Great, great, and great!

by | Mar 9, 2025 | What's New

Dear All,

Sunday’s Bottom Line:

Scott’s back is better and all his Sunday ministry and meetings went very well. He’ll start his Nueva Vizcaya DM seminar at 8 PM Sunday MO time.

Sunday’s Prayer Requests:

1. Good sleep for Scott; refreshing, strength, and energy for Monday’s DM seminar.
2. Favor with Pastor Gil; Scott plans to present a plan for future collaboration when they meet by Zoom on Monday evening.  
3. The leaders of the nine new groups forming in the Villasis area to be diligent to communicate promptly with their people and get those groups going within the next week!Sunday’s Details:

After his very long and full Sunday, Scott sent me a sleepy-sounding update that included the following.

– The church service was great, with “awesome worship,” and his message on how precious we are to God “went great and the people really, really caught it.”

– Scott’s lunch meeting with Pastor Daniel’s leaders “went great. They asked questions and I was able to speak into their growth and development.”

– In the Zoom meeting with Pastor Gil’s leaders in Manila (a couple hours away), “they were really hungry and very, very honoring to me. Pastor Gil introduced me to them. I told them that Jesus is building his church through us, and that his blueprint is making disciples. It went well, and as you can see, they were excited!”

Pastor Gil’s leaders, eager to raise disciple-makers!

“They are hungry to build Jesus’ church through raising others to become fully-mature disciples of Jesus. Pray with me that God will give us the laborers we need to bring in the great harvest in the Philippines and beyond!”

And more great news: Scott said, “Thanks for your prayers. My back’s doing well. I’m taking the medicine.”

I hope you can see what a significant impact your prayers are making in many aspects of this trip. Thank you very much!

Blessings,
Patty

Prayer request for Scott, Filipino geography

by | Mar 8, 2025 | What's New

Dear All,

Saturday’s Bottom Line:

It’s Saturday evening in Missouri, early Sunday morning in the Philippines. Scott is preparing to preach a sermon, meet with the church leaders over lunch, have a Zoom call with Pastor Gil, and leave at 3 PM to drive 3+ hours to his Monday seminar location. And he’s having back issues.

Saturday’s Prayer Requests:

1. God’s grace and healing for Scott’s back; comfort on the long car ride.
2. The Holy Spirit to guide Scott’s preaching and meetings today.
3. No weird hindrances to adversely affect Monday’s DM seminar in Nueva Vizcaya; great attendance, eager hearts, powerful results!
Saturday’s Details:

A year ago, Scott developed intense lower back pain that was determined to be a result of a herniated disc in his spine. He was pretty much incapacitated for several weeks, but with rest, meds, physical therapy – and our partners’ PRAYERS – he made a full recovery. He wears a brace when playing tennis or doing heavy lifting, but other than that has been fine for many months.

Today he said, “Please have the people pray for my back. I have been having some issues with lower back pain like last Spring.” I put on my nurse’s hat and advised him which med to take, and we would REALLY appreciate your prayers for him now.

After his ministry today at Pastor Daniel’s church in San Blas, they will drive about three-and-a-half hours to Nueva Vizcaya, where Scott will do a DM seminar on Monday.

A bit of geography review may be helpful here. Up to this point, Scott has been coming and going in the area shown on this map.

Our friendly neighborhood Map #1
He’s been sleeping in Tombod and has had a DM seminar in Moncada, a meeting with Myrna’s ARPM pastors in Tombod, a DM seminar in Villasis, a DM seminar in Anao (details below), and he’s preaching now at Pastor Daniel’s church in San Blas. But on Sunday afternoon (Saturday night MO time), when they drive to Nueva Vizcaya, they’ll be heading into a different area or county, maybe timewise like driving from Branson to Kansas City.

Map #1 fits roughly into the yellow box on Map #2.

Map #2 – Villasis to Nueva Vizcaya and Nueva Ecija
If I’ve got things straight (and that’s not necessarily guaranteed!), it’s about 3.5 hours from Villasis to Nueva Vizcaya for the Monday DM seminar, and then another 3.5 hours from Nueva Vizcaya to Nueva Ecija for the Tuesday DM seminar. And that whole stretch of Highway AH26 from Nueva Vizcaya to Nueva Ecija is up in the mountains. I hope that makes sense. 

