John Piper and True Mercy Ministry

We've talked about mercy ministry on the blog before (here) -- it is first and foremost gospel ministry. But you'd expect missionaries to say that, right?

It might be surprising to find that a sociologist's research actually supports the view that gospel ministry does more for a society than acts that are traditionally considered mercy ministry. John Piper has done a much better job of discussing this research than I can -- I recommend you read his post for yourself.

20schemes is all about bringing the gospel to a group that desperately needs this good news -- the poor of Scotland. And we do this through planting healthy churches right in their midst. But we can't do it alone -- we need both goers (church planters and other gospel workers) and stayers (churches and individuals to partner financially and in prayer). Will you help?

3 ways you can help us help 20schemes | revisited

As we come near to marking our first year with 20schemes, we thought it might be helpful to revisit a some of our earlier posts. We originally posted this back in May 2013, and thought it might be helpful to some newcomers to our ministry and 20schemes.



1. Support. We continue working to raise our monthly support even as we are developing partnerships for 20schemes. Please partner with us in prayer to this end -- and if you'd like to partner financially, as well, you can learn how to do that here. Some folks  opt to support us monthly, others have provided a one-time gift, still others have done both.

2. Subscribe. We love telling folks about the work of 20schemes, and two ways we do that include this blog and our e-newsletter. We hope to post here several times a week, and our e-newsletter will go out about once a month. To be sure you receive each update, we'd love for you to subscribe to both the blog and the e-newsletter. And we have a subscribe page to help you subscribe to either or both. Also, follow our Facebook page and Twitter feed for frequent ministry updates.

3. Share. Can you help us get the word out? Here are a few easy ways to share:

• Share our blog posts on Facebook, or email the link to a few of your friends with a personal note.
• Share our Facebook updates with your Facebook friends.
• Retweet as we post on Twitter.
• When you receive your e-newsletter, share it with folks and ask them to subscribe (it's free). There's a handy button at the bottom of each e-newsletter that makes it easy for you forward to a friend. (There are also buttons for sharing on Facebook and Twitter -- feel free, by all means!)
• If you see we'll be in your area, consider hosting a missions fellowship in your home or at your church. We'd love to meet your friends and share our ministry with them, too.
• Tell your pastor about our ministry. And let us know if your church might be interested in hosting us to come and share, whether it's as part of a missions conference, for Jeff to preach in a Sunday service or lead a men's conference, for Suzanne to speak to a women's group, or simply to share the vision of 20schemes in a worship service. You can see our current schedule here, and learn how to contact us here.

Will you help us help 20schemes? It's easy, and we can't do it without you!

FAQs (or things you might want to know) | revisited

As we come near to marking our first year with 20schemes, we thought it might be helpful to revisit a some of our earlier posts. Here's one from May 2013 that we think might be helpful to some newcomers to our ministry and to 20schemes.


As we've been sharing 20schemes with individuals and church groups around Georgia over the past few weeks, we've noticed some common questions. We thought it might be helpful to address a few of those here.

How would you sum up the ministry of 20schemes in just a few sentences?

"Our long term desire is to see Scotland’s housing schemes transformed by the gospel of Jesus Christ through the planting of gospel-preaching churches, ultimately led by a future generation of indigenous church leaders. To that end we will initiate a church planting and revitalization effort by recruiting, training, supporting, and sending church planters, female outreach workers,ministry apprentices and short-term interns to work as part of church planting teams within Scotland’s housing schemes. We believe that building healthy, gospel-preaching churches in Scotland’s poorest communities will bring true, sustainable and long-term renewal to Scotland’s schemes." (This was taken directly from the 20schemes website; you can learn more there.)


What will you be doing with 20schemes -- and will you be moving to Scotland?

The leadership of 20schemes has tasked us with developing partnerships with churches (and individuals) over the next two years. These partnerships will help this new ministry to build a financial base to support the work and also to recruit church planting teams. We'll work to this end by networking with pastors, preaching (Jeff) and sharing the ministry with congregations, speaking at conferences and mission fairs, and any other way we can think up! Because the ministry anticipates that the majority of workers and funding for 20schemes will need to come from the U.S., our work will be focused here in the States. Will we ever move to Scotland? From the time we joined the ministry we have been open to what the Lord might have for us, but only He knows the answer to that!


