Jacksons 4 Scotland

Ministry transition

2014-08-27T16:42:00.001-07:00

{Note: This was our last post to this blog, as we transitioned from 20schemes to other ministry work. You can learn more about the current work of 20schemes here.
You can also read Suzanne's blog here.}


The family on departure day -- with our big ol' moving truck!

One year ago, our family was planning for an upcoming trip -- and potential move to Scotland. Who knew that today we'd be ministering in the desert of New Mexico rather than the Highlands of Scotland?

Well, the Lord knew.

The beautiful Jemez Mountains, north of Albuquerque (it's pronounced "HAY-mas", in case you wondered).

As we've been settling in, we've been reminded of God's goodness in so many ways.

God's physical provision for us through His people -- both here and our friends around the country -- has been humbling.

Our new church family readied our home for our arrival.

Living in the middle of the desert surrounded by glorious mountain ranges has been surprisingly refreshing to us. We are awed each day by their everchanging beauty and by their Creator.

Ready to tackle Pino Trail in the Sandia Mountains.

In the midst of the busyness of this transition, we're so thankful to be continually spiritually refreshed. Both the blessings and the trials of new opportunities drive us to the Lord and His Word. And He is faithful.

We hope that you'll continue to pray for us in this new ministry -- even as you continue to follow the work of our friends at 20schemes (so many exciting things happening there, as well!).

Pray for Jeff in his work as elder. He's just joined the preaching rotation, beginning with Ruth 1, and is getting to know the church family.
Our family has a heart to share hospitality with the church family and our community. Please pray that we'll make and take opportunities, and that these times will be encouraging to our guests.
AnnaKate is settling into her new home, routine, and church in North Georgia. We are praying for continued wisdom -- both for her and us -- as we parent this sweet young lady from afar. This is new territory for us! We are working (and praying) on finding a car for her, as well.

(By the way, check out how much our Jared has grown over the past 18 months -- he's so much taller in the moving truck photo than in the older photo in our header! We're proud of the young man he's becoming.)

Westward bound!

2014-06-21T13:29:00.000-07:00

Back in February, we told you about some challenges we were facing. Those challenges, along with Jeff's growing desire to return to pastoral ministry (whetted by our almost-move to Scotland), led Jeff to begin exploring opportunities for full-time pastoral work.

In the Lord's faithfulness, a church in Los Lunas, New Mexico, has invited Jeff to be co-elder. Our family visited Los Lunas and Albuquerque for about a week back in late April; Jeff preached, and we spent time getting to know the church family and checking out the area. We hope to relocate in mid- to late-July.

We're so thankful for the past seventeen months of sharing the ministry of 20schemes with churches all around the country.

We'd appreciate your prayers during our transition, especially in the following areas:

1) While we're planning for AnnaKate to travel to New Mexico with us, she'll return to Georgia to attend college. Please pray that we'll be able to find a safe and reliable (but inexpensive) car for her. We're thankful that the Lord has already provided her with a job, a wonderful living situation and a good church.

2) We have many details to work out for the transition. Please pray that in the midst of all of this, we'll recognize God's sovereign hand and rest in His plan.

3) Please pray for health and physical endurance for our family leading up to the move and during our 3-4 day cross-country trip.

4) We hope you'll continue to pray for 20schemes' ongoing work of bringing gospel churches to Scotland's poorest -- there is still much to be done.

Thanks for your prayerful support!

Evangelicals Now interview with Mez

2014-03-17T08:26:00.000-07:00

Evangelicals Now recently posted an interview with Mez McConnell, ministry director for 20schemes and pastor of Niddrie Community Church in Edinburgh, Scotland. We wanted to share this interview with you because it's a concise overview of the mission and ministry of 20schemes. You can help us by reading it and then sharing it with your friends via email and social media.

And if you need more information about how you and/or your church can be involved in this ministry, please contact us. We love to talk about it and help people learn how they might partner with 20schemes!

Evangelicals Now: 20schemes

What happened to February?

2014-03-03T09:18:00.002-08:00

February. It's the shortest month of the year. But this year, our February seemed both shorter and longer than it really is.

