Nick Scott Memorial

Today my wife and I along with my parents drove to Oklahoma City to attend Nick Scott's memorial service.  I was asked to read the obituary. I was honored to be able to do so.

Nicolas Neal Scott (born Nicolas Aweyo), aged 23, of Oklahoma City died October 1, 2014 in Oklahoma City of homicide.

He was born June 23, 1991 near Homa Bay, Kenya. His mother died in childbirth and he was adopted by Neal and Tillie Scott two weeks later. His early childhood was spent in Morogoro, Tanzania where his parents were missionaries. Then the family returned to the United States, residing in Texas, Tennessee, and New Mexico before settling near Hodgen, Oklahoma'

Nick was home schooled for his first 6 years and then completed seventh and eighth grades in Hodgen, Oklahoma. He attended high school in Heavener, Oklahoma and was active in football and basketball. After high school he worked at a series of odd jobs but ran into difficulties when his citizenship papers were misplaced. Repeated attempts at replacing them were lost in red tape and his frequent moves.

He spent most of his adult life in Oklahoma but was homeless for the last several years. Basketball remained a passion throughout his life. Nick was a quiet young man until you got to know him well. Then a sense of humor and deep compassion came through that endeared him to his friends.

I first met Nick as an eight year old boy named Nicky. He was a quiet boy who couldn't sit still. Over the next few years I got to know him in my Sabbath School Class and in Pathfinders. By the time he was twelve he was almost as tall as I was.

Nick loved Pathfinder camping trips. We always knew to take extra food when Nick was along, especially an extra container of sour cream.

Nick was scheduled to go to the Faith on Fire Camporee in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. Over 33,000 Pathfinders from over 100 countries attended. Shortly before the Camporee he injured his foot and was afraid that he would miss out, but he was able to go with a special boot. He had a great time at the Camporee and never complained even though we had to do lots of walking, (our campsite was almost a mile from the main events hangars), on his sore foot. I'm very glad that he was able to be a part of the Faith on Fire Camporee.

Nick is survived by his father, Neal Scott and wife, Lucy of Harrah, Oklahoma, two brothers, Steve and wife Vivian of Illinois and Tom and wife Jo Ann of Wisconsin, a sister, Marci, of California, and nieces and nephews. His mother, Tillie, preceded him in death in 2011.

Restore A Child

Restore a Child is a charity that I support.  Their mission is restoring children to life and health, teaching them to learn and lead with love, restoring harmony and justice in their communities and the world. Restore a Child helps to provide children in desperate need with the basic essentials necessary for them to live healthy, fulfilled lives.

They are currently working in fifteen countries; Bolivia, Chad, Congo, Ethiopia, Haiti, Indonesia, Jordan, Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, Tanzania, Ukraine, USA, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

The story of Restore a Child is really the story of it's founder, Norma Nashed. Norma was born in Ramallah, Palestine but was raised in Jordan.  Throughout her childhood she experienced extreme poverty as an orphan. She believes this has prepared her heart to be sensitive to the needs of economically-disadvantaged children and those orphaned due to HIV/AIDS and living on the streets in Africa and elsewhere.

The idea of caring for needy children began while she was fighting cancer. Norma stated in an interview with Alita Byrd, "In 1998 when I first got cancer my life was empty – I wanted my life to be one of meaning and significance.  So I left my job where I had worked for 12 years, and started a ministry to help suffering, starving and sick children, with a focus on orphans.

Leaving my job allowed me time to reflect on what is important in life.  I found that there are more than 150 million orphan children in the world, and five million children die every year due to hunger, or close to 14,000 every day.  In the 21st century this is unacceptable.  I realized I had a job to do to save children.

That was 14 years ago and I still work in a small den in my apartment without pay.  God is the Provider and He promised to take care of me. Sacrificing my life gave me purpose, meaning and significance – I wouldn't exchange that for anything this world might offer.

The first few years I used my own savings and then my family and a few friends helped.  Later it became necessary for me to start fundraising.  So I designed my own simple flyers and brochures and sent them to friends. I was interviewed on television and several newspaper and magazine articles appeared featuring the charity. Awareness of Restore a Child increased. Restore a Child depends on donations from individuals and small grants from a couple of foundations.

In 2012 we hired a part-time employee to help me.

I must admit being that raised poor and living in developing countries made me aware of the need to be wise and alert when choosing partners for projects abroad.  So we work with trusted missionaries and friends, and we partner with already established orphanages and schools to be cost-effective and use all resources to the maximum benefit of children".

Norma's vision was big, and now her organization is providing basic care for over 4,000 children. Her newest project is in Haiti, in partnership with Upward Bound Ministries. They are building a model village that includes a Restore a Child Academy, an academic and vocational training school and several homes for orphan girls.

In addition to securing land for building the school, they have secured another plot of agricultural land with fruit trees next to the model village where they are already growing produce for a sustainable food supply.

The building project is beginning in 2013. Restore a Child is looking for individual and corporate sponsors to help with the construction of this model village.

There are many ways to help support Restore a Child.  One unique way to donate is through their Gift Catalog.  Their are options as low as $10.00.  Donors can choose which projects they wish to support, including such things as providing cooked meals at school for six hundred children in Nairobi, Kenya and helping orphans from one of the seven Restore a Child orphanages in Indonesia benefit from a work-study program where they learn how to grow their own food.

If you would like to be a part of a great charity with as low an overhead as I have seen, learn more about Restore a Child at their website.  When founder and president Norma Nashed was asked about the many other charities helping children around the world, and how Restore a Child is unique, she answered, "there are a lot of charities out there competing for funds in the name of children.  But Restore a Child is unique in that as president I do not draw any salary or benefits.  I even donated all my retirement funds and savings, in addition to working long hours – sometimes 18 hours a day – to run the organization.  What organization have you heard of where the president or CEO works that hard for 14 years without pay?   I believe this is a big factor in our growth. When donors invest in Restore a Child, they can be assured their funds don’t go mostly to cover salaries and overhead".

According to UNICEF statistics 5 million children die each year because of starvation, let alone lack of water and medical care. What happened to human compassion? What are we going to do to change this picture?