In 2004, the pastor of a new church plant, sat in our living room in Fort Lauderdale, Florida sharing with us of two places left on a mission trip to Belo Horizonte, Brazil to work in the slums with children. My heart was immediately stirred. My first thought was “Oh I want to go” but we didn’t have the money (only rich people can do this). The pastor encouraged me to look into going and step out in faith by sending out support letters.

Rick was still in a brand new job with no vacation time - Wesley was in college in Alabama - Spencer was listening to this conversation in our home. Over the next several days, I researched support letters and discussed the possibilities with my husband and employer. Spencer knew there were two slots and asked to go with me (he didn't think I should go alone]. Letters were sent - passports were obtained - God provided every single penny for both of us to go!

“All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go, therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” matt 28:18-20.

This trip brought many “firsts” and stretched me beyond my comfort level and returned me home wanting more….

God opened the door and brought our family back to Birmingham in August of 2004.. We began searching for a new church home and God led us to The Church at Brookhills. Several weeks later, I signed up to travel with a team of nine ladies to Guatemala in February 2005 and did not know a single person in our new church. This mission trip was working at an orphanage in the Lake Atitlan region of Solola, Guatemala - MY HEART!

Several months later in the summer of 2005, The Church at Brookhills did a local community project called “Extreme Graceover” (like tv’s Extreme Makeover). My new friend from the Guatemala mission trip, Lori Wills, asked me to help. She was in charge of one of the graceover projects - nine homeless ladies living at the Bethany Home shelter in downtown Birmingham. Our team spent a weekend with all nine homeless women at the Radisson Hotel in downtown Birmingham. The nine women who ventured on the mission trip to Guatemala earlier this year were paired with the nine women at the Bethany Home. Notes, gifts, surprises, diner out, pajamas parties and Bible study happened for 48 hours. We all experienced how God could use us globally and locally for His glory.

God continued to open hearts and impressed upon several of us to continue to see and love on these ladies after the completion of this community project. We continued to go to the Bethany Home often and share the love of Christ with these women who were desperate for a “constant” in their lives.

Although I worked a full time job, my schedule allowed me to take Friday’s off. My friend and I enjoyed spending our time sharing and showing the love of Christ to others, so on Friday’s, we would look and pray for someone / anyone / any situation to be involved in. It was so much fun to see what God placed before us each week and the relationships being formed. The projects placed before us became bigger and bigger and more and more people became involved. After weeks of God showing us what He had for us each week, Lori and I nicknamed ourselves “Angel Friday”.  ANGEL = Always Near Giving Everyone Love on Friday.

Four years later… The first of February 2009, the ministry continued to grow and consideration of starting a 501c3 nonprofit came to the surface. Angel Friday just wasn’t a great name to call a ministry. The name “PASS” continued to come to mind and I was drawn to “Pass the Salt” after studying about salt in the Bible.  Angel Friday began by providing random acts of kindness on Friday's. “Pass” will be more of the same random acts of kindness as we work to show, share and scatter Christ to the Nations. After doing some research on what “pass” means, I began talking about it with my family and friends. It just wasn’t being accepted very well. Angel Friday continued to be the reference. At the same time, I wanted to find a “catchy” closing phrase for my email and letters. There were so many different ones being used with a reference to Jesus and the Gospel. “In His Service”, “In Him”, “For Him”, “Blessings”, “In his Grip”, “Grace and Peace”, “His”, “Complete in Him”, etc. The term “Scatter Joy” caught my attention in books and on signs. As I continued in Bible study, God led my thoughts to “Scatter Christ” - the message of the Gospel to the Nations just seemed to be said in “Scatter Christ”.

Of course, before we named the ministry this - more research was done on the term “scatter”.

When you google the word “scatter” - one of the first options is “Scattering a beam of light”. 

Jesus is the Light of the world! 

When God created the Earth - HE created an optical phenomenon. The particles in the atmosphere are individual atoms/molecules. Sunlight photons of all colors stream through the air and molecules “scatter” a tiny portion in every direction. The “scattered” photons and energy, along with the “scattered” light, causes the blue hue of the daytime sky and the reddening of the sunset, and the yellow of the sun itself.

What a beautiful picture of God’s creation!

“Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humiity of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; do not merely look out for your own personal interest, but also the interest of others. Have this attitude in yourselves, which was also in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 2:3-5

Let us remember our commands from God

Worship Him in Everything we do

GO and share the gospel in all nations 

Lord, Heavenly Father, Almighty God we come before You tonight and ask that each one of us is able to give You our heart, our soul, so that You might use us to be Your hands and feet regardless of what that looks like.  Give us a heart like Yours!

Scatter Christ, Inc. is way bigger and more significant than me. I am so blessed to be a part of and a witness to what God is doing through Scatter Christ. We give all the glory to God and our Savior Jesus Christ who created and sustains Scatter Christ. The journey started twelve years ago when my wife, Lisa, and son, Spencer, went on a short-term mission trip to Brazil. God took their willingness to obey His great commission and started a story only He could write. Returning, God laid on Lisa's heart to share Christ through random acts of kindness. After a few years hence the name “Scatter Christ”. Her love and passion to care for the orphans, widows, less fortunate and anyone in need spiritually and physically has effected so many and drawn so many to join her (especially me, her biggest fan) in the greatest calling and purpose one could follow. The stories are endless but if anyone is interested we would love to share with you what Jesus is doing through Scatter Christ and invite you to join us on this journey. I praise God each day for the blessing and privilege to live life with Lisa. Together we are committed to scattering Christ from Birmingham to the ends of the earth.

Rick Mitchell