Time Critical Prayer

by | Aug 31, 2024 | What's New

Dear All,

Saturday's Bottom Line:

Scott's led his 2nd Better Together marriage seminar in Kagio on Friday, and on Saturday he attended a significant ceremony installing Pastor James (one our TTC Kenya national leaders) as a bishop in his denomination. Sunday will be a packed day with ministry and international travel. Please see prayer request #1 below.

Saturday's Prayer Requests:

1. God to give Scott favor with Tanzania's border officials to allow him into the country without having physical (printed) proof of his yellow fever vaccination.
2. Grace for many hours of car travel Sunday afternoon and evening after preaching Sunday morning.
3. Scott's Monday Better Together (BT) marriage seminar in Babati, Tanzania to be well-attended and life-changing; couples to come with open hearts, regardless of the condition of their marriages.Saturday's Details:

Scott was one of 13(!!!) guest speakers at the consecration service for Pastor James on Saturday. It started at 10:00 AM and ended sometime after 4:00 PM! There were about 500 people present, and in preparation for the ceremony, they had torn out a wall of the church to accommodate everyone. This was a BIG deal! Scott was honored to be there for his special friend, but James, who is not big on titles and such, later apologized to Scott for "all that pomp and circumstance."  = )Bishop James, giving his acceptance addressScott will preach at Pastor Hillary's church in Nairobi on Sunday morning, and after lunch they will begin their trek to Babati ("bah-BAH-tee"), Tanzania. It's about a two-hour drive to the border, and that is where Scott has a very specific prayer request, which I will now try to explain.

Scott left the U.S. without his proof of yellow fever vaccination. He used to carry it on all mission trips, but some years ago, the policy was changed so that now, if you enter a country from another country where yellow fever is not likely to occur (like the U.S.), you don't have to carry physical, printed proof of vaccination. So, since Scott flies to various countries from the U.S., he no longer needs to show immigration officials his yellow fever vaccination card. It's the size of a credit card, but it has about four layers that fold up like an accordion. 

Anyway, at about 7:00 AM Sunday MO time, he will be crossing into Tanzania from Kenya, a country where yellow fever can occur, so he texted me asking for help. I found his proof of yellow fever vaccination exactly where he said it was. It's yellow, seriously dog-eared, and the layers are falling apart. I sent him pictures of it. Please PRAY that the officials at the border of Tanzania will accept those pictures as proof. Thank you so much! 

Once across the border, a host pastor will pick them up and drive them some 4+ hours through Arusha ("ah-ROO-shuh") and on to Babati where Scott will lead a one-day BT seminar on Monday. He will lead a second BT seminar on Tuesday in Arusha.

All told, Sunday may be a very full and very long day for My Hero. I really appreciate your prayers for him now. 

Blessings, and for those of you in the U.S., Happy Labor Day!
Patty

Good News from Wednesday and Thursday in Africa

by | Aug 29, 2024 | What's New

Dear All,

Wednesday's and Thursday's Bottom Lines:

Scott was able to sleep nearly 7 hours at Pastor Hillary's house Tuesday night!

His Wednesday meetings with the three core leaders was "excellent," with each leader now having a checklist of the details they need to handle to make everything in the upcoming seminars go smoothly.

Scott's first Better Together (BT) marriage seminar on Thursday went very well and made a deep impact on many couples. His next one will be in the nearby town of Kagio on Friday.

Thursday's Prayer Requests:

1. Many pastoral couples to come to the BT seminar in Kagio on Friday. 
2. No logistical issues on the road or at tomorrow's seminar.
3. The ministry to come forth fresh and many couples' marriages to be healed and strengthened.Thursday's Details:

Pastor Hillary and Joyce live in a suburb outside Nairobi, the capital of Kenya, and they are hosting Scott at their home. His first Better Together marriage seminar (Thursday) was held about two hours away in Kianyaga. As they were driving, Hillary told Scott there was one question that he has repeatedly asked himself, "If Missionary [Scott] never comes back to work in Kenya, what will I do?" Then he answered, "Even if we don't have you, we have the 4 PTM volumes. We know the way. We will continue because this is God's vision."

This was super encouraging to Scott. It's commendable to do well whatever God tells you to do, and even to do it for a long time, but if you never reproduce your passion and skill in someone else, then when for whatever reason you are no longer personally doing it, that ministry eventually dies. It's the old, "You're no success without a successor" thing. Thankfully, others - like Hillary - are catching the vision of raising disciple-makers and are running forward with it.

At Thursday's BT seminar, as always, Scott held a friendly competition among the husbands about why their wife is their princess and among the wives about why their husband is their hero. The entries are judged, small prizes are awarded, and the winning hero dons hero glasses while the winning princess wears a tiara. 

