t have any issues until it was over. Now I am super tired… Praise God for his grace! 🙌”
Scott, Wilson, Angelica, S, and S sharing dinner after the marriage seminar
Scott sent me this one-liner about Saturday’s DM vision-casting: “386 people at today’s DM seminar! 🤠”
Then on Sunday, Angelica (who always addresses me as “Ma’am”), sent this report: “Hello ma’am here [is] our update from yesterday’s vision-casting. We had 386 who attended the seminar, and more than 100 signed up [to join DM groups]! We will find out the actual group counts when we will start our weekly gatherings. Please continue to pray for us.”
By the time you’re reading this, S and S are in their hotel in Manila and will fly out on Monday, arriving back home encouraged and refreshed. Our Faithful Four will rest and re-fuel at home in Villasis before flying from nearby Clark Airport to Cebu City. You may remember this map.
Our team’s many meetings in the Philippines during this mission trip
The Philippines is an archipelago (string) of more than 7,000 islands, the largest of which Luzon, the island at the top of the map with our team’s blue travel route snaking through it. From our command center in Villasis, our team is effectively expanding TTC’s outreach into many other parts of Luzon, but their goal is to bring the disciple-making process to ALL of their nation. So, on Wednesday, they will fly to Cebu on Mactan island, and the bottom edge of the map. There they will hold a vision-casting on Thursday and a marriage seminar on Friday. Then Scott will preach on Sunday and fly on Monday from Cebu to Casablanca via Manila and Dubai!
Please take a moment to pray TODAY for our team and the folks they are ministering to. We appreciate your prayers very much!
The Pillars Summit on Wednesday was really great (details are below), and our team has a rest and prep day today before they launch into the biggest-ever Raising Disciple-Makers vision-casting this Saturday. Prayers are appreciated for that event, as well as for Friday’s Better Together seminar for ministry marriages, and for Scott’s health as he’s dealing with cold symptoms.
Thursday’s Prayer Requests:
1. God (through our team) to minister significantly to the many Foursquare pastoral couples and soon-to-be disciple-makers who will be at the marriage seminar on Friday and the DM vision-casting on Saturday.
UPDATE: There are now 109 couples (that’s 218 people!) registered for Friday’s Better Together seminar and 345 people registered for Saturday’s DM vision-casting!!! Our team is slightly – maybe significantly? – overwhelmed, but they fully expect God’s Spirit to minister to all the attendees AND and help them and the local DM coaches handle the administrative tasks well. They asked us to PRAY!
2. Good health for Scott, Pastor Daniel, and Pastors Wilson and Angelica; any assignments of the enemy against them, their bodies, their families, their finances, or their belongings to be ineffectual, in Jesus’ name!
3. Much of our attention is currently focused on the Philippines, but at the same time, Take the Challenge’s Disciple-Makers Movement involves many other people in many other places. So, please also pray for peace and comfort for Pastor Hillary and his family in Kenya. He serves as international director of the disciple-making movement in Africa, and his father suffered a severe stroke several months ago, leaving him paralyzed and bedridden. This week Hillary sent us this message, “This day Monday at around 3pm, it pleased the Lord to promote my dad to glory. Glory to His name.”
Thursday’s Details:
Here’s what Scott and Angelica shared about Wednesday’s Pillars Seminar, an evening and a day of ministry and teaching for those DM group coaches whose disciples are raising disciple-makers.
Scott said, “God is so faithful. We had an amazing time.”
Scott teaching the pillars
He said, “The two new couples fit in well and the whole PDMM team embraced S and S. [The husband] is planning to get the ‘Raising Disciple-Makers’ book published and to begin distributing it among the pastors there. He also is eyeing a group of pastors and leaders to introduce to the DM process. He was moved and shared his vision to launch the [disciple-makers movement] in his own [closed] country! Our team prayed for them and asked God to raise up [that movement there]…
Prayer times were powerful
“… I shared a message with the pillars about how we are to build the church (the bedrock, foundation, coping and living stones). I talked about how the body is knit together by what every joint supplies (love for one another is the mortar). I had Legos on the table and had everyone built their piece together with others to build a temple for God in the Spirit. Jesus has gone to prepare a place for us, but are we providing a place for Him to dwell among us in the Spirit?”
Angelica said, “It was such a relaxing day but we’ve learned a lot from Pastor Scott, specially when he explain about us knit together. Last night also we were able to check our hearts. Pastor Scott shared about the Heart Disease. There is a lot of realization from his teaching last night and today… We were able to minister, prayed and encourage Pastor S and S.”
Everyone praying for S and S
She continued, “We don’t have a lot of pictures outside. Too bad because it such a beautiful place.” I’ll say! Isn’t this lovely?
The beautiful view as they headed down the mountain
Scott said, “It is well. We are on our way home from our overnight meeting with all the pillars here in the Philippines DM Movement. It was a wonderful time bonding together.” I (Patty) can identify six of the people in this picture. Wilson is to the left of My Hero, and Daniel is to the right. Angelica is in front of Wilson who is giving a thumbs-up over her head, and S and S, both wearing glasses, are seated in front.
The Philippines Disciple-Makers Movement pillars with special guests! May there be more pillars soon. = )
Thank you for your prayers today, and please don’t stop praying! Our Faithful Four will be reaching even more potential disciple-makers on Friday and Saturday. They already have 15 trained coaches on standby, ready to lead however many new DM groups may be formed this weekend!
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