Abel and Sarah Miller connecting you to tribal missions Go Team Go!
We’re planning on being in Tanzania on the 1st of July, and beginning language school on the 18th. We’re headed out from California on the 29th of May, and begin our trek across the US, and will fly out of DC hopefully on the 28th or 29th of July.
It’s been exciting to see how the Lord is filling up the team as we prepare to move to Tanzania and continue ministry building the Tanzanian Church. New Tribes Mission has set our monthly support level at $7200 a month, and we are working towards raising monthly supporters. Just like the Lord has called us to Tanzania, and equipped us, I know He has called many of you to partner with us, and has equiped you also. As part of the Body of Christ, our ministries may look different, but we’re all investing in eternity. We get to be on the ground in Tanzania seeing people reconciled to God through Jesus Christ, but we need supporters responding to the Lord in order to keep us there. Please be praying, and asking the Lord what part He might have been preparing for you in building the Tanzanian Church. We’re being faithful with our lives because the Lord has blessed us so far with more cancer free years, and are encouraging you to be faithful with what the Lord has blessed you with. If you would like to partner with us financially please visit http://blogs.ntm.org/abel-miller/give and sign up for the Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) option. If you do the EFT, there is no processing fee, so it ALL goes directly to our ministry in Tanzania. Please also be checking our Blog: http://blogs.ntm.org/abel-miller/ to keep up to date with us, and to know how you can be praying for the team that YOU are a part of in Tanzania, East Africa. Thanks for being on the team. It’s good to be serving the Lord with you. -a
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Rejoice Always, Pray without Ceasing, In Everything give thanks, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. If you would like to respond to this post, the Millers would LOVE to hear from you at abel_miller@ntm.org !
My dad can’t dance
Our family
My dad can’t dance. I love him, but he just doesn’t get along well with a beat. He can chase that beat all over the floor, but he just can’t seem to catch the thing. Our family has mocked him since I can remember for his lack of skills in this area. He has this extra tick in his dance that doesn’t made sense. At a wedding, years ago, someone flipped on “Polka” the stars came into line, and we were silenced in awe. My dad was dancing. He’s the Polka king. He was born to Polka!
I recently did a question and answer session at a church, and was embarassed by how difficult it is for me to keep my train of thought on the rails. The situation played itsel out something like this: A question would be posed by someone in the audience. I would restate it, both for the general assembly to hear the question and for me to be clear that I understood the question. I would answer the question. I would then ask the questioner if I answered his/her question to their satisfaction. Several times I had started off well, and ended miles away from the question and would have to set about answering the question again. It was embarassing, but through this, God was glorified. That God would use me is an amazing thing. In using me, He gets the glory. Sure I bring stuff to the table, but it’s been interesting to see the different ministries that the Lord has trusted to us, and how they don’t really fit in with the things that I’ve considered myself gifted in.
Do you remember the Linguistics course at the missionary training center? I was put to the task of analyzing languages for 8-10 hours a day while working with a computer (computers and I, we have an understanding- we don’t like eachother), not outside, and away from people. This is not the type of thing that I would have put my efforts into apart from the Lord. Just like my dad was awkwardly awaiting his “Polka calling,” I feel like the we’ve been prepared and called to Tanzania.
What are you made for? What is your purpose? Are you using everything that the Lord has given you in order to glorify Him? Am I? We need to be.
I’ve been dreading this part (raising support) since we started down the road to missions several years ago. Remember how the Lord worked when we were at WOL? He provides, because He’s the Provider!! I thought that I’d have to beg, and make a case for building the Church Body in Tanzania, but I forgot that it’s not my/our ministry, the ministry belongs to the Lord. He has gone before us, and He has been calling other people to the team expanding the reach of the Gospel to Tanzania as He has called us! We are amazed at His provision, and the blessings that we have gotten out of this phase in our lives. We get to spend a lot of time with people, and get to be involved in a pretty serious way with their ministries as they are getting involved in ours. I’m not a “Song-and-dance,” fakie type of guy, and to be able to be used as “Abel” has been sweet. I don’t have to pretend to be some flashy missionary dude with a magic trick, and a tear-jerking story. I do what I do- encourage, disciple, pass on information- and the Lord has blessed the ministry that He’s trusted to us. It’s sweet. God’s good, and gets ALL the glory.