When do you begin work with 20schemes?

We actually began work in February 2013. Jeff participated in a Vision Trip to Scotland early that month, then began meeting with pastors and church leaders in the Kentuckiana area and at conferences around the country.


How is the work of 20schemes funded?

20schemes is funded through the gifts of churches and people like you who desire to join in partnership with us by financially supporting our missionaries, adopting a scheme, or sponsoring an intern. As missionaries-in-residence, we are raising our own monthly support even as we do the work of 20schemes.


Do you have other questions? Let us hear from you!


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O for a thousand tongues to sing...

When Jeff stepped up to preach this past Sunday at Immanuel Bible Church in Scottsdale, Arizona, he reminded us of one of the songs we'd just sung:

O for a thousand tongues to sing
My great Redeemer's praise.
The glories of my God and King.
The triumphs of his grace.

My gracious Master and my God,
Assist me to proclaim,
To spread through all the earth abroad
The honors of thy name.

Jesus! the name that charms our fears,
That bids our sorrows cease;.
'Tis music in the sinner's ears,
'Tis life, and health, and peace

As Jeff unpacked Mark 5:1-20, he told us how the demon-possessed man was uncontrollable and useless, an absolute slave to the forces of sin within him. But everything changed when the power of sin and Satan met the power of Christ. The demons immediately submitted and were sent plunging off the cliff in a herd of about 2000 swine. The man was free to think, move, speak -- and even clothe himself -- free of sinful demonic dominion.

He breaks the power of canceled sin,
He sets the prisoner free;
His blood can make the foulest clean;
His blood availed for me.

He speaks, and listening to his voice,
New life the dead receive;
The mournful, broken hearts rejoice,
The humble poor believe.







The saving power of Jesus the Son of God broke the power of sin, set the prisoner of Satan free, and made the foulest of the foul spiritually clean. And what was Legion's response? He wanted to become a follower of Christ. Literally, he wanted to go with Jesus; he didn't want his Deliverer to leave him.

In Christ, your head, you then shall know,
Shall feel your sins forgiv'n;
Anticipate your heaven below,
And own that love is heav'n.

But Christ had a new mission for this once-monster now-man, telling him, “Go home to your friends and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.” (Mark 5:19, ESV)

While the story of this man's redemption occurred long ago, similar stories are written across the world today as men and women are freed from sin-possession through the saving power of Christ. They are freed from the master of sin to become slaves to Christ, serving and sharing this good news with others in bondage to sin.



 The 20schemes team -- including our family -- is privileged to be a part of the redemptive work going on in the poorest areas of Scotland, bringing light to a dark place as we build relationships through the local church. Like the demon-possessed man of Mark 5, we long to be with our Savior, but have been left behind to tell of His power and mercy.

Thanks to Josh Matteson, pastor of Immanuel Bible Church, for allowing us to share our mission with the church family. We were delighted to meet his wife, Tracey, and their fun-loving boys, as well as many who attended Sunday. We're so thankful for yet another church watchfully seeking ways to reach the lost, near and far.

We're also thankful for Linda, Suzanne's stepmom, who allowed us to hang out at her house during our stay in Arizona!

Building a gospel partnership is child's play!

When we visited with Church on Mill a couple of Sundays ago, I had the unique opportunity to share with some of the elementary age children there. These kids were already somewhat familiar with the work 20schemes is doing in Scotland because of a partnership begun this past summer through Vacation Bible School.

I was able to not only introduce (via photos) these missions-minded kids to Scotland and Niddrie Community Church, but also to Natasha and the kids she's been working with. Natasha has already received some of the benefit of this partnership through funding for additional training, and the kids in both of these congregations have been exchanging penpal letters and small gifts over the past few months. Kids on both sides of the pond have been intrigued and excited by this project!

