The Scott Family’s First 100 Days in New England
Hello friends & family!
Looking Back—
Today marks 100 days since we arrived in New Hampshire on December 2nd,2020. The saints of Middleton Gospel Chapel & the residents of thecommunity have been welcoming, encouraging, kind, & helpful in every way.
It took all of DECEMBER to navigate through quarantine, unpack, meet & greet the regular attenders of the church, get new license plates, & find the closest Walmart.
2020’s Christmas Eve service launched our own family’s public ministry in a sweet, intimate, outdoor, candlelit service.
In JANUARY, the BIG excitement has been the relaunch of the Wednesday night Bible study & prayer gathering. On January 6th, we began a verse-by-verse tour through the 404 verses of Revelation.
Your kind, generous gifts have, among many other things, purchased copies of Dr. John Barnett’s Living Hope for the End of Days for everyone in the class! It's encouraged & energized everyone & it's fun to see them look forward to what's coming next & look forward with them to the blessed hope & glorious appearing of our great God & Savior, Jesus Christ (Titus 2:13).
We think of the whole month of FEBRUARY as digging for gold as our family set out to ask many intentional questions, ask for help assessing & praying over the needs here, & begin learning how best to reach out to this particular community. We’ve learned much & are thanking the Lord for many new & positive connections He’s placed in our paths to help us do what He’s called us to do.
Too, ScottFamilyJourney.org went LIVE, thanks to the efforts of Dan Shantz of Kalamazoo, Michigan. Dan is not only a Godly man, but an eternal friend who the Lord has used to bless us by researching, designing, launching, & hosting not only our site, but Middleton Gospel Chapel’s new site that will go live in just a few days, Lord willing. We cannot thank the Lord enough for Dan’s effort & gladly recommend him to you if you ever find yourself in need of a graphic or web designer who loves the Lord.
Looking Ahead—
As we enter MARCH, with the first hints of spring here in New England, we've found a few projects that seem wise to pursue in 2021—
First, Middleton is a rural, heavily wooded area & it's tough to walk neighborhoods or meet people shopping, but the church is on the main road in town that everyone drives by every day. So, once Dan’s work of a good, solid website is in place, we'll plan to put up a heavy, colorful banner between two tall trees right along the main road that advertises the website address.
Everyone in town will see that, as well as many others who drive through our community on their way between Southern New Hampshire & the Lake Winnipesaukee area. Those who visit will find the truth of Jesus Christ, so that’s powerful.
Second, we're aiming to rent a 15 passenger van & taking a couple of week-long ministry trips offered to anyone the Lord brings to join us! One trip would be aimed at the Creation Museum & Ark Encounter in the Cincinnati area. The other would visit the Sight & Sound Theatre in Lancaster, PA on the way to or back from visiting the Museum of the Bible in D.C.
Both of those trips, we're thinking, would not only be low-cost for families or couples, but also a chance to teach the Bible in a memorable & fun way.
We're thinking those could easily be annual trips, which combined with a banner/website presence, would make the church & the Scotts seem as approachable & family-friendly in the community as the Lord has made us to be to accomplish His purposes.
Third, the Scotts are planning & preparing several efforts this coming spring, summer, & fall to help our community’s families with children. The church’s new website, when it launches in a matter of days, will announce that Pastor Scott’s family offers FREE babysitting for parents nights out for those who live in the area, as well as FREE academic tutoring for families that would bless. These are areas the Lord has uniquely prepared us to serve in & we’re THRILLED to be sent & supported by YOU to do it, as the Lord uses all of us.
Further, we’re in the planning stages of offering a BIG community VBS. If there are any of you (individuals or families) who would love to come visit New Hampshire & serve with us as our fellow VBS workers this summer (dates TBA), we’d be glad to have you, to be your guides, host as many as we can in the church’s parsonage, & in the off hours, take you an hour north of our community in the woods to see mountains as beautiful as any the Rocky Mountains have to offer & an hour south to walk on the shores of the Atlantic Ocean to spend time together praising Him for His creation & provision & salvation.
Our Prayer Requests—
Please thank Him with us for providing for all our needs in our Scott Family Journey so far.
Websites, banners, memorable Bible-themed trips, parents night out babysitting, tutoring, & VBS are all ways the Lord has led us to pursue the Gospel where we are. Please praise the Lord with us for those ideas & opportunities & ask Him with us to bless those efforts & use them to build His Kingdom in His perfect way & time.
Printing banners, road trips, VBS materials & set up all cost money, of course. We’re pursuing these Gospel-spreading ideas & opportunities trusting that He’ll provide in the future for all He wants done, just as He has in the past. Please pray with us He’ll provide for them, trusting He can!
Dave has been asked to pray at the beginning of the town meeting on Saturday, March 13th. Please ask the Lord to bless all those involved.
If the Lord’s leading you to partner with us by coming to visit to physically serve alongside us for a short term, like VBS, please send us an email at TeachingSomethingGood@gmail.com & we’d love to explore & pursue the Lord’s will with you.
If the Lord’s moving you to financially sponsor the pursuit of one or more of these Gospel-spreading ideas, we’d love to be a part of laying up that treasure in Heaven with you. You can give online at ScottFamilyJourney.org.
“Finally, brethren, pray for us, that the word of the Lord may run swiftly and be glorified, just as it is with you…” (2 Thessalonians 3:1).
Living for Jesus,
Pastor Dave, Shannon, & John Scott
Dave’s email: TeachingSomethingGood@gmail.com
Shannon’s email: VinitaReading@yahoo.com