davidrmiller's Xanga

Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Wed, 28 Oct 2009 21:02:45 GMT

We are progressing closer towards starting a new church here in Kane. It's been exciting to see God work these past couple of months since we moved up here. God has been using my wife to reach out to numerous ladies in the community. One young lady recently stopped Carol while she was on a walk, and started pouring out some pretty personal problems to her. My wife is going out for the evening with another young lady from work. This lady seems interested in spiritual things, and has been asking Carol some questions. So please pray for my wife as she reaches out to these ladies! As for me, I am finding it a bit harder to connect with community people here. However, I am learning to know people at least on a casual basis, which is a good start. Alot of my energy right now is being poured into making my handyman business take off. The Lord reminded me today, though, that the main reason I am here is not to make my business go, but to build Christ's kingdom. So I have to keep that in mind, and find a good balance.

We are having a men's meeting this evening to discuss and make some further decisions about starting a church. I feel that it is a very important meeting, so pray for us, and continue to as we make decisions in the future. It is my deep desire that we be a church that reaches out to the community, and that we don't just become our little own group. That has been heavy on my heart lately. Pray for wisdom for us!

Someone shared some verses with our men's group the other morning that really stood out to me, and I think they apply to our situation alot, as all of us prospective church planters are under 30 years old. The verses are in Jeremiah 1, verses 4 through 10:

The word of the Lord came to me, saying, "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations."

"Ah, Sovereign Lord," I said, "I do not know how to speak; I am only a child."

But the Lord said to me, "Do not say, 'I am only a child.' You must go to everyone I send you to and say whatever I command you. Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you and will rescue you." declares the Lord.

Then the Lord reached out his hand and touched my mouth and said to me, "Now, I have put my words in your mouth. See, today I appoint you over nations and kingdoms to uproot and tear down, to destroy and overthrow, to build and to plant."

I thought, wow, that surely applies to us!

Saturday, August 01, 2009

Sat, 01 Aug 2009 15:13:15 GMT

A year ago this time.....what was I doing? umm....maybe kissing my new wife right after we walked out of the sanctuary??? That was Saturday, August 2, a whole year ago already!

So glad I made that choice.....so glad I'm not lonely anymore.

We don't have internet connection at our house right now, so I am having to run up to the library to do it, and am getting very behind. Facebook occasionally finds out tidbits of my life. We have now moved up to Kane, PA, and we do like it. Not too sure how my job is going to go yet, there are definitely some things about it I don't really like, but I'm going to try to give it some time. It's not the worse job in the world though either; at least I have a job.

Kane is so different than Lancaster....way more laid back....I lived up in Bradford for a year and a half, and it's similar to Kane, but after being in Lancaster for awhile, I about forgot how much Lancaster and this area contrast each other. Even though they are both in the same state, it feels totally different. It's so good to have friends to do stuff with, and we feel right at home with the church in Bradford. All in all, it was definitely a good move for us.

Mom and Dad and my brother are driving in later this evening! I can hardly wait! It has been since last November since I saw my parents. They will be here until Wednesday morning. Hopefully after that we can do something special for our anniversary. It's been a crazy month with lots to do.

Packing up to move!

Our new house! Unfortunately, the quality of this photo is not very good.

This is what the dining room looked like before we tore out the carpet, tore off the wallpaper and repainted.

Almost finished with the dining room!

Old Living Room

New Living Room....wish I had a better pic of it.

Below is some pictures of the process...

What a mess it was!!!

Tearing up old carpet....the lady that lived there before had a big dog and it made the carpet really nasty.

So much more I could say, but my clock is saying I better get home and do some work projects before my parents come. If any of you want our address so you can come see us, let us know.

Saturday, July 04, 2009

Sat, 04 Jul 2009 14:40:08 GMT

We are moving! Heading up to Bradford this weekend, and will be staying with some friends up there until early next week. Then from Tuesday through Saturday it's work, work, work. Tearing up carpets, painting, cleaning, and putting in new flooring. Then hopefully next Saturday we will be done and we can move our stuff in. I better go, we are hoping to leave in about an hour!