Natasha interns at Niddrie Community Church, working with youth and children in a variety of ways. She loves the work, especially with the five-to eleven-year-olds. Teenagers are harder to reach, so Natasha hopes that seeds planted and relationships built during these earlier years will help these kids stay connected to the church when they become teens.

Natasha's biggest challenge -- just learning to love the kids, even when they're not acting especially lovable -- also provides one of her greatest rewards. "I see myself in them sometimes, and it just makes me even more grateful God has decided to use me to minister to them, I can relate to them," she says. When asked how she has grown spiritually through working with the kids, she responded with this:

I'm learning so much about how God is using me in Niddrie, and how he is turning me into the person he wants me to be! It's hard to be a Christian on a scheme, especially if you are from a scheme, friends and family will turn their backs on you -- the people you least expect to, will.  Life does get difficult, but in that I learned to trust God and not myself; he will provide and take care of me and he has.

But the benefit of all that is, people NOTICE, they notice you're not the same person you had been, they notice you making better decisions, they notice a change in your behaviour and attitude, and they have to and will ask how? And there's a great excuse to glorify God and tell them it isn't through me and my works but God and his grace, and Jesus Christ.

Now all of this may not seem terribly remarkable to you unless you realize that Natasha is a relatively new believer who demonstrated a heart to reach out to those around her, especially children and young adults. Until she was saved, she'd never read the Bible or been to church, other than for a handful of christenings, funerals, and the like. Let me further introduce you to Natasha by sharing her video testimony with you:

The local church played a vital role in sharing the gospel with Natasha. It continues to play a vital role in her discipleship, as well as in equipping her to share the gospel and serve in the church. She's among 20schemes' first indigenous apprentices, homegrown converts eager to invest in gospel work through the local church.

That's our mission in a nutshell: reaching the unsaved in the schemes of Scotland by planting local gospel churches. But we can't do it without you. Are you willing to partner with us?

And now in MY backyard

Last post, I told you how Jeff recently preached right in his own backyard. This past Sunday, he preached practically in my old backyard, right across the street from Arizona State University, where I spent many hours of research for high school debate, as well as my first year of college.

 If you've been with us long, you might remember that The Church on Mill partnered with us this summer through their Vacation Bible School. The children learned a bit about the ministry of 20schemes, collected money to assist one of our indigenous interns with additional training, and started penpal relationships with some of the children that Niddrie Community Church is working with.

 Then, last Sunday, we were able to share in person with Church on Mill in Tempe, Arizona. During the Sunday school hour, we tried something new. Jeff shared with the adults, as he's done at other places. But since the children had already begun a partnership with the work of 20schemes, I was able to share a bit with them, too.

It was great to meet the children's director, Andrea, in person; we had just Skyped and emailed up to this point. And it was wonderful to see the deliberate work that the teachers in the children's department are doing, both in teaching the Word and in focusing on missions.

During our time with Church on Mill and pastor Chuck Newkirk, we came to understand that this love of the Word and missions is tightly woven into the fabric of the church. In a college town, churches tend to be more diverse and energetic, but sometimes rely on entertainment and edginess to bring in bodies. We were encouraged to see this healthy church body focused on equipping the saints and sharing the gospel, all while emphasizing the importance of the local church.

In many ways, it reminded me of the work that 20schemes is doing in planting gospel churches for Scotland's poorest. Whether in a college town in Arizona or the schemes of Scotland, there is a need for healthy gospel churches faithfully investing in building relationships in the community while depending on God to bring about a changed heart in individuals -- which in turn leads to social change. Both locations require a commitment over time and a willingness to do a work that can be messy.

Drawing by Sarah DeJesus

Jeff's sermon for Sunday was from the first part of Mark 5, a passage that vividly illustrates Christ's saving power. It's an unusual story, an amazing story, and it's one we love to share because, in many ways, the story of this demon-possessed cave-dwelling monster who is freed by Christ parallels the testimonies of so many in the schemes of Scotland. One young lady in the congregation captured the desperation of this man in the picture she later shared with us (left).

