The Man Who Made A Difference: Remembering Gregg C. Scott (1950 – 2018)

The Man Who Made A Difference: Remembering Gregg C. Scott (1950 – 2018)

On November 24, 2018, our dear friend and co-laborer, Gregg Scott, gained eternity. He touched thousands of lives in his lifetime and is missed around the world. We echo what we’re sure the Lord is saying to him now: “Well done, good and faithful servant.”

In 1994, leaving behind successful careers in their home country of New Zealand, Gregg and his wife Alison joined Youth With A Mission. Gregg spent 10 years at YWAM Kona, Hawaii, in an executive leadership role in the area of operations and campus development. He was known not only for his excellent work, but also his leadership and mentoring skills.

While in Kona, Gregg met Rus Alit, a highly respected world leader with Appropriate Technology, which dealt primarily with providing clean water in developing nations. Gregg went on to work with Mr. Alit for 20 years, helping to bring clean water to villages in Indonesia and later, Tanzania, Africa, opening the door to what would become known as the Maji Cooperative (maji means water in Swahili).

After moving to Lakeside, Montana, in 2006 as part of Mission Builders International, Greg met a Tanzanian priest, Father Hugo Lungu, who was serving in rural Montana. Father Hugo expressed to Gregg the need for clean water in his own village in southwest Tanzania. They had only 4 working wells in a village of 8,000!

Working with various Christian agencies, Gregg spearheaded a program to drill wells and install water pumps as well as train local teams to maintain and service those wells. In partnership with Lifetime Wells, Maji Cooperative installed more than 60 water wells in Tanzania, having an extraordinarily positive affect on the quality of life in the area.

In addition to the clean water ministry, Gregg established a pipeline for medical supplies and equipment between Montana and SW Tanzania. He solicited, collected, stored, packaged, and shipped donated excess medical items from hospitals, clinics, veterans agencies and so on in the Flathead Valley. Items such as wheelchairs, hospital beds, hospital supplies, crutches, diagnostic equipment and machines, and operating equipment were all donated and shipped in 40’ containers. The positive affect on the local African communities has been staggering.

Gregg was always community-minded, demonstrated by his involvement in local fire-fighting, speedboat racing, and business startups. He had a huge capacity to love and to serve others and remained active for as long as he could until Parkinson’s disease made it too difficult for him to travel. Gregg was diagnosed with cancer in the fall of 2018 and finally succumbed to the complications of surgery on November 24.

Gregg is survived by his wife, Alison, three children—Kate, James, Peter and his wife, Joanna—his grandson Blaine and unborn granddaughter, a tribe of relatives, and countless friends.

Gregg is greatly missed by his family and all the people he loved and served around the world.

MBI is helping defray expenses for Gregg’s family, and if you’d like to help, you may use MBI’s Donate tab at www.missionbuilders.org, or contact MBI by mail (PO Box 406, Lakeside, MT 59922) or phone +1-406-844-2683.

 

MBI Team Member Brad Rauch: The Power of One in South Africa

MBI Team Member Brad Rauch: The Power of One in South Africa

My wife Joyce and I are involved with MBI as field staff in and for South Africa. We work with YWAM campuses in South Africa as well as HuntSA, a hunting and safari operation that encourages Christian sportsmen and women to come and have an adventure in God’s playground and then serve the marginalized children of South Africa.

There are an estimated 3.7 million orphans in South Africa. Close to half of them have lost their parents to AIDS-related diseases, and there are many more children living with sick and bedridden caregivers. About 150,000 children are believed to be living in child-headed households. They need the hope only Jesus can bring.

This year we helped bring 42 people over to hunt, recreate and serve in many ways in our villages, orphanages and soup clubs. But even with the numbers of people coming there is really only one thing that counts—the power of one! We all possess the power to make a difference in one life. We have that opportunity every day, whether here or in Africa.

I want to tell you about Peter. He’s about 16 years old. Last year, Sharon L. came over with Joyce and me to teach preschool for two weeks at Jehovah Jireh Haven orphanage. She bumped into Peter, who lives there. Sharon found out he was illiterate and that he wanted to learn to read, so she taught him. That was one year ago. He’s now reading at the seventh-grade level and has been sponsored to attend the Christian academy we work with.  He wants to be a lawyer.

Peter is so happy, and he is a life changed and empowered for the future. Like so many of our orphans, Peter has no birth certificate. Things are going very slowly in this process. Would you pray for Peter, especially that he can get his birth certificate?

Remember you have the power of ONE!