Category Archives: Mission field news

Hawks and doves Part 3 – Proud to be an American

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Having lived outside America for 36 years in Christian service, my relationship to my country has been affected by that time abroad. Part of it is identity. It is very common, if not completely normal, for individuals everywhere to identify themselves, in more than any other way, as being of their nationality. They’ll say “I’m Chinese” or “I’m German” or “I’m Brazilian”. And certainly for Americans their sense of identity is strongly fixed around being Americans.

For me, it’s not totally the same. I am American; my relatives came here in 1650.  But my years abroad brought me to where I think of myself more than anything else as a person of faith in the God of Abraham, and specifically as a Christian.

I suppose most people want to be proud of their country. For Germans, their attitude to things like that has been altered by two world wars. Still, they have a lot to feel proud about. Even people from small countries feel proud of their country. But for Americans, to be proud of America is a major element of the national culture. I haven’t always totally felt the same. But I’ll tell you two times while I was abroad on the mission field that I really did.

The first was around 1996 or 1997 when I had returned to Budapest, Hungary after living a year in Moscow. What happened was that a former President of the United States came to Budapest. There was no 21 gun salute, no military parade, no fly-over of fighter aircraft.

Former President Jimmy Carter, working with Habitat for Humanity to help provide housing for the poor

Former President Jimmy Carter, working with Habitat for Humanity to help provide housing for the poor

This former US president and his small team traveled north of Budapest to an area near the town of Vac, not far from where I’d lived before. They were there to start building low cost housing for the many “Romani”, the Gypsy population which make up a large minority of Hungary. Almost all live in deep poverty. He had his hammer, he was working on building houses, this former US President. He was Jimmy Carter. That was one time when I really felt, “Well, son of a gun, there’s an American and some Americans I can feel proud of”.

The other time was a little more than 8 years later. I’d been living in Indonesia for around 18 months when the Asian Tsunami of December 2004 struck. The worst hit city of all was Banda Aceh, the capital of the province of Aceh, at the northern tip of the island of Sumatra.

As it turned out, 3 friends and I were able to make it to that city 8 days after the tsunami struck, when aid workers were only just beginning to arrive in the isolated, war torn area. Within a day we were in a large refugee camp to the north of the city, assisting some Korean doctors who needed translators and trauma councilors to work with them. There were thousands of people in the makeshift camp, the weather was very hot and there was nothing there that wasn’t brought there by trucks, no water, no food, nothing.

Suddenly an unmarked helicopter circled overhead. Everyone noticed and watched. After it looked over the camp, it landed a few hundred yards away and began throwing out aid before taking off again.

The USS Abraham Lincoln, a US Navy aircraft carrier that provided critically essential services to Aceh province, Indonesia, in the immediate aftermath of the 2004 Tsunami that devastated the area

The USS Abraham Lincoln, an aircraft carrier that provided critically essential services to Aceh, Indonesia, in the immediate aftermath of the 2004 Tsunami

It was a US navy helicopter, coming from the US aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln that had steamed to the area to see how they could help. Refuges from the camp brought the boxes back to the camp. They were marked “US AID”.

“Doggone”, I said. “There’s something I’m glad to see: using my country’s vast resources to genuinely and freely help people in their desperate time of need, even people who are Muslims.” In the next weeks the US navy became one of the only ways that my friends and I could travel south of Banda Aceh to the even more seriously destroyed towns and villages down the south coast where the destruction was the worst. Every single bridge was washed out and the only way to reach people was by helicopter. The US forces worked eagerly and tirelessly with aid groups to help people in that time and to do medical emergencies on the ships off shore as well. It was a great time to feel good about my country.

Speaking of pride, someone has said that, of the 31,000+ verse in the Bible, there’s not one that speaks well of pride. While in this world, pride is extolled and honored, in God’s eyes it’s not. “God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble.” (I Peter 5:5) So I don’t think too often about feeling proud of my country. But I’m sharing here some times when I felt really good about my nation and how they were “going everywhere, doing good,” (Acts 10:38) like Jesus did.

Far Country Photos from Jakarta

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While I lived in Indonesia from 2003 to 2008, I would, from time to time, send a newsletter to friends which was mostly photos. A picture is certainly worth 1000 words and this “Far Country Photos” shows a slum school project I was involved with in one of the very worst areas of Jakarta. This newsletter was sent to friends in August of 2003, after I’d lived in Indonesia for 5 months.