Finally, in my concern about Scott’s back, I almost forgot to give you the good news about his Saturday DM seminar in Anao (“uh-NOW”)! Although it’s not shown on Map #1, Anao is close to Villasis and would also be in the yellow box on Map #2. Scott said, “Pastor Roger was struggling to get people in his church to sign up to join a DM group. He had tried to start one several times, but no one signed up. He hosted Saturday’s seminar and here are the 24 people who signed up from his church!”

New DM groupies at Pastor Roger’s church in Anao!
Scott’s summary of TTC’s ministry so far in the Map #1 area: “3 DM Seminars – 9 new groups – all to be led by Wilson and Angelica’s disciple-makers. Yay!”

Now you know everything I know from Team Take the Challenge in the Philippines.  = ) Thank you again for your PRAYERS.

Blessings,
Patty

Full schedule, solar power

by | Mar 7, 2025 | What's New

Dear All,

Friday’s Bottom Line:

Scott had a good DM seminar in Villasis, and will have another one in Anao on Saturday. His schedule is packed over the next week, and he’s doing well but is quite tired by the end of each day. He really appreciates your prayers!

Friday’s Prayer Requests:

1. The leaders Wilson and Angelica have been training to be well able to manage the growth of multiple new groups forming.
2. Scott to have wisdom concerning his meeting next Monday with Pastor Gil about how his PCEC organization might partner with Take the Challenge.
3. Physical strength for Scott; in addition to presenting multiple DM seminars, he has many specific meetings (some with various groups, some one-on-one) to prepare for. 
Friday’s Details:

50 people had registered for Friday’s DM seminar in Villasis, but none of them had paid, so we weren’t sure how many would actually be there. 82 people came!

Disciple-makers seminar in Villasis
Scott’s primary target audience is pastors, because he has learned that the process of raising disciple-makers in a church simply doesn’t happen if the pastor doesn’t have a vision for it. Although many of the people at Friday’s seminar are not pastors, and many of them are already members of a disciple-maker groups, there was enough interest among the attendees to start at least one new in-person group and probably another online group, so we are encouraged.

The Raising Disciple Makers book — which clearly explains both why raising disciple-makers is vitally important and the specifics of one effective way to do it — is selling well, and we are so pleased that this critical message is being spread to more and more people. In fact, at his earlier seminar in Moncada, some people asked Scott to autograph his book!

My Hero, famous author  = )
Those of you who know Scott personally can testify that he is a high-energy guy, and when he’s on a mission trip his pace is usually, well… intense, to say the least. This trip is no exception, and between meetings and travel his schedule is quite full. He does have one planned day off on March 28, but that’s three weeks away, so prayers for wisdom as he balances essential events with rest are appreciated. 
And, as promised, here are a couple non-ministry pictures. Scott said, “Surely, the fields are ripe for harvest here in the Philippines!”

This corn is taller than Scott!
Even those of us who are not farmers know that raising grain crops is a long process. Hmm… that’s kind of like raising disciple-makers… Selah.

Anyway, I already knew that farmers have to prepare the soil, plant the seed, tend the plants, eliminate the weeds, and harvest the corn or wheat. But I never thought about the fact that with, for example, wheat, you also have to DRY the grain, and Scott found the local method of drying grain very interesting. They spread it out in the sun on a hard surface! Scott said, “This man is spreading the grain for drying early this morning. The concrete pad is part of a bypass being constructed a block from Myrna’s place in Tombod.” (I was wrong yesterday; I think this is wheat, not corn.)

Drying the grain, where the rubber doesn’t yet meet the road  ; )
And if you wonder about those neat lines of grain, here’s a video clip of how they got there.

Thank you for PRAYING for Scott again today. We know your prayers are paving the way for people in the Philippines to receive and reproduce the disciple-making process this week!

Blessings,
Patty

Recap, correction, and lots of new friends

by | Mar 6, 2025 | What's New

Dear All,

Thursday’s Bottom Line:

Scott had a wonderful time with two of the groups Wilson and Angelica have been leading, and he’s excited that those groups have produced more group leaders. Friday he will lead a DM seminar at Pastor Daniel’s church in Villasis, and we’ve received amazing news from Pastor Hillary in Kenya!

Thursday’s Prayer Requests:

1. Good attendance and attentiveness at the Villasis seminar on Friday.
2. Continued divine connections for Scott and our team there; the Holy Spirit to guide them in making decisions as the ministry expands.
3. Scott to be well-rested and stay healthy!

