Speaking on Saturday at a celebration of the life of his late wife Marnie, Joe Scott recalled a time more than three decades ago when they were both teenagers attending Bawating College and Vocational School. Marnie and Joe had already been best friends for four years when Joe was involved in a serious motorcycle accident. He spent a year recovering in the hospital and at home. Every day that year, Marnie brought him his homework and sat down to do her own homework next to him. “I was stupid and didn’t realize she was interested in the first couple of years,” he tells SooToday. “Early in our relationship together, I had a life-threatening bicycle accident. It was the catalyst that solidified our life’s purpose,” Joe told nearly 300 friends at Bible Fellowship Church on Landslide Road. “We realized that life is short and God has a purpose for us. You have to do it. You have to act, so you don’t sit on the sidelines anymore.” “As a family, we have always lived this way… Whether it was backpacking through Europe, Africa and the Middle East, boldly teaching in church programs locally, pursuing justice for the needy, moving to the other side of the planet to help the persecuted or feeding his dogs road”. Their passion for service took the Scotts and their daughters Kiera and Maija from Sault Ste. Marie in Thailand, where they ran Victory Bible Academy, an International Christian Freedom ministry, and the Thailand Development and Opportunity Foundation. Marnie died in this country on June 18 when her bicycle was hit by a truck. “He knew there was always someone in need, someone with a lesson to learn or someone who needed a hand from whatever he was going through,” Joe said Saturday. “He never settled for good enough, not in fitness, not in faith, not in cycling and not in love.” Their daughters inherited this approach to life. “Kiera and Maija have always pursued life instead of letting it float by. You don’t experience life by staying on the couch. You get out there and do it. Sometimes these lessons hurt. Sometimes they seem unbearable. Sometimes we’re reminded that we’re not we can do it ourselves.” “It’s come to that point where Maija and Kiera are staying in Canada. I’m going back to Thailand by myself.” “They’re going to work on their own ministries, their own education and their own path. It’s not going to be easy. It’s crazy for most kids to think about moving to the other side of the planet from their parents, but I” I have no worries for my girls. They have this.” As for Marnie, Jo added: “She never wasted a moment in her life. She wouldn’t want you to either. Chase life, live it, take in God’s beautiful creation and be good to each other “. Brent Meyers, president of Front Royal, Virginia-based Christian Freedom International, sent a message that described Marnie’s passion for teaching at Victory Bible Academy in Mae Sot, Thailand. “I can still see her animated gestures, standing there … emphasizing the truth she was sharing,” Meyers wrote. “Life was a creative adventure for Marnie Scott. She turned brokenness into beauty,” said the website Christian Freedom International. “Marnie nurtured dirt into blooming gardens. Blank pages to artistic photos and poetic stories. Teaching in life-changing guidance.” The school is located near Thailand’s border with Myanmar (formerly known as Burma), which is currently a global hot spot due to political tensions and a high risk of civil unrest. The school educates students from refugee camps and poor villages in Myanmar.