In my Fields newsletter from February I told you about the street kids’ school that I visited when I was in Jakarta in September of last year. Through the recent gift sent from some kind friends in Austin, I’ve been able to make a first monthly contribution towards sustaining the staff’s brave efforts to provide a local school in one of the worst slums in the city. Our hearts were thrilled to be able to help the founder of this project and his little band of dedicated teachers. I hope these pictures give you a glimpse of what the need is and how your gifts help and make a difference.

The gift that some of you sent means we’ll be able to help these ones through the end of 2003. Part of it will go for needed special supplies. But most will go towards providing some steady income for the 4 teachers who’ve been working as volunteers till now. Our gift to them is a drop in the bucket, if measured by Western cost-of-living standards. But in this 3rd World setting, it’s made a major difference in the teachers being able to devote more time to the kids. As the school becomes more grounded in the community, more parents will be willing to send their children to school rather than to work, beg or steal at an early age, as they do now.

I’m sitting outside the main school building, Sept., ‘02, when I first visited there.

 

The head teacher said, “This has been a dream for me.”

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Hawks and doves (Part 2) Istanbul, Turkey

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I’d been living in Indonesia for 4 wonderful years, but I was certain it was time for me to move on from there.

The Hagia Sophia mosque in Istanbul was formerly the holiest church of the Orthodox faith, built in 537. The Hagia Sophia went from being a church to a mosque in 1453 when Constantinople was conquered and became Istanbul.

The Hagia Sophia mosque in Istanbul was formerly the holiest church of the Orthodox faith, built in 537. The Hagia Sophia went from being a church to a mosque in 1453 when Constantinople was conquered and became Istanbul.

I wanted to continue a life of full time service for God and my fellow man and didn’t really want to move back to the West. After much desperate prayer, the Lord had led me to contact some friends who’d been living in Turkey for many years.

In July of 2007, I was able to visit them for 2 weeks, to gauge the situation and to see if the Lord would lead further to make a move to that part of the world. You come to where you know in your heart whether a thing is the Lord’s Will or not. But you test it and go slow as making a major move like that is very serious.

A man I met that day. He was from the Middle East and sold rugs in the large central market I visited with my friends.

A man I met that day. He was from the Middle East and sold rugs in the large central market I visited with my friends.

Of course the Turkish culture is not at all like Indonesia and it’s not like the places I’d lived in eastern and central Europe in the years before. But it is a very beautiful and very historic city. Napoleon was quoted as saying something like, “If all the world was one nation, Istanbul would be its capital.”

My friends took me around to parts of the city, to get a better feeling for the place and to get to know the people, the most important thing. We went to a very famous covered market, like almost everything there, many hundreds of years old. There were spices, carpets, electronics, all kinds of foodstuffs and the whole place was just very much the essence of Istanbul.

My friends were introducing me to folks they knew and we were going from one booth to another. In one place they introduced me to a man and I asked him where he was from. He said he was from Iraq.

Suddenly something pretty strange happened and in a sense it was embarrassing. I suddenly started crying, almost uncontrollable, in public in front of a bunch of Islamic Turkish men and my friends.

I took the man’s hand, tears in my eyes, and told him, “I’m so sorry for what my country has done to your country. And I know millions of Americans feel the same way I do.” When meeting this man, the first Iraqi I’d ever met, suddenly it was like I saw behind him the hundreds of thousands of  Iraqis who had died in the war America had brought to that land. I felt so stricken at that moment, it was so sudden and so spontaneous that I was almost surprised myself at what was happening. But I felt afterwards that perhaps it was just the Holy Spirit within me, helping me to do what just one person could do and say to another person to try to atone for the horror that had happened to his people. He humbly accepted my apology and said he held no grudge against Americans, thanking me for saying what I’d said.

We walked on and finished our afternoon. As it turned out, I didn’t end up moving to Turkey but instead, back to the Russian speaking part of the world I’d lived in before. But it was something I have never forgotten as it was so surprising and unplanned.

I certainly don’t mean to write this against the individuals of the armed forces who were part of the war in Iraq. But, whoever the individuals are who are responsible for that event, it shames and saddens me deeply that my country brought such suffering on a distant nation for what turned out to be false information and purely political/economic factors.