The month slipped by without us posting a single thing to the blog. We're sorry about that. We managed to send our monthly e-newsletter out today, and we thought we'd share part of it here in the way of explanation and prayer request. We're still here. February was just a little... different.

As we came into February, we were tempted to be a bit discouraged as we faced an empty calendar. Coming off the holidays, it has proven difficult to secure speaking opportunities with churches. Jeff was considering attending one conference, but had nothing booked as far as sharing with churches.

As always, the Lord had worked this for our good.

In our last couple of newsletters, we’ve asked for prayer for Suzanne with regards to her kidney disorder. (She has medullary sponge kidney, which basically makes her kidneys stone-making machines) We’ll let her tell the story from here.

Around Thanksgiving, I had an unusual and very painful week-long episode which culminated in passing between 30-40 stones over a four-day period. Since that time, the stones have continued to pass with varying degrees of pain. But at the end of January, things began to change. I struggled with an infection for most of the month that required two rounds of antibiotics to clear it. Stones continued to pass, but some seemed to get stuck in very uncomfortable places. A couple of different doctors prescribed a couple of different medicines to try to help with the constant discomfort, but they didn’t really offer any consistent relief. Last fall, we met a sweet Christian friend who is a licensed massage therapist. She had helped me after the Thanksgiving episode, so we decided it was time to see her again. After about an hour of intensive massage, I passed a wad of stones but, on the way home, I started having some intense flank pain. I took my pain meds and went to bed; the next day, February 27, I passed a wicked-looking stone* that actually appeared to be several stones fused together. After a month of much pain, frustration, and lots of prayer, relief had come.

And we understood a little better about why our calendar had been clear. Jeff was home and free to minister to me, encourage me, to drive me to doctor’s appointments, help keep the kids focused and the household running. And in between doing all of that, he was still able to study, disciple a couple of men, and network with two new pastors in hopes of building partnerships with 20schemes.

And the work of 20schemes goes on. Right now, a mission team from Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary is in Scotland as part of a partnership with 20schemes. The following week, five potential church-planting couples will be in Scotland on a Vision Trip as part of the exploratory and interview process for candidates. And here in the states, 20schemes will be present at the Ligonier’s Conference, Shepherd’s Conference, and Together for the Gospel (Mez will speak in a breakout session).

God's work continues... in us, through us, and in spite of our weaknesses... all to His glory.

By the way, let us know if you'd like more information on being part of an upcoming Vision Trip, or if your church might like to partner and participate in a mission trip.

*And if you're one of the curious types who just has to see the wicked-evil kidney stone, click on the beach graphic at the top of this post. It's ugly. Don't say we didn't warn you.

Believe a lie, live a lie

2014-01-26T13:59:00.001-08:00

Jeff was privileged to preach at Central Fellowship Baptist Church here in Macon this past Sunday. Over the past few months, we've enjoyed getting to know this church family a bit. Pastor Rodney Queen allowed Jeff to come and share about 20schemes back in June and, since then, we've visited the church from time to time. I thought I'd share a bit from Jeff's evening message (you can listen to the entire message here).

When you read Genesis 3:1-13, do you wonder how Adam and Eve moved so quickly from living in sinless relationship with God in the perfection of the Garden to being deceived into sin and separation by the serpent? How did that happen?

As it turns out, Adam and Eve were deceived in precisely the same way we are deceived today: Satan replaced God's truth with something that they wanted to hear... and he persuaded them that God wasn't being forthright with them. For that brief moment, Satan created doubt in their minds, and that doubt led to sinful action. It turns out that the military tactic to divide and conquer has been around since the beginning of time. After all, isn't that exactly what Lucifer/Satan attempted with the angels just before he and his followers -- one third of the angels -- were thrown out of heaven? He tried it with Jesus, too, but that attempt failed miserably. (See Matthew 4:1-11. Instead of taking the bait, Jesus rebuked Satan with the truth of Scripture -- the antidote to the falsehood of deception.)

Eve seems to have believed that Satan wanted the best for her (which makes you wonder what she thought -- at that moment -- that God wanted for her). That is so often the way that the crafty master of deception presents his offer -- he just wants the best for us, for us to be happy and to get what we really deserve. Of course, he's obscuring his real goal, because we probably wouldn't go for that: Satan desires to thwart your worship of God. My momentary happiness -- or ultimate failure in sin -- is not his primary goal. He desires to steal from God by drawing me away from devotion to Christ.