Thursday’s Details:

First, you may recall that Pastor Gil is the leader of the PCEC, an organization of many evangelical churches in the Philippines. Scott was really humbled when, at his first DM seminar at one of the PCEC churches in Moncada, Pastor Gil strongly admonished the pastors, “We must take this seriously! This is God’s message for us and we must embrace it!” Scott was greatly encouraged to see someone else understand and share the importance of following Jesus’ pattern for raising disciple-makers.
Pastor Gil admonishing the pastors; Wilson and Angelica are standing with him

And those pastors did sign up for groups!

Second, I have a correction to make: Myrna lives in Tombod, not Villasis! Tombod is where Scott is staying right now, and that’s where the ARPM meeting was held. Villasis (“vee-YAH-siss”) is where Pastor Wilson and Angelica live, where their church is, and where Pastor Daniel’s church is.
Scott is doing his 2nd DM seminar at Pastor Daniel’s church in Villasis as I write this.

Third, Thursday night was extremely rewarding for Scott. He attended a DM group that Wilson and Angelica have been leading since Scott was there last May. Actually, it was two of their groups together. Scott was so gratified to see how well Wilson and Angelica lead, and how the people from so many different churches (Pentecostal, Baptist, Nazarene, etc.) are all so committed to each other and the disciple-making process. They are all clearly in unity as they dig into God’s Word together as one family. 

They have a relaxed meal together at the end of each group meeting, and Scott really enjoyed visiting with everybody. Some of these well-trained folks are the ones who will lead whatever groups are formed at Scott’s 2nd DM seminar there in Villasis!
Food and fellowship with friends.

And finally, Scott received some amazing news today from Pastor Hillary, one of our three “pillars” in Kenya. Hillary reported that one of his disciples led a vision-casting session for 30 people, 18 of whom have signed up to join DM groups! That happened while Scott was leading his seminar in Moncada, at which 17 of the 25 attendees are joining DM groups. Scott said, “This is SO exciting to me!!! One of my “grandkids” (Scott has discipled Hillary and Hillary has discipled this person) has more people coming and joining DM groups than me! This is an example of the student passing the teacher!” 

Thank you for praying today for Scott, for our growing team in the Philippines, and for more and more disciple-makers around the world!

Blessings,
Patty

P.S. Tune in tomorrow to see corn like I’ve never seen it before.

Successful seminar, magnificent Myrna, surprising scene

by | Mar 5, 2025 | What's New

Dear All,

Wednesday’s Bottom Line:

Scott’s DM seminar in Moncada was very successful, he’s looking forward to an equally productive time in Tombod on Thursday with the members of the Agape Reaching People Ministries.

Wednesday’s Prayer Requests:

1. Scott to pace himself well as he works through jetlag; sound sleep each night.
2. The Holy Spirit to guide him on exactly what to share with the ARPM people in Tombod on Thursday.
3. No hindrances to prevent people from attending the Friday DM seminar in Villasis. 
Wednesday’s Details:

Following the Moncada seminar, Scott said, “We had 25 attendees and 17 sign up to join a DM group. Yay!” That’s an awesome response, and we expect those groups to start in the next couple of weeks. I think they will be led by people Wilson and Angelica have been discipling.  = ) 

“All of these people signed up to join a DM group!”
Here’s some background about Agape Reaching People Ministries (ARPM), the group Scott will be spending time with on Thursday afternoon (about 10 PM Wednesday MO time).

Many years ago, Myrna, who is Filipino and lived in the Philippines, married an American man and moved with him to the U.S. We met Myrna at the church we were attending in Little Rock 30 years ago. We all went to the same Bible school there, Agape School of World Evangelism. When Myrna’s husband died, she determined to move back to the Philippines and start an Agape Bible school there to train pastors and ministers, and she did exactly that. Now at 88, Myrna is still a dynamo and a force to be reckoned with! For each of the past 25 years (maybe more?), she has graduated a class of Bible school students, training generations of pastors and sending them out to plant churches. Her ministry network is called Agape Reaching People Ministries. 

Some of those ARPM folks are gathering in Tombod, and Scott has been invited to speak to them on Friday. Tombod is just 15 minutes away from Myrna’s home in Villasis, where she frequently hosts various guest ministers and travelers. Scott and a couple other folks are staying there now.

End of background information, and I’ll close today with a classic Filipino cultural moment Scott shared with us.

[NOTE: According to Google, “A Filipino tricycle is is a motorized vehicle that consists of a motorcycle and a sidecar. It’s a common form of transportation in the Philippines, especially in rural areas.”]

“How did the goat cross the road? In a tricycle!”
Please take a moment to pray for Scott today, and if YOU encounter any goats in tricycles, feel free to send us a picture!

Blessings,
Patty