Pray for peace and ease with the multiple moves the family will be making in the next year (California to Tanzania, Language school in Central Tanzania to Western Tanzania, etc.)
Pray that relationships would be established with the Church in Tanzania on level ground, and that the Lord, and not the Millers would be seen as “The Answer” to the growth needs in the Tanzania Church.
Pray that God opens the doors for the financial support needed to build the Church body in Tanzania.
Thanks for your prayers and support!
-abel for the millers
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Rejoice Always, Pray without Ceasing, In Everything Give Thanks for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. If you would like to respond to this post, the Millers would LOVE to hear from you at abel_miller@ntm.org !
Somewhere in the middle of the desert
Tags: Polka
Great men of faith
“He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose” –Jim Elliot
Great words from a great man. I’ve had the chance to read some great books about great men of faith over the last several years. I want to be like them. I want to do things the way that they did. I’m realizing, however, that if I try to be like these men, I will only be frustrated. I’m not them. I don’t do things like them, because I’m not them. I’m Abel. Our family is the way we are- loving, active and spontaneous. We don’t have to be like other families. I can’t tell you the freedom that comes from realizing that I/we can be free in Christ to serve Him as ourselves. I don’t have to try to fit into a ministry that isn’t made for me. Sarah doesn’t have to be as good of a cook as ____, or mother like____, or be more like____. She’s who she is in Christ, and that is excellent!
The sweet part of this is that though we are always being matured and prepared for ministry, we can also minister where we are. Right out of high school it looked different than it does now. Then it was taking kids skimboarding several times a week… now it’s teaching, supporting, and helping to develop church leaders. I don’t have to be the best evangelist the world has ever known. I need to be Abel, in Christ, Spirit led.
Who are you? What are you passionate about? Can you do that for the Lord? (The answer for that last one is “Yes!”) I’ve heard it said- How does the Lord reach the shoe salesman? He dresses us up like a shoe salesman, or a shopper. He sends us, as Christians (Little Christs, Christ-like, ambassadors for Christ) to talk to that salesman. It’s your job to reach that salesman, and tell him the greatest news he could ever hear. –That God isn’t mad at him.
•He created all, and has the authority to make all the rules. We broke the rules, and don’t deserve to be in Heaven. God Himself made a way for man to be in Heaven with Him! This doesn’t sound like an angry God. This is a God who has always been making a way to save mankind.
•The Garden of Eden- Man disobeyed God. Could God have killed both Adam and Eve then? Yes. He made them, He makes the rules… but He made a way for them to be covered.
•The time of Noah- “The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of his heart was only evil continually.” (Genesis 6:5) Could God have killed everyone on the earth? Yes. He made the rules. As the Creator, that’s His right… but He didn’t kill everyone. He made a way for them to be saved.
•The time of Moses- God was leading the Israelites, providing food for them (manna), water for them, shade for them during the day, and fire for them at night. The people complained- “Why have you brought out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food, and no water, and we loathe this miserable food.” (Numbers 21:5) God provided everything that they needed. They could SEE a representation of Him with them in the pillar of smoke/fire. They still were against Him. Could He have killed all of them? Of course. Instead of killing them all, He sent snakes among them, and they bit the Israelites, and the Israelites ran to Moses, saying “We have sinned, because we have spoken against the Lord,” (Numbers 21:7). God again made a way, telling the people through Moses that if they were bit, and looked at the Bronze Serpent they would be saved. Everyone that did what the Lord said was saved. Everyone. Everyone who didn’t do what the Lord said died. Everyone. God made the way.
People Kept turning away from Him, so He said that they would be forgiven through making sacrifices of animals to the Lord. The sacrifices didn’t forgive the people, the Lord forgave the people because they followed the way that the Lord said they should. The problem was that the people kept speaking against the Lord, or in other ways disobeying the laws that He had set up, so they had to keep making sacrifices to cover their disobedience. The purpose of the Law was to show man that they could not live a righteous life on their own. We could never live a life that is perfectly in line with the Law. Enter the fulfillment of God’s plan. The final sacrifice. (Hebrews 10:11,12) “Every priest stands daily ministering and offering time after time the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins; but He (Christ) having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, sat down at the right hand of God…” (The underlined part is from Psalm 110:1, but it’s also in Hebrews 10:12). He has made a way. Not by following rules, not by being better than other people, but by believing that the the final sacrifice was what the Lord has done for us personally.
