Take a deep breath, the tough times aren’t over yet …

For a while now, I’ve been saying we’re at least ankle deep into the “new normal.”

Then came the delta variant of the COVID-19 coronavirus.

Now stirring fear across the globe is the more mild omicron variant.

Are you ready for year three of the stubborn pandemic?

I still anticipate that we’ll all move more deeply into the “new normal” in 2022, although governments from state to national levels may want to drag out a pandemic state of emergency setting before we move into the coronavirus becoming more of an endemic issue than a pandemic. Let’s look at what that has done and what it will likely do:

• • Prior to the pandemic, America and other nations were already experiencing a mental health crisis. But one result of the pandemic has been to see that crisis morph into a mental health disaster. Record levels of mental health issues being reported, and mental illnesses being diagnosed, blew up into even higher and new record levels. Beyond lives lost, businesses permanently shuttered, and trillions of dollars spent because of the pandemic, what will likely have the single greatest negative impact — that will last for years — is the negative impact on mental health.
  • With fears once again being stoked, and old restrictions being put back into place over the omicron variant, I anticipate yet another spike in mental health and mental illness issues. Government leaders don’t seem to have a grasp on how to deal with issues with much (or any) consideration given to how their actions impact mental health, and there are almost no new resources of significance available to serve the staggering mental health disaster.
  • The impact on mental health has also landed squarely on church leaders. There’s never been a greater need for Pastor Care (clinical counseling specifically for vocational and bivocational ministers) than there is now, and as tightening restrictions are returning to some churches, the troubles we’ve seen in churches and for church leaders for nearly two years now will stretch into a third year in 2022.

For Scott Free Clinic, all of this has meant that this very poor, partially launched, thoroughly unfunded international ministry/public charity has had to use every ounce of creativity and innovation to run at “full bore” for nearly two years to provide emergency level care as a direct response to the pandemic. That’s because prior to the pandemic, Scott Free Clinic received requests for help every week; since the start of the pandemic, that need has changed to every day and has not subsided. I had expected we would begin to see those requests start to subside sometime in 2022, but with the level of fear being stoked over the omicron variant, it may come slower than anticipated.

What that means is that all of the great need for biblically-sound, clinically-excellent Christian counseling and Pastor Care will roll over into the New Year like a steamroller out of control.

To steady ourselves for what lies ahead, Scott Free Clinic had launched a new campaign called “Finish Strong, Start Strong” to try to raise funds so that we could finish this year in a strong position, and start 2022 in a strong position to serve as many as we could.

Then, a few days ago, our ministry car broke down and the repair cost robbed us of the ability to both finish this year strong, or start 2022 strong. In fact, it could set us back for at least the first quarter of 2022. That’s because, being a poor ministry, there weren’t “extra” funds to cover the repair costs, it had to come from operating funds (we were actually blessed in that we usually wouldn’t even have those funds on hand to use).

So, what that means is Scott Free Clinic needs to reach out to the public and invite everyone to please consider participating in our “Finish Strong, Start Strong” campaign so we can at least regain what was lost to get our ministry car going again (the car is an essential tool for this ministry). We had been working to raise $8,925 to open a mini office for all 12 months of 2022, but at the least we need to recoup repair expenses so we can position ourselves for the ongoing need of serving people, pastors, and churches all across the country and around the world.

We ask you to consider TWO things: First, please consider making a donation to Scott Free Clinic today. You can do that on our website by clicking here, or you can text a donation to 619-314-6996. Second, we would ask you to prayerfully consider becoming a regular (preferably monthly) Care Partner with Scott Free Clinic. We need to build our monthly support so we can operate more fully, effectively, and efficiently.

It was the late Robert Schuller who was famous for saying, “Tough times don’t last, tough people do.” Looking at the pandemic trying to crawl into a third year almost makes a person want to question the first part of Schuller’s statement! And it’s not just “tough people” who last; with genuine Christlike care and compassion, we can help everyone through this. The weak, the vulnerable, the frightened, the confused, the physically ill, the mentally ill and so on are making it, but often because someone has stepped into their lives to help them. Your support of Scott Free Clinic will help us be able to continue stepping into many more lives with the critical care they need to change their lives and overcome through Christ.

In His Service,

Dr. James Scott, Jr.
Founder & President,
Scott Free Clinic