Earlier this month, Matthew Spandler-Davison, pastor of Bardstown Christian Fellowship (BCF), led a twelve member mission team to the Scottish city of Ayr. The July 5-18 project was in partnership with Southside Christian Fellowship (a Scottish Baptist Church), and IMB Missionary to Scotland, Gena Wilson.
The nation of Scotland has a rich Christian heritage, but today it is reported that less than 10% of the population consider themselves evangelical Christians. In some cities that figure is as low as 3%. In an effort to change that trend, for the past four years BCF has sent a short term missions team to assist Southside in their summer outreach activities through a soccer camp and VBS.
This year the mission project saw nearly 200 children attend a morning evangelistic soccer camp. In addition to coaching soccer, team members shared testimonies and devotions with the kids, many of which had never heard the gospel and had no church background at all. In the afternoons around 170 children were ministered to through a VBS which served to build relationships and share the gospel in small groups.
Brother Spandler-Davison writes, “We praise God for a wonderful experience, for the blessing of being able to minister in Scotland, for our safety and protection while being gone, and for having the chance to sow the seeds of the gospel and to be an encouragement to a sister church and our Southern Baptist missionary.”