He made a way. He pursues us. He wants a relationship with us. This is an amazing thing!
Romans 10:14,15- How then will they call on Him they have not believed? How will they believe in Him whom they have not heard? How will they hear without a preacher? How will they preach unless they are sent? Just as it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news of good things!”
Be the feet.
-abel
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Rejoice Always, Pray without Ceasing, In Everything Give Thanks for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. If you would like to respond to this email, the Millers would LOVE to hear from you at abel_miller@ntm.org !
Tags: The Gospel
02/01/11
- A 8 foot rock python
- (Click to enlarge photo)
Thanks for your faithful prayers. We are amazed as we watch the Lord prepare the way for us as we continue to follow Him. Recently I made a 3 week trip out to East Africa with two other men. We met with 15 different missionary families, representing 6 different mission organizations to find out how and where NTM would be the most effective. The trip served to help unify the missionaries serving there, and as we finish compiling the information gathered and send it back to them, they will be able to used it as a resourse as they make decisions for future ministries. We traveled over 4,000 Tanzania miles on busses through wildlife reverves and over dirt roads. I was back in the states for 2 days and then made a trip to Florida to present to findings of the trip to the South East African coordinator.
We are working hard at raising support for the upcoming ministries we’ll be doing in East Africa, and the efforts take up nearly all of my waking time.
Please be praying for
-endurance during this time
-for people to be excited about the ministry that the Lord has laid before us, and be supportive of it
-for quality time with the family (Andrew and I just had a half hour of “camping” in the basement before he went to bed, which was fun)
We will be moving back to California (Lord willing) at the end of this month
Please be praying for
-the check over of the van before the trip to be thorough
-us to be selective in what we keep, and what we give away
-the time we’ll spend with our church in Missouri (they’re growing very fast- not in numbers, but in the Word… we’re excited to be with them again)
We are dong well as a family.
Andrew is the sweetest big brother I’ve ever seen or even heard of.
Heidi is a handful, but also very sweet. She loves to sing to herself, and to her dolls, and to her stuffed animals, and to her blanket…
Pacey is almost sleeping through the night.
Sarah is very helpful in everything. She is the one who goes to the post office to mail all of our letters and packages, she makes the meals. She is on a juicing kick right now. If it can go through the juicer, we’ve probably had it in the last few days (She says cookies won’t work, but I think if mixed with milk, they ought to go through fine…). She’s always asking what more she can do to help. She’s the best.
I’m overwhelmed with taxes, finishing a dossier, getting passports, applying for visas, figuring out language schools and housing arrangements and preparing presentations for churches, etc.
I’m encouraged by the time spent in East Africa this last month. I’m excited with how the Lord has been using us in the lives of so many people, and them in ours..
I’m enjoying the tea that Sarah makes, and having Pacey fall asleep on my chest. God is good, and He provides the rest needed, and the encouragement to go on.
It’s a wonderful, wonderful thing to be in the service of the King.
- abel for the millers
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Rejoice Always, Pray without Ceasing, In Everything Give Thanks for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. If you would like to respond to this email, the Millers would LOVE to hear from you at abelmiller7@hotmail.com or abel_miller@ntm.org !
01/12/12
January 2012
Breakfast- fresh tortillias and tea
Stoked. Stoked on the information gathered on this last 3 week redeye trip to East Africa. Stoked on the appointments that we didn’t make, but that God had arranged before us. Stoked that the Lord used my busted-up leg to focus an ADD kid into an intentional minister of the Gospel. Stoked that He uses people for this ministry of reconciliation. Stoked that there is a mediator between God and man. Stoked!
