Psalm 78

Well Friends,

It is getting down to the wire at this point, and to be quite honest, it has been hard to trust that God will provide the support for YfC that I'm required to raise before I can go. I was also a bit discouraged when I heard that I wouldn't be able to make a presentation at my church services due to some army regulations… But, I know that God is faithful!

I've been reading through the Psalms lately and was in Psalm 78 a few days ago. It talks about how God was faithful to Israel through the generations, especially in the desperate time of captivity in Egypt and as they moved through the desert afterwards. They had to trust God day by day for the most basic life needs of food and water. Yet, here I am, worried that he won't provide the means for me to bike across the US and tell people about His work in the lives of military teens and to raise money for those teens.

Actually, as a side note, the regulations that are preventing me from presenting this trip to my church are also preventing the youth ministries here from obtaining church tithe money as well. So really God has timed this trip perfectly to provide for the needs of the youth ministry. (It's amazing how he does that!)

Anyways, since my last email a couple weeks ago, I have had a few very generous donations, and did have the opportunity to talk to a bunch of people after church today and hand out some flyers. The Protestant Men of the Chapel and Protestant Women of the Chapel organizations are going to be able to show the video that Geoff produced for me during their meetings over the next couple weeks and hand out more flyers as well. As I told the people whom I gave flyers to today, though, my vision was for people across the US to make $5 and $10 donations as they are able… I know I don't know that many people, but they say that there is only six degrees of separation between me and the rest of the world.

I also wanted to quickly report (this letter is getting long) that I have been out on my bike. I've got almost 600 miles biked in training, including last weekend where I did 80 miles on Saturday and Sunday. I had the opportunity to go out with a group on Sunday, and felt like I could have done 30 more miles with them!

Thank you all for your prayers and support!

Mike Scott

http://www.firstgiving.com/michaelscott

P.S. Psalm 78 also talks about telling the next generation about God's faithfulness in our lives. If you haven't been taking the time to share with the youth around you (especially your kids), how God has worked in your life and been faithful to you, I would really strongly encourage you to do that. It means a lot to us less 'wise' ones! And it reminds us that God is bigger than just right here and right now.

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