Ron SCOTT & Mount Ayr Donars Build 25 Churches, 2011
SCOTT, ORCHARD, CUNNING, MEYERS, BRILLO, MADDY, ROSSER, RICKER, CONKLIN
Posted By: Sharon R Becker (email)
Date: 6/27/2011 at 22:19:41
Creston News-Advertiser
Creston, Union County, Iowa
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
by Larry Peterson, CNA assistant managing editorMount Ayr donors build 25 churches
MOUNT AYR — It was a small gathering to celebrate a large dose of generosity.
A potluck meal preceded a slide program on progress of international church-building efforts Saturday at the Southwest Iowa Rural Electric Cooperative building. The program was hosted by Brad ORCHARD, in charge of Africa partnerships for International Cooperating Ministries, and a familiar face in Mount Ayr — Ron SCOTT.
SCOTT, who worked 37 years as a teacher and wrestling coach, mostly in Mount Ayr, is now Midwest area director for ICM and resides in Osage Beach, Mo., with his wife Dana.
After retiring from Mount Ayr Area Community Schools in 2002, SCOTT worked as lead trainer and director of education for the Institute for Character Development at Drake University in Des Moines.
But, also at that time, SCOTT was introduced to the work of ICM efforts to build churches in third-world countries. That interest spawned an effort that grew throughout three churches in Mount Ayr.
Saturday, ICM officials celebrated the fact that partnerships in Mount Ayr have allowed 25 churches to be built in poor, rural areas of several nations including Vietnam, China and Tanzania, East Africa.
"From those 25 churches Mount Ayr people have sponsored, there have been 46 new churches birthed from those,” SCOTT said. “And in those 25 churches, there have been 502 baptisms. So, we’re bringing new people in."
"The agreement is, alright, we helped you, now you must help build others," said Dan CUNNING of Mount Ayr, a member of Assembly of God Church. He and wife Judy accompanied SCOTT on a visit to the Tanzanian village where an Assembly of God church was constructed.
$180,000 raised
SCOTT and ORCHARD said Mount Ayr has been a beacon of success for ICM, which is based in Virginia.
"The money raised from Mount Ayr and Ringgold County since 2002 is now over $180,000," SCOTT said.
“Mount Ayr is unusually small, yes, but it is also unusually generous," ORCHARD said of the community of 1,691 residents. "You have 25 churches built through ICM from this community. It's unheard of!"
It was a process that started slowly. The seed was planted at a funeral for a local plumber, Steve MEYERS. The Rev. John BRILLO presided, along with a former pastor of MEYERS' from Des Moines.
"The pastor invited us up. John and I went to Des Moines to hear a presentation about ICM," SCOTT said. "We came back and reported on what they had done. All of the money goes toward costs of materials for the construction. The partner must provide the labor, and pay into a covenant fund to start building their own churches. In fact, five new 'daughter churches' are to be built within three years."
The concept caught on quickly in Mount Ayr. Typically, $10,000 is needed from an American sponsor to begin this process. However, a China church sponsored by United Baptist Presbyterian Church required $25,000.
"Churches are much bigger in China, because of the number of people," SCOTT said. "You might have a church of 5,000 people, so you can't put up a 250-square-feet building."
The Rev. Mike MADDY of United Baptist Presbyterian Church had never heard of ICM before arriving in Mount Ayr four years ago. But he said the local congregation was intrigued by the ICM system, in which all 25 staff members are paid from a foundation established by founder Dois ROSSER. That allows all gifts to ICM to be applied directly to church building.
"At first you think about, do we want to put that much effort and finances for something that is that far away?" MADDY said. "In our case, we had two churches come together and build a new building. We had no debt on the building, and close to $200,000. We decided to go forward and match contributions dollar for dollar from that mission money. That was a good incentive to get started."
Several years ago, ICM church sponsorships started at First Christian Church. Assembly of God and United Baptist Presbyterian churches followed suit.
Dr. Bruce and Michelle RICKER, members of First Christian Church, have been heavily involved in SCOTT'S efforts on behalf of ICM.
The Rev. Chris CONKLIN, current First Christian Church sponsor, attended Saturday's program. He said there are photographs of sponsored churches hanging on the wall of the local church, but there has been little follow-up in recent years.
"It has to be a people-centered concept, not minister-centered," CONKLIN said. "We prayerfully want to see where we want to be in the future."
Guided by prayer
It was also prayer that guided SCOTT on this journey.
"Who would have thought a little old wrestling coach from southern Iowa would be doing what I'm doing now?" said SCOTT, who has visited church projects in Vietnam and United Republic of Tanzania.
Late in SCOTT'S public education career, he began reciting the Prayer of Jabez, based on the Old Testament passage 1 Chronicles 4:9-10.
"Basically, it says, 'Bless me indeed, oh Lord, and enlarge my territory.' My territory gradually started expanding through the Institute of Character Development," SCOTT said. "I prayed that many, many times. Now it is tremendously satisfying to be able to report to people how their gifts have impacted the world."
Transcription by Sharon R. Becker, June of 2011
PHOTO: Wearing a high school wrestling shirt from southern Missouri, former Mount Ayr wrestling coach Ron Scott poses in a Masai village in Tanzania with the Archbishop of the Tanzania Assembly of God church, left, and a Masai warrior known as "Thomas" Scott, who now resides near Lake of the Ozarks in Missouri, visited Tanzania on a church-building mission through his current employer, International Cooperating Ministries. (Contributed photo)
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