But man, I’m tired. This is a tough life, but one filled with uncountable blessings. As we put out our hands, and see what the Lord has for us, Sarah and I are amazed with what the Lord puts into them. His plan for His people, in His way (and in His time). God deals IN time, but time is nothing for Him! What if what the Lord is doing with us doesn’t come to fruition for 500 years? What if we don’t get to see why we have done all of this work, and been through all of these trials? Answer- (One that needs to be answered with another question) Why are we serving the Lord? If we’re serving Him to see fruits, then we’d be disappointed with a life of ministry that has seemingly bore little fruit. If we’re serving Him because we’re in LOVE with THE CREATOR GOD who called for perfection or else elimination, and then stood in the gap, calling us justified- by His righteousness, then we can live a stoked life, because we know that He is trustable. I CAN trust Him with my life. Crazy, God.
I went with some guys on an information-gathering trip to East Africa. We met with 13 different groups of people, asking them several questions. The feedback we got was unexpected, and will shape the way that we “Do” ministry in East Africa. I believe that going in with our hat out, asking for guidance, has saved us 10-20 years of growth in ministry, and making mistakes that these folks have already made. The insight that these folks have into the culture and the mind of an East African is amazing. Thank you God for the Body of Christ, and Your provision to complete Your work.
We are moving again (this puts us over 20 times in the last 5 years). This time we’re moving back to California for a few months. Please be praying for our trip out there. It’s a long trip (2,400 miles), and we have 3 kids under 4 years old. A few months later, we’ll be moving out to East Africa full time, so you could be praying for that one also (10,074 miles, but we don’t have to drive it).
- Please be praying for family time in these next few very busy months.
- Please be praying that churches and individuals will be excited about the ministry that the Lord has given us.
- Please be praying that we would be real people and not celebrities as we talk to people and groups.
- Please be praying for folks to be a part of our ministry
- Abel for the Miller’s
Support the Millers ministry-
Rejoice Always, Pray without Ceasing, In Everything Give Thanks for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. If you would like to respond to this email, the Millers would LOVE to hear from you at abelmiller7@hotmail.com or abel_miller@ntm.org !
Tags: NTM, Tanzania and back
12/05/11
12/05/11
Andrew, Heidi, and Pacey give "Thumbs up."
We’ve got a new baby! We’re so excited to introduce you to Pacey Anne Miller, who was born on the 12th of November here at Sarah’s parent’s house in Ohio. What a crazy miracle babies are! Here is a picture of the kids giving “thumbs up.” Heidi’s trying, but doesn’t quite have it down yet. She’s super cute and loves her sister. Andrew is also doing a great job with them both. Sarah is doing great, and starting to get into the swing of things again. Adding a third has been crazy, but we’re getting used to it.
I am heading back to Tanzania in January with two other men from New Tribes Mission (AJ Backes and Stephen VanKampen) to get a better idea of where we will be serving, get good pictures so folks back in the states can have a better idea of what life is like there, and make arrangements for language school.
Now that we have finished our training, we are moving on to raising support for the ministry that the Lord has given us. To raise support, we are meeting with Churches and * individuals and trying to form a team of folks that want to join in the ministry going on in Tanzania. This is an exciting time for us, but also very exhausting. Please be praying for endurance as we meet with churches and individuals. Please pray that we would be rested going into the meetings (a miracle with all the kids’ needs right now), and able to communicate the ministry plans in a clear way.
The “rough” ministry plan-
·Language school in Iringa- 1 year
·Plant and build a Church in a village North of Sumbawanga
- We’ll be there until the church matures, and sends out missionaries of their own
·Continue to support and be active in the Church in Tanzania, advising Tanzanian missionaries while ourselves
moving with a group of *faithful Tanzanians to an area on Lake Tanganyika to start teaching through Firm Foundations and as a result planting Churches among fishermen there.
Tanzania
This is a very rough, and early idea of what we might be doing while in Tanzania. A lot of what we do is day-to-day loving of folks, and is hard to express, so the above outline is an idea of where we’re heading, with a lot of the details left out, partially to protect our work, and partially because we will be doing what the Lord wants us to do while we are there, and in His way as far as we know, and we’ll be progressing in His good time. All of our plans are “Lord willing,” and subject to change- James 4:13-15.
