Merry Christmas from Take the Challenge!
We hope this communication finds you filled with the joy and wonder of Emmanuel, God with us. As you make preparations to celebrate the incarnation with your friends and family, we want to give you a few updates and prayer requests from around the world.
First, an update on Pastor Gil. Thank you to each of you who prayed for his surgery. It was intense, but successful. His thyroid had to be taken out, as well as parts of his collar bone that had succumbed to the cancer.
Pastor Gil has been recovering at a guesthouse following surgery, but was re-admitted to the hospital today due to fluid buildup in and around the incision. Please continue to pray for this great servant of God.
Next, as we in America are making our lists and checking them twice, the Christians in Nepal are busy with some different activities. Evangelism, although commanded by God, is not permitted in Nepal. If someone is “converted” and then reports the event to the police, the church or individual involved can face persecution and possible imprisonment. Yet during the Christmas season people tend to turn a blind eye. Because of this, our Nepali DM churches will be holding carol sings and other evangelistic outreaches during the next two weeks. The church will gather outside each church member’s house to sing Christmas carols and share the gospel message. The host family prepares food and invites their neighbors to join in the festivities.
Watch 1:44 of one of last year’s Nepali carol sings [here] and :22 of preaching at an evangelistic outreach [here]. Pastor Mohan’s church will be traveling to some 25 homes over the coming two weeks.
Finally, good news from Kenya. The word is getting out about the great impact of the disciple-making process; so much so that pastors are contacting our team and requesting the DM process be introduced to their churches! Each of our Kenyan DM regions has set specific 2026 goals for extending the DM movement to new areas. Truly the number of disciples is multiplying greatly, and thankfully, the Lord has also blessed our Kenya Command Center (KCC) project. Since our last update, we have seen $10K come in, which means we only need $5K more to reach our goal. Would you give an end-of-the-year gift to help us get across the finish line? You can give online [here] or mail a check to Take the Challenge, 8053 US Highway 160, Walnut Shade, MO 65771.
Praise Reports:
- God’s provision of $10K toward the Kenya Command Center project.
- Two new disciple-makers groups launched in Morocco.
- One new disciple-makers group launched in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
Prayer Requests:
- Excess fluid and infection to be completely removed from Pastor Gil and God to provide for his thousands of dollars of medical bills.
- Many Nepalis to be reached through the carol singing and Christmas outreach events.
- God to provide the remaining $5K needed to establish the Kenyan DM Movement Command Center by December 31, 2025.
This Christmas, let’s follow the lead of the Nepali church and make sure our focus is on worshiping and introducing others to the giver of the Greatest Gift.
Scott and the TTC team