And that's the great battle. Deception vs devotion. Division vs. denial of self. Discouragement vs discernment. It's the battle that we fight each day, each hour, each moment, by saying no to some things and yes to other things as we choose right over wrong and best over good in a desire to worship and glorify God in all we do.

Whether we live in the schemes of Scotland or the Highlands, or the good old US of A, this is the message we need to hear. Those without hope need the gospel, and believers need instruction and encouragement. Will you join us in this work?

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. (Colossians 3:16-17 ESV)

John Piper and True Mercy Ministry

2014-01-16T15:01:00.000-08:00

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

2014-01-13T05:29:00.001-08:00

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

2014-01-07T10:23:00.001-08:00

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!

We'd love for you to share this post with others -- you can use the handy gadgets below!

to live is christ, and to die is gain | the 2013 cross conference

2014-01-02T19:09:00.000-08:00

We've asked our daughter, AnnaKate, to write a post about CROSScon 2013:

Through a completely insane series of events that were ordained by an extremely gracious God, I found myself on a bus at 5:30 a.m. seven days ago. This bus was filled to the brim with some of my favourite people in the world, a Dominican driver was gripping the steering wheel, and we were headed to Louisville, Kentucky, for a five-day missions conference. Yes, I was a little overwhelmed.

But I was also more than a little happy to be there. With those people, headed to that city, to hear those speakers. It was my dream trip, with some of my dearest friends to my favourite place in the world, where some of the most gifted spiritual leaders of our age were going to speak to us. What an adventure!

Nearly four thousand students had gathered at the Louisville convention center to have our view of missions refined and informed. We had booked the hotel rooms, chosen our breakout sessions, even scoped out the local eats-- but I think we were all unprepared for the intensity of the next five days.

Or at least, I know I was.

I came prepared to be convinced of the importance of missions, to have my emotions stirred into pity over human trafficking victims and starving children of third world countries. But as I sat under at least six sermons or lectures a day, I found that something else entirely was happening within my heart. These speakers were not giving us dry lectures on the physical needs of the world. They were attacking the sin that lurked within each of us. The result was nothing less than transforming for me.

Perhaps seasoned missionary Mack Stiles summarized the heart of the conference best-- "There is no sanctification by aviation." Being a missionary doesn't transform you into a super Christian. Being a missionary is a series of small, scary steps, only taken when you set your eyes on Jesus and follow Him relentlessly. Every Christian is called to Jesus, every Christian is called to missions--it's only what PART you play in missions that is tricky to determine. Some of us will be called to go and carry this mission to other cultures ourselves, some of us will faithfully serve in our local churches and fuel the fire of missions--but we must all cultivate a passion for God's Word to the lost. All of us must love Jesus with all our hearts, souls, and minds, and then, we won't be able to keep this wonderful news to ourselves.

"You can risk everything because God risks nothing." (Kevin DeYoung)

To listen to some of these life-changing lectures, click here. I'd highly recommend it. =)

O for a thousand tongues to sing...

2013-11-16T16:30:00.001-08:00

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!

2013-11-06T15:23:00.001-08:00

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

2013-11-01T16:36:00.003-07:00

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

2013-10-12T13:07:00.002-07:00

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

2013-10-07T18:23:00.001-07:00

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

2013-09-21T19:22:00.001-07:00

"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?

Braveheart: God's Way

2013-09-12T05:48:00.000-07:00

We recently returned from visiting Scotland, the land of William Wallace (Braveheart) fame, and particularly that of his comrade in arms, Andrew Murray. While Wallace campaigned in and around the central belt of Scotland, Murray fought and won many battles in the Highlands.

Wallace and Murray combined arms and fought the English in a major battle which Wallace and Murray won against great odds. Unfortunately, Murray was mortally wounded and died two months later. Wallace went on to a knighthood, great fame, and martyrdom.

I haven't seen Braveheart, yet. But I got to thinking about what it means to stand for something that you'd be willing to die for, check that, something you'd be willing to live for.

