Scott Volk was born on January 4, 1965 in Brooklyn, New York.
His father, Shelly, along with his mother, June, were successful
American Jews enjoying an upper-middle-class lifestyle when
Jesus radically transformed their lives in the early 1970′s you can
read their riveting testimony in June Volk’s book
The God Who Answers By Fire: A Jewish Saga).
It was in the summer of 1975, while the Volk family was visiting
Art Katz’s community in Northern Minnesota, that Scott
gave his life to the God of Israel, recognizing Jesus as the
Messiah of Israel and the savior of the world. One year later, the
Volks moved to Northern Minnesota and served with Art in
what was to be a life-long relationship until Art went home to
be with the Lord in 2007.
After graduating high school in 1982, Scott completed two years of
study at Christ for the Nations in Dallas, Texas, and then transferred
to North Central University in Minneapolis, Minnesota, where he
received his bachelor’s degree in Pastoral Studies. Upon graduating in
1988, he married Beth and moved to Scottsdale, Arizona, where he
served on the pastoral staff of a church until 1996. It was late in that
to join him in Pensacola, Florida, to serve as personal assistant to him
and help with the administrative details of his growing ministry.
From 1997-2005, Scott had the privilege of serving in ministry with
Dr. Brown as they traveled together around the world in all sorts of
ministry settings. When the ministry that Dr. Brown birthed moved to
Charlotte, North Carolina, a church was planted and Scott was
asked to serve as the lead pastor of FIRE Church. He remained in
that position until September of 2012, when he stepped down to
dedicate himself to seeing Hineni expand into all that the Lord
has destined it to be.
A DEFINING MOMENT
Although a Jewish believer in Jesus since age 10, Scott rarely
identified with his Jewish roots or the Messianic culture; he actually
felt more comfortable and at home in ‘church’ settings. After completing
a tour which he leads annually to Israel, Scott was returning home on
his trans-Atlantic flight when the unexpected happened:
“It was in June of 2010 while on a flight home from Israel that the
Lord did a remarkable and most-unexpected work in my life. It was
as if everything that I’ve heard from my childhood about Israel and
God’s burden for that land and its people, went from my head to
my heart. I felt at that moment as if God, Himself, gave me
revelation as to the calling that He had on my life with regard to the
lost sheep of the house of Israel. Before this time, I’m ashamed to
say that Israel was barely on my grid. In a nondescript and totally
unexpected moment, I feel as if my life was radically changed. I now
feel as if I’ve been born again again.”
As a result of that momentous flight, doors are miraculously opening
for Scott to express this message to churches, bible studies, and
conferences around the globe.
ARAB AND JEW – ULTIMATE RECONCILIATION
Another amazing aspect of Scott’s story is that his family is a living
demonstration of the one new man message. Scott, a full-blooded
Jew, and Beth, a full-blooded Arab (grandparents from both sides
from Lebanon), have been happily married for over 23 years and
have five beautiful children.
“I think it’s amazing that my kids have a little bit of Ishmael and a
little bit of Isaac inside of them all. I’m foolish enough to believe
that somehow, through the simple message of our family being truly
united, that we can bring an empowering message of hope and
reconciliation to the seemingly hopeless situation that faces many of
our Arab and Jewish brothers in the world today. The Messiah’s
prayer in John 17 indicates that the world would know that He was
sent from the Father when those that believe in Him are one. The
greatest evangelistic tool that we have today is the unity of the Spirit
and it’s my prayer and desire to contend for that unity wherever I
am privileged to go.”
The Volks reside in Charlotte, North Carolina along with their 5
children Alysa, Jonathan, Joseph, Emily, and Olivia.
Left to Right: Olivia (2), Joseph (18), Alysa (22), Jonathan (20), Emily (16)