*-Please be praying for faithful men and women to be saved, and prepared to join us in this ministry.
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11/01/11
Thank you so much for your continued support through prayer! These last
months we have been so glad for the prayers. As you all know, I have been
practicing with the Cherokee language the processes of language
interpretation and analysis from “nothing” to a full explaination of
building words, phrases, clause roots, clauses, sentences, and a discourse
analysis. After 7 1/2 weeks of eliciting utterances from my Chreokee
helper (who we lived next to while in Oklahoma), and organizing the
information at nights, I sat down three weeks ago to begin the explaination
of the language, from the actual sounds that they’re saying (phonetics), to
explaining the sounds that they think they’re saying, to presenting them
with a working alphabet (assuming for the point of practice that they did
not already have one). That completed, a week and a half ago I began to
explain how to make a noun in their language (including the seperation of
noun classes, plurality in each case, mode, aspect, tense, etc. with
definitions and lists of each), and then a verb (including the seperation
of verb classes (all seven of them) how to figure out which actor-person
prefix goes on the verb, completion, stative, etc. with definitions and
lists of each), and onwards and upwards through the language until
yesterday, at 3 o’clock p.m., when I turned in my presentation. It was 103
pages of organized explaination. I honestly didn’t think I would do it. I
didn’t think it could be done by me. I. I. I… But through your prayers,
and by God’s grace and patience, it is done. God is amazing! Looking over
the papers I feel like I was part of a miracle. I’m not that guy. I’m not
the linguist, or the computer guy that can do crazy formatting and type
fast (I certainly can’t type without looking at the keyboard!). That God
would chose to use me for this type of ministry is a bad idea. I may be
one of the first picked in a dodgeball game, but if we lined up the
linguists who have just finished this practicum, I’m pretty sure I would be
picked last… That’s honestly the way I feel… But God (Isn’t
thaty a good phrase?!) chose me to do this, and then made it happen minute
by minute, and character by character as I typed, and reasoned, and
explained for three weeks 8-10 hours a day every day (I took two Saturdays
off). !! Thanks for your prayers. Praise God with me that He’s so amazing
that he could use even me to do something this great. All I did was hold
out my hands and pray “God, here I am. You give me everything I have,
whatever You want me to do just put it in my hands.”
I identify with the folks there at ABC who are squirming in their
seats with this message of living radically. A radical life is what we’re
called to live though, and I’m thankful that I have so many examples of
radical people around me. “Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great
a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which
clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set
before us, looking unto Jesus, the founder and perfector of our faith, who
for the joy set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is
seated at the right hand of the throne of God.” I’m stoked that your
leaders there at the Church are willing to challenge folks, and be
challenged themselves towards greatness, not greatness as the world sees
it, but towards the greatness that matters. Please remember that your
prayers are so important to the work that we do. PLEASE don’t pray
lightly, checking it off of your list and moving on to the next item on the
agenda. We are a team. We are the Body of Christ. We work together,
having been entrusted with this crazy ministry of reconciliation, for the
purpose of fulfilling the great comission. It doesn’t matter where you
see yourself. God is using each of us in His way.
For Want of a Nail
For want of a nail the shoe was lost.
For want of a shoe the horse was lost.
For want of a horse the rider was lost.
For want of a rider the battle was lost.
For want of a battle the kingdom was lost.
And all for the want of a horseshoe nail
Mary Kowal
Thanks for continuing to pray for us as we live by faith trusting the Lord
to provide for our every need. You are doing the same thing. He has given
us all that we have.
We are expecting a baby this coming month (due the 21st). Please be
praying for the delivery to go well, and for Sarah to be a champ through
it. She is excited for the new one, as are the kids and I.
If you want an electronic copy of the Cherokee work, just write and ask,
and promise not to distribute it, and I’ll send it your way.
Love you guys. Keep running strong. We’re running with men now, but wait
’till we start running with the horses (Jer. 12:5)! Trust the King and
Creator, If He said it, it’s trustworthy.
-abel
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Tags: NTM, Running with the horses- Linguistic problem done!
