Dear All,

There’s a LOT happening in and—on the way to—Nepal this week!

Monday’s Bottom Line:

Scott has successfully completed his ministry time in K (where the pastors conference was) and in nearby C where he led a vision-casting seminar (explanation below) and 15 people asked to join disciple-makers (DM) groups! Scott’s had health challenges, and we’re expecting him to feel much better today. Our “Go Nepal!” team is down to final prep and packing to leave for Nepal Tuesday evening! 

Monday’s Prayer Requests:

1. Grace, safety, peace, strength, sound sleep, and good connections for our “Go Nepal!” team (Tara, Daphne, David and Linda, and Zach), as they fly out Tuesday evening for NEPAL!!!
2. Everybody to get healthy, stay healthy, and be full of God’s word, power, and spirit so they can prepare effectively and fulfill everything God plans for them to do on this trip.
3. The Lord to prepare the hearts of the DM coaches Scott will minister to on Wednesday; all of them to clearly hear what the Holy Spirit is saying to them and then do whatever he is telling them to do.

Monday’s Details:

I will warn you that what has been happening in K and C, and what is going to be happening with all our TTC folks in the next couple days is kind of hard to keep up with, but if you’ll fasten your seat belt I will try my best to explain it.

As you know, Scott’s been in Nepal for about 10 days, mainly at the pastors conference in K. Then this weekend he and Mohan, our primary contact in Nepal and Scott’s frequent interpreter, traveled just 20 minutes away to C, where Scott was scheduled to preach during a Saturday morning church service and then do a six-hour vision-casting seminar at that same church on Sunday. Let me explain how people in a new place find out about the disciple-making process and get into DM groups.

Usually a local DM “coach” (group leader) handpicks several discipleship-minded fellow pastors or church leaders to join his or her DM group. After a few months of weekly meetings and experiencing the (DM) process firsthand, they are then eager to lead their own groups and share the process with others. Once there are a handful of such trained “coaches” in a given area, one of our national leaders goes there and holds a vision-casting seminar, generally with several weeks’ notice so people can prepare and arrange to attend.

The seminar consists of six hours of teaching over one or two days about the how and why of raising disciple-makers: WHY it matters and HOW the biblical pattern we use to do it—Jesus’ own pattern!—works. Folks who are currently in DM groups invite their friends, pastors, and church leaders to come to the seminar, and at the end of it, all the attendees are invited to join newly forming DM groups, which are led by the trained coaches who have already experienced the process for several months. We’ve learned that it’s vital for those new DM groups to get organized and begin their weekly meetings almost immediately after the seminar. “Strike while the iron’s hot” as the saying goes!

Hopefully that helps you understand why it was important for Scott to present that vision-casting seminar on Sunday, even though he was not doing well physically. Thankfully, following an IV infusion of fluids and antibiotics at a medical clinic early Sunday morning – Sunday in Nepal being a regular work day, like our Monday – he was strong enough to do the seminar, and as a result, 15 people signed up to join DM groups! The following isn’t his best self-portrait, but he did feel better afterwards.

“Taking infusion of fluids now”

As you are reading this, it’s probably Monday night in Nepal, and a great deal of travel has happened, is happening, and/or will soon be happening in two different parts of the world. You may or may not remember a trip update last week in which we broke the trip into six parts to try to make it make sense. Here’s an abbreviated refresher:

Part 1 – Pastors Conference in K.

COMPLETED! Sunday’s vision-casting seminar is also COMPLETED! Then Scott and Mohan drove 7 hours from C to Mohan’s home in N on Monday (Sunday night MO time).

Part 2 – Team’s First Few Days in Nepal.

Our team members leave Springfield on Tuesday evening MO time, pass through Dallas and Doha on Wednesday every where’s time, meet Mohan in Kathmandu on Thursday morning local time, and fly with him to D on Thursday evening, where they will finally get to sleep horizontally.  

Part 3 – Disciple-Makers Coaches Summit in D.

Scott travels another four hours from N to D on Tuesday, leads a coaches summit in D on Wednesday (explanation in our next update), and stays and ministers in D – with our team that arrives the next day – for about a week.

All that to say that I “think” that by Thursday night, all the characters in our unfolding drama will finally be together in one accord in D, praise God!

Scott thought this map picture was interesting. He said, “Thought you would appreciate this comparison. Missouri is 22% larger than Nepal, but the tallest mountain in Nepal is 16 times taller than the highest peak in Missouri. 😲

And I’m sure all that information is much more than many of you wanted to know, but what WE want you to know is how very powerful your prayers are for our team and those they are reaching, and how very thankful we are that we can rely on you to PRAY for them today! Your faithful prayers are really having a big impact. Thank you so much!

LATE BREAKING CONFIRMATION: Yes, they did make it to Mohan’s house in N, Scott ate some rice and banana that we expect to stay put and nourish him, and after a quick video chat with me, he should now be enjoying some long-awaited sleep.

Before he crashed for the night, he sent us a couple pictures. He said about this first one, “Thought you would appreciate this comparison. Missouri is 22% larger than Nepal, but the tallest mountain in Nepal is 16 times taller than the highest peak in Missouri. 😲”

And then this fun cultural photo shows three forms of transportation common in that part of Nepal.

Cars, trucks, motorcycles, and…?!?

Blessings,

Patty