Keith Knowlton
基思·诺尔顿(04届)是一名自豪的cq9棋牌校友，他在学校接受了整个K-12教育.
He and his wife Rachel and their children, Mary Katherine, 10, Henry, 8, Frances, 6, and Crawford, 1, are currently serving as global missionaries in Edinburgh, Scotland through Missions to the World (MTW ), the missions arm of the Presbyterian Church in America.
他说，他非常感激LCS对他的精神形成的影响, social development and academic achievement through influential teachers, coaches and friends.
He recently took the time to share with
us what it’s like to be a missionary family in Europe, 并筛选有时滑稽的文化差异，同时踏上发展上帝国度的重要机会.
How did your family discern its call to serve as missionaries in Scotland?
After graduating from Furman University, Rachel and I got married and spent a year doing mission work in China. Although we returned to the U.S. so I could enter law school, 主用这段经历培养我们对事工的热情，预备我们的心，迎接祂未来的呼召.
从法学院毕业后，我们搬到了南卡罗来纳州的格林维尔，在那里我做了七年的律师. We loved our life in Greenville, but we started to experience a sense of spiritual unrest, which led us to re-evaluate our long-term calling. 经过许多祷告和智慧的劝告，我们终于感觉到主带领我们回到宣教中. Through God’s providence, 我们蒙召与MTW一起服事，并与爱丁堡的苏格兰自由教会合作.
What does your day-to-day work look like currently?
As the MTW Regional Director for the U.凯西:我负责服务一个由遍布美国的15个传教士家庭组成的团队.K.，加强我们在全国的伙伴关系，并协助招募新传教士. I serve as an elder in our church, 透过宣讲及各种形式的传福音及门徒训练，领导国际及大学事工. Each day is a mix of ministry events, personal meetups, meetings, Zoom calls, emails and frequent walks in the rain.
虽然大多数传教士在到达现场时享受“蜜月”期, we had no such experience.
我们在家里度过了最初的两个星期，除了地板上的床垫和冷冻食品，什么都没有. 几个月来，我们面临着不断变化的政府指令，关于在哪里和谁在一起
我们可以见面，这让建立社区和参与事工变得非常不同. Consequently, 我们的大部分社交活动都是在后院的帐篷里进行的，而Zoom则为学生们提供了一个学习圣经和教中国移民英语的平台.
What are a few unique, 有趣的事情，你了解到的苏格兰文化，你不知道之前搬到那里?
The Scottish do not use napkins! After repeatedly learning the hard way, 现在，每当我们被邀请到别人家吃饭时，我们肯定会在口袋里不显眼地放上一张餐巾. There is also great truth to the saying that the U.S. and U.K. are two countries separated by a common language. 培养对不同口音和不同词汇的听力当然需要时间和努力. Unsurprisingly, our kids are leading the way!
更严重的是，大多数美国人不知道苏格兰教会的现状. 虽然苏格兰是宗教改革的背景和长老会的发源地, it is now less than 1 percent evangelical Christian. Churches are closing at a staggering rate while indifference, if not hostility, to the Gospel continues to rise.
How does the LCS community continue to support you?
在过去的(将近)20年里，我的几个LCS同学一直是我最亲密的朋友. While I have not lived in Lakeland since graduating from LCS, 我一直很感激与我的LCS家人重新联系，每当我回来时，他们都会继续表达爱和温暖. 我们特别幸运的是，有许多LCS家庭通过祷告和经济支持与我们合作宣教工作. We even have another LCS alumnus, Robbie Sweet (‘01) and his family, serving on our MTW team in Glasgow.
在你目前的传教任务中，最具挑战性的是什么?
Serving in foreign country can be a very isolating experience. Although we appreciate our local church family, we lack the strong Christian community we had in the States. 我们的孩子在学校没有基督徒朋友，我们的教会也很少有年轻的基督徒家庭. While ministry opportunities abound, 我们很容易变得过度投入，并被我们任务的艰巨性压垮. Nonetheless, 我们对主的呼召保持信心，并不断被提醒我们必须完全依靠圣灵的能力，以便他可以在我们里面并通过我们完成他的美意.
尽管目前苏格兰和整个欧洲的精神面貌似乎很黯淡, we are excited to participate in the advancement of God’s kingdom. MTW目前有170名宣教士在22个欧洲国家以各种形式的植堂服务, mercy ministry and evangelism. Personally, we are blessed to partner with the Free Church of Scotland, who has the vision of planting 30 new churches by 2030.
Since Edinburgh is such an international city, we are seeing significant ministry opportunities among foreign students, immigrants, and refugees. 看到神从各支派、各方言中吸引人归向他，真是令人兴奋.
For anyone interested in pursuing missions, I would encourage them to first get involved in local ministry. 在你的教会和社区服侍是一种自然的方式来识别和发展你的属灵恩赐. If you’re not willing to serve God locally, 你不应该期望有意愿和能力在国际上这样做.
Secondly, 我希望年轻人无论年龄和生活阶段如何，都要对神的呼召保持开放的心态. We
我们是否常常以为有了职业就可以免除全职事工的可能性. However, God may be equipping you with valuable knowledge, 训练和经验，以便在以后的生活中以不同的身份为他服务. I am so glad the Lord did not keep me in full-time missions at the age of 22, 而是用我生命中接下来的十年来为我目前在事工中的角色做精神上和专业上的准备. Although it is not easy to quit a career and uproot a family, our life has proven to be an adventure I would never choose to replace.
Lastly, 我要提醒年轻人，耶稣呼召所有信徒参与大使命. Although not everyone will be led into full-time cross-cultural ministry, 我们每个人都应该渴望分享上帝国度的进步，无论我们的职业或位置如何. As Paul states in Acts 20:24, “I do
not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, 惟愿我能尽我从主耶稣所领受的职分, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God.