The Move to Middleton
Hello Friends & Family,
It’s been 3 months since our last Scott family update, sent in July. The thrust of that update was sharing how the Lord’s been working in, around, & through our family here in Eastern Pennsylvania.
He's been SO faithful to allow us to be a part of MANY spiritually significant events in the lives of those living here, just a couple hours away from New York City & Philadelphia, where most just don’t give God a second thought.
Jesus is not a part of daily life or thought or reality for most, let alone comfort & joy & security, which makes uncovering the Light & Life He alone offers all the more special & urgent.
We are more convinced than ever that the best thing anyone can be in this life is a sign that clearly points to Jesus Christ, since that’s what He said He left us here to do (Acts 1:8). That’s what we work to be in every encounter every day.
Thank you for praying & rooting for us. We FEEL it every single day, as you pray for us & we ask the Lord will make us useful to Him & use us.
As you know, our family has been sent & supported by volunteer donors that share our hearts & excitement for the Gospel, evangelism & the close, healthy presence of a local church family, even in communities seen by Jesus, but forgotten by most others.
We continue our vital partnership with Village Missions (https://villagemissions.org/), as their mission since 1948 has been identifying & supporting small, rural churches in North America that struggle to attract or afford a full-time pastor because of the exodus from small towns to urban areas since WW2.
Since our partnership with Village Missions began 19 months ago, our respect & love for their hearts for the Lord, their commitment to His Word, & their love for people in need has only grown.
They sent us to rural Iowa in May, 2019, where the Lord used our family’s presence to quickly uncover a theological divide that had been previously unknown & the leadership of Village Missions, caring for us & the church, recognized the 1 Corinthians 3 truth that some plant & some water, but God gives the increase. God sent us there to uncover the need. Now, others see it & are responding. That’s Gospel work!
In December, 2019, we arrived in rural Eastern Pennsylvania, where I’m writing this note to you now. You’ve received the updates, from January-July of the Lord’s deep & obvious & fast goodness visited on our ministry here. There's still more to come next month as I baptize one of our regular attenders on November 1st!
In the past 3 months, though, while God’s deep & obvious goodness continues in the lives of individuals & families here, the Lord has used the Scott family’s presence to uncover an organizational need in the church that must be addressed for the church to be effective in the Lord’s Kingdom as He designed it to be.
When the Lord brought this to our attention, Village Missions’ leaders responded quickly, kindly, wisely, & well in every way—the way that Godly leaders respond that makes it easy to trust them & submit to their decisions. They determined that the church’s leaders must address the need before they are ready to continue with a full-time pastor.
We trust the Spirit as we see Him working in the people & situation here. Please pray with us that the Lord will have His way in Emanuel’s Reformed Church in Mainville, Pennsylvania. In these past 10 months, we have come to love the Lord’s people here so much & we consider your prayers for their Psalm 133 unity a personal kindness & gift to our family.
The Village Missions leaders who have become loved friends notified us yesterday that they are sending us to help & bless the souls in & around Middleton, New Hampshire, to preach the Word & love the people of Middleton Gospel Chapel & the rural community that surrounds it.
Middleton rests in Southeastern New Hampshire, 1 hour west of Portland, Maine & 2 hours north of Boston, Massachusetts—in the heart of New England, which the Pew Research Center identifies as the most secular population in the United States (https://www.pewforum.org/religious-landscape-study/).
Middleton is a town of almost 2,000 souls, but they only have one church—ours! What an opportunity to be a light in the darkness where less than 8% of the population claims any affiliation with any religious faith that MAY include the Gospel (https://www.bestplaces.net/religion/city/new_hampshire/middleton).
Yet, on their municipal website, Middleton includes this sentence when describing their own community: “Middleton hosts only one church, the Middleton Gospel Church founded in 1954 and is non-denominational” (https://www.middletonnh.gov/about-middleton/). They recognize the church as an important part of the community’s life, which is a great start, & a testimony of the faithfulness of those who the Lord has placed there over the past 66 years.
This fact, coupled with another interesting fact—that most of the towns in Southern New Hampshire, including Middleton, are actually GROWING—makes it difficult to express the depth of the need to support the only Gospel light & family of God in a growing town. That’s why we're going. To preach the Word, which transforms lives (Romans 10:17; Hebrews 4:12), & to love the people in Christ’s Name—to be His Acts 1:8 witnesses where there are few.
If the Lord’s leading you to support His work in New England with our family, you can do so here:
https://give.villagemissions.org/donate/missionaries/missionary-detail/a-scott-dave-and-shannon
FROM SHANNON’S HEART
The Lord gives and takes away. Blessed be the name of the Lord! God gave us so many wonderful blessings and opportunities during our time in Pennsylvania! My heart is not quite ready to leave here, and I am definitely not looking forward to moving again (we are preparing to move into our 5th house in less than 2 years), but I absolutely believe Jeremiah 29:11 is true, and I know His plan for us is perfect. I've SEEN how God works and I KNOW that He is faithful and just to finish the good work that He starts. How I've proved Him o'er and o'er! I have stories to tell of His goodness that I wouldn't otherwise be able to share. So please pray for Isaiah 26:3 peace as again we adjust to a new church, a new house, a new community, and a new culture. Pray that God will open hearts and doors for ministry opportunities.
FROM JOHN’S HEART
Hi! i am very excited to go to New Hampshire! It will be sad not seeing friends I made here but i am looking foward to finding new friends there! in New Hampshire we will have a Circle K and Dunkin Donuts close to our new home. its only 10 Minutes to the Maine border and 53 Minutes to Concord. i am very excited to see NH and lake Winnupasaki!**
**John LOVES geography & when he discovered we were moving, he immediately began & is still researching borders, capitals, etc. The town of Middleton is situated just south of Lake Winnipesaukee, which some of you may remember was the setting of the 1991 movie, What About Bob? We’ve watched this a couple of times as a family over the years & John immediately recognized the name Shannon & I found only vaguely familiar. =)
So, please forgive us as we retreated from reporting for a time as a difficult situation developed. I’m glad the Lord provides such opportunities to trust Him more & more deeply through life—opportunities we would never choose for ourselves, but that prove that Romans 8:28 & our other favorite 31,102 verses are still true! Amen?
One last detail to share regarding timing:
Our last Sunday here in Pennsylvania will be November 22nd, which also happens to be John’s 11th birthday.
The moving trailer will arrive & be left for us to pack on November 25th & will be picked up on November 30th, to be delivered to the parsonage in New Hampshire sometime during the week of December 7th.
We will tie up loose ends & say our goodbyes here in Pennsylvania the first week of December & plan to arrive in Middleton on December 7th.
In our July update, we had made plans to visit Kalamazoo December 8th-21st. We’re sad to our cores that we have to postpone (not cancel!) that trip. Future updates will contain those details. We will be with our Michigan friends in spirit, knowing the Lord is at work in & among you (Colossians 2:5-7).
It’s still true—We make plans, but the Lord directs our paths (Proverbs 16:9). We’re thankful He does, as He always chooses to place us in the best situation for us to worship Him with our lives. The best we can do, by grace, is faithfully follow Him along the path He chooses (Psalm 16:11a).
It’s a JOY to walk with Jesus & you toward New Jerusalem, dear friends. We love you. Jesus loves you more!
Living for Jesus,
Pastor Dave, Shannon, & John Scott
Dave’s email: TeachingSomethingGood@gmail.com
Shannon’s email: VinitaReading@yahoo.com