We are excited to share that Scott has been asked to kick off “Discipleship Now,” an initiative to mentor pastors so they can raise disciple-makers within their churches. The first session will be on August 25th. Many thanks to Pastor Gil Balignasay for the invitation! Pastor Gil, who leads these monthly mentoring sessions, has requested that I open his first meeting by bringing a message via Zoom. We are grateful for partnerships that lead to multiplication and growth, and the fruit that remains.
Good evening and thank you, everyone, for following along on this Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda mission trip and for praying for Scott, Mark, and our team of disciple-makers in East Africa.
Scott had an uneventful trip home today and at the last minute was able to get on an earlier flight for his final leg from Dallas to Springfield. Then that short flight also arrived 30 minutes early, so he was waiting at the curb – with all his luggage – when I arrived.
Now we’re just trying to keep him awake till 9:00 PM, his target bedtime when jet-lagged. = )
Scott said that even beyond the tremendous amount of ministry God did during those three weeks (all the new DM groups started, all the seminars held, all the summits experienced), getting the Kenya Command Center set up – with the right people in the right positions, organizational procedures clearly outlined, and hearts united – was the biggest accomplishment of this trip. And it couldn’t have happened without YOUR prayers and support!
Mark is on his way home somewhere over the Atlantic, Scott just wrapped up his Better Together marriage seminar in Tororo, Uganda and will start for home Sunday morning MO time. He also sent us several pictures from Joyce’s seminary graduation.
Saturday’s Prayer Requests:
1. All our DM coaches (group leaders) and pillars (leaders of group leaders) to take the initiative to effectively lead the disciples in their care; for no schedule, location, or technical challenges to hinder the new groups meeting every week, beginning today!
2. God to greatly bless Hillary and Joyce and James and Susan for the especially huge investment of time, hospitality, travel, provision, and heart they have made over the past three weeks. Especially huge, yes, but note that they have been making just “normal” huge investments into raising disciple-makers for several YEARS.
3. Safety, peace, grace (esp. for jet lag), and good health for Mark and Scott as they return home. All their luggage to arrive intact and on time.
More Pictures!
Scott sent me a number of pictures from Joyce’s graduation and subsequent celebration, several with captions. On the rest, I have guessed, and like I did yesterday, I may have guessed wrong. = )
Joyce graduated from a local branch of an international Bible school. Scott said the leadership of that school is very interested in TTC because we and they have the same heart to train leaders with a focus on discipleship. We may (or may not) have more interaction with that organization in the future. Scott thinks it might provide an opening for TTC to expand into new nations.
At a college or university commencement in the USA, the faculty of the institution are often decked out in special gowns, stoles, and/or headpieces in which the features and colors all have meaning. It seems the same is true in Kenya, and at least for Christian graduations, the professors wear “hats” (I’m sure that’s not the right word) with very large flat brims and red tassels.
With that background, please enjoy these pictures.
Hillary speaking
I was wrong yesterday. Joyce isn’t wearing glasses. She is to the right of the lady who is.
All the graduates
Watching the proceedings
Scott with Joyce’s mom, “She’s really short!”
Celebration time!
Joyce dancing
Piggybacking a toddler
And finally…
Honorary faculty members
These guys look like they really need prayer. Thank you for meeting that need today. = )
Today’s update really was going to be short and sweet. Hopefully it’s still sweet! = )
Joyce, Hillary’s wife, has graduated from seminary, and there was great rejoicing! Our own Mark Phillips did a great job delivering the commencement address.
Mark speaks; Hillary translates for him
All the graduates; Joyce front row, center, with glasses
Now Mark and Scott are each embarking on their own mad scramble:
Mark’s scramble is to make his initial homeward flight which leaves Nairobi at 1:20 AM local time, 5:20 PM today (Friday) MO time. His family will be thrilled to greet him at the airport in NW Arkansas at about 7:00 PM Saturday! It’s a mad scramble because, last I heard, they weren’t sure how Mark was getting from the graduation ceremony to the airport. Never fear; get there he will. Mark is nothing if not resourceful!
Scott’ scramble is to travel to Tororo, Uganda to present an abbreviated Better Together marriage seminar before his initial flight home. Tororo is 252 miles west of Nairobi. If I have the details right, Scott will fly in the wee hours of Saturday morning local time to Eldoret, Kenya, then be driven four hours to Tororo (including an international border crossing) by Hellen’s husband, Symon, where he will hold the marriage seminar later on Saturday. A really good thing is that Symon and Hellen, who are working to re-create their marriage after 25 years apart, will be attending that Better Together seminar! Then, sometime afterwards (Saturday night? Sunday morning?) Symon will drive Scott to… I can’t remember which city he told me… from which he will fly back to Nairobi with only a couple hours of margin before his initial homeward flight home departs at 6:00 PM. There’s some concern about the possibility of the flight from (which city?) back to Nairobi being cancelled.
