Revival??

Growing up in a culture of Christianity, the word revival can mean anything!  Jumping up and down, yelling, praying in tongues, blowing on people, and even burning all of your secular cd's (though most would end up buying all those cd's again, three months later).  Not that any of those things are wrong or evil, but are they really revival?  Maybe?  Glenn Sheppard or Winkie Pratney can probably give a more accurate descriptions of revival than I can, but this is where I am at currently: "Revival is falling in love with Jesus all over again!"   Revelation says, "return to your first love..."  I love this!  It's not add more bible reading, or add more hours of prayer or evangelism (though one would argue that those are bi products), but it is falling into crazy love with Jesus all over again!  Or for many of us it may just be for the first time!  I just want to encourage you that whether you are on a spiritual high with Jesus or a spiritual low; seek his face!  Fall in love with him again!  Search with help from the holy spirit for any "little foxes" that may be blocking you from going to a deeper intimacy and love from Him!  Things that keep you from seeing the beauty of Jesus in a way you never have before.  No matter what stage you are at in your walk with him, there is more!  Fall in love with Jesus all over again!

An open door to salvations...

 

I (Andy) remember being 18 and on my first trip to a closed country in Asia (almost 20 years ago).  I remember praying with a yellow skinned “slanted” eyed 10 year old to receive Jesus in his heart.  The first time I had ever led someone to the Lord!  I couldn’t believe that God would “speak through me” - a poor excuse for a Christian from SW Michigan!  But he did; and it launched me into a love relationship with Jesus that is still growing and being shaped….

A recent report from our students on a 2 month mission trip in Asia, is that last week 6 people GOT saved! This is amazing!  Not only are parts of Asia closed, but usually in a 2 month outreac, salvations don’t happen this quick!  The week before 1 person gave their heart to Jesus; so in less than 1 month.  7 people have come into God's kingdom!

Imagine, last year this time, many of these students were just trying to survive their Senior year of High School and now they are  winning people to Jesus! 

Thank you for your part in this!  Because of your monthly prayers and financial partnership with the Millers, we are able to help train, disciple, and send out hundreds of young people like this every year!  These salvations are because of YOU!



Hearing God Speak...

This morning about 50 staff and students gathered in a tent in Florida.  We spent an hour and a half praying for London, England.  During this time we prayed for 6 specific youth that live in a town called Illford.  We had pictures of them up and we broke into different groups and asked God to give us "words" or verses from the Bible for these young people!  It was amazing to see the verses and words they got for these kids were "spot on" to who they actually are!  The students in Florida had NEVER met these kids in England, and yet God was telling them things about them that only God or those close to them would know.  And yet, a group that was a 22 hour plane ride away was praying these things out! 

This was a great experience for these students in Florida.  There teaching this week is on "Hearing God's Voice."  In fact as we were wating on God to speak to us about the kids in England, one of our students yelled out, "Wow, God just dropped something in my head about this girl!"  Maybe the first time he had been aware that God wants to speak to us! 

These are the excting things that Rachel and I get to be a part of!  Young people like this guy, who are hearing God for the first time!!!  Thank you for being a part of sending us to be your extended hand to serving and training these young people!



off and running...

2012 begins:

The new year is off to a great start.  Our winter schools have started with approximately 30 students in 3 training schools...The Fall students are on outreach (the 2 month mission trip part of their school).  They are in Dominican Republic, India, and Asia!  We have already had reports of 1 salvation in a communist nation and 2 healings in India!  Our ladies are reaching out to prostitutes in brothels in Asia as well as open air preaching of the Gospel in India to a crowd of 100 and an outreach for about 40 children!  These guys haven't been gone 2 weeks and God is already at work!  Praise God!  20 somethings are changing nations with the presence and power and love of God!  Please keep them in your prayers!!!

PAX:

  

In case you missed it...we finally got a picture of Paxton!  He is a boy...born April 4, 2011.  He is currently the weight of 21 pounds!  We will get him in 2012 but we NEED your prayers!!!  Pray the Korean government releases him to our care!  And that it happens fast!  He is currently 9 months old (the same age Tysen was when he come to us).

Looking back & looking ahead...quick year in review...

2011 has been such an awesome year!  Over 500 students and participants have been trained and disciple here at YWAM Orlando and have gone out to over 6 countries on 4 continents to share the news of Jesus!

Our family was able to lead a team to London this summer where we were able to pour into the lives of 15 youth specifically and see God break their hearts for Him and create a fresh hunger and desire for the things of God.  We saw their broken image of God be put together again be healed and God’s true character and nature was once again revealed to them.

And most amazingly, on Tuesday we finally go a picture of our 8 month old son Paxton given to us!!  He is still in South Korea waiting for us to finalize the adoption; but we soon anticipate his arrival in 2012 to become a permanent part of our Family!!

We are so excited about all God is going to do in 2012!  We anticipate being able to train and disciple and send out over 1,000 young people all over the world.  We look forward to the completion of our adoption.  We anticipate the lives that will be reached with the Gospel to share eternity with Jesus!

We would love to enter this new year with all our ministry needs in place.  With airline tickets and training and some adoption expenses all expected this coming year, we need to have $1,000 raised by the end of 2011 to start 2012 off running!

Would you please consider a year end gift of $25 (or any amount) to help us meet our need?   

Should you choose to give, just click on the "Donate" link to the right and follow the instructions OR you can mail a check made payable to "YWAM" to the following: Andy & Rachel Miller; PO BOX 620487; Orlando, FL 32862

Blessings
The Millers

the neXt wave...

