New Faces New Changes.

    My life this last year has been a transition season. From leading a team to Bangladesh (said Bong-gla-desh), to coming home to PA to visit and support my brother through his wedding, all the way to joining the YWAM Harrisburg crew in reaching the Ivy league campuses with the gospel.

    It all started this last fall when I returned to YWAM Maui to staff/teach the School of Biblical foundations and Missions (SBFM). I felt a call to look at more then just my next season and ask the Lord what he had for me to step into long term. Over the next 3 months I prayed into where and most importantly with who Jesus would have me step out in leadership with for the foreseeable future. God put YWAM Harrisburg on my heart started me down the path that has lead me to moving in with the Fire and Fragrance (F&F) community up in Harrisburg PA.

(Field gathering to save the lost and revive the saved at Cornell University NY)

    So, here I am going from a Southeast Asia Missionary, to a Biblical studies and worldview teacher/staff, to a radical, field gathering, circuit rider. Here we go God.

Hey Guys,

I wanted to drop you a quick note to tell you about a summer seminar we’re running here at YWAM-Maui called Reformation Generation. Some studies say that more than 50% of Christian teens become completely inactive in their faith throughout their twenties; but at YWAM-Maui, we don’t believe it has to be that way! Reformation Generation is a unique opportunity for young people to honestly engage their faith and learn how to not just survive, but to thrive as Biblical Christians in “the real world”.

The Reformation Generation Seminar is a college preparation experience open to high school graduates age 18 and over. The four week seminar running July 3-29, 2011 aims to equip participants to meet the spiritual, intellectual, and moral challenges of their intensely pressured college environment. 

It's going to be sweet!!   All Glory to God.

In Love, -Ben Miller

Redefined Worship

Worship as a word in the Old Testiment is most commonly defined as service unto God. "To live a life of worship." For this next season I am steping into a position on base that is most often descibed as complicated, conflict attracting, and chaos. However, out of all the positions on base, accountant is considered one of the most needed. So here I am, one month into this season and already I feel like another life time has passed. I have been through every left turn (not right) and crash course to get me to this point where accountant in training-Ben Miller can survive for 2-3 weeks when the previous accountant has a family emergency back in CO she needs to work out. Joanne (a missionary in her uper 50s) has been teaching me the ropes and having a much needed break from the accounting department to work in the garden she loves so much.
So, my worship this season involves accounting, computer repair and upkeep, and driving vans full of students to various events. I help out at the local churches, play the sound board, and pick up trash, but the thing I love most of all is hanging out with Jesus. I love the way you can sing a song to Him and know He is there listening. I love that I can freely read and distribute the only ancient book of truth and wisdom that has it's author still around to consult.
The teams are returning from Asia this next week and I will have to make an update on what God is doing in the nations. I am sure they will have many stories.
Thank you all for continually supporting me in your prayers and resources. The Lord has certainly been with me this season and I have felt your prayers as I step into this new challenge that the Lord has for me.

I love you all, Blessings upon you

If I had to choose a title..

it would be... ME. Oh, wait.. I mean God in me. It is funny how easy it is to forget that God is the reason "we live and move and have our being" -Acts 17:28
This last week I was preparing to teach the DTS how to share the gospel and I found my self praying hard into what the gospel message is. Now the gospel message is very simple Jesus saves us from our own sin and sets us free to live with Him eternally if we confess and believe in Him. -Rom 10:9 The problem is we (myself included) forget that there is a new way to stand, to live in Him. He is the center of our lives from then on and to Jesus goes all the glory. It is like we are the moon simply trying to be a magnificent reflection of the sun's (Son's) light.
-But we are still missing one thing... one important ingredient that if we don't have it, we fall into a life of boredom and meaningless intent.
To illustrate this I will finish my story: I prayed and prepared a few days before my teaching, seeking the Lord on  what He wanted me to focus on in the sharing of His gospel. As I was teaching, the students were very quiet and attentive. The whole time I was praying that the truth of the gospel and Gods heart for people would sink deep into them. That God would give them a new revelation of His love. -Eph 3:17-20
After I finished the teaching we sent them out in small groups around the property to meet with staff members (who were representing different worldviews) to practice sharing the gospel. When answering a particularly difficult staff members question, one of the students hit the hammer right on the nail. Staff (representing Islam): "what do I have to do to please God?" The student: "Jesus said in the Bible "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment." -Matt 22:37-38 So, this is what it all boils down to: God wants relationship, He came to restore that relationship by sending His son to die on a cross."
In my own words: "The moon and the sun are to dance. The sun loves nothing more than an eternal dance and the moon can't stop praising the sun for His light. When the moon surrenders his night the sun makes it into the joy of a new day. They both light the world for all to see. Glory to God."
To Love God and Be Loved by Him. To walk with Him and to Know Him. This is my pursuit of God. Do I succeed every day?, most certainly not. But, I know He loves me; so, I can walk on without condemnation, fear, or guilt. Ephesians 5 To walk in Love...

