Tracy finally reached the end of herself. For twenty-eight years she had been in a relationship with a cheat and a drug addict. Her life was “…a roller coaster, loads of ups and downs. Some times I ask myself when will I ever get off? I have had enough.” She became desperate for the strife and pain to come to an end. Tracy had never been to church and really didn’t know many Christians. Later, she put it this way: “I believed in God, but I thought to become a Christian you had to be perfect. Christians were good people who looked down on us.”
Caroline grew up in a rough part of Edinburgh. Her first experience of church was going to Sunday school as a child. “When I was younger I went to Sunday school because we got free sweets.” As a young teen she turned to drugs and alcohol. “I discovered cannabis, we soon discovered ecstasy and alcohol…I got into the habit of jumping from one relationship to another, always feeling lonely. I just went through life feeling something was missing.” She became pregnant while in a short-term relationship. The father got in trouble with the law and was sentenced to life behind bars. Her only release was more drugs.
Tracy and Caroline both live in schemes, housing developments in Scotland. And both of their lives took a sudden and unexpected turn. Caroline’s friend Tasha encouraged her to start going to a Bible study. Tracy’s husband experienced an extraordinary salvation and encouraged his wife to come to church with him. Both Caroline and Tracy encountered the person of Jesus through the witness of his church. They have been transformed.
Tens of thousands more unreached and unsaved women live in Scotland’s schemes. Many are addicted to drugs and alcohol. Some are trapped in prostitution. Others have experienced a life of abuse, neglect, and abandonment. Most are struggling just to provide a safe and loving home for their children.
Female Outreach Workers are essential to successful gospel ministry in Scotland’s schemes. 20schemes is actively recruiting women who will make a two-year commitment to this unique mission field, and join one of our church-planting teams.
Our vision is to see healthy, gospel-centered churches planted or revitalized in housing schemes all across Scotland. There is a desperate need for biblically faithful women to join the work—to befriend and disciple women just like Tracy and Caroline, and to be a part of what God is doing to build his church where there is no church.
Would you pray about joining us? We are praying for many faithful women to begin the journey of becoming a Female Outreach Worker with 20schemes.
To find out more about how you can partner with 20schemes, or to apply to join us, visit 20schemes.com.