Saturday, June 13, 2009

Sat, 13 Jun 2009 21:50:58 GMT

The Next Chapter of Our Lives Begins

I thought this might be a good time to reveal our near-future plans, for those of you who don't already know. We are moving, probably the end of this month, or the first part of July. No, we are not moving 3 blocks down, or even 3 miles; we are moving approximately 237 miles north! The town is called Kane, and it is about a 35 minute drive south of Bradford, where Carol and I spent some time in voluntary service.

The whole process has been a long, long story, so I won't go into full detail. I will say, though, that it has been absolutely amazing how God has so clearly opened doors for us to go. God is real, and He does still indeed answer prayer! For some time already, we had been thinking and praying about moving up to the Bradford area or somewhere near. We weren't sure, however, if God wanted us there or somewhere else. During this time, we were asked to help full time in prison ministry, but after praying about it, we just didn't feel it was right for us at this time, although the thought of it was pretty alluring. Meanwhile there had been some talk about possible starting an outreach church south of Bradford. Three young Mennonite couples are in that general area now. No church is started there yet, and no definite plans have been made for one, but there is hope that one can be started there in the near future. So the prospect of helping with a church plant was one of the key factors in our decision to move up there. We also have very good friends in the area up there, and feel right at home there. Although Kane is south of Bradford, we will still have very close ties with the Bradford congregation, and plan to go there for church at least until the local church would get off and running.

Once we felt confident God was leading us up north, the next question was "where exactly?" Most of our connections are in Bradford, but the new church would possibly be starting south of there. So where should we go? We decided to pray that we would know where to live depending on where I could find a job. So a month ago or so we went up looking for a job. I thought the best possibility of finding a job would be in Bradford itself, since it is a little bigger town with more businesses than the Kane area. However, Zippo / Case Knives had just laid off a bunch of people, so the chances of finding a job looked bleak. The economy up there generally tends to lag behind the rest of the nation, and we knew the national economy isn't good right now either. We spent a good portion of a day up in Bradford looking for work, dropping off resume's, going to the employment office, stopping at businesses. Nothing. We are not hiring, we are laying people off, they all said. A bit discouraged, we decided to go down to Kane to look at some houses, and if there were any businesses that caught our eye, we would stop in for an application. Well, we did not see any houses we were interested in, and on our way out of town, a construction trailer off to the side caught my eye. It had the business name, a description of the work, and a number on it. So we decided what could it hurt to call. I did, and it turned out, the guy was very interested in talking to me about a job. His one worker had just quit and moved, and he was very busy! So after some talk with him on and off over the weeks, he offered me a job!

Meanwhile, before he had actually offered me the job, he wondered where we were looking to move to. I said probably somewhere in or between Bradford or Kane or Mt. Jewett, depending on where I could find work. He said, "I have a house that I am renting out that I would like to sell!" He went on to describe it, and said he would be willing to sell it for whatever was left on his mortgage. It was a very good price. So to make a long story short, we went up, looked at it, and decided it was the house for us. The amazing thing about this too was his asking price was exactly what Carol and I had thought that we would like to spend! And house was in even better condition than some higher priced ones in the area.

There were some other answers to prayer too, but another one that stood out to me was concerning my job here in Lancaster. I was pretty nervous about quitting my job here. I like the job, and my boss has treated me very well. I know the Amish have a hard time getting reliable drivers, so Carol and I started praying that my boss could find someone to replace me. Up until recently, I had not had the courage to tell my boss I was thinking of quitting. Finally the other Friday, I decided I would do it. It was a rainy Friday morning, so we all went out for breakfast as we sometimes do. Over breakfast my boss, seemingly out of the blue, announced that he was going to be hiring a young Mennonite guy that could drive! He said the guy and his dad approached him about the job, and he told them he really wasn't hiring anybody, but for some reason he felt like he should hire him. I couldn't believe my ears!!! When we got back to the shop, I said, "Jonas, I think I know why you hired this guy." Immediately he started apologizing and saying it was not that I was a bad worker or anything. I said no, I didn't take it that way, but the reason he hired that guy was because I was moving and would be quitting. Needless to say, he was a bit shocked I would be quitting so soon (in a month), but at the same time, he knew that part of my heart was still up north. It was just awesome to see God so clearly working out all the little details so we can go!

Right now we are in the process of buying the place, and providing all goes well, we should be up there by the end of the month or early July. We are having a bit of trouble getting the current tennant out of the house, so that is holding things up a bit. But we know God has directed us this far, so nothing is too big for God.

