Pastor Andre Scales story of leaving the streets of Las Vegas, NV behind to become a Pastor in Denver, Colorado.
God's plan is better than ours. My mom could see me being a pastor. -Pastor Andre Scales
Many of us have a redemption story where we came from difficulties, were used in mighty ways. Pastor Andre Scales, the new Agape Christian Church pastor was not always a leader, but he emphasizes his gratefulness to God for redemption, a second chance and making an impact. He was a recipient of Charity’s House Transitional housing. Ms. Elaine, who was the co-founder with Mrs. Eddie, saw potential in Andre when he was running away from his calling. Pastor originally grew up in Las Vegas, Nevada. He is the middle child with the complex of trying to fit in from feeling different than his siblings, which meant to find belonging through the streets in gang members due to want to defend and found acceptance there. They became family. Pastor Andre went to prison in 1991 and received mandatory parole in 1995 in addition to, entered into a drug treatment program. By 1997, he was out of prison.
Pastor Scales' mom reached out from Colorado to see him and was so happy that he was out because she was the first person he called when he was out of prison. She paid for his greyhound to see her as soon as he was out. She explained there was a woman, Mrs. T who later became his wife, that was taking care of her while he was in prison. As soon as she died, he wanted to find an outlet to keep out of trouble. A previous pastor at Victory Outreach off Downing saw something in Mr. Scales and gave him an offer to be the house manager, which he accepted. However, will that freedom, he only lasted in the position for four days. He felt like he failed based on his relapse in drugs and shame when Mrs. T was looking for him.
Introduction to COSC
So, we asked Pastor how he was introduced to Charity's House for Sober Living and Community Outreach Service Center. He explained that in 2008, a woman, whose mother happened to be one of the co-founders of the organization, walked down and told him "You should be with your own people." He was then introduced to Ms. Elaine Smith. "Ms. Elaine always came to see about me. She always knew where I was. This went on for a while. Sister T dropped me off in Nashville because I have family there." He then called Ms. Elaine. She was so happy he called her, and she explained she needs him to pack whatever he had so she can get him on a bus. Soon after that, two months, he married Mrs. T. He never knew she was taking care of his mother until his mother's later days in life just before passing for they were very close during that time. He asked why she decided to love him, and she explained "I never could give up on you. If I did, I would disappoint your mother if I let you stay out in the streets."
Onward to Nashville, Tennessee
Mr. Scales went on another bender. He took money from the family for it. So, they ended up homeless in the streets of Nashville, Tennessee. The sister-in-law they went to from time to time explained to him she rented his wife a car since she had cash. Mr. Scales' wife left with their kids. He had no way of reaching his family. All he knew was she was from Mobile, Alabama. A couple days later, as he was reflecting in the family car, all he had was his wallet. In the wallet was one business card for a pastor in Mobile, Alabama. Mr. Scales sought out to see the pastor to seek help. The pastor said, "what is keeping you where you are?" After Mr. Scales answered his question, the pastor went on to say, "The Lord told me to tell you, whatever it takes to get you there, it is worth the investment." There, his journey started in route to Mobile, Alabama at church. He became a good steward what was given to him during his time under that pastor. Three months later, the pastor soon asked him where his wife was and was on the search to help him to see his family. The pastor took him right to their door. Pastor Andre Scales came to simply to apologize, and his wife was happy to see he was okay.
The Lord told me to tell you, whatever it takes to get you there, it is worth the investment."
Answering the Call
As he was reunited with his family, he continued his work in the back of the church. The mother of the church grew ill and send the Deacon at the time to send him to the house. She asked for him to do the Sunday school. She was instructed by God to pass the mantle to him. Mr. Scales then taught the adult class and soon the prayer ministry. One day, the pastor ordained him to be the associate pastor. He thought he was a mere amor bearer and there were elders more qualified than him. Mr. Scales did not expect the announcement, which he fought for two years prior to accepting the call. Because he did not know how, that was the lead pastor's reason for seeing what God can do to use him.
2013, Mr. Scales and his family eventually moved back to Las Vegas. However, they had difficulty finding a church home or jobs. By 2017, he met a pastor who was a church planter off of Boulder Hwy. He explained it was known for the highest rate of sex trafficking capital. The pastor asked for support for evangelizing in that area. A year went by, and they evangelized the motels with feeding the people, setting tents, and baptized people. The church planting pastor told Scales he was a natural; but Scales knew there was a two-year assessment process, which the pastor told him he already went through the process just by serving under him. Pastor Andre Scales went in front of the North American Mission Board and ordained him and his wife as church planters as their church called Disciple of God Ministries.
Return to Colorado
Before they could hit the ground running, the pandemic hit. Pastor Scales refused to go online until the churches were being shut down. By 2020-22, he preached online, and the Lord said, "this is not your home." Pastor did not want to move anymore. The chancellor in the North American Mission Board, flew from Colorado to have coffee with him in Las Vegas, Nevada for a church that would need support in Englewood. He paid for him to come down to Colorado. Here is another sign that Denver is where he needed to return. A pastor's wife wanted to offer Pastor Scales to join their ministry to do street church off Colfax called Jesus on Colfax. The mission was to go into the motels to feed and preach to the people, similar to his work in Las Vegas.
Prior to accepting the offer, Agape Christian Church was in search of a new pastor. In 2023, Mrs. Eddie flew out to Las Vegas to provide an application to their church to have lunch together. He then flew to Denver to preach, but he did not feel that he was the kind of preacher the church needed, so he did not believe he would get the position. Once he received a call regarding a final job offer, he also received a call from Mrs. Eddie about the lead pastor position at Agape. Because Pastor Scales has already accepted a previous position, he was asked if he could do both, so he tried speaking with the previous pastor of the first offer. Pastor Scales began to see a shift regarding the position for the Jesus on Colfax position, which God began to show him His will is above our own, especially past what makes logical sense.
Last Conversation
We asked Pastor Andre Scales what about his experience with Charity's House made an impact for him and he explained the last conversation he had with Ms. Elaine. "She could see potential in me," he said. Ms. Elaine has helped him through his journey, including going to Nashville and helping him get settled before he found his wife and kids. The last conversation they had, pastor explained, was about doing ministry together. If there was a chance, one opportunity to do ministry, her hope was to do it together. He did not think that would happen based on who he was at the time of the conversation. Although, Ms. Elaine passed by the time he became a pastor upon his return to Colorado, he still operated in that hope of doing ministry. It comes to show us, despite our running, our failures, or what we see, God had a plan all along. Pastor Scales continues to give God the glory of his complete transformation.
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