Wednesday, June 24, 2009

Update: Turkey, Nepal, Haiti, and ME



212 Team,
Spring is here and summer is around the corner. We are pretty busy gearing up for our Peak Turkey Team to head out overseas this summer. Jake and Amy Mulvihill will be leading this team and are very excited to get back to the country that has captured their hearts. I will be back here
running the office, and playing the support role for them as they head out, much like Amy has
been doing for me and my teams these last two years. I will miss being in the mountains of Nepal this summer but God has different plans in store for me and there are several new ministry opportunities on the horizon which include getting back to Nepal as well as possibly taking several teams to Haiti over the course of this next year. Most of you know about the Pastoral Training Conferences we did last September in Nepal where we were able to see more than 400 pastors and lay staff from over 170 different churches from all over Nepal walk through our “Shepherding for Ministry Leaders” training. It was a huge blessing both for us as well as for the churches in Nepal. We had representatives from the far west, the southern plains, as well as a Sherpa from the Everest region, an area where we were unaware had a Christian presence. It was an amazing time of ministry and fellowship. We have been asked to return at least two times a year to offer ongoing theological, ministry, and leadership training to these and many more who are hungry for ongoing education. Tom and Dee Johnson and myself are making preparations this summer for our next training trip with will include a training on “Search For Significance”, and on counseling for those who are hurting within your community. We are very excited about this and covet your prayers. Haiti is another new frontier for us at 212, but one we are very excited about. I was introduced to the country of Haiti by an amazing friend of mine and through a series of events was able to go and be a part of a team of trainers for a youth ministry training school in Cap Haitian, a large city in Northern Haiti. Out of this experience, we have found a new ministry that is looking to have teams like ours come and help out in the remote mountain villages around Cap Haitian. We are also looking to expand our courses to include inter-generational teams to go to Cap Haitian and help with the growing ministry there at Open Door Church. This ministry includes the remote mountain villages, but also would include work with an elementary school, youth ministry training school, an advanced medical clinic staffed by one of the head doctors from the main hospital, as well as ministry at in the church and surrounding community. So as you can see, the ministry is very diverse, the need is great, and it is a place that is more economical. We can do a course in Haiti for less then the price of what a round trip ticket to Nepal now costs!! Now please understand, we are definitely not giving up our courses in Nepal, my heart will forever be intimately tied to the people of this country, and we will certainly continue to do ministry as long as God keeps those doors open and I have breath to share. But in light a struggling economy, people staying closer to home, being sensitive to what is going on around us and the ministry that God is presenting to us, we want to be wise and obedient in what we are being called into. As you can see, these opportunities are very different then the Outdoor Leadership School that has marked us as a ministry over the past several years. As a ministry we are trying to be proactive in looking forward at the new directions God might be taking us in during this season. Again, in light of what is going on in the world and being committed to our mission and vision as a ministry we are seeing new opportunities to re-invent ourselves as a missions organization; to continue doing what we have been called to, but expanding to what we believe are more effective and efficient methods of evangelism. We are hoping that you are as excited about this as we are, and that you will continue to invest in the ministry of 212 long into the future. As our board of directors meets to work through the details of these new endeavors we again covet your prayers. We will keep you posted on all the new developments as they come and continue to share the stories of God’s faithfulness through the ministry that we are doing together. Please know that your individual support over the last 18 years has been very appreciated. But also know that your ongoing support during these troubled times has been both appreciated and very humbling. It seems that there are new stories each week of the challenges and struggles that so many of us are finding ourselves in, and so your commitment to partnering with us in the midst of that is so very significant to me. God has continued to prove himself faithful as certain supporters have needed to drop off for a season and He has raised up new supporters to help out in times of need. i believe that this is how true biblical community works, and i have seen the body of Christ doing amazing things not just through your support, but in our church, my small group, and even in my own personal life.
On a more personal level, God has been humbling me on so many different levels over the past few months. It has been both extremely painful, as well as very exhilarating. But in all that He is
doing, i believe he is faithful, and when i struggle to trust in Him, He provides a friend to hold up
my arms in the midst to the struggle. i continue to love Jesus, i continue to strive to trust Him
when i don’t understand or see completely where He is taking me, i am committed to my own
personal growth and development, and i will continue to love well those He has committed to me to minister to. God is transforming me, humbling me, and changing me for the better, and i
believe He is doing the same for 212 Degrees. We want to be wise, effective, sensitive to His spirit, discerning, and ready to go when and where He leads. Please continue to join us in our journey or if you have been waiting to be a part, don’t wait any longer. May the Jesus who has me on the potters wheel, who is about transformation and restoration, the one who is able to do
immeasurably more than we could ask, dream, or imagine, mold you, bless you and keep you, and shower His love all over you!! Thank you so very much!! And please remember me in your prayers, both my heart and our ministry.
God Bless,
scott

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