April - June 2019

“And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ.”  Ephesians 4:11-12

To the Churches and Bothers and Sisters in Christ,

The Lord has worked a great deal in our lives in the last ten years as we traveled America helping churches in many different areas. I looked at every task through God’s word and sought His will accordingly. I believe He has brought Lorraine and I to Snelling, South Carolina for the purpose of becoming a youth pastor and outreach director for Seven Pines Baptist Church.

In the last four years of wintering here (several months out of every year) we helped Pastor Mark Waterford and Seven Pines Baptist Church minister to God’s people. We were used by God to minister to the church through a revival meeting, local outreach, vacation Bible school, a funeral, and much to our delight a small youth ministry. God has always used Lorraine and I to minister to children and teens, and I have witnessed Lorraine grow far out of her comfort zone to teach children. I believe it has filled a void in her life and is answered prayer because we never had children of our own. We have grown to see and understand how precious children are in God’s eyes. We believe with all our hearts children and teens need to be reached with the Gospel and trained to reach other children and teens by their witness.

I was approached by Pastor Mark two years ago and was informed that the church was desiring to start a youth ministry and were looking to call a youth pastor. He asked if I would be interested and, like many other invites from churches or pastors, I said I would pray about it. The following year while here I was informed that another local independent Baptist Church needed a pastor. We visited that church and found out they had just called one. I left the new pastor my information and offered to help him in organizing outreach or doing a local meeting. Nothing developed as we prayed for Victory Baptist Church. When we came back in the fall the church was closed which grieved us terribly. We parked at the church and prayed, “Lord lead us to someone who can shed some light on why this church is closed.” At that time while attending Seven Pines the pastor came to me and said the deacons met and decided they wanted to call a young man to become their youth pastor. I said I understood and believed God was closing that door. Without getting into details, Victory Baptist Church decided against calling an interim pastor, and I believe that door is definitely closed. Shortly after, Pastor Mark and the deacons at Seven Pines Baptist came to ask me to reconsider becoming their youth pastor/outreach director. Again, I said we would pray about it. We exchanged doctrinal statements, and the church did a background check on us. On Sunday the deacons presented their findings and recommendation to the church, and the church voted to call me as their youth pastor/outreach director.

I have surrendered to the Lord’s will and believe this is where He would have me finish out my years serving Him. I want to thank all of you who supported us so faithfully by giving and praying for us fervently throughout the years. I hope we have not disappointed you in coming off the road. We both have peace that this is where God wants us to be. I will finish our meetings in June and begin July 1st as youth pastor for Seven Pines Baptist Church in Snelling, South Carolina. Please continue praying for us.

Serving Our Great God,
Scott and Lorraine