This past week Lisa and I received official approval of our plan to launch Charis Bible College Dumfries, Scotland!! This approval from the Charis Bible College organization is a huge step forward in the process for us to get to Scotland to do the work God has called us to do. It also marks a milestone in that we’ve put in a great deal of work to get to this point. Though in many respects our work is just beginning.
Full Ministry Plan Required
The process so far has been an adventure for Lisa and I. We’ve been moving forward based on what we firmly believe we heard God say to us about what to do.
At the end of our third year as students at the school we had a meeting with the key decision makers who agreed that in general they liked the idea of us going and opening a new campus in Scotland. The assumption was that we would put together and submit a formal ministry plan on how we expected to get the school up and running before we would be formally approved to move forward.
The ministry plan is basically like a business plan for a new startup. We were part of a team that prepared a ministry plan as part of our third year studies so fortunately we knew what was expected there.
This past August I submitted our plan. It contains 32 pages of information that covers all sorts of things including the economic and political climate in Scotland, information about visa requirements, demographics, marketing plans, vision and values, SWOT analysis, historical background, financial projections, and so on.
Because we had to think things through and formally put them into this document for approval by the Charis Bible College leadership we now have a clear path forward.
Then this past week we had a meeting where we were told officially that we’re a go!
What’s Next
So now we’re looking at our next steps.
One of the biggest things that needs to happen moving forward is securing visas to enable us to legally do the work in Scotland required to get the new location up and running there. Immigration is a politically sensitive topic in the United Kingdom right now and their laws and requirements seem to be in a bit of a state of flux at the moment. So we crave your prayers for favor with all the government officials who will eventually be the ones to approve our visas as well as wisdom for us in the best way to proceed to get our paperwork submitted the right way the first time.
Fundraising. We are going over to Scotland as “self-supported” missionaries. I put self-supported in quotes because I really don’t like the term. Regardless of what channel our income gets to us, as believers we understand that God is ultimately the source. This has been true while I’ve been self employed as a web developer. It was true when I worked for a shipping company. And it still holds true as we head to Scotland.
Anyway, my minor hangup with the term notwithstanding, this means Lisa and I are expected to raise the support needed for us to live in Scotland. God showed us that people would partner with us to bring about His vision to draw hearts to Him in Scotland. The major purpose of NewCREEations is to facilitate that partnership.
So please pray that God will impress on people’s hearts to partner with us in this work for the country of Scotland.
Plan Moving Forward
We plan to have everything in place – visas, necessary funds, etc. – to enable us to move to Scotland this coming summer. We look to spend a couple months or so in one of the existing Charis Bible College campuses over there for some more hands-on experience with how a successful school is run.
Then we’ll transition over to Scotland to start preparations for the launch of the new location in the fall of 2017.
In addition we are looking at least one short term trip to the UK before we move over there to attend a critical meeting.
All in all we have a ton of stuff to do before we get on the ground in Scotland. So Lisa and I are continuing to move forward with those preparations. Something tells me the next ten months are going to fly by for us!
How to Partner
If you have a passion for Scotland and would like to make a USA tax deductible donation, please use our secure form to partner with us here.