So that is our plans. We would appreciate all of your prayers as plans continue to unfold. I hope our story can be an encouragement to each one of you if you are seeking God's will for your life. God does answer prayer!

Okay, we are going away tonight, I got to run.

Tuesday, June 09, 2009

Tue, 09 Jun 2009 02:27:54 GMT

Why is it that I get my inpirations late at night? I should be asleep!

The above book really makes me think. Why is it so hard for me to get into God's Word, when many people in other countries are dying (often literally) to have a Bible?

I am coming to the conclusion that many American Christians are not really daily experiencing God's power in their lives. We go to church, say and do all the right things, but inwardly we feel like God is distant, He isn't really working, He isn't actively involved in our lives. At times I feel this way.

So, what do you all think? Why is this?

Here is what I think. I think it's because we are not allowing God to show His power and work in our lives. Either we are not living in obedience, or we are not living our daily lives in faith, or both. You ask what do I mean "living our daily lives in faith"? I mean, we fail to include God in our lives. We don't talk to Him throughout the day. We don't ask Him to meet our needs in the small things. We are not looking for opportunities to witness. We are not asking God to meet our needs and to work in our lives. If we are not doing these things, God is not going to feel real to us! We need to start talking to him, as in, "Lord, help me to have a good attitude towards ....." or "Lord, would You please reveal to me what you want me to do with my future", or "Lord, help me to be a good example at work today." So often we get caught up in the cares of this life, and we forget to include God as our day unfolds. If we want to feel God, we must include Him, talk to Him, and act as if He is right there with us physically. But so often I forget.

I think I can sum it up by saying the reason so many people are just going through the motions spiritually is because we depending on ourselves, our things, and our money. We do not really depend on God. We tend to not allow God into our everyday lives.

I don't know who all reads this thing anymore, but if you have some time, I would like to hear some comments from you all. When you look around, do Christians around you seem alive and vibrant in their relationship with God, or are they generally just doing all the right things? Where are you in relation to all this? When do you feel closest to God, and when do you feel most distant?

Maybe this is getting too deep.... I must go to bed now.

Monday, May 18, 2009

Mon, 18 May 2009 23:54:30 GMT

Things I have seen in Lancaster which you won't see too many other places on Earth:

A Mennonite girl driving an ambulance, on call, with an Amish guy in the passenger seat.

A buggy with a bumper sticker that read, "Got Deer?"

A woman with a huge Mennonite-style covering, huge earrings, and pants on. (Not to poke fun; maybe she was a recent convert. Still, never seen that before.)

Mennonite women working at a bank. This is very common here, but I had not seen this until I moved here!

An Amish guy wearing his traditional Amish pants and suspenders, but without a shirt!

A man using horses to plow his field. Not unusual, expect that he had a van seat mounted on top of the plow for extra comfort.

A small horse pulling a lawn mower around the yard.

A decked out buggy; fully equipped with a CD changer, a CB radio, stereo, GPS unit, XM satellite radio, and speakers!

And I'm sure there are many others which I cannot think of right now.

Sunday, May 10, 2009

Sun, 10 May 2009 10:59:26 GMT

Happy Mother's Day.....like the song says:

Thank you Mama for praying for me;

if you had not prayed, then where would I be.

They called you old fashioned, but you loved the Lord.

And your prayers touched the Master, as your tears touched the floor.

One thing I can say about my Mom is that she was always supportive of me no matter what. I know there were many times she was worried about decisions I was making, but she committed it to God in prayer. Thanks Mom!

Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Wed, 29 Apr 2009 23:29:00 GMT

I have been wondering where everyone is at...like, I am getting no xanga updates from anyone. And then I realize...it no longer is cool to have Xanga. Facebook is the new fad. I'm way behind the times, so I'm trying it....it's okay, but I'm not sure what the craze is all about. Probably because it's new. It seems to be good for networking, as in finding old friends. And it's good for people who don't like to write, or don't like to read long blogs, or simply don't care enough about their "friends" to read an entire long blog entry. One liners and a bunch of photos will do for this group of people.

Anyways...

