I just dropped Scott at the airport for the first of his three flights toward Asia for a powerful Raising Disciple-Makers mission trip in the Philippines! We’ve had a number of new partners join our email list – WELCOME! – so, if this next paragraph is old news, you’re welcome to skip to today’s bottom line.
We are truly grateful for our partners’ prayers, especially during a mission trip, so I’ll be sending emails (usually daily) to update you on what’s going on with Scott and our friends in the Philippines. I’ll give you the day’s “bottom line” and prayer requests first, so please do read that part. Following those two sections, I’ll give more detailed information for those who have time and interest to read on.
Saturday’s Bottom Line:
It’s been a wild week, and we almost overslept, but Scott has now completed the first leg of his journey and will soon depart Houston for San Francisco. Then, it’s on to Hong Kong for a three-day visit with our family there before traveling on to the Philippines.
Saturday’s Prayer Requests:
1. Safety and comfort for Scott as he travels; specifically, no back pain and good seating on his 15-hour SF to HK flight. 2. Scott and all his luggage arrive intact and on time in Hong Kong. This time, he has two checked bags instead of his usual one. 3. A great visit Monday-Wednesday with Jessica (our daughter), Matthias, and their three wonderful children.Saturday’s Details:
Scott usually travels directly to the country or countries he will be ministering in, but since he’s headed to the Philippines (which is only a hop, a skip, and a two-hour flight from Hong Kong), he added three days in Hong Kong to the front of his trip to spend time with our grandkids—well, with their parents, too! I will try to resist my grandmotherly temptation to tell you all about those three, but it is the nature of grandmas to share pictures, right? The whole family in December (L to R: Ezekiel, Matthias, Ellie, Jess, Nate) Ezekiel (almost five), ring-bearer in a wedding today Ellie (three-and-a-half) “She’s a diva!”
Nate (eight months), mellow fellow? Okay, I’m done with pictures of our grands. = )
We left our house at 4:31 AM Saturday, and Scott will arrive at their house around 8:00 PM Sunday (local time), which is 7:00 AM Sunday our time. So, his total travel time is expected to take about 26.5 hours. I know he appreciates your prayers very much, and so do I!
The last three months have seen the impact of Take The Challenge ministry continue to grow. Even though I have not been able to travel, we have been able to send out national pastors to pioneer new areas. I am in awe of all God is doing through His faithful servants.
Expansion across East Africa
The disciple-maker groups birthed following my August 2023 trip to East Africa have come of age. Fifteen of those who have been trained a
re now stepping up to train others, resulting in twenty new disciple-makers groups, training over 100 new pastors.
Training pastors in Himalaya villages
Pastor Samuel has opened a disciple-maker group for five mountain pastors.
They each pastor in remote areas in the Himalayan mountains and have received little training. They are not able to attend online meetings due network challenges, so they each travel six to ten hours once a month for the training. After two meetings, they began taking the discipleship material, which has been translated into Nepali[1], and training their own leaders. As of last month, there are eleven leaders and future pastors being trained to go into the world and make disciples.
Sending forth more laborers
In the last three months, our three core leaders in Kenya have
personally heeded the call to “Go into all the world and make disciples.” Hellen held a DM vision-casting seminar in the border town of Busia. Pastor James traveled four hours to launched new g
roups in Makindu, and Pastor Hillary traveled eight hours by bus to launch a new group in Arusha, Tanzania. One of six new locations he opened during 1Q 2024.
Story Testimony – The Ministry of Reconciliation
The twenty-six pastors and leaders at the Makindu DM seminar came from three different pastors’ fellowships. After they learned the difference between believers and disciples, they all humbly confessed they had been living as believers, not as disciples. Although the pastors had not met together for the past three years due to differences and offenses, they shook hands and vowed to work together to raise disciple-makers across their region. Pastor Steve, who was trained by one of Pastor James’ disciples, has begun leading fifteen of the pastors in two different disciple-makers groups. As the meeting closed, they laid hands on Rev. James and asked God to expand the influence of Take The Challenge in Makueni County and across the nation of Kenya.
A Word of Thanks
Thank you for your prayers and gifts that have enabled us to equip these national pastors to raise disciple-makers across their nations. We are expecting God to continue to go before us to impact nations in the months and years to come.
[1] Over 50% of Nepalis have never heard the good news of salvation through Christ. Because the need is so great, many who receive the Lord become evangelists, yet have little to no Biblical training.
I hope you are doing well and have enjoyed PI Day (π). It has a special significance to me. We have had a few challenges since our last update, but God’s has again proven faithful!
First, let me update you on myself. I have been having some back pain on and off since last July, and in late January, when visiting my mom out of state, I had a major setback. For about two weeks, I was in severe pain in my back and left leg, but through prayer, physical therapy, and medicine, it finally broke in mid-February. An MRI showed a herniated disc, and so at the advice of the TTC Board, I decided to postpone my Asia trip by three weeks. I saw a neurosurgeon today and, praise God, she said it looks like the issue should resolve on its own. We are so relieved!
And now, here are a few updates on our team members around the world.
