Weekend News from Our Team:
Thank you all for praying! The Better Together Marriage Seminar on Saturday was well-attended and very successful. Afterwards Mark sent me SEVENTY-SEVEN pictures, a few of which are included in the Details section below. He preached at Hellen's church on Sunday morning, but Scott, who was scheduled to preach at James' church was feeling sick Saturday evening and so canceled, although thankfully he was better Sunday morning and did attend the service later. Now excitement is building for the Monday/Tuesday/Wednesday Summits our team will hold for all the current KDMN (Kenya Disciple-Makers Network) DM coaches and the "pillars" who oversee them!
Sunday's Prayer Requests:
1. Concerning both the Coaches Summit and the Regional Pillars Summit: logistics to run smoothly; expectations to be clearly set and understood; coaches and pillars to be greatly encouraged and effectively equipped.
2. No hindrances to keep many new DM groups in Uganda, Rwanda, and Kenya from starting this week while enthusiasm from all the recent seminars is high.
3. Our team to be healthy (spirit, soul, and body) and have strength to finish the final week of this mission trip well. Mark starts home on Friday night; Scott next Sunday afternoon.
Sunday's Details:
28 couples attended the Better Together marriage seminar on Saturday! That seminar is specifically designed for - and therefore most strongly impacts - ministry couples, although others can certainly benefit from it. A total of 70 people attended, so some must've come without their spouses.
Scott uses humor, object lessons, personal examples, and some friendly competition to communicate biblical truths and practical information, some of which is fairly common knowledge in the US, but may not be taught in churches in other cultures. It's typically a roughly six-hour, upbeat presentation that works its way at the end to some very serious private communication between the spouses; confession, forgiveness, repentance, etc..
During the seminar, Scott asks husbands to write down why they treasure their wife as their princess, and wives to write out why their husband is their hero. Those comments are judged, and the winners are called up front to read publicly to their spouse what they wrote about them. The audience applauds, the couple hugs (and sometimes cries), small prizes are given, and the winning couples have their pictures taken wearing the princess tiara and hero glasses. Many couples also ask to have their photo taken holding the Better Together plaque.
With that background, here are some pictures from Saturday's Better Together seminar.
James translating for Scott
Scott was running a fever a few days ago, but he's not really off-balance. At least I don't think so...
He's just demonstrating what happens when the body doesn't follow the head!
One of the winning couples
Another winning husband giving his wife a prize
Big hugs while Hillary laughs
Reading to her husband what she wrote about him
This lady said today was the first day for her husband to say "I'm sorry."
Three winning wives
A private conversation during couples discussion time
Couples scattered all over the room for serious one-on-ones
Scott also said, "My translator, Antony, said, 'If that is what you do for marriages, we need your discipleship.' They are arranging for Hillary to come for vision casting." = )
Scott finally got some sleep Saturday night, and Sunday morning he felt better enough to go to James' church, arriving mid-service. He said, "The number of children at James' church outnumbers the adults by 4 to 1. They started holding Bible club meetings on Saturday for neighborhood kids, and now parents send their kids to church without them."
Kid magnet in his element
While I was typing this, Scott called and explained a bit more about the upcoming summits that start tomorrow. From Monday morning till Tuesday afternoon, all the coaches who are leading Disciple-Makers (DM) groups in the nine TTC regions of Kenya and Tanzania will gather together in Nairobi for a day and-a-half to be encouraged and equipped by God and our KDMN leadership team (Hillary, James, Mark, and Scott). That's the Monday/Tuesday Coaches Summit.
Then most of those leaders will return to their homes while the nine regional "pillars" (who oversee all those coaches) stay in Nairobi for 24 more hours of focused appreciation and training. That's the Tuesday/Wednesday Regional Pillars Summit.
Each of these is a MAJOR event, both spiritually and logistically, so your prayers now and in the coming days will be greatly appreciated. You are making a difference! Thank you.
Blessings,
Patty