In my first opportunity to offer some biblical encouragement to the folks of Hopeman Baptist Church , I spoke about God's gift of making Christians from all races and walks of life a spiritual family.

1 Timothy 3:15 encourages Christians with the fact of our kinship as members of God's household; we are the Church of the living God. What a special gift we share together as adopted sons and daughters; though we may differ in skin color, language, culture and customs, we are family through faith in Christ.

As a family then, we should pray for God to fill us with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding. And we must strive for unity in the bond of peace for the sake of Christ and His commission to us: go and make disciples, teaching and baptizing to the greater glory of God.

Psalm 86:11 expresses the essence of a prayer of David that I encouraged my brothers and sisters to take to their hearts and offer to God on behalf of knowing His will, living in that will, and being united in our hearts to His greater glory. A prayer not so much for brave hearts, but for united hearts which offer the highest honor to God through holy living.

David humbly prays, "Teach me your way, O Lord." We need to ask to be taught God's way; it is not something we know intuitively. "...That I may walk in your truth" -- that we may live our life by the truth of God's Word, i.e., that we will be obedient to Scripture. "...Unite my heart to fear your name." Our hearts are prone to wander, prone to distraction and discouragement. We need to pray that the Lord, by His truth and according to His grace, will cause our hearts to be pointedly focused on living a reverent, holy life.

Unity comes through truth. The absence of truth fosters discord and every evil thing. I pray that my brothers and sisters at Hopeman Baptist will know the joys of knowing God, being filled to full measure with the knowledge of His Word, live in obedience to God's Word, and will have an unflinching heart of loyalty to the Lord out of reverence for Christ.

Bravehearts? Maybe. But even better - hearts united in a growing awe of the Lord, and in a joyful, undistracted pursuit of what pleases Him.

Our continuing adventure in Scotland

2013-08-29T02:34:00.000-07:00

We've had quite a busy time here in the Highlands -- it's hard to believe that we've already been here a week!

A sweet group of believers met together on Sunday for worship. Jeff preached from Mark 5 both morning and evening, and the most common response we heard was, "I've never heard anything like that before!" Thankfully, it was meant in a positive sense; it seemed that both exposition and Jeff's style were welcomed. Later in the week, we came across a sign that seemed to sum up the current general feeling about faith in the UK -- you'll see it pictured below. A more positive sign was discovered at the church -- they feel a kinship with Texas because some in the church were saved through the evangelistic efforts of a mission team from Dallas in years past. Seeing the Texas-shaped clock on the wall made me happy! Tonight we'll join with the church family again for prayer and a Bible study led by Jeff.

On Monday, we were able to have some time away as a family. We ventured into Elgin (Jeff drove brilliantly) to visit an authentic fish and chips shop owned by a freind of our hosts. There was a Starbucks nearby, but we opted to go a bit more local and sat for a bit in Costa Coffee. AnnaKate declared it the best coffee she'd ever had (then qualified that with, "except for Daddy's"). And about the sandwich below... it contains Coronation Chicken, which is a part of British history as the recipe was developed for Queen Elizabeth's coronation in 1953.

One of the highlights of our visit has been getting to know our hosts, John and Rosemary. And we were glad to meet their children over the weekend, as well (their daughter, Lynsey, is shown below). And we must say that Bella, their dalmation, was a sweet surprise as we left our own Bella at home!

Our visit so far has been a mix of past, present, and a hope for the future. We're enjoying the history that surrounds us at every step (see Jared below on top of a World War II bunker), as well as the spiritual heritage that is Scotland's. As we get to know the church family here, we clearly see the present need for revival in this village and all of Scotland. In all of that, we are encouraged by the hope that has been expressed to us. A hope for the children of the village to hear of the Lord, for the people of the here to be drawn by the Lord, for the church family to be revived by the Lord. This is our prayer, and if the Lord chooses to use us to this end, it will be a privilege.

First days in Scotland

2013-08-25T00:51:00.002-07:00

As our airplane taxied to the runway in Atlanta, I leaned over to AnnaKate and said, "I still can't believe that we're going to Scotland." Even after all the preparation and packing, it was a bit unreal to me. This, after waking the children that morning with, "Guess what -- we're going to Scotland!"