King David said, “I am for peace. But when I speak, they are for war.” (Psalm 120:7) Jesus is famously quoted as saying, “Blessed are the peacemakers” ( Matthew 5:9) and there are innumerable verses in the New Testament that point toward the people of God as being the meek, the healers, the peacemakers, the reconcilers, not the proud, the war-wagers  and haters of others. Only in the coming Kingdom of God on earth will the Prince of Peace rule and bring peace on earth. Meanwhile, for those of His people who are alive here and now, we are still called and commanded to love our neighbor, not kill, invade and dominate them. “If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men.” (Romans 12:18)

Fields newsletters

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In 2003 I moved abroad again after of living in Austin, Texas for 2½ years. I’d been living outside the US for most of my adult life before that and was in need of a break, as well as time with my family. But the Lord led me again to “go into all the world” for Him, this time to far off Indonesia.

I wanted to stay in contact with friends and it worked out that I was able to start a series of newsletters which I would send to friends back in the States and elsewhere. I’ll include here the first Fields newsletter I did, which was completed shortly before I left for Indonesia in early 2003.

Greetings and God bless you. My name is Mark McMillion and I’m preparing to move abroad after being in Austin for the last 2½ years. It’s certainly been a wonderful time here in many ways, with new friends and new experiences. But over recent months I have been feeling the Lord’s tug on my heart to move back to the way of life that He called me to live for around 30 years, before I came back to Texas in 2000.

So I wanted to put this newsletter together for some of you who have gotten to know me here, to let you know a little more about my hopes and plans. Also I’ll add a few pictures from years past when I was living outside the US and was involved in full time Christian service. My hope is that this newsletter will be the beginning of something I can continue to send to you from my new field, in order to keep in contact with those of you who I have gotten to know and grow close to while here

I thought to call this newsletter “Fields”. Jesus used this analogy several times, saying in one place, “…the field is the world…”. He sends us to sow and share freely the seed of the love and the gospel of God. I’ll add some pictures here next of some of the foreign fields He’s allowed me to go and do the work of a sower of the Word over the years.

FIELDS OF THE PAST

I don’t have many pictures of my early years. But it was often spent on the streets in personal talks with other young people in places like Hollywood Boulevard and Greenwich Village, or in similar places in London, Amsterdam or Copenhagen.

Here’s a photo from 1976 when I was talking with a young girl in a fishing village in northwest Denmark. Yes, that’s me with the Bible, she has a gospel tract in hand, and I have hair too!

In 1986 I moved from Europe to central India, along with my sons Andrew, JJ and Ariel.  During this time I home schooled the boys as well as some children of other friends we knew and worked with in the area. We spent the next year and a half there in a variety of ways. At times we went door to door to meet people and present Christian material. Or we would use the boys’ musical skills in small performances or when we went to schools like this one in Andra Pradesh in the next picture. It was all not without incident. But it might come as a surprise to some how much of a blessed time this was and how much we felt the Lord’s favor and protection.

At the end of this time, doors began to close for us there. We moved back, somewhat sadly, to Scandinavia, the area my former wife is from. Unbeknownst to us, the Lord all the while was working to have us back in Europe just as the doors to Eastern Europe would open at the fall of Communism in 1989. Central and Eastern Europe had been our vision and calling in the late 70’s and early 80’s and it was with great joy we were able to go back there again. From 1990 to 1998 almost my full time was spent there and in Russia.

In this picture I’m at the Nagyatad refugee camp in southern Hungary in 1994. With me is a Christian sister, Rebecca. She is from Sarajevo in Bosnia. The conflict in the region brought 1000’s of refugees pouring over the borders and we daily visited this abandoned Russian military camp, full of Bosnians of an Islamic background.

The couple with me in this picture were considered the elders of the camp. The woman was an Islamic religious woman and much respected. In the camp there had been a refugee who was deeply troubled emotionally and spiritually and no one could help her. Through our council and prayers the woman was delivered. So this Muslim matriarch recognized God’s power working through us and told the ones in the camp that we should be accepted there.

One day Rebecca and I talked with a dozen young Bosnia men. They’d been in the Bosnian army but they told us they’d mostly been roving bands of undisciplined irregulars, killing and being killed. I prayed desperately to know what to say to these men who’d recently been through such trauma and had witnessed the death of their wives and children. One of them is in the picture at the right.

With Rebecca translating, the Lord led me to talk to them about forgiveness. My own time of divorce and losing my family came to mind. It was not the same as they had experienced. But it was when I needed to call out to God to help me not allow bitterness and revenge to take hold of my heart. They listened and responded as we opened our lives to each other. It was a few hours of heart-to-heart talk among people who had been deeply wounded and needed to find a way out. I’ve prayed that the seed sown there and elsewhere in that region will grow to a new generation of people who will break the cycle of hatred and war.