Here are today's winners.The winning hero has been married for 34 years!Scott shared several testimonies following Thursday's seminar, and this one is wonderful: "Hillary told me that there is a church leader here who has been separated from his wife for 15 years. He joined the disciple-makers group earlier this year, and after going through the lesson on integrity and the lesson on virtue, he decided he needed to reunite with his wife. He was at the seminar today with his wife!"

Scott also asked us to thank God with him for the following:
- Unity and great expectation among the Kenyan leadership team (Hellen, Hillary, and James).
- His own uneventful and successful travel.
- Hillary's determination to continue the work, with or without Scott's assistance.
So even early on in this mission trip God is answering prayers and healing ministry couples. Would you please take a moment to pray for the next BT seminar on Friday? I believe it will start around 1:00 AM Friday MO time. Thank you very much!

Blessings,
Patty

Landed with luggage!

by | Aug 27, 2024 | What's New

Dear All,

Just a quick note to let you know that Scott arrived safely in Nairobi, despite having only 35 minutes in Doha to get from one gate to the other. He normally has to change terminals and go through security, but as soon as he deplaned, he was whisked to the outbound gate, which just "happened" to be next to his inbound gate!

Here he is with his Kenyan family.  = )

With Pastor Hillary, his wife Joyce (in blue) and their two children
Scott asked me to thank all of you who have prayed for his travel to go well. As a bonus, his checked bag made the connection too!

Now he's getting settled, sleeping, and will meet with his team tomorrow.

Thank you so much!

Blessings,
Patty

Heading to Africa!

by | Aug 26, 2024 | What's New

Dear All,

Monday's Bottom Line:

Scott is on his way to Nairobi, Kenya, where he will base for the next 3.5 weeks of ministry.

Monday's Prayer Requests:

1. Safe travel and Scott's checked bag to arrive with him. He has a tight connection in Doha, and occasionally, his bag doesn't make the transfer, although he always does. = )
2. Scott to be a great encouragement to our excellent Kenya leadership team (Hellen, James, Hillary).
3. The right people to attend the 11 seminars Scott will lead; all (and only) the pastors and spouses whose hearts will be open to what God has for them through these discipleship and marriage seminars.
Monday's Details:

Scott's total travel time will be about 28 hours, including a 3-hour layover in Dallas. The longest of his three flights (Dallas, TX, to Doha, Qatar) is 7,921 miles! He will arrive in Nairobi on Tuesday afternoon, MO time. On Wednesday, Scott will be in meetings with our Kenya leadership team, and on Thursday, he will lead his first of seven Better Together marriage seminars for ministry couples in Kianyaga, a 2-hour drive from Nairobi.

As we have more information, I will update you. Thank you for praying now for My Hero as he travels to begin this mission trip!

Blessings,
Patty

Hero Heads Home

by | May 13, 2024 | What's New

Dear All,

Sunday's Bottom Line:

Scott's Raising Champions parenting seminar made a difference in the lives of the attendees. He's on his way to the western hemisphere now!

Sunday's Prayer Requests:

1. A safe, comfortable trip for Scott; he and his luggage to arrive intact and on time. He has a tight connection in Denver.
2. Good post-trip follow-up; the new Filipino DM groups to meet weekly and thrive, and Scott and other TTC leaders to be Spirit-led in setting up administrative procedures to effectively manage the expansion of the ministry.
3. Details concerning the publication of Scott's Raising Disciple-Makers book (both in the U.S. and abroad) to be worked out favorably.
Sunday's Details:

Here's what Scott said following the Saturday parenting seminar.

"It is finished!"

And, "The final session went well on raising champions. It was unfortunate that we had so many that had teenagers or 20-somethings. Even one mom was there who had a 36-year-old son. Not much I could do in that case. But they were very thankful for the information, saying it was very clear.

"The idea that the husband and wife would be at the center of the family, and not the child, was big news to them. Culturally it's normal for the child to sleep with Mom and Dad until they're 3, 4, or 5. But they saw from the scriptures that it's not healthy.

"The biggest impact was the session on media usage. I took the pictures you sent me of the snake and added those into my presentation. I said, 'How many of you would give a snake to your child if they whined and begged and asked you please please please give me the snake?' Of course, everyone said no, they wouldn't do that. Then I told them that it would be better to give your child a snake than an unregulated phone. It was very impactful; unfortunately people had a lot of regret because they gave their phone to their child when he or she was 3 years old just to entertain them and shut them up.

"I finished this session with grace-filled parenting, which was a good way to end. But the main thing is I'm done!"

And he'll be home Monday evening! Thank you again for your prayers.

Blessings,
Patty


P.S.  Yes, we did have a rather intense snake situation here on Friday. It had nothing to do with TTC and all is well, but if you are looking for a V-E-R-Y long "Day in the Life of..." story to read, here's a link.