Once we (finally) arrived in Amsterdam, it became more real to me. And as we rode the shuttle from the terminal to our plane, we were surrounded by Scottish accents to reinforce the idea.

And when we landed in Aberdeen, made it through the long queue in customs, and were driven by our host out of Aberdeen into the countryside and through the villages, it became utterly real.

When we arrived at our hosts' home, we admired the amazing view from our window, then set to unpacking. This, of course, was followed by a cup of tea with biscuits.

Beyond that, we spent our first day relaxing, seeing a bit of the village, touring the manse, and enjoying a glass of Robinsons with biscuits and crisps on the patio at the home of a deacon.

The next day, our first full day in Scotland, was spent with the deacons and some of their wives. They were eager to introduce us to some of the local sights and history. We stopped by Culloden, then followed Loch Ness south and picnicked at a car park near Glenmorisden -- the Highland cattle were friendly and the falls of River Morisden were lovely. After lunch, we continued following Loch Ness to Fort Augustus, just in time to watch seven boats travel through the Caledonian Canal (one of a series of canals connecting the east and west coasts of Scotland).

We finished up the day with a leisurely high tea in Inverness, where I had my first fish and chips, then we journeyed home, just in time to see the sunset over the harbor.

We really enjoyed our day of fellowship and sight-seeing. Jared's summation at this point: "Scotland rocks!"

Goodbye to friends... for now

2013-08-18T13:23:00.000-07:00

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.

WHEW!!! (An Update)

2013-07-30T14:06:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone,

Suzanne and I apologize for the lapse in any new info for the past two weeks, it has been a whirlwind of good activity for us. Our heads are spinning.

This is a brief update about what is happening with us as the Lord continues to amaze us and pour out His grace in our lives.

Through Matthew (executive director for 20schemes), we were recently put in touch with a Baptist church in the Highlands of Scotland. It turns out that this church has been looking for a pastor and, after checking into me, they have settled on pursuing me. Wow! All of this within a two-week period of time.

That's the very, very short version of what has been going on behind the scenes as we have made a quick visit to Georgia and come back to Indiana to begin packing for our relocation to Georgia - whew! Why the move to Georgia? To be a part of Faith Bible Church in Peachtree City, live with my parents, and continue our work with 20schemes while also continuing to prayerfully discern God's will about pastoring in Scotland.

The church in Scotland has purchased plane tickets for the entire family to come for two weeks beginning August 20 and returning September 3. During our time in Scotland I will preach and teach a number of times, meet with families and leadership from the church, explore the ministry climate in and around the village, connect with a couple of American pastors serving churches in Scotland, and attempt some family sightseeing.

We want to try to patiently wait on saying very much about this opportunity at this time (it's hard not to get our hopes up because we are so excited). But we realize that we are still very much in the investigative phase of things, and that it might not work out for us to be a part of this opportunity. We know far less about them than they know about us. But what we do know leaves us hopeful and prayerful that it will come to fruition. We are very eager to meet them and serve them while we are there.

Please pray for us as we prepare to move to Georgia (moving day approximately Aug. 8 or 9) and as we prepare ourselves for our two weeks in Scotland. Please pray for the church there as it prepares for us and seeks the Lord's will in their relationship with us.

None of this is overwhelming or moving too fast for us. We have been praying and preparing for this kind of thing for many years. The suddenness of it isn't as sudden as it appears, and we are very encouraged by all that the Lord is doing in our lives. While we are busy, we are so thankful for the Lord's kindness and for this new adventure in our walk with Him.

Thank you for your prayers and encouragement. As we know more we will pass it on to you.

We love you all --

grace and peace in Him.

Jeff and Suzanne and kids

Kids + missions = a great investment!

2013-07-11T06:14:00.000-07:00

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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Meet the 20schemes Team: Matthew Spandler-Davison

2013-07-09T06:10:00.001-07:00

In a recent post, you met Mez McConnell, Director of 20schemes in the UK. Now we'd like to bring you back to the U.S. to meet Executive Director Matthew Spandler-Davison.

