Miller Family Newsletter

Our family is back home in Pennsylvania from our two month trial run in Ecuador and we are ready to give a recap of our time there. There is so much to say and not enough words, the two months felt like a year of life and we are not the same people as when we left. 

Life at Ninawachi Bible Institute is regimented, everyday begins at 7 a.m. with students and staff at Choza for prayer, worship, and devotionals. Three meals a day together, students have classes and staff have various responsibilities. When short term teams are visiting its all hands on deck and a jam packed schedule, it's fulfilling and exhausting. Many of the staff and students are doing well and are passionate about serving the Lord. All current staff members are Ecuadorian and most are newly married couples under the age of 30. Most staff and students are first generation Christians and some have came to faith only a few years ago. Currently seven students are enrolled, most of them have came from difficult situations from smaller jungle communities, all of the students have learned Spanish as a second language since studying. Many of the men lacked godly examples in their lives growing up and many of the women have suffered sexual abuse. Despite each of their difficulties they all have a desire to seek God and to know him deeper, and we can see God working in their lives. 

The two months in Ecuador were an adjustment for each of us. Everything is so different and often times challenging, we ate foods like capybara, wild boar, organ meats, & monkey, drinks called chicha (they chew yucca, spit it out, let it ferment a few days and then its good to consume). The weather is hot, mostly humid, very mold prone and a paradise for bugs to grow as large as they possibly can and then some. Finding a new routine and "self starting" took some getting used to. Above all those challenges, culture shock and language were the most challenging, but through all the stretching we saw God's grace over each of us and we grew in ways we needed to. We were encouraged to be accepted as members of leadership almost immediately upon arrival. We spent many hours encouraging and sharing with staff and students and we were encouraged by them. Josie didn't skip a beat, she made friends and kept the mood light for those around her. There's three little kids that live on campus, so she got to play with friends daily, she picked up a tribal language from one of the girls, as neither girl spoke Spanish. An answer to prayer was both Gideon and I found areas we could serve that suit our personalities and abilities. We are looking forward to going back to serve and use our gifts. 

Ministry in Huaticocha is in a season of sowing; students are sent out in groups of 2-3 with staff members, most traveling an hour or more away to remote locations to share God's word. We had the opportunity as a family to visit almost all the locations of ministry, all I can say is its humbling. One Wednesday afternoon Gideon, along with three other men, traveled 45 minutes on dirt bikes, they crossed rivers and a plank bridge. They parked and then jogged 35 minutes through dense jungle to visit a Quichua family. The whole community was gathered at the house, as they just finished a workday farming. They were able to share scripture from Matthew and personal testimonies. The Quichua family served chicha and capybara soup before they left. They jogged back to the bikes overjoyed that they were able to share the gospel with them. Our mission, along with Ninawachi's, is to evangelize to these jungle communities. Spanish is often a second language for jungle Ecuadorians, most speaking different tribal languages. If they have bibles in their tribal language, it's just the New Testament. However, most have not had the gospel shared with them. There's two known tribal communities deeper in the Amazon that have zero contact with the outside world & are known to be violent to outsiders. Ninawachi's vision has been to share the gospel with the forgotten indigenous people of the amazon region, and we are humbled to be apart of it.