About
Daniel and Karyn Sunderland
What is the SCOTTISH PROMISE?
It is the promise of God that He would take us - the Sunderlands - to Scotland to live and minister.
It is the promise of Jesus' healing and refreshing for His people.
It is the promise of an abundant life, not just an adequate or even a manageable life.
It is the promise of intimacy with God through His promise - our Saviour, Jesus Christ.
It is the promise of Sabbath rest and refuge in times of trouble or hardship - a kadesh (place of refreshing) in the wilderness.
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It is a personal promise for us, the Sunderlands. It is a national promise of restoration for Scotland. It is a global promise for all mankind, that they would have the opportunity to be redeemed and whole through the powerful work of God.
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Put simply - it is JESUS.
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God has placed upon our hearts a ministry in Scotland, and specifically a ministry to Christian leaders. We desire to offer leaders a place of rest and restoration with ministry tailored to each person or couple that stays with us, and we are calling this ministry The Scottish Promise. We invite you to peruse this website for more information about The Scottish Promise, our personal call, and the vision that the Lord has given us. And we welcome any question you might have for us.
Beannachd Dia dhuit (The blessings of God be with you),
Karyn and Daniel Sunderland
The SUNDERLANDS
The VISION
The vision God has given us is to open a retreat centre in Scotland called The Scottish Promise, and the dream is to have a large, period house, full of beauty and comfort, in which we can have people come to stay. We desire to have this be a place of refuge and rest, where Christian leaders and ministry workers can retreat to find restoration for body, mind and spirit. Rather than run a ‘facility,’ we feel it’s important to have this retreat centre be our home, where we can treat people as our valued guests. For everyone who comes to stay, we plan to offer them ministry – be it prayer ministry or some other form of restorative or healing ministry – and this ministry will be tailored to each individual or couple. There will also be a great deal of unscheduled time for guests to simply rest and ‘be.’ We are currently praying for a house with some property attached, away from a large city, so as to achieve some of that serenity we desire to offer.
The REASON
What we hope to address with The Scottish Promise is the phenomenon of Christian leaders whose service is shorter-lived than it was ever meant to be – pastors, evangelists, social services workers, worship leaders, youth pastors – anyone working for the Kingdom, whether full- or part-time, paid or voluntary. Too often we see people work very hard to further God’s Kingdom and manifest it in our world, but their ministry is more brief than it was intended to be, because of a lack of personal refreshing, restoration and even healing along the way. We lose too many leaders to burnout, disillusionment, wounds and exhaustion. Just as Aaron and Hur brought Moses a stone upon which to sit and held up his arms when he got tired (Exodus 17), we want to come alongside Christian leaders and metaphorically offer them a seat and hold up their arms, so that their ministry on the front lines of the Kingdom may continue, and may continue in a healthy, powerful way.​
The REALITY
It all begins with our moving to Scotland. We plan to sell our home here and buy a home there, moving our things along with ourselves. Our current goal is to do this in June of 2022, though we will always defer to whatever God shows us regarding timing, should it be different. While we will each have the ability to obtain work visas based on our grandparents’ being born in the UK - and may indeed need to work to support ourselves initially - our desire is to focus full-time on building and executing this ministry. ​
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We know that God will continue to unfold all that this new life and ministry will entail once we are physically there. We will need others to support us, both prayerfully and financially, in the short-term and also in the long-term. Our ultimate goal is to be able to offer retreats at little or no cost so as to make them available to as many people as possible; while we know that some people will be able to afford to pay for a retreat, we want to have the ability to eliminate the possibility of finances being a deterrent to people receiving the ministry that they need. To do this we will need partners who believe in the vision and desire to see it manifest.
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For all the goals before us - a larger, period house, the ability to focus full-time on ministry, and offering retreats at no cost if needed - we will need financial support. We are incredibly grateful to everyone who is able to support us. For more information on how to do so, please CLICK HERE.​
If you would like to receive monthly email updates on The Scottish Promise and our journey to and in Scotland, please CLICK HERE.
When Moses’ hands grew tired, they took a stone and put it under him and he sat on it. Aaron and Hur held his hands up—one on one side, one on the other—so that his hands remained steady till sunset. (Exodus 17:12)
Our Vision
Our aim is to have The Scottish Promise be known as a place of refuge and rest, where Christian leaders can retreat to find restoration for body, mind and spirit through individualized God-led ministry in a comfortable, peaceful environment.
Loch Lomond
Stirling Castle, Stirling
Our Mission
The Scottish Promise will exist to offer a place of rest, refreshment and restoration to ministers and ministry workers in the Kingdom of God, regardless of denomination or position, so that they themselves are able to minister to others from a place of fullness, wholeness and intimacy with the Father, knowing that they are loved and valued by both God and His church.
Our Values
We desire to have all The Scottish Promise's dealings with both the church and the local community be governed by love and service, and to have this ministry driven by prayer, worship, the Word of God and the prophetic voice of God. We value ‘being’ over ‘doing’, and the importance of intimacy with the Father as the root of all our work for the Father’s Kingdom.