Christmas.  Stockings.  Egg Nogg.  Baby Jesus.  Wise men.  Santa.  The Grinch.  Immanuel.  "Red Rider BB Guns." Cheap cinnamon donuts that taste like curry...  Probably all things I should be talking about @ this time of year, and yet I am distracted....Christmas is my favorite time of year, don’t get me wrong.  But something in me is burning and hungry for something greater than another Christmas carol. 

Last month, Rachel, Ty, and I and about 350 other YWAM missionaries gathered in Alabama for 5 days to seek and chase after God.  Crazy right?  We had a plan.  We had an agenda.  YWAM has had a sense that God is raising up a “wave” of 200,000 new missionaries to GO to the cities, countries, & nations of our planet to share the news of Jesus to those who have not heard.  Yet during this time, our agenda’s and plan’s went out the window, but God met us !  There were times when everyone in the room was dancing because we were encountering God.  There were other times when all of us found ourselves on our faces because we were so in awe of God and his character and nature.  Many, if not all of us, left with a renewed sense of passion and vision as to “why it is we do what we do…”  We came in with our plans and left with God’s plans.  Others came in with their vision and left with God’s vision for their life.  Us included.  I am hungry for God.  I have to have Him.  I have to be changed.  I am grateful for all he has done in me, but I am desperate to know Him and become more like Him.  I am desperate to get rid of my agenda to be known and to make my agenda be that Jesus is known.  Thank you so much for your part in this next wave!  Thank you for sending our family to help coordinate, plan and serve in different capacities of this 5 day conference.  We felt as though we had a part in shaping over 350 lives to closer hear God and obey his calling for their lives.  YOU therefore played a role in that!  Not only does your partnership affect us; but in 5 short days, YOU helped transform 350 people you’ve never met!  Thank you… & oh - Merry Christmas!!!

Evangelicals, postmoderns & Kool-aid...

My family and I just got back from a mission to trip to London, England this past week.  My wife is not a huge fan of drinking "un-bottled" water.  That is not a bad thing; it's just the way it is.  Give her the option of a Coke or water from the tap & she will take the Coke every time.  Anyways, whenever she travels, she brings along little packs of Kool-aid, lemonade, Gatoraid, etc. to help with the challenge of drinking foreign water.  Well the water in England was amazing so we have like 50 packets of Kool-aid left over.  Every now and then I have been mixing in a cherry flavored packet into my water to I guess "relive" my childhoold memories.  Saturday, it was like 92 degrees and I mowed the lawn at mid day.  When I came in, I took a washed out apple sauce glass jar (like a 64 ounce one), filled it with water and stired in 2-3  packets of Kool-aid to get some flavor going.  After about 10 sips I had the thought, "this can't be good for me."  So I dumped it all out.  At the very bottom I discoverd an entire layer of pure white sugar.  It had just settled on the bottom (and to think parents in the 80's pretty much ran a medical IV into the arm of every child in America and pumped this sugar laced substance into our bodies; with of course a side of Kraft macaroni & cheeese).  Looks can be deciving.  Here I am drinking this beautiful iced red Kool-aid that looks and tastes somewhat refreshing.  Inside however, it contained the distortion of white sugar and red #5. 

If Christianity is supposed to be "water," then the view of Christianity in the current century is like Kool-aid.  Today's defenition of "true Christianity" involves conversations around: postmodernity, evangelicalism, orthodoxy, liberalism, right wing conservatives, calvanism, reformed, pre-trib vs. post trib rapture, etc.  All great for magazine articles, pod casts, Youtube, and conversations involving latte's.   But whatever happened to the simplicity of following Jesus.  I have done street evangelism; I get it; sometimes people ask broad and deep question and you need information to give them in response.  It makes us look like we know our stuff and that Christianity is the right choice.  But maybe that isn't the point.  Maybe it's not about knowing our "stuff."  Jesus really didn't debate theology.  He said things to the "theologians" like: repent, forgive, follow me, etc.  His message was simple and people could wrap their minds around it, and go out and apply it to their lives instantly. 

I just listened to a 16 minute pod cast, by a well known author and speaker.  He is actually a very good writter and he loves Jesus.  The message was about the present shift in Christianity today and the future shape of evangelicalism. - and I have absolutally no idea what he was talking about.  Jesus said things like, "Love your neighbor."  And, "deny yourself."  Simple and yet life altering.  Why have we gotten away from that?

According to sources, there are over 38,000 known Christian denominations.  If we researched each of them, they would have different creeds and interpretations of scriptures, and veiws on females in ministry and whether or not communion should consist of wine & bread OR grape juice & Saltines.  Not saying it is sin.  Just saying, maybe it taints the purity of Jesus just a little bit.  Maybe it confuses some people so much, they choose to go in another direction & don't consider Jesus at all.  Not because Jesus it difficult; but rather, that we as his followers, have made him confusing.

So again I ask - if following Jesus is supposed to be like driking pure refreshing water ("if you drink of Me, you will never thirst again"), why do we keep filling it with "impurities" like Kool-aid.  We argue about who is right and who is wrong; who is a heretic; whether angels have long hair or short hair; etc.  It's the same as taking a nice pure refreshing cup of cold water and dumping in sugar, yellow #5, yellow #6, and red 40...and sure, why not throw in a little sweet and low.  Drink it and it wont kill you, but it does tank the original purity of the water....

Are these denominations wrong?  No.  Are all these views and interpretations sin?  No.  But if we are not careful, we can taint the original purity of what it means to be a follower of Jesus.