Friends and Family,
I wanted to take a couple minutes to write and give you an update on the Youth for Christ bike ride this summer. I know some of you may not have seen my first letter which I sent out in the middle of February. I have it posted online at my blog (where all of my updates will be posted), http://MCSc2c.blogspot.com/. If you'd rather, I can also email or send you a copy, just let me know.

Anyways, since my last letter, God has been gracious through eight friends to provide $575, and a church in California has committed to $600 through offerings during their summer VBS program! Though that is still a long ways short of the $100,000 goal that I have set to raise for the military youth ministries and Youth for Christ overseas, but I trust that God will move and is moving in powerful ways to provide.

One thing that I will be starting to work on tomorrow is a short video clip (which my dad suggested) that I will be able to send out to churches and individuals that I can't visit personally. The clip will give a brief explanation of what I'm doing, a little bit about the ministry of Youth for Christ and Military Community Youth Ministries, fundraising goals and purpose, etc. Answer the basic questions.

One particular prayer request that I have is that I would be more diligent about my training. I did take spring break and go for a couple long bike rides, though the weather in Ohio wasn't very cooperative. It seems that school work and other commitments quickly eat up any time that I could be on my bike, even if it's just a few minutes during the day, I feel like it's not worth it to take the bike out since I don't as long to ride as I would have liked. Which of course, it makes logical sense to just get out and ride no matter how much time I actually have…. I just need to get that through my head.

Thank you all for your prayers and support!

In Christ,
Mike Scott
MCSc2c@gmail.com
http://www.firstgiving.com/michaelscott

An Adventure for the Summer

Here is the first prayer letter I sent out:

I'd like to tell you all about an opportunity that God is providing in my life: As many of you know, when I was in high school, God worked in my life and brought me to a saving knowledge of Him through the work of a military youth ministry in Germany. As I have grown in my relationship with Christ over the past six and a half years, I have developed a passion for working with youth. I have also enjoyed bike riding for years and have dreamed about riding across the US.

Over the last couple months, God has worked to open a door in which he is allowing me to fulfill my dream of this bike ride and work for his Glory by building up the ministry of Youth For Christ (www.yfci.org).

Let me tell you a little bit about the work of Youth for Christ. YFC is an international organization that has placed missionaries on every continent with a goal to see a new generation of young leaders engaged with Jesus, equipped as His followers and empowered to transform the world specifically through evangelism and discipleship. Currently they are working on five major projects in the Europe, Middle East, North Africa (EMENA) region. Most of these projects are to build youth community centers which will provide alternatives for the youth in their evening activities. (http://www.yfcbikeride.org/sponsorship.htm, bottom of the page)

YFC also works with Military Community Youth Ministries (MCYM) for American teens that are stationed around the world with their parents. Teens in these communities are often hard to reach due to the military culture and its practice of moving families every 2-4 years. The best way for you to get information about their effort is to watch the short video on the homepage (www.mcym.org).

A bit about the bike ride itself and how God is providing an opportunity to support His global mission through YFC: As I mentioned, He has opened the door for me to bike ride across the US this summer, 4,300 miles from Washington to Maine (www.yfcbikeride.org). YFC is hoping to have as many as 60 people ride on this trip (which they are currently short of, so if you know of anyone that might want to ride, let them know) and requires us to raise $6,500 towards their ministry, which goes to fund the trip, projects in EMENA (mentioned above) and, by my choice, MCYM. However, as I've been praying about this opportunity, God placed on my heart to raise $100,000, earmarked (basically) 25% to EMENA and 75% to MCYM.

As I have mentioned to a few people, I know from experience that I do not have the personal capability to raise that kind of money, as in the past I've had trouble raising $3,500. My request is not specifically for financial support, though I would greatly appreciate you coming along side of me in that way, but that you would seriously pray for this trip: For safety, that all the riders would raise the amount of support that God has led them to ask for, the overall mission of YFC and MCYM.

I hope that you are as excited about this opportunity as I am!! And if the Lord leads you to support this mission, and me specifically, my fundraising page is at http://www.firstgiving.com/michaelscott. I would also ask that you would pass this request on to your churches, family and friends. I know $100,000 is a huge goal, but I recall the promise of Matthew 19:26, all things are possible to God.

Thank you so much for your prayers and support!

Mike Scott

mcsc2c@gmail.com