Category: Personal Perspectives

Moira Scott (1949-2021)

Their voice still speaks

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by Martin Scott
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Moira, Ivan’s wife and mother to 4 (adult) children passed away in the early hours of yesterday. She was my sister-in-law, and an example of the generosity of the love of God to and for many. Ivan and Moira modelled a care and an acceptance of one and all. We remain in the land of the dying with the provocation that our voice might continue to speak after we depart this world. Moira leaves more than a memory in people’s minds. Her values and priorities continue to influence… her voice continues to speak.

Jonathan, one of her sons, posted on FaceBook, what I now re-post here with his permission.

Mum passed away peacefully last night, just 7 weeks after this picture was taken, where we celebrated the 30 years of extra life modern medicine bought us. She had a mercifully short battle with lymphoma, an ironic long-term consequence of the transplant medication that had kept her alive all these years.

She leaves behind our dad, the 4 of us, her 6 amazing grandchildren and her 6 siblings. She also leaves behind the countless thousands of people she has touched over the years, some in large ways, some in small ways, and most in ways we’ll never know. she provided food and shelter to folks as they got back on their feet again, encouraged people in their darkest hours with a prayer, an encouraging word, or just a hug, and was always available with a cup of tea and a song, which seemed to make anything better. Her home, wherever she made it, was always a place of peace, warmth and welcome.

Her life’s work was not about material gain; it was about strengthening her family and faith and doing what she could to bring wholeness and fulfilment to people, families and communities.

In her final days, she spoke with me about how her life had been an exciting journey of self-discovery, and how she had grown to understand that life is not black and white, nor governed by rigid rules or institutions as we’d once been led believe; instead, she saw it as a kaleidoscope of colors, where apparent conflicts and contradictions hang together, somehow in harmony. She also accepted this might be her time and was not afraid of death, even though it felt too soon.

We were lucky to have us. We will miss her. I will miss her. But what an example she set.

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Twenty Three

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by Martin Scott
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I made a small comment in the first post of interviews with Matheus about the significance of 23 years old / 23 years ago, so here is a short follow up.

Many years ago – I know it was many years ago because I was 46 years old, I got up in the night as I had something burning on my heart. The first part was not burning and did not take much time to offload. It was a simple prayer… ‘if you feel OK about this I would like to live another 46 years. I have not lived long enough yet to make enough mistakes to learn too much so maybe another 46 years will help on that account.’

Well I might have another 46 years, another 46 months, another 4 hours… whatever. So not too important a prayer that part.

The second took longer. Lord help us see 23 year olds rise up who have the maturity that a 46 year might have, without fear, full of insight and with humility, blah, blah blah.

Coincidental ages of course, but I think the point remains. It was, and remains, a very significant moment in my spiritual journey.

I have been amazed at the ‘coincidental’ connections since. Phoning someone years ago, and as part of the background sharing the above experience. At the end of sharing it (and it was the only time we ever conversed by phone) he said to me ‘you know what day it is?’. I had no idea what the question meant… until he said I had phoned him on his 23rd birthday.

23 years ago I left what I was involved in, entered a borrowed vehicle with a team and drove up the motorway to Leeds. Maybe my life was already being changed before I left, but that first journey and the many that followed certainly saw so many internal changes. There was a before and an after at a personal level 23 years ago.

Gayle, likewise is reconnecting with events of 23 years ago. Her world is being turned upside down, as she enters a major phase of what she has been born for.

We are embracing these days, yet travelling as slow as we can, as we are committed to the next 23 years (or 46, or….).

23 and 46 (and 92) were arbitrary numbers… but I suspect that there is something that, for many of us, is rising that somehow taps into an era from the late 90s, that is resurfacing in a new way. Seed that is in the ground does not come up the same as it went in the ground, but it does come up.

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Video interview with Matheus Lapa (#1)

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by Martin Scott
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Over the past short while I have been touching base with Matheus – from Brazil but living in Canada. We first met when he was (and continues) to translate for when he was translating for me on Zoom earlier this year. I suggested I made a few videos with him… for a number of reasons. He is younger than me by a few years (BTW my calculator seems to be back functioning and shows a difference of 42 years between us!!!… Age 23, things 23 years ago etc. have become very significant for Gayle and I, so that caught my interest); he is living cross-culturally and has / continues to think through the implications of his faith.

I made 3 interviews on Monday – this being the first, just pressing in to issues of what difference(s) are there in living cross-culturally.

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Interpreting the signs

A new career calls

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by Martin Scott
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There are times we put 2 and 2 together and probably don’t get 4, but then there are other times… See what you think.

A short while back they began to film in the street round the corner from where our apartment is in Madrid. So there we stood, Gayle and I watching. Along comes one of the helpers who asked us to move on… apparently our reflection was in the window and this was not at all helpful as the whole setup was set in the 1920s. Of course I did wonder if this rather junior guy had missed the obvious – pull me in at least to be an extra. Whatever…!

So here we are some 18 months later and police notices go up – all cars out of the street, all surrounding roads blocked off, with our street as the main focus. Another series is being filmed. Set in the 90s, a series called Paraiso. Could just be coincidental, but maybe it is a sign. They are using this area as they wanted a setting that has not changed since the 90s. Surely they will need someone like me who has not changed since the 90s… after all how many can they find like that, I ask myself.

So while waiting for the call, I will see if I can sort out my calculator. For some reason it has begun to malfunction, I know this as when I tap in 2+2 it is giving me all kind of random answers except the right one.

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Water

New Supplies... Neighbours need it

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by Martin Scott
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The screenshot above of the Palestinian woman bathing her kids puts a different perspective to any complaint we might have about life. It again illustrates that we are in the top x% of the privileged in the world.

