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From Lawyer to Missionary: How Serving Locally Led to a Call to Scotland (VIDEO)

By Franklin Beaver, Dec 17, 2024

Soon after Keith and Rachel Knowlton married, they heard about a ministry opportunity to serve in China, delaying Keith’s plan to go straight to law school. They served for a year and moved back to South Carolina for Keith to pursue a law career. For seven years Keith practiced law, and the family built their lives in Greenville. They found themselves content in their church, community, and neighborhood.

Over time the Lord began to nudge them toward something new. Through their service and involvement in their local church and community, God stirred in them a desire to make ministry a bigger part of their lives. Over the course of two years of praying, asking advice and trying to ignore it, Keith and Rachel realized this desire wasn't going away. They reached out to MTW and eventually found a fit with MTW’s team in Scotland to serve with the Free Church of Scotland.

It was a four-year process of exploring, praying, and seeking the Lord's will. Looking back now Keith and Rachel can see how the Lord used those past experiences, both in the professional world and also in local ministry, to prepare them for what they’re doing “locally” in Scotland.

Franklin Beaver
Franklin Beaver is a video specialist missionary serving with the MTW Marketing and Communications team. Before joining Marcom in 2023, Franklin and his wife, Beth, served for 10 years on the field in the Middle East and UK providing media production resources and church planting support for MTW colleagues and national partners.
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