Praise to God for His message of Grace and thank you all for your many prayers and support in love,
Ben

The Day of my Birth - 23 years later -

Now I know it has been a long time since I have updated you all on the goings on of my life. Please forgive me for that. These last two seasons have been really busy for me. I pray that this next one will be more restful while just as productive. I don't have time to catch up on all that went on in my life these last few month, but I will tell you about a day. This is very significant to me, for it is the day of my birth, 23 years later. Perhaps it will give you a picture of what a typical day at YWAM Maui includes.
BEEp, BEEp, BEEp! My roommates alarm goes off at 7:00 in the morning. I guess he forgot not to set it on a day when we get to sleep in a little. "Thank you God for Tuesday; one of the few days I can sleep in past 7:00 if I really want to..."  However the sun is shining through the window and now my eyes are open. Suddenly I remember a conversation I had with my mother the day before...  It's my birthday@! Praise the Lord!
I get up, take a shower, have a short quiet time and go scour the kitchen for some breakfast. At 8:00 I call my mom because I know I will not have enough time later in the day and I can not call her in the evening, because of the time difference and all that goes with that. After a wonderful chat about life and how God is working I enter the kitchen to begin my shift. Unfortunately there are only 2 of us in the kitchen this morning due to a mess up of schedules. Praise the Lord...., B.L.A.T.'s and quinoa it is (Yes, I did not know such a crazy word for food existed until I came to Maui). Turns out we did not have enough avocado (the 'A' in BLAT) quinoa or fruit, so we winged the meal as usual. We can always just pick some fruit off the trees on the property if we need to. "Praise the Lord I love fresh fruit!" People said it was good and most came back for seconds, so I would call that a success
Anyway, so after lunch I found out I did not have to drive the students to community outreach in the nearby town of Paia. Instead I could stay home and relax a little bit for my birthday, Praise the Lord! Soon I found myself fixing a computer that had decided it did not want to boot into windows anymore. During one of the times I was waiting for it to finish scanning I went into the office to check if I got any mail. Man was I blessed. Two packages and a myriad of cards on my birthday! You guessed it, Praise the Lord!
People sang to me at dinner and there was cake. That evening I spent hanging out with new friends and doing some research in my new study Bible.
Thank you all so much for cards and gift, it truly was a 'merry' birthday. I am very blessed to have people who support me with prayers and gifts.

Hope you all have a wonderful day, full of the Glory of God,
Ben

P.S. While I was about half way done writing this I heard a noise like thunder or a dam breaking outside. I go to the window to look and a tree falls over in our yard. A 60 foot eucalyptus tree just decides to fall over during the middle of the day in a lite rain. Not your everyday occurrence for sure. Kinda ironic, because Caleb the Maintenance head was just talking about not having enough for the students work duties today. Our God is a God who provides ;)

I new way to walk

Wow, after just finishing 3 months of working in the kitchen I feel like no time has passed and yet so much has happened. It was difficult at times but, very good (For God IS Good). For this next quarter (a spring quarter actually) I am going to be a DTS intern. I am quite excited. The school leaders are Larry and Loretta Hues. They are an elderly couple from Canada that have been coming to the base for awhile to help with the craziness of new young people taking over the kitchen and maintenance departments every 3 months. It will be a great adventure working under them and being a part of the DTS team for the next quarter. Although I am called an intern I will be more like support staff with the amount of responsibilities I am working into. I am going to be working with Rebecca Krause (my co leader). We will have lots of responsibilities like: intercession, community outreach, outreach preparation, apologetics, and current events. Pray for me as I step into this new position and for the students as the arrive this week. The Lord is my strength and my great intimate lover. He will be with me during this time as I step into a position of leadership. All to Him be the glory.

Blessing to you all

Current endings with new beginnings

Well, the students have left. The 2 teams of the winter quarter have now left. One is going to the island of Borneo to the villages of Indonesia. The other is going to the large Asian country with over a billion people in it (I won't say the name for security reasons). Please pray for their safe travels and a blessed outreach. The purpose of this school is to train up and then send out. Now that they are gone it seems kinda empty but, our heart goes with them and we will continue to pray and intercede for them. I love them all and I know God has wonderful plans for each one of them and that He will do great things through their seeking after His heart. The 2 main things to pray for are team unity and that the Lord would give them His heart for the people they will be ministering to.
The next school will be starting up in about 2 weeks. Things are starting to get busy around here as we prepare for the new arrivals. My job is in the process of changing, so, I will keep up on that when I know more. However for now I am helping move, clean, pack storage, set up new computers, and cook up a storm. So glad am I that the Lord is with me and able to be my steady hand through all the crazy times.

It has been a busy quarter and I have grown in many areas. I thank you all very much for your prayers. May the Lord bless you with the riches of His house and draw you to a closer intimacy with the Father.