Matthew is originally from Stonehaven, Scotland, and came to faith at the age of 16 through the gospel ministry of a small Scottish Church. After graduating from The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and completing an internship at Capitol Hill Baptist Church in Washington DC, Matthew planted Redeemer Fellowship Church in Bardstown, Kentucky, about ten years ago. This church went on to plant Grace Fellowship Church, and these two churches have teamed up with Niddrie Community Church in Edinburgh, UK, to establish 20schemes.

Let Matthew tell you of his passion for bringing the gospel to the schemes of Scotland through the planting of churches there:

20 Schemes Vision from 20 Schemes on Vimeo.

You can learn more about our work with 20schemes here.

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Sharing 20schemes with Hope United Methodist Church

2013-07-06T12:21:00.001-07:00

This past weekend, I took along my trusty photographess (AnnaKate) and headed off to Dayton, Ohio, where I met up with my friend Jason Bunger, pastor of Hope Church. Jason and I met at The Gospel Coalition conference in Orlando back in April. He stopped by our 20schemes booth and chatted with me and, before he left, he had booked this time for me to come and share our ministry with the folks at Hope.

I spoke in both morning services using our Powerpoint presentation and some video. The material was put together by Mez and his staff and makes use of some very sobering stats put out by the Scottish government each year. Look for a post on this soon with corresponding graphics of just how bad things really are across Scotland and especially in the schemes. Jason also allowed me to do a Q&A session for the adult Sunday school between services.

Jason and his wife, Dawn, hosted us in their home and were great to allow us time with them and one of their little girls, Joy-Joy. Thanks so much Jason and Dawn, and thank you to Hope Church for your kindness in allowing us to come. We look forward to what the Lord will do in our partnership of grace for the unreached in the schemes of Scotland.

Enjoy the pictures of our time with these precious folks!

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Meet the 20schemes Team: Mez McConnell

2013-06-24T08:26:00.000-07:00

Mez McConnell is the pastor of Niddrie Community Church in Edinbrough, Scotland, one of the three churches behind the formation of 20schemes. According to the Scottish government, Niddrie is the most economically deprived scheme in the capitol city and ranks 31st in Scotland on the deprivation scale.

Mez is also the Director of 20schemes in the UK. Once you've listened to Mez' testimony, we think you'll understand how the Lord has fitted him to pastor a scheme church and help plant/revitalize gospel churches throughout the schemes of Scotland.

Mez McConnell's Testimony from 20 Schemes on Vimeo.

If you'd like to know more of Mez McConnell's story, read his book, Is There Anybody Out There?: A Journey from Despair to Hope.

You can learn more about our work with 20schemes here.

(This post contains affiliate links. Thank you for supporting our Jacksons4Scotland!)

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Sharing 20schemes with Houston Lake Presbyterian Church

2013-06-21T08:23:00.001-07:00

"Give me Scotland or I die!"

This was the fervent prayer of John Knox in the mid-1500s. And Scotland did become a bastion of Christianity, standing firm against religious tyranny and later sending missionaries all over the world to share the gospel.

Sadly, Scotland's rich spiritual heritage is now a distant memory, especially in the schemes. We were privileged to share the mission of 20schemes -- gospel churches for Scotland's poorest -- with Houston Lake Presbyterian Church in Warner Robins, Georgia, this past Sunday. During the School of Discipleship (adult Sunday school), Jeff explained the hopelessness and destructive cycles faced by many living in Scotland's schemes, then he outlined the plan to reach those in need with the gospel by planting gospel churches right in their midst:

Identify 20 schemes as priority areas.
Where possible, identify church revitalization partners in or near those schemes.
Recruit church planters, female outreach workers, and ministry apprentices to send into those schemes.
Develop church partners to support and resource our work in the schemes.
Invest in indigenous leaders by providing training, resources, and support.

After the service, we were able to chat with many in the church family. They were encouraging and asked many thoughtful questions about 20schemes and our work with this ministry. A number of folks also signed up for our e-newsletter, which we hope to begin sending out monthly. We're thankful to Pastor Paul Bankson and the elders for inviting us to share.

Scotland once sent out missionaries to unreached people; now missionaries will be going to unreached people in Scotland and, Lord willing, new leaders will rise up from within Scotland as the Lord works through His Word. Will you partner with us to see this accomplished?

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