Then Paul Cooling, a member of Niddrie Community Church in Scotland, shared (via video) how he had been sin-possessed and useless, sleeping in a graveyard, until Jesus intervened in his life. Through the ministry of the local church, he learned of this same saving power and is now living a joyful and productive life, investing in others and striving to serve God in all he does.

This is the heartbeat of 20schemes. But we can't do it without partners, people like you to financially and prayerfully support the work. Will you help?

Preaching in his own backyard

It's not often that a preacher has the opportunity to preach in what is practically his own backyard, but Jeff did just that this past Sunday.

Through a referral from local pastor Rodney Queen, Jeff met with Hershel Sizemore, pastor of Lighthouse Baptist Church, earlier this summer. That meeting led to an invitation for Jeff to preach and share gospel partnership opportunities at Lighthouse Baptist last weekend.

And where is Lighthouse Baptist Church located? It sits just outside the old pecan orchard that was part of the family farm that Jeff grew up calling home. He was an Air Force brat, living around the country and even in Germany as a child, but the 125-acre farm owned by his grandparents in South Bibb County always provided a sense of home. For years, Jeff hunted that land, worked that land, and even helped to build many of the fences that still stand there.

Maybe that's why he felt so at home with the folks at Lighthouse Baptist. Or maybe it's because they're such friendly folks. Or perhaps Hershel's enthusiasm about our ministry was just contagious. Whatever the reason, we're grateful for the opportunity to worship, to share, and to partner with this church family.

We need more churches and individuals to join us as gospel partners. Can you help?

Sharing with Harbor City Baptist Church

A couple of weekends ago, our family had the privilege of traveling down to Melbourne, Florida, to share Scotland's need for the gospel with Harbor City Baptist Church. Many times, we're limited to just meeting folks in the formal church setting, but this trip afforded us some great informal fellowship times, as well.

Our host family, the Austofs, welcomed us with a wonderful meal on Friday night, and we enjoyed our time with them all weekend. They just encouraged us to treat their home as our home, and we felt like family.

 Before our trip, several pastor friends had encouraged us to try to meet Myrue Spivey while we were in Melbourne. Myrue pastors Grace Bible Sanctuary in nearby Palm Bay. We had breakfast with Myrue on Saturday and came away so encouraged in the Lord. In fact, if you google the word encourage, Myrue's picture should come up in your search results. If it doesn't, well, the folks at Google just might not be as smart as everyone thinks they are!

We spent Saturday evening with the family of Harbor City's pastor, Jeff Mitchell. Jeff's wife, Shelley, prepared a wonderful meal for us and, somehow, our unsocialized homeschool children (two of ours, eight of theirs) managed to have a wonderful time together (as did the adults)!

Sunday was a wonderful day of worship at Harbor City. Jeff was able to preach on the transforming power of the gospel in the morning worship service. We enjoyed some great fellowship with Ron and Roxanne Cunningham, along with Wayne Smith and his daughter, Melanie.

Then, on Sunday evening, Jeff spoke more directly about the spiritual darkness in Scotland, as well as the two gospel opportunities in which our family is currently involved. We use visual images to communicate these realities and, as always, the folks marveled at the beauty of Scotland and were shocked to learn how far the country has drifted from its strong Christian heritage. (Speaking of Christian heritage, check out the photo of the 1599 Geneva Bible, below.)

 
On Monday, the Lord graciously provided beautiful weather for a family beach day, including some great seafood.

Several people committed to partner with us this weekend in our gospel work. Won't you become a partner, too?

Sharing with Christian Fellowship Baptist Church

"Wow. I never knew it was so spiritually dark there."

I think that was the most common response we received when we shared our mission opportunity with Christian Fellowship Baptist Church in Zebulon, Georgia, this past Wednesday night.

Honestly, it's been our own continued response as we learn more about Scotland's spiritual state. Late last year, we began to become aware of the lack of gospel churches in the most deprived areas of Scotland, the schemes. But it's only been recently that we've learned more about the darkness that is present even in the Highlands, in the outer reaches of the country.