First, Pastor Rajan and his church in India were able to secure a new meeting place, thanks to the generous giving of two of our partners. They will hold their first service there this coming Sunday.
Second, Pastor Samuel in Nepal is training five mountain-area pastors who are in turn training 11 of their leaders using the Nepali version of Pressing Toward the Mark. These pastors are from very remote regions and are so excited to have this tool to make disciples.
Mountain pastors in Nepal
Third, the new church in the Philippines continues to grow, and they were very excited to be able to purchase a large flat-screen TV to display the words during worship and to use during sermons. Also, one of our partners committed to cover six months of Pastor Wilson’s salary to give the church time to grow to a point of supporting his family. Praise the Lord!
Fourth, the biggest news is the growth of the disciple-making movement in Kenya and East Africa. In February, three of our Kenya pastors launched a mission work in neighboring Tanzania. Every week one of these dedicated pastors travels 8 hours by bus to train a handful of pastors in the disciple-making process.
In the western part of Kenya, another one of our team members has raised up a group of disciple-makers who will be introducing pastors from a neighboring city to the DM process tomorrow!
One of 32 pastors graduating from the DM process
In several other parts of Kenya, the pastors who began the training following my trip there last fall are also starting new DM groups.
It is so exciting to see these national pastors grabbing the vision, and I am especially blessed to see those I have personally trained becoming missionaries. They no longer wait for me to come; they are taking what they have been taught, holding their own seminars, and raising up their own new groups. Truly the number of disciples is multiplying greatly!
Today’s Praise Reports 1. Graduation of over 30 pastors in Kenya, 15 of which have started new DM groups. 2. Disciples being made in the shadow of the Himalayas. 3. Good report on Scott’s back.
Today’s Prayer Requests: 1. Wisdom and favor as Wilson and Angelica prepare for Scott’s ministry in the Philippines. 2. Continued growth in the new DM groups in Kenya. 3. God to raise up more missionaries to be sent out by Take The Challenge.
Making Disciples among the nations, Scott and the TTC team
Happy 2024! The new year has begun, and with your help we are off and running!
First, we want to share some good news from Nepal. Pastor Samuel and his team held four days of open-air evangelism over the Christmas season. This short video will take you on location in the foothills of the Himalayas to see what it is like.
I will be returning to Nepal this April and had planned to visit a district called Dang. But that plan changed after the Secretary General for the Christian Society, the main representative of the Christian church in Nepal, was arrested in Dang last week. Please pray for the gospel to have free course in this nation where over 50% of the population have yet to hear it.
Nepali pastors at Scott’s December disciple-makers seminar
In India, Pastor Rajan’s church has been evicted from their rented space after more than 12 years, due to pressure from Muslim and Hindu tenants who have recently begun renting space in the same building. Agents from the federal government, controlled by the ruling Hindu Nationalist party, have long targeted Bethel Church because of Pastor Rajan’s support of dozens of village pastors and their work in discipleship training at other churches across the state. After Scott left in December, the pressure campaign increased as police told the landlord that Rajan is “working with foreigners” and training pastors from north India (both of which are true).
Bethel Church now must come up with 10 months’ rent ($1000) as a security deposit and move their entire church, including furnishings and equipment, to a new location, with no guarantee that the same thing won’t happen there as well. If you’d like to give toward this need, please use our eGive portal and select fund Bethel Church Security Deposit.
Bethel Church fellowship dinner
Scott will be home for the next few months before traveling to south Asia in April. Next week, he will begin a combined online weekly mentoring meeting with his ten national leaders from the Philippines, Nepal, India, and Kenya. Although Scott has been training these pastors individually for over five years, this will be the first time they will all join together for training and equipping – at 5:00 AM in Kenya, 7:30 AM in India, 7:45 AM in Nepal, 10:00 AM in the Philippines, and 8:00 PM in Missouri. Wow!
International Disciple-Makers Network fellowship
Finally, great news from the Philippines! Wilson and Angelica Flores, a couple Scott has been training for more than five years, have planted a new church. At God’s direction, Wilson quit his job as an architect to devote all his time to launch this new church. Wilson’s grandmother has been praying for God to open a new church in this area for over 20 years, now it is finally coming to pass! They had eight new people at their second service last week, bringing the total to 38 adults and 12 children.
Scott has a burden for this couple and would like to see TTC support the Flores family budget for the next six months. $350/month will cover 50% of Wilson’s lost income. Use eGive fund Filipino Pastor Support to give toward this need. Scott will be ministering in the Philippines in April.
Wilson and Angelica’s second church service
Today’s Praise Reports: Successful open-air gospel meetings in Nepal during Christmas break; new church thriving in the Philippines; TTC supports church prayer liaisons praying weekly for the ministry. Today’s Prayer Requests: God’s strength for Bethel Church to stand firm in the midst of persecution; God’s clear guidance during planning for Scott’s April South Asia ministry trip; and National TTC leaders to be encouraged and equipped through new weekly mentoring meetings.
Making Disciples Among the Nations, Scott and the TTC team
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pastors.
Mountain pastors in Nepal
One of 32 pastors graduating from the DM process
