A Look Back …
We’re taking a little trip back in time to revisit God’s goodness this past season of ministry here in spiritually dark New England. On May 18, 2022, we sent out the following “report”:
Summer's here (it was HOT in New Hampshire yesterday), which means it's usually the BEST time to connect with folks as most folks in these parts tuck in for the winter & the tourist off-season arrives with the cold weather. More about that BEST time to connect in just a minute, but first...
Village Missions is so good about communicating with us & for us, & just recently asked our family to provide them with a short description of our ministry field & share a few prayer requests…we wanted to share the sneak peek with you & ask you to pray with & for us, as we trust with you that the Lord hears & answers!
FIELD LOCATION, TYPE OF AREA:
Our ministry area is located less than 4 miles from a busy highway connecting the Boston area to the scenic White Mountains, but those folks living in the city and vacationing in the mountains seem a world away. The majority of the 1,800 residents of our town live in dense woods in two disconnected neighborhoods set around a small lake that used to be the town dump. The only evidence of our town visible on the main road that runs through the thick forest all around is a few municipal buildings, our church, a lumberyard, and the local PK-6 school. All other amenities and services are at least 20 minutes away and often more, which offers few obvious ways to gather and get to know our neighbors in town, and every opportunity is precious as our congregation represents less than .02% of our town's population.
PRAYER REQUESTS:
Please pray with our family and the 25 souls who attend church regularly with us that the Lord would use both the outreach efforts and public services of Middleton Gospel Chapel as well as our individual lives to honor Him and encourage each other.
This area of New England is both physically beautiful and spiritually dark, with very few who show any interest in Jesus Christ. We have come to think of the people here as "formerly reached" as this area has a rich Christian history, but most of even the few churches that remain are waving the rainbow flag and misrepresenting Christ. Jesus called such people sheep without a shepherd and had compassion for them. Please pray His view will remain our consistent view, too, that the light of His church here in Middleton would shine brightly in the dark, that He'll provide many opportunities and open doors and hearts to the Gospel, and make our church an effective witness to our many lost neighbors so they can hear and be saved and know Jesus Christ.
Okay, back to that BEST time to connnect …
Friends, our little church of 25-30 souls is a wonderful, spiritually healthy light in our community of 1,800, but as I've described above, we are the only church in town and represent less than .02% of the population.
One BIG advantage the Lord has given us is that everyone in town comes down main street every time they go anywhere & we're one of the few properties on main street.
We talk & pray often about HOW to use that visibility He's provided to help & bless our neighbors & point them to Christ. After a year & a half of living here, listening, learning, & praying, we've come to understand to be effective in THIS community, we NEED to be OUTSIDE in the SUMMER & FALL & offer something THEY WANT with no strings attached.
Picture it--the church building & the parsonage we live in are on the most visible corner in town with about 100 yards (a whole football field) of dead space (just grass & trees), AND we've learned that what the folks WANT here in town is a basketball goal & a walking track, both of which we have plenty of room to provide. There are other options, but these are at the top of our list. Of course, we'd place some nice seating in the area so that there'd be natural gathering places to rest & talk.
While we have the space & the BIG advantages of not only visibility, but also the Scott family is living in the parsonage NEXT DOOR to all this potential activity. Anytime we're home & look out the window & see people, we have the ability & motivation to drop what we're doing & connect with them. The love of Christ compels us (2 Corinthians 5:14-15)!
The tree & ground work, gravel for the track, outdoor seating, Gospel signage, and a half-court blactop with a professional grade basketball court will altogether cost approximately $18,000. Our church has raised nearly $4,200 toward those vital outreach infrastructure elements. And that's where the ETERNAL INVESTMENT OPPORTUNITY comes in!
Our goal is to raise $13,800 for those projects for the Gospel's sake.
If the Lord's nudging you to lay up treasures with us in this way, you can do so at the link below. It's even tax-deductible, but more importantly, it's a way you can help actively, sacrificially, & cheerfully SHARE THE GOSPEL in a way that will last for many years, & you can visit anytime.
$13,800 isn't much in the big scheme of things, but God uses small gifts by ordinary people in unnoticed-by-the-world places to do His Good Work.
Will you please consider joining our family & our local church's efforts to reach a generation here in New Hampshire that Jesus died to save?