I have had alot on my mind lately, but I'm not always sure if I want to post stuff for all the world to see. I guess I will say, though, that we have been seriously thinking and praying about moving, but things are progressing rather slowly right now. If you really need to know more, you may contact me personally.

Last night I got a call from Wilmer and Linda Paulus, whom I had spent a few months with in Papua New Guinea back in 2002. They invited Carol and I over to their place Saturday night, as they are currently hosting a man from PNG. I am so excited to see them again, and to meet this man from PNG. Although I don't know him, I'm sure the whole evening will bring back many memories for me. That trip forever changed my life.

Excuse me, I know the subjects of this post are very random....

Pray for my Mother as she is recovering from knee surgery out in Oregon. It sounds like the surgery was a success, and she will be able to go home tomorrow.

Monday and Tuesday it was unseasonably warm here...close to 90 degrees. Ivan, my Amish coworker, is taking every opportunity to get a tan. He says he has 9 more weeks to wear shorts, and then he is getting baptised and joining the Amish church! On the serious side of it though, it is a challenge for me sometimes as I work with the guys. I want to be a good example and witness to them, but I'm not always sure how. They don't seem real open to what I have to say, and I don't think arguing is a good way to go about it either.

I haven't been in real much of a writing mood lately. I thought I was tonight finally, but it quickly vanished, so I think I will give up. But at least I gave you all a short update!

Tuesday, March 03, 2009

Tue, 03 Mar 2009 13:28:16 GMT

Prison Crusade

Part 2 of 2

* Editor's note: I am at home today, recovering from getting my wisdom teeth pulled yesterday. So I thought it would be a good day to update my blog.*

While my experience with Sinclair was the highlight of the weekend (see previous blog post), there were some other noteworthy happenings also. Another rewarding experience for me was visiting prisoners in lockup. If you are not familiar with that, lockup is where they put inmates who break some sort of rule, whether it be that they are violent, or are caught with contraband; or there could be a host of other reasons. Sometimes inmates with an axe to grind against someone will set up a fellow inmate to get him in trouble, or occasionally officers may agitate inmates to the point where they retaliate, giving the officers opportunity to send them to lockup. Lockup is a highly restricted area of the prison, where even family members are not allowed to visit. There are rows of heavy metal doors, behind which an inmate is caged in a small room that is probably about 6' wide by 12' to 15' long. Inside is a bare-bones cot, a toilet with no seat, and a sink. That's it. Depending on the situation, they are allowed to have a few books and personal belongings, but not much. In the prison I visited, they were allowed out 3 times a week for a shower. I believe they were allowed to "exercise" 1 hour per day. For "exercise" an inmate is taken outside and put in a small cage, somewhat like a dog kennel, barely big enough to walk around in. When the inmates are taken to this "exercise room", they are handcuffed as they are transferred. Some of the men I met were in lockup for a short time, some had a few months left to spend there yet, some were put there for over a year! They looked about like animals in cages, as there was only a small, approximately 6"X 6" window with bars across. There was a little slot beneath through which things could be passed, such as food trays.

Our group of men went in the lockup corridor and sang, then went door to door and visited with the inmates. This was an interesting and exciting experience. Some of the prisoners were loud and a bit obnoxious, but most were very courteous and glad we came. When we were singing, I noticed a guy across the room I felt I should talk to. So when we were done singing I went over to his cell, and spoke with him. His name was Michael, a white fellow probably in his late 50's. As it turned out, he was a Christian, but obviously struggled with discouragement. He said he would be getting out of prison in about 4 months, and wanted me to pray that he would be accepted at a certain Rescue Mission, so he would have a place to live. He also hoped to go through the program and eventually become a staff member there. I told him some about myself, that I had gotten married in August, and he heartily congratulated me. I told him that we were seeking the Lord's will for our future and asked him to remember us in prayer as he thought of it. He suggested that we pray right then, so we did! He had the most beautiful prayer, asking God to guide our future. I also prayed for him. Right there in lockup, the two of us had a good time sharing and fellowship with the Lord! While I was talking with him, it was rather loud in the hall, and I had to put my ear right up to the hole in the door to hear. As I talked, I heard an inmate a few doors down loudly bang and rattle his door. I looked up, wondering if he was trying to get out and attack me or what was going on! As soon as I looked in his direction, he laughed and said, "ha ha! I got your attention!"

