Final Thoughts for 2016

2008. That was the last year my (Carl's) whole family was all together for Christmas. Claire and I had a 3-month old girl (Micah); my brother Sam had been married about a year; and John, Steven, and Melody were all still single and in college. Sean was only 13, not even in high school yet! This year, the Miller family Christmas was a little bit different. Five of us are married now, and between all the siblings there are 9 grandchildren running around! Despite the differences, though, the family Christmas had the same feel to it: the same frustrations, the same joys, and the same chaos (though admittedly more of that now). We loved our Christmas, and we'll enjoy the 3-year respite before we subject everyone to that level of craziness again. 

As if we weren't busy at all, for the last month or so, I’ve had a second full-time job. My friend Matt asked me to apply to be a chaplain with Operation Christmas Child in the warehouse where they process all the packed shoeboxes. I was unsure what to expect, but I applied, and was accepted. The job turned out to be an incredible experience. For nearly 30 days my main responsibility was to pray: I prayed for everyone volunteering to help process shoeboxes going to kids around the world; prayed for the seasonal employees who needed a job to make it through the holidays; and gave devotionals walking everyone through the Bible story. In many ways, this job was the perfect intersection of my teaching and member care ministries in the Philippines, so it was a perfect fit! While we worked, I had the opportunity to build relationships with volunteers and other employees, and had the privilege and joy of seeing two employees give their lives to Christ. 

One employee had to miss the last few days of the job because of financial and family issues but came back on the final day. He said he had two reasons for coming back: the first was to return his work shirt that belonged to the company; the second was to give his life to Christ. All season long his buddies and his manager and I had been praying for him and urging him to become a follower of Jesus, and repeatedly he said he wasn't ready yet. But on that last day, he came back because he was ready. I was able to pray with him and watch him give his life to Jesus and become a disciple.

This job challenged me more than I've been challenged before to share the Gospel. I realized that too often I simply assume that people are believers, that they don't need to be called to follow Christ. I'm learning now not to assume, and I'm learning to have the courage to ask. To ask and to call. Even at Faith Academy, even children of missionaries, I can't simply assume everyone is a believer. When we return to Manila, this is something I'm going to change, because if I'm not calling people to follow Christ, I'm wasting my energy with anything else I do.

Just before I started with Operation Christmas Child we met with a financial advisor to take a closer look at how we're doing financially. A good friend of Claire's family, he sat us down and made us take an honest look at our support level. While this wasn't completely embarrassing, we were still forced to look at the ways we've not done well with this aspect of our ministry. For those of you interested in details, we were told we need about 150 people supporting us in order to have a good support base. If everyone who opened our newsletter began supporting us at $40/month, we would be fully supported! When we realized that, suddenly support raising didn't seem like an insurmountable task. We're even beginning to find it exciting to invite people to partner with us monthly (not something I was expecting to be able to say!).

All that being said, we wanted to say a special thank you for those who are supporting us monthly. We don't appreciate you nearly enough; without you, we would not be doing what we're doing. Without you, Claire wouldn't have started the Mom's group, I would not have been part of creating a curriculum for the Humanities course, and we would not be helping care for over 50 missionaries living and working in Manila. You are part of a ministry that literally spans the globe. Thank you.

We still want to reconnect with you if we haven't yet, so here's our travel itinerary in brief. We'll be in the Chicago area from January 13 until around the beginning of April. We need to head back to Texas then so we can be settled when the baby comes in May. We'll finish out our Home Assignment time in the Dallas area, and once our support is raised, we'll head back to Manila after July 4. Seems like a long way away now, but I know it will surprise us when it gets close.

Congratulations! You've read till the end! :) Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, and most of all, thank you so much for praying and partnering with us!