20schemes

Last August, Shelby and I were attending the Getty Sing! Conference in Nashville. As Shelby and I were sitting in our seats waiting for the first session to start, advertisements for the exhibitors began to roll across the screen. There was one that stuck out to Shelby: 20schemes. She leaned over and asked me if I knew what it was, and I had no idea. Since we had time before the first session, we whipped out our phones and began looking up the organization and reading about it. 20schemes exists to bring the light of the gospel to Scotland’s Schemes through church planting and revitalizing. After looking it up, we decided to go talk to the people at the 20schemes’ booth.

At the conclusion of the first session, Shelby and I made a b-line for the booth where we met a man named Rick. We began to ask him about the different opportunities that 20schemes provided. After about 45 minutes, Shelby and I looked at each other and knew that this is where God was calling us. So, I asked Rick about what it would take to become a church planter with 20schemes, and that is when he called over Marci who then proceeded to talk to us about the application process. She told me to email her when we got home from the conference and then she would email me an application. So naturally, I sent her an email on the spot because I didn’t want this opportunity to pass.

While I loved the churches that I was serving at the time, I knew it was time for something new. I had been looking for a way to leave the UMC since 2017, but nothing came to fruition. I was afraid to leave the comfort and safety of what I had to pursue what God was calling me to, but now I knew why nothing had panned out: God was calling me to Scotland. So at the end of 2019, we packed up our house and left our churches to pursue planting a church in Scotland. We moved to Biloxi, Mississippi and joined First Baptist Church Biloxi.

On March 6, we flew to Scotland for 20schemes candidates’ week to interview for the position. We experience living and working in the schemes, and we fell in love with the people of Scotland. For the first time in a long time, I knew exactly what God wanted us to do. Since returning, it’s been a weird feeling for me because I love being home, and I love our church and church family, but I miss Scotland. I have a longing to go back and serve the people there.

With that being said, Shelby and I are excited to share that I have accepted the position of church planter associate with 20schemes.

For now, we will continue to live in Biloxi and attend FBC Biloxi. The next part of our journey is raising support, which I will share more on in the coming weeks. But if God wills, the Baileys will be moving to Scotland to plant a church.