Our names are Paul (Scotty) and Jan Scott. We have been married 42 years. Scotty retired from Roadway Trucking Company in 2001 after working there for 30 years.
Jan was raised as a Southern Baptist and grew up learning about mission work on the home and foreign mission fields. After Jan’s dad, Reverend Homer Cochran, graduated from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary her family moved to the Northern part of the United States and worked in “Pioneer Missions” as church planters.
Scotty was raised in the Presbyterian Church. However, as a teenager, he made his profession of faith in the Baptist Church. He has maintained his membership and was ordained in the Baptist church as well.
Before going to seminary Reverend Cochran’s profession had been in the construction industry.He mentored Scotty and taught him the construction business. Scotty helped him build countless churches in the state of Indiana. We were married in 1967 and did volunteer Home Mission projects together since before we were married. We participated in orientation with Mission Service Corp through the "Home Mission Board", as it was called at the time, in the mid 1980's. We were assigned as Church Building Construction Consultants for the State of Indiana and worked in that position until we moved to Brazil permanently in 2002. We took our first Foreign Mission trip in 1989 to South Taiwan. Our group was the first volunteer group, through the Southern Baptist Foreign Mission Board (SBC), to work in Taiwan. The project there was to renovate a church that had been closed for 12 years. We also were given the opportunity to teach basic English to children. We renovated and reopened the church for services with the new pastor and had over 100 people in attendance at the first service. Scotty returned to Taiwan in 1991 for a construction project at the Baptist camp.
In February 1993 we made our first trip to Santarem, Brazil located in the Amazon Region. We were with a construction group working at the Lower Amazon Baptist Association Camp. In 1994 Jan returned to the Amazon Region with a group of 12 people whose project was VBS, evangelism and worship services at night.
In 1995 we returned to Santarem to do furlough replacement for a SBC missionary family for one year. We were assigned by the International Service Corp Division of the Southern Baptist International Mission Board and went to Richmond, VA for orientation.
When we left Brazil in 1996, after doing the furlough replacement, we knew we were being called back to the Lower Amazon Region to stay permanently. We returned to the U.S. and took the last 5 years before retirement to prepare for ministry before moving back to Santarem.
In 2001 we went to Santarem and spent 3 months for confirmation and affirmation from the Lower Amazon Baptist Association that this was God's perfect will for our lives. The Association wrote a letter of invitation for us to come as their Volunteer Missionaries and work with the Association. At that time we came back to the states and prepared everything that was necessary for our permanent residency. We sold the majority of our belongings and made the move to Santarem in March of 2002.
By June 2002 we were notified that our Visa for permanent residency was ready for pick up in Chicago. We returned to the states and went back to Brazil as permanent residents.
Since becoming permanent residents of Brazil, the Lord has continued to bless us as well as enlarging our territory. We have been given the opportunity to minister and share God’s love to many people who have never heard of Jesus Christ.
We have recently established a Not-for-profit organization as volunteer missionaries. Our organization is called Mission - Boundaries Unlimited, Inc.
(below is a history of how we have arrived to where we are right now)
Jan was raised as a Southern Baptist and grew up learning about mission work on the home and foreign mission fields. After Jan’s dad, Reverend Homer Cochran, graduated from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary her family moved to the Northern part of the United States and worked in “Pioneer Missions” as church planters.
Scotty was raised in the Presbyterian Church. However, as a teenager, he made his profession of faith in the Baptist Church. He has maintained his membership and was ordained in the Baptist church as well.
Before going to seminary Reverend Cochran’s profession had been in the construction industry.He mentored Scotty and taught him the construction business. Scotty helped him build countless churches in the state of Indiana. We were married in 1967 and did volunteer Home Mission projects together since before we were married. We participated in orientation with Mission Service Corp through the "Home Mission Board", as it was called at the time, in the mid 1980's. We were assigned as Church Building Construction Consultants for the State of Indiana and worked in that position until we moved to Brazil permanently in 2002. We took our first Foreign Mission trip in 1989 to South Taiwan. Our group was the first volunteer group, through the Southern Baptist Foreign Mission Board (SBC), to work in Taiwan. The project there was to renovate a church that had been closed for 12 years. We also were given the opportunity to teach basic English to children. We renovated and reopened the church for services with the new pastor and had over 100 people in attendance at the first service. Scotty returned to Taiwan in 1991 for a construction project at the Baptist camp.
In February 1993 we made our first trip to Santarem, Brazil located in the Amazon Region. We were with a construction group working at the Lower Amazon Baptist Association Camp. In 1994 Jan returned to the Amazon Region with a group of 12 people whose project was VBS, evangelism and worship services at night.
In 1995 we returned to Santarem to do furlough replacement for a SBC missionary family for one year. We were assigned by the International Service Corp Division of the Southern Baptist International Mission Board and went to Richmond, VA for orientation.
When we left Brazil in 1996, after doing the furlough replacement, we knew we were being called back to the Lower Amazon Region to stay permanently. We returned to the U.S. and took the last 5 years before retirement to prepare for ministry before moving back to Santarem.
In 2001 we went to Santarem and spent 3 months for confirmation and affirmation from the Lower Amazon Baptist Association that this was God's perfect will for our lives. The Association wrote a letter of invitation for us to come as their Volunteer Missionaries and work with the Association. At that time we came back to the states and prepared everything that was necessary for our permanent residency. We sold the majority of our belongings and made the move to Santarem in March of 2002.
By June 2002 we were notified that our Visa for permanent residency was ready for pick up in Chicago. We returned to the states and went back to Brazil as permanent residents.
Since becoming permanent residents of Brazil, the Lord has continued to bless us as well as enlarging our territory. We have been given the opportunity to minister and share God’s love to many people who have never heard of Jesus Christ.
Our ministry has continued to include:
- Working with youth in discipleship training
- Opening new villages for ministry and following up to disciple new believers
- Hosting groups from various locations in the United States to minister with us on a regular basis
- Assisting in church building projects located along the Amazon River
- Ministering to inmates, both women and men, at the State Prison in Santarem
- Developing men and women's ministry teams from churches in our area for weekly Bible studies with the inmates.
- Coordinating construction of a chapel inside the State Prison walls and duplex living quarters in the semi-open area of the State Prison
- Assisting with the coordination and instillation of water filtering systems within the State Prison and to date, two villages on the river system
- Working with sports evangelism groups from the United States
- Teaching neighborhood women to sew, through a sewing ministry. Items are made to sell as a means of support for their families
- Bible distribution to new believers, local schools, and in the villages along the river system
- Making Bibles available to pastors for their congregations
- Food Distribution and/or providing cooked meals to people in Santarem and in villages on the river system
- Christmas Ministry - Providing food, one wrapped gift per child, and Bible study presenting the birth of Christ, to villages on the river system
Congratulations on your new blog!
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