Then, on May 28th, I got to send another update. Wow. Read on…
Dear friends & fellow Gospel workers,
10 days ago I sent you a message describing an eternal investment opportunity that we trust the Lord will use to further the Gospel presence here in New England (specifically in Middleton, NH), where there is little interest & some hostility in Who God is & their personal need for Him.
I'll keep this as brief as possible & invite anyone who would like to know more to send me an email or call or text me. I'd always love to talk with anyone who's interested in knowing more about the work of God through His Church here!
The short story is that in the past 10 days, $13,350 has been given toward the project goal of $18,000! WOW. And that's not all –
The wonderful leadership of Village Missions has just informed me they would like to provide a $2,000 matching grant! WOW again.
God, of course, can miraculously provide in supernatural ways, but I've learned He much more often allows us to see, feel, & share a NEED so that we can HUMBLE ourselves & ASK Him & others for help. In doing so, He does as He promised to do in giving grace to the humble (James 4:6), as well as spreads His glory among MANY people! Thank YOU for being a part of our SPREADING THE GOSPEL family, just by reading & praying, or by the further investment of GIVING.
We are so grateful (Did I say WOW?) for those the Lord has already led to cheerfully, prayerfully, & sacrificially help us with raising the funds for this project!!
If you missed the email 10 days ago describing the project, that's included in the link below, where you can also give. As of now, we have only $4,650 still left to raise! I'm praying as I hit send that the Lord will lead, fill, & keep each precious soul who He moves to read this email, just as David described in Psalm 16:11, & I trust with you He will!
And, by October 11, 2022, just 146 days later (that’s less than 5 months!), the Scott family had the honor of sending the news below to our missions support family that…
It's been quite a season here in New England. Our whole family is in one of those mental places where we often have raised eyebrows & full hearts, amazed at how the Lord moves when He decides to provide. He is able!
Thanks to the Lord's goodness through His people (that's YOU partnering with Village Missions & the saints HERE), the following major elements of the plan for the outreach park are PAID FOR & COMPLETE:
• A 30'x30' ft. basketball court
• An adjustable height outdoor, padded basketball goal
• A 1/8th mile, 4 foot wide gravel walking path
• A 15'x15' foot patio with a central firepit with beautiful benches
• Professional metal signage that proclaims the Gospel 24/7 &
• Basketballs to give away at the grand opening & other events that will encourage more time at the park!
You cheerfully & sacrificially gave $21,200, that we paired with more than $5,000 provided by the Lord through the saints' offerings here & a generous $2,000 outreach grant from Village Missions!
That's more than $28,000 designed specifically to install major projects intended to last a generation or more to meet the expressed, felt needs of a town with no park & little expressed interest in Jesus.
While the Lord can surely bring them to us on Sunday mornings, how many more will He choose to touch with His goodness & Gospel as we invest in a place for His people here to meet them throust of the week! Picture it--
Church sponsored basketball events like 3 on 3 tournaments, along with certain weekdays we lower the goal to encourage family use, & other events like outdoor movies & chili cook offs, & so on at the church's park that allows God’s family here to be Titus 1:8 hospitable to those outside the family, so we can point to Him.
All of these will be vessels for the Gospel being spread intentionally & prayerfully in a 2 Thessalonians 3:1 way!
So, after nearly a year's worth of planning & work, made possible by the Lord's generosity through a grant from Village Missions, the giving of the church members here in New Hampshire, & 40 individuals & families living outside New Hampshire, the Outreach Project we first told you about less than 5 months ago is now complete!
We're THRILLED it's finished in time for a "soft" opening & before winter sets in, so that a "grand opening" community event akin to a ribbon cutting, including basketball giveaways & many other fun elements can happen ASAP after the spring thaw.
Even now, though, there are NEW people coming to enjoy the park every single day & we're having MANY Gospel & relationship-building conversations with folks we'd never have met otherwise.
Thank YOU for loving the Lord in prayer & giving the way you do, & to invite you to celebrate the Lord's goodness with us--today & forever.
Finally, pray for us, brothers & sisters, that the Lord’s message may spread quickly & be honored as it has been among you (2 Thessalonians 3:1).
Living for Jesus,
Pastor Dave for Shannon & John Scott
Colossians 2:5-7
MiddletonGospelChapel.org
ScottFamilyJourney.org
VillageMissions.org