And it's more than just a lack of the gospel. Over the last few generations, faithful churches have somehow faded away. You've heard that nature abhors a vacuum; well, Satan loves a vacuum. He loves to stealthily slip in and fill the void with lies.

And whether the lies lead to something called spiritualism, atheism, or pantheism, the result is always the same: idolatry. And the antidote is the gospel.

It was a joy to share the opportunities and challenges of partnership in our developing gospel work with this body of believers. The church family lived up to their name -- they reflected Christian fellowship in every interaction. Thanks to Steve and Odessa, and also Al and Cora, for inviting us to come. (Friends of our family, Doug and Yvonne, connected us with CFBC, but were unable to attend due to illness. We continue to pray for Yvonne.)

And can I just say that these folks know how to put out a South-in-your-mouth Wednesday night supper spread?

Goodbye to friends... for now

One of the sweet benefits of ministry life is the opportunity to forge friendships with other believers. But the flipside of this is sometimes having to say goodbye when the Lord moves us elsewhere.

Even before we arrived in Indiana, we'd already begun getting to know a couple of sweet families from the church there. Jeff spoke with the men on the phone quite often, and these families carved time out of their vacations to spend a Sunday afternoon with us in Georgia. On our move-in day, these were the folks who brought groceries, then guided us to local Mexican food and ice cream places to help ease our transition.

Though our ministry took some unexpected (to us, not to God) twists and turns, these friends wrestled through the issues right along with us and, ultimately, when a line was drawn in the sand, stood on the side of biblical authority and fidelity. They encouraged us, comforted us, and rejoiced with us -- a rare blessing indeed.

And then, just over a week ago, they gathered other mutual friends together to tell us goodbye and encourage us yet again. Yet we know that this was not a real goodbye... thanks to the blessing of technology, our common love of missions and the church, and the hope of heaven, there is no permanent parting of believing friends.

I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy, because of your partnership in the gospel form the first day until now. And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. It is right for me to feel this way about you all, because I hold you in my heart, for you are all partakers with me of grace, both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel. For God is my witness, how I yearn for you all with the affection of Christ Jesus. And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless of the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God. (Philippians 1:3-11 ESV)

Have you known special friends like this, friends who have been faithful and encouraging to you? Quick suggestion: send them a note today to let them know that. And we'd love for you to leave a comment below, as well, to tell us about your friends.

Kids + missions = a great investment!

It's never too early to begin teaching children about missions, and there are so many ways to do that.

Each summer, Church on Mill in Tempe, Arizona, weaves a mission project into their Vacation Bible School (VBS). When a friend from high school, Lesley, invited us to develop a project for Church on Mills VBS to support 20schemes this year, we were happy to be a part -- even long distance! (Can you believe that 90% of this was done via Facebook?)


Working with Lesley, Andrea Heaton (Preschool and Children's Ministry Coordinator for Church on Mill), and Sharon Dickens (Director of Women's Ministries for Niddrie Community Church), we came up with a plan. Sharon introduced the idea of raising funds to provide additional training for Tasha, an apprentice working with youth and children through the ministry of the church in Niddrie. Tasha grew up in the schemes and came to the Lord a little over a year ago. We all agreed that would be a great investment. Andrea also asked if the VBS children could write letters to some of the children Tasha is working with, in hopes of building some penpal relationships.

This was a really fun project for us. The first night of VBS, Andrea interviewed us via Skype -- isn't technology great!

We were also able to send some photos and videos from Jeff's visit to Craigmillar Castle, as well as a few photos of Tasha and the children's ministry in Niddrie, and Church on Mill's resident techie, Bennett, transformed them into multimedia presentations for group time at VBS. You can see by the photos below that the VBS staff took the medieval theme very seriously!

Some creative soul also created a clever castle bank where the children could deposit their mission offering each night.

One of the highlights of the week was hearing from Lesley that the group was praying for us and for 20schemes nightly. During the week, Jeff was also able to talk with Church on Mill's pastor, Chuck Newkirk, to learn more about the church and share the ministry of 20schemes.

We were so happy to be a part of this mission project, and we're thankful for the investment of Church on Mill in future ministry in the schemes of Scotland.


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