10/05/11
Family & Friends,
Thanks so much for praying for us. We have been hammered through this Cherokee practicum, and have grown much from the experiences that we have had. I fully expect to document several of the happenings and forward them to you at a later date. For now, however, I ask that you suffice it to leave for a later time. I am writing this towards the end of my write-up of the Linguistic Analysis of the Cherokee Language. I am doing this to practice, in a controlled environment, what we may be doing in the future.
Though I am 30 now and have a family, I am pretending. I am pretending that the Cherokee people have never had their language written down, that they have no alphabet, and no way to explain to outsiders how their language works. There are thousands of tribes to which this scenario is a reality. The process is incredibly involved, and takes a lot of time and focus. I have 6 days, after today, to finish my write-up. I have just passed the 70 page mark, and am happy with the paper thus far. Please be praying for me that I would be focused, and pursue excellence.
I have already far exceeded the expectations that I had for myself (Praise God!). I am wanting to go for the passing grade rather than do the best that I can do. Perfect practice makes perfect, right? We should do all things as though we’re doing them for the Lord, right? I want to do that. This practice isn’t like the practice exercises I did in school, adding ten and two when I already knew the answer… This is the real deal, preparing for translation work- where excellence and perfection are the necessary standards. It’s ridiculous that I sit here today having reached this point in training… please pray that I would finish strong.
Andrew held my leg this morning and asked me to stay instead of going to work. You should have seen the kid! We’ve had good wrestling time, and spent time together, but I sure look forward to when I can spend some time with the family. Please be praying for energy after I get home from sitting all day engaged in another language, that I would be able to wrestle hard, chase the overthrown ball, flip the kids, and be joyful and engaged with them.
Sarah is due November 21st. She is very uncomfortable in the pregnancy.
Please be praying that she have the endurance and patience to get through this time while I have to be away. Next Monday at 8 a.m. central standard time I will turn in this paper. I look forward to being done, and presenting the result of living with the Cherokee people for 7 1/2 weeks, and writing up this report for 3 weeks. I hope it’s excellent.
As always, please pray that I would be an excellent husband. With marriage being an example of Christ loving the Church, this should be a huge focus for me. I’m so focused on this project that I know sometimes Sarah feels neglected.
Pray for excellence. Pursue the excellent one.
-abel
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09/07/11
Hey guys!
I hope you are doing well. I was eating an apple yesterday and was
struck by a simple cool thing. Isn’t it so cool that God made plants so
productive and their fruits so tasty? God doesn’t eat them, so He must
have made them so tasty and brightly colored so we could enjoy them and
know that He is Good! Pretty simple, but so sweet to think about a God who
provides everything down to even a simple thing like fruit.
Cherokee is going well, though it is getting more difficult as we start
to recognize the different things in the language structure that are
different that English. Sure, the sounds are going to be different, but
when the word order in a sentence, and the way that all of the little
in-between words attach to different words- like pluralizing a verb instead
of the noun, and moving the quality words all over, and introducing tone,
and having tone make a difference and more, it gets crazy. Praise God
that he is a God of order, and that He is the Creator of all languages. I
know that at the end of this, there is going to be an explanable pattern,
and I’ll be able to teach the language, reproduce the sounds and sentences,
and write it out because He is orderly and exact. Thanks God.
Here is one of the lines out of my gathered data so far:
ˈsĩ¹n ˈdᶾi¹tɑː³²lˈɡɑ¹ u³niː³²ˈdᶾi¹ (dowʌ²ˈdʌ¹)ʔu²ki¹lə̃ː²³ˈdᶾi²lõ²wʌ̃¹ dĩ¹dĩː¹dʌ²hĩ³dõː³²ˈhɑ̃¹
It means- “and then the mother hen jumped all over my brother Ed as he
was getting up.” It’s from a story that my partner and I got our language
helper to give us. The words are not in that order though- Translated
literally it’s more like “and/ chicken/ mother/ and the/ jumped
everywhere/and as he was.” The little numbers are the tone- 1 being the
highest tone, and 3 being the lowest. the question mark-looking things are
glottal stops (a sound that we don’t recognize in our own speaking) and
the squigglies over the vowels are to indicate nasalization (another sound
quality that we don’t recognize in English).