On Saturday afternoon we played volleyball with some of the inmates, and during the game and between games, the Lord drew my attention to a young man sitting at the top of the bleachers by himself. I felt I should go and talk to him, so I went over to him and asked if I could sit beside him. He seemed surprised, but glad. So I chatted with him for awhile, and found out some about his life. He was my age, 28, had 2 young children and a wife (his second one). He grew up in Ohio, and although his dad is a pastor of a liberal Mennonite church, didn't seem personally interested in God or even going to church. He had worked for a steel mill, and had an accident where a heavy steel beam fell on his leg. He had to get his leg amputated, and received a prosthetic one, which he showed me. Because of the accident, he received a large sum of settlement money. Evidently, he quit his job and went on the road, driving around aimlessly. Somehow he ended up in South Carolina, and got in trouble with the law. He said he had not seen his kids in 2 years. Towards the end of our conversation, I asked him if he had been at the previous night's church service. He said he hadn't, and that church isn't really his thing. I gave him and invitation for the coming night's service, and warmly urged him to come. He perked up a bit and said he might. I made sure I looked for him that evening, and sure enough, he was there! I caught his eye in the crowd, and gave him a "thumbs up" as he smiled back. After the service, I didn't know if I would get to talk to him or not, but he came right over to me, shook my hand, and said he enjoyed the service and was glad he came. He said it was better than what he expected it might be. I was so happy that it appeared he was at least opening up a bit. I didn't get to talk to him the rest of the weekend, but hopefully a seed was sown in his life, and he will continue to open his heart to God. He says that long ago he accepted Christ, but it was quite obvious he was not real interested in spiritual things. I may try to write him, if I can figure out for sure who he is; as of right now, I only have his first name.

One thing I became more aware of as over the weekend is that there is a spiritual warfare going on all around us. This was especially evident in one of the ladies' prisons, as there was one individual in particular that went to the altar to be freed from demonic powers. She said she was under the influence of 6 demons. Some of the staff prayed with her, but I don't know alot more about the situation. I also experienced some of the warfare personally. The night that Sinclair accepted Jesus, I went to my night's lodging, and after telling my wife and hosts about the experience, went to a relaxed sleep. I woke up early in the morning to go to the restroom, and as soon as I got back in bed, the thought of Sinclair being up at the altar the night before flashed through my mind. Immediately I started getting chills up and down my body, and I could tell it was different than just cold chills. I woke Carol up, and right away she knew something was wrong. I told her I was thinking of Sinclair, and that I needed her to pray for me and him. I was shaking and crying as she prayed, but soon after she started praying, I calmed down and the chills left my body. I told Sinclair about this the next day, and although he didn't have much to say, he was really surprised about it. I had to wonder later if maybe I was being attacked by demonic forces that had been attacking Sinclair for so long, and giving him the nightmares. Maybe they were leaving him and taking it out on me, I don't know. But something was going on, and it was real.

We are in a spiritual battle. Most of the time, however, we don't think about it. One of Satan's tactics that he uses on American Christians today is to get us to think that spiritual warfare doesn't exist. He wants us to think that this life is all about material and physical things. But let's be aware, the spirit realm is real, and remember that God's power is greater than any demon or any such thing.

Pray with me for the spiritual lives of those who are incarcerated, both the saved and unsaved. And by the way, I would highly recommend this prison crusade to any of you who are interested in getting involved.

Sunday, February 22, 2009

Sun, 22 Feb 2009 12:26:07 GMT

PRISON CRUSADE

Part 1 of 2

If you read my previous post, you already know that last weekend Carol and I were down in S.C. with the Gospel Express Prison Crusade. What an awesome time it was! Although I can't possibly mention everything that happened, I will at least try to give you all some of the highlights we experienced.

Basically, I would say it was a very rewarding weekend, but also very mentally draining, and physically exhausting from being short on sleep. It was amazing to see God work in a mighty way not only in the prison I went into, but in some of the other prisons too.

