A Flock to Shepherd

Hello!
Dave, Shannon, & John all agreed to accept an invitation from Village Missions (https://VillageMissions.org) to join them in their efforts to keep country churches alive across the United States & Canada. VM currently serves over 230 communities by sending missionary pastors to struggling churches in rural North America where little-to-no Gospel witness exists to “preach the Word & love the people.” Wow. And they've been doing that faithfully since 1948!

We accepted VM’s invitation because the opportunity for Dave to preach the Word every week & for both of us to live among & minister to those who Jesus considered to be the "least of these" in Matthew 25 was too good to pass up! VM's history, doctrine, & leadership are super solid, & they expect us to log at least 20 hours as "missionaries" in the community every week! Whatever contact our family has with those in the community counts (whether or not they are a part of the church) & that tends to make the pastor of the VM churches the whole community's pastor over time. It's a little like ice fishing in that we won't be skating all around life's pond much, but we will get to know our fishing hole very well, all the way down to the bottom.

VM’s goal, then, becomes to saturate that area around us with the message & the influence of the Gospel. So, we are thrilled to serve with VM doing what Jesus left us here to do as His Acts 1:8 witnesses who speak the truth in love in an Ephesians 4:15 way.

The video on the VM website’s “About Us” page (https://villagemissions.org/about-us/) & the few paragraphs there are an especially good representation of their hearts, our hearts, & their work that we’re about to join.

One of the elements that we find most attractive about VM is that they only partner with churches that are 1) the ONLY Gospel-preaching, Biblical church left in their community & 2) in danger of closing their doors in the near future due to a lack of a pastor, funds, or both. Because of VM’s work, there are more than 230 solid churches throughout the United States & Canada influencing generations of people living in their communities where no one else is willing to go.

The VM churches really are a light in the darkness. Our job, then, will be to shepherd a flock that is one of those 230+ lights in a spiritually dark, needy community. We can’t think of a better way to spend our lives, pouring ourselves out as an offering (2 Timothy 4:6) to Christ, & you can GO with us! But go where?

We don't have a location assignment yet as the VM leadership will assign us a church when our brothers, sisters, & friends like you commit to GO with us—to send us with your prayer & financial support.

Though we don’t yet know where we're going, the Lord sure does. We’re praying for & confident the Lord is already preparing a community & church to love us as He's been preparing us to love & serve them. We'll make that announcement about the location as soon as the Lord reveals it.

There are several ways you can help us get to the mission field—to GO with us to the community of souls the Lord is preparing for our arrival—

PRAY with us that the Lord will finish this good work He’s started by bringing those willing to give alongside of us with the financial support we need to launch us into the community of people whose hearts He’s preparing right now for our arrival, & that the Lord will go before us turning the hearts of those we’ll meet into the good soil Jesus describes in Mark 4, & that we’ll be His constant, faithful witnesses among those people, communicating to them His Gospel in our words & actions when we arrive.

GIVE the small amounts that are needed just like big ones, as they add up. Both recurring & one-time gifts are welcome, too. If the Lord's nudging you to GO with us in that way, the instructions are below. If you've never financially partnered with a missionary family before, send me a note & ask about it. It’s like joining a family, a mission, & a new community all at once! The benefits are amazing as it's one of the many exciting ways you gain rewards in Heaven (Matthew 6:19-20) the same way the supply line soldiers were rewarded alongside those who physically went to the battle in 1 Samuel 30:24.

Go to https://give.villagemissions.org/
Click on “Find a Missionary.”
Enter “Dave and Shannon Scott.”
Then click “Search” & you’ll find the portal to give for both one time & recurring gifts in any amount.

HOST a gathering of folks you’d like to invite to your home where we’ll joyfully share our excitement about partnering with Village Missions & invite your guests to pray, give, & GO with us, too, in a way that doesn’t pressure, but only informs & invites in a cheerful, low intensity way.

INTRODUCE us to individuals, churches, church groups, or other organizations that might be interested in hearing about Village Missions & the opportunity to partner with them & us.

Thank you for being our friends, for caring about us, for loving us, & most importantly—for pointing us to Jesus Christ with your words & actions. Being a sign that points to Jesus Christ is the very best thing any of us can be every day of our lives!

Living for Jesus,
Dave & Shannon & John Scott

Dave’s email address is TeachingSomethingGood@gmail.com
Shannon’s email address is VinitaReading@yahoo.com