Please be praying for our relationships down here. The relationship
between we Millers and the other missionaries here is one that could be
broken down quite quickly. There are lots of opportunities to call people
out and confront them in ways that are not Biblical. There are lots of
chances for us to be offended. Please be praying that we would not offend,
be quick to persue reconciliation, and not be easily offended. Please also
be praying for Jerry, my language helper. He is a pastor in church here. He is also studying to be a medicine man, and talks of
the power of the “Little People” and his power as a twin readily, and I
believe is not yet fully aware of the identity that believers have in
Christ.
One of the women in our class had a baby in the room two rooms down from
ours in a kiddie pool the night before last. That was exciting. It was a
boy, and everything went well. I think she will be out of the language
acquisition sessions for a couple of days.
Sarah and the kids are doing well. Sarah is starting to adjust more
completely and go out on walks with some new friends that she’s made here.
Heidi is as sassy as ever, and Andrew is a rule follower and protector of
his sister. He’s doing a great job.
I only get out to e-mail once a week when we go to town (about 11 miles),
so if you write back, I’ll probably be a little slow getting back to you.
Nothing personal, it’s just life here. I didn’t get out to town this
week, though we tried, so I’m e-mailing over dial-up. Remember those days?
Pretty slow, but it’ll do.
Thanks for praying for us, and loving us. It’s good to be working together.
-Abel
Prayer requests for the millers:
That we would be diligent to persue peace with our coworkers here.
That we would be consistent in discipling our kids.
That we would be faithful in building up the Church.
That we would be faithful discipling in love, keeping conflicts resolved.
That we would be a great example to our language helper as we continue to
learn the Cherokee language
That I would be patient with the computer as I work through the different
linguistic issues that arise.
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Tags: Cherokee, New Tribes Mission, NTM
08/16/11
Friends & Family,
I do not know the Cherokee language today. Tomorrow starts the intensive
language acquisition and analysis that is to last seven weeks, culminating
with a three week, roughly one hundred page thesis stating the findings of Abel
Miller in regards to the phonetic make-up (segments, stress, nasality and
tone), phonemic structure, and present a complete thesis (to the best of my understanding) and orthography.
This is all to be done while living in an area constantly with the same
people, eating with them, studying with them, sleeping near them, hearing
their kids cry at night, dealing with their quirky habits… In short, we 40
sinners have been put together in a relatively small area and have asked to
live and work together while sleeping little and being pressed beyond what
we are now able to bear mentally.
Please be praying for us. We are 12 linguists here for the purpose of
being equipped to present one day, Lord willing, a Bible, translated with
love and much sacrifice, to a people group that we do not now know. We do
know, however, that the enemy prowls around like a roaring lion seeking
those whom he may devour. Our ministries hang in the balance as we study
here. I am not naïve. I know that the team members here, and the
ministries that they have been entrusted to, are being tried and stretched
as I am while we go through this time.
I have purposed it in my heart to do my best to not offend, and quickly ask
forgiveness when I do offend. Please be praying for me in this regard. I
am a prideful person and will have a very difficult time doing this.
Being developed into a linguist is not the greatest thing. If we never end
up using this skill, developed over several hundred hours training, it’s
okay. The training as a teammate, as a father, as a husband, and as a
follower of the Way of Grace and Love, has been worth every minute of
struggle and heartache. I think that the greatest thing might be something
like this. I am being perfected through this time, and developing into
someone who looks a little more like Christ. My friend Clayton said
this-”If you walk with God, and you’re in His will, there might be pain,
you might feel alone, it might get scary, but through it all you will not
be dissappointed.”
Please also pray for safe travels for Sarah, her mother, and our kids as
they make their way down from Ohio on Wednesday. It’s tough being apart,
but she has had a great time at her family reunion, and the team and I have
done well to prepare the living quarters and facilities here in Oklahoma.
Thank you so much for loving us, and praying for us, and making us feel so
welcome whenever we are around you. Let us know how we can be praying for
you. Please.
-Abel
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The fish that fed 45- A 30 lb. flathead we caught on the trot line
Tags: Learning Cherokee, New Tribes Mission, NTM