The Rev. Mike Scott’s life can be summed up as one of great labor and great reward. As a preacher, teacher, mentor and missionary, Scott has relied and drawn strength from a Bible verse that confirmed his calling, Joshua 1:9, "Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest," (KJV).
A native of Graceville, Fla., Scott graduated from Satellite High School in 1967 and attended the University of Georgia and Georgia State University. He has the equivalency of a degree in Pastoral Theology from Louisiana Baptist University. His grandfather Pitt Scott was a Baptist preacher in Holmes County, Fla., and two of Scott’s brothers are in the ministry.
Scott answered the call to the mission field in 1982 while attending Harmony Baptist Church in Covington. He and his wife Teri and children Elijah, Sarah and Benjamin, went to Kueretaro, Mexico, in 1988 for one year to attend language school.
In 1989, the family moved to Arequipa, Peru, the capital of the Arequipa Region, and served two terms. In 2002, they worked in Tacna, a city in southern Peru. Scott established three churches in Peru by passing out tracts, witnessing, preaching and baptizing. The later became adventurous at times due to the water shortage living on the edge of the Atacama Desert, the driest place in the world.
"It’s rather intimidating when you go into an area," said Scott. "We had been in language school, but by no means were fluent. The Lord supplied and gave us older missionaries who helped us get a home and find a place to meet. Little by little, we won people to the Lord. Our goal was to teach other men that they might teach other men."
While in Peru, Scott established a Bible institute. He wrote much of the curriculum and it is used for discipling and training purposes.
Scott and his family returned to Covington in 2003, and he served as a representative for the Maranatha Baptist Mission based in Natchez, Miss. His job was to teach the churches about missions and act as an agent for the mission board by preaching conferences, holding revivals and helping to raise funds for missionaries.
Scott continues contact with the pastors in Peru and was pleased to learn that one of the churches he started has planted another church.
"Mission work is nothing but church work done in another language or in another culture," said Scott. "The word is what does the work. The only thing that God has ever asked of any of us is faithfulness."
Scott is a Certified Automotive Mechanic and currently works as a technician repairing forklifts for Lift Atlanta in Decatur. He enjoys gardening and photographing his grandchildren, Morgan and Hunter Denney.
After months of prayer, Scott left Harmony Baptist Church and followed God’s call to open an independent Baptist church in the area. Faith Baptist Church, an old fashioned bible preaching church, meets in the home of Bill and Ann Standridge at 427 Macedonia Road in Covington.
"I believe the work of the church is to take the word to the lost," said Scott of his desire to train and disciple people. "That is done by preaching and teaching of the word, and becoming part of their life and by providing an example."
After a year and a half, Faith Baptist Church is looking for a location to build and are in search of a children’s minister. They hope to grow the church to support a full time pastor and missionaries.
Traditional Sunday School is held at 10:00 a.m., followed by worship at 11:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. Midweek services are at 7:30 p.m.
Scott counsels families and encourages them to become more involved with their children’s lives.
"There needs to be a time when the whole family gathers and reads the word of God out loud and prays together," said the pastor. "People need to get their children involved in it and ask them about the problems in their life and take it to the Lord."
For more information, call 770-344-8563 or email Mikescot1@juno.com.