A small challenge this morning making breakfast with no running water. Dirty dishes that we could not wash yesterday, no water in the tap, no water in the toilet cistern… at least I had a shower back in February so that part was not urgent…

So here is a story.

Saturday morning we get a panic call from Alejandra. We have never met her, but we sent her our keys so as she could stay in our apartment in Madrid. We can go back there legally now, but for over a year we were not able to travel there because of lockdown. We all have choices to make, and we sensed that giving her the keys was a redemptive choice, redemptive as it pushed back against a culture that we do not wish – we have to sow where we want the world to go, surely that is the practical outworking of refusing to acknowledge the lordship of Caesar?

The boiler is broken and water is pouring out. She then said she woke at 2.00am to the sound of rain, but it sounded inside the apartment. Back to sleep… woke and got up at 8.00ish. So some 6+ hours of water pouring out had caused quite a lot of damage, inside the kitchen and to the apartment below as well.

One day later, we had just been out for an hour, and when we came back the neighbour asked if we had water. Up we go and discover no water. An hour later he owns up that he had drilled through our water pipe, with the words that we had heard the day before – ‘Your water poured out everywhere’.

Compared to the Palestinian woman in the screenshot our situation is a blip, an inconvenience… but 2 cases of ‘all your water came pouring out…’ over neighbours are either coincidental, weird or…

Our entry to Madrid was ‘ up the inside of a sewer pipe’. We certainly had challenges, and then to remind us the upstair’s (there is one floor above us) toilet leaked through our ceiling. Not too pleasant water coming in. Now in both places our water has poured out (sorry neighbours!).

There is only one source for water – spiritual water. How we connect to that source can change. In both places the first step was that the mains water supply was stopped. Re-connections, new conduits etc., had to be put in. Then a connection back to the main source. I don’t think we are reading too much into it, for this has been our story this year. Thank God for water (past), thank God for the sign that neighbours can benefit from ‘your water pouring out’. But we are now in a season of getting a whole new supply of water, different pipes etc… OK more to it – but I think this might be a sign wider than ourselves. A year is here for connection to the one and only source, but expect changes, for the flow to neighbours of the old supply is changing.

Oh… and hopefully by the end of today we will be able to wash the dishes, and I will need to consider carefully if another shower might be due.

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Where do you want the world to go?

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by Martin Scott
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So we have a birthday in the apartment today. I have had more birthdays than Gayle (they do get a little repetitive don’t they?) so this one is definitively hers. She is now older than 45… Been an interesting few weeks.

Gayle is convinced that many aspects from 23 years ago (did you pick up the maths there – 46 divided by 2) are somehow coming round again but very differently. Interesting cos when I was 46 I got up in the early hours of the night with two prayers. ‘If it’s OK with you I would like anther 46 years, I think I might need at least that long to make some kind of difference…’ and a second prayer… ‘Raise up some 23 year olds who carry all the maturity of a 46 year old, who show no fear of demonic powers, can discern where cities are at and call for their destiny.’ First prayer took no length of time at all, the second quite a bit longer. A few weeks after this I had an interesting experience. I called someone asking them if they would be willing to take on something that I had initiated. I had not spoken to them prior to this on the phone, and as far as I remember never after. I recounted my 46/23 night time experience and the person listened, then once I had finished said to me ‘You do know what day this is?’ I had no idea what they meant (Tuesday, Friday… whatever). It was their 23rd birthday. I might at times be slow to catch on but that got my attention.

I am no longer 46, indeed I had a revelation a few days back while running. The revelation was that I am probably already beyond half my life span. I’ve had to think about that since then – as I am only half way between 60 and 70…

So today belongs to Gayle. And amazingly in the days before her birthday so many ‘coincidences’ of what took place 23 years ago.

We are both very grateful for months of protracted meetings in ‘Marsham Street’ 24/23 years ago. So many people found faith. A wonderful input to those gatherings, Dale Gentry, said amongst many other snippets of wisdom ‘sow where you want to go’. Inspired by those gatherings in 1998 and went to Leeds to meet with Steve, Mike, Paul and others to suggest we meet across the city to pray (I met with them 23 years ago). A couple of months later Sowing Seeds for Revival began. Never asking to go anywhere, but one city and region opened after another and led to 8 years of fairly intensive travelling.

Now here we both are 23 years on from that time. So much has changed. Nothing looks the same. The fires burn as strong but the expectation of outworking? So different.

Sow where you want to go has become

Sow where you want the world to go.

Sow into people who are carrying / desire to carry something of the future. This I understand as being the nature of the New Testament understanding of ‘gift’. Freely offered to enable someone to move toward their destiny.

Seedtime and harvest. 23 years ago a lot of seed. Seed sown with expectation. But… expectation just does not cut it by itself, for expectation is shaped by the past. 23 years later, and during these past 23 years fruit, fruit, fruit. Seed sown on good soil; but then seed sown into the world; seed that was ‘the word of God’ becomes seed that is the ‘sons and daughters of the kingdom’ (parable of the sower gives way to the next parable). Sow where you want your life to go becomes sow where you want the world to go.

We are grateful for the connections we have where there is church growth. But absolutely sold out to the places where there is world growth.

It is a good time to have a birthday.

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The Door is Out

Trying to enter through the exit door

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by Martin Scott
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After I finished recording the previous two conversations with Michele she launched into two dreams she had had a number of years prior that shaped her direction. I said, let me record that second one! Here it is. When God has called us out there is something to see (if we turn around)… OK I will let her tell it.

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