After almost 30 years of living with multiple sclerosis, Scott’s wife Carol graduated to heaven on January 8, 2019. She leaves a big hole in the lives of those she loved and who loved her.
In September of 2021, Scott and Chery Flores were married after God brought us together in an amazing way. Chery had served on church planting teams with another mission agency in Spain for 12 years. She recently finished an MDiv with a focus on missionary care, and since the summer of 2023 has served as part of the missionary care team at Missions Door, a sister mission organization to WorldVenture. Her primary area of responsibility is working with indigenous workers in Latin America.
For thirteen years, Scott’s focus was on equipping global missionaries in partnership with Denver Seminary. Fewer and fewer students are coming to seminary with the purpose of preparing for overseas ministry. Our challenge was to help students see that they can be a part of God’s plan for reaching the nations, whether in cross-cultural ministry themselves or as church leaders. Because of diminished opportunities to influence students for missions, in 2023 he shifted back to WorldVenture full time to concentrate on missionary training, with a specific emphasis on encouraging life-long learning on the part of WorldVenture global workers.
We are figuring out what ministry together looks like, even as we serve with two different agencies. Missionary care and missionary training are closely related, and we anticipate finding ways to serve cross-cultural workers together. Our desire is to help missionaries thrive in their various cross-cultural settings.
Scott and Carol’s Previous Overseas Ministry
Scott and Carol were appointed by WorldVenture in June 1985 to work with Biblical Education by Extension (BEE) in Eastern Europe. We arrived on the field in February 1988 and worked in East Germany until 1989, when the Berlin Wall fell and public ministry became possible. In August 1991, we moved to Romania and spent a year there. In 1993 we returned to Vienna, Austria; however, Scott continued traveling every month to Romania, helping establish regional training programs with BEE and opening the WorldVenture Romania field.
From 1999 to 2009, our ministry focus was to encourage emerging missions movements and to equip missionaries in and from Central and Eastern Europe. We helped train short-term missions teams, consulted with new missions agencies and movements and spoke at missions conferences.
As a part of this emphasis, Scott was the Coordinator of the New Mission Movement Network of the European Evangelical Missionary Association. He taught missions courses at a variety of schools around the region and served as visiting professor in Missions and Theological Education at the Academy for World Mission in Korntal, Germany, an extension of Columbia International University.
Teaching at Denver Seminary
In 2009, following 20+ years working in Central and Eastern Europe through WorldVenture, Scott and Carol were asked to return to the States to help out in the missions area at Denver Seminary. Our main ministry area consisted of working through Denver Seminary to equip students and future pastors to engage the needs of the world with an emphasis on cross-cultural ministry. Scott did this by teaching missions and Christian history classes (including a couple for international students), leading formation groups, and mentoring students. Second, we assisted WorldVenture by championing involvement with emerging missions movements and missionary training. Third, Scott stayed involved in ministry in Europe through editing a missiological journal focusing on Central and Eastern Europe. Finally, Carol mentored women through our church’s leadership program, WorldVenture appointees and first-termers, and Denver Seminary students.
We were married for 38 years and have 3 married kids and 8 grandchildren (and currently one dog, three granddogs and four grandcats).