I have just a few experiences that stand out in my mind, but one especially made my weekend. But before I get into that, maybe I should explain what all we did at the Crusade. Now, Carol went into a women's institution, and their schedule was a bit different, but here is basically how my days were like. Each day (Thursday through Saturday), we arrived at the prison about 12:00 noon, and upon arriving, an organized team of volunteers came in and played a game of basketball with the inmates. On Saturday afternoon, all of the volunteers played volleyball with them. The games kind of relaxed the inmates and warmed them up to idea of us sharing the Gospel with them. At least, that was the idea. There was one game, however, that was getting a little too chippy. The volunteer team was playing the inmates quite tough, and were actually ahead by a few points when all of a sudden, an officer came in and stopped the game for roll count. When that happens the inmates must immediately drop what they are doing and line up to be counted. Well, the inmates were also keeping score and refereeing the game, and evidently they didn't like losing, cause when they got done with roll count, they cheated and switched the score; suddenly they were ahead of the volunteers! Some of us noticed it, but didn't want to say much for fear of causing a fight. And the refs were laughably terrible. They were so onesided with the calls, even the prisoners sitting on the sidelines were getting upset and yelling at them. Ended up, the volunteers lost by one point, although, if the score had been counted right, they would have actually won by a few points.

Anyway, so as I was saying, we started our day by playing sports with them, then spent the afternoon visiting in their dorms and/or lockup. One evening we ate supper with them. Then in the evenings at about 5:30, a Gospel Express team or other singing group would come in and share in a song service, followed by preaching and an alter call. Many people came forward to the altar at most of the prisons.

Among all the things that happened, the highlight for me was praying with one of the men at the altar to receive Christ. It took me somewhat by surprise on the very first night. After a powerful salvation message was preached, we volunteers were standing along the front, waiting to pray with those who responded. I went up and knelt beside about the 4th guy that came up. I let him pray silently for awhile, and then I asked him if there was a specific reason he came forward. He said that yes, he wanted to confess that he had committed murder! Needless to say, I was a bit shocked that I was kneeling and praying with a murderer! I talked with him for a bit, then told him he should pray and confess it to God, and he did! It was a simple prayer; something like "God, I committed murder. I'm sorry." Short and to the point. When he was done, I showed him through my "Steps to Peace with God" booklet, and asked him if he understood it. He said he did. I asked him if he wanted to accept Christ into his heart, and warned him not to play around with God, that this was a very serious thing he was doing, and that he was about to commit the rest of his life to Jesus. He said he understood, so again I asked him to pray, and he did, and accepted the Lord into his life! Then I asked his name so I could pray for him by name. I wasn't long into my prayer when all of a sudden he got up and said, "I got to go!" My heart sank! Was he giving up already? Wasn't he serious about this after all? Then I realized an officer had come in and told everyone it was time to go back to their dorms. When this happens, there is no time for delay or argument; they just go. I didn't even get to tell him goodbye or ask him if I could talk with him later or anything; he was just gone! I am so thankful that the Lord prompted me to get his first name. Because I at least had his first name, a unique one, I was able to find him and talk with him again the next day.

I found him milling around in one of the dorms the next day, and had someone go get him for me. He seemed kind of surprised that I showed up and wondered what I wanted. I was still a bit skeptical about the experience the night before, so I asked him a bunch of questions to test his sincerity. I asked what he was feeling now, had he felt any change inside, did he sense God was working, or was nothing happening? He said he felt really peaceful. Then he said how most nights he used to have nightmares and wake up in the night screaming. He said that last night he didn't have any of that! And not only that, he claimed that it was the first night of restful sleep he had in 12 years! PTL! As I talked with him, it was becoming more apparent that he was indeed sincere. Years before, I had led someone to the Lord, only to hear him say a few days later that he no longer "had the faith." So I was pretty skeptical, but I found little reason to believe that this inmate was not sincere. I asked him if he had told anyone about his decision yet, and he said that that same night he told his roomate, who also was a Christian. The next day at lunch, he told some people he was eating with that he went to the altar the night before, and he said he told them why he did. (By the way, I guess it's okay to say that his name was Sinclair.) I gave him a New Testament and a Bible Study course, which he seem interested in. I hope to write him sometime soon to find out how he is doing. During the course of our conversation, he said he had committed murder in '78, but didn't get caught until 1997. I believe he received a life sentence. So please pray for Sinclair, that he would desire to grow in his walk with God, and that if it's in God's will, I would be able to correspond with him.

I better get ready for church. Hopefully this afternoon I can get Part 2 written, so please check back.