Current Prayer Requests:
1. Mark and his luggage to make his departing flight from Nairobi and his connections in Doha and Chicago. Safety, peace, and sleep during his trip home. God’s continued help and care for his wife, Whitney, and their two sons.
2. Scott to get safely to and from the Better Together seminar in Tororo and the Holy Spirit to guide him as he whittles down his usual six-hour seminar into the shorter (four-hour?) available time frame. All the attendees to come away with memorable, practical to-dos to improve their marriages. No flight cancellations for Scott.
3. God to continue to work in the hearts and lives of everyone Our Four have impacted during this mission trip; all the people in all those new DM groups to develop deep roots and grow up to bear “fruit that remains!”
And Finally, Culturally Speaking:
Our regional pillars who oversee and serve multiple DM coaches in various far-flung regions of Kenya and Tanzania (soon to include Uganda and Rwanda!) didn’t know each other before coming to the Pillars Summit. In addition, as church leaders in East Africa, they are used to going to a seminar and sitting and being taught without really interacting with each other: “Go, attend, listen, leave” is the norm. But the whole disciple-making movement is based on relationships. So, in addition to all the great teaching and significant ministry, those pillars did mixers, laughed, and had fun together.
It sounds like in Kenya, pastors and church leaders are pretty much “all work and no play.” They are serious about the things of God, and fun is generally not on the menu. If you know Scott, you know that is NOT how he rolls, so he had the pillars plus Our Four playing spoons. The only video we have of it is of the initial set-up and Scott explaining how the game is played. It’s almost a minute and a half long. But he said that once they got the hang of it, they had a blast, laughing, hollering, and falling over each other trying to grab a spoon. It was just what they needed to relax and feel like a cohesive team.
YOU are our team, and we’re so, so grateful for your prayers, encouragement, and support. Please join us now in praying that every detail of this mission trip, down to the final moment, will be productive and end WELL. Thank you!
The Pillars Summit has concluded, and it was beyond anything our team could have imagined. They will have a day off on Thursday when they plan to visit a local national park and hopefully see some wild animals – besides Scott and Mark! On Friday, Hillary’s wife, Joyce will graduate from seminary, a major milestone achievement, and Mark will begin his journey home. Mark’s cookies were a big hit during the Pillars Summit.
A true classic: Mark’s Monster Chocolate Chip Cookies!
Wednesday’s Prayer Requests:
1. The Coaches and Pillars who were at the summits these past few days to experience God’s refreshing and insight as they continue to mentor and encourage their own disciples; for them to give to others the same love and care they have received from Our Four.
2. The Holy Spirit to orchestrate the remaining details of this mission trip and GREATLY bless Hillary and Joyce, James and Susan, and their families; may he water them as they have watered so many others.
3. Major rest, refreshing, and rejoicing for Mark and Scott; grace as they prepare to return to their families and many different (additional) responsibilities at home.
Wednesday’s Details:
Today I’ll let Scott speak for himself and then wrap up with a couple cultural moments.
Scott said, “Thank you so much for those of you who prayed for the Coaches Summit and the Pillars Summit. It was really an amazing three days. The coaches were really challenged to step up their commitment to the disciples in their groups. Specifically, they were challenged to present their disciples fully mature and to help them raise up new groups.
“Pastor Hillary preached a powerful message about paying the cost that had people really looking at their lives. We had Communion after that message, and I was really moved by how Communion means joint participation with Jesus’ broken body. This was really made clear by Hillary’s call for the coaches to be willing to, as a seed, fall to the ground and die in order to bear much fruit – disciples who will make disciples.
“At the Pillars Summit, we installed two National Directors and then talked of how nurture is the fuel of disciple-making. After that, we demonstrated this as I washed the National Directors’ feet and they washed the feet of the Pillars.”
“These Pillars had never experienced anything like this. Everyone left so encouraged and re-energized regarding the hard work of raising others.”
Shifting now to a different kind of washing, Scott captioned this next picture, “Kenyan washing machine.”
Joyce doing laundry… is that one of Scott’s shirts?!?
And if you’ve ever been to Branson and found the traffic there to be challenging, it’s evidently nothing compared to Nairobi’s! Here’s an :08 “Drive through the streets of Nairobi” video to give us all some perspective.
Mark and Scott have certainly been immersed in a very different culture in recent weeks. But like them, may we all have the same perspective and attitude of Jesus (Philippians 2:5) as we pray today for our team in Kenya.
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