FIELDS OF THE FUTURE

Last September I visited some Christian friends in Indonesia and they’ve encouraged me to help them in the work they do. While I was there we visited this school in Jakarta for street children that they help regularly. The students are not orphans but their parents are too poor to provide an education for them. That day we delivered crates of pasta, sacks of rice and several used computers which businesses had given us to pass on to poorer schools like these. It’s a predominately Muslim country of 240 million people but there is also a large minority of Christians. I had several meaningful evenings of Bible study with people there, similar to ones I’ve had here in Austin with some of you.

This is the country I feel the Lord is leading me to, to be a help to the ones I know there and to return, God helping me, to a life of more fulltime Christian service.

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I stayed in Indonesia for nearly 5 years and it was an incredible, blessed experience. In future posts on the blog here I will be adding more of these Fields newsletters that were written while I was there.

Moving abroad again in 2003

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This is the second Fields newsletter that I sent to friends in 2003, shortly after I arrived in Jakarta, Indonesia at the beginning of what turned out to be 5 amazing years in that wonderful country.

Hello to you again, this time from Sweden! Since my last newsletter, many things worked out well so that I was able to fly from Austin, Texas and arrive here on March 20th.

Visiting my kids and former wife on the Swedish countryside, on the way to Indonesia, 2003

Before going any further, I’d like to thank the many of you in Austin who helped make it possible for me to move on like this. Quitting my job with the State of Texas, closing the apartment, selling my car and getting rid of most of my things was all a lot less traumatic than it could have been and none of the things that I was afraid might happen actually did. Thank the Lord and God bless you! I’ve been staying on the Swedish countryside with my former wife and her husband and seeing my children.

A surprise

A year ago I was preparing to make a video of a Bible class I’d been teaching in Texas.

Reviewing texts before filming

It’s one I also taught before on the mission field, in such places as Hungary. My son, Ariel, and I prepared a number of charts and maps for the class but, after most of it was ready for videoing, complications arose and the project was shelved.

In March I was saying goodbye to some friends in Texas who’ve had years of experience in videoing. The subject came up about the class and they said they really hoped they could film it before I left.

From a map that’s used in the video

My schedule was tight but I was able to take 2 days to try to do the filming. The class is on the subject of Bible prophecy and the history of Israel, an introduction to both. It’s primarily aimed at those who are new to these subjects, spiritually hungry but possibly without a background or knowledge of Christianity.

Ultimately it did get done but it was a fight. Do you ever wonder why strange things happen right when you are trying to go forward for the Lord? The first thing was that, 48 hours before we were to start, I came down with a really bad cough, just out of nowhere, the first for me in many months. Hmm.

But since everything had been prepared a year before, mainly what was needed now was that I “know my lines”, the 25 minutes of the class which I needed to quote on camera, like in a theater or play. In some of the pictures you can see me with a text in hand. I’m furiously doing my last bit of rehearsing before the camera roles for the next part of the class.

Filming in Texas, 2003

The first day went well and by the evening I was totally “horse”, only able to whisper. Meanwhile their professional camera had broken down. The backup camera was set up for Europe and so things were looking bleak. I mentioned to my friends that I’d brought my own handheld camcorder and they thought they might be able to complete the filming with that. We prayed desperately for my health and the technical side and decided to try it again in the morning.

The next morning I was rested but still couldn’t even talk. So it came down to one of those “Lord,-we-need-your-help-right-now!” kind of prayers. The Lord promises power for the hour, “as thy days, so shall thy strength be” (Deuteronomy 33:25b), for that day.

But sometimes, “as they went, they were healed” (Luke 17:14), we have to do the “wenting”. I kept rehearsing and praying, believing and preparing and they kept getting set up. I had to drive back to Austin in the early afternoon so it really was now or never.

Well, it wasn’t a sudden flash of healing but I got better. By late morning I was finding enough of my voice that I was able to go back on camera. In the end it did get finished, a real answer to prayer and a blessing  that this project was able to be completed before I left.

Leaning against a papaya tree,
Jakarta, Indonesia

I’ve been in Indonesia now for about two weeks and it’s been wonderful. It reminds me of what Mark Twain said, “95% of all the things I ever worried about never happened.” Here’s a picture, next to a papaya tree. In the yard are also coconut, star fruit, mango and jackfruit trees. So in some ways we don’t have it so rough.

I have had some involvement with the projects my friends have here. On an evening last week I went to a Christian orphanage and I have an appointment to do a Bible study with the young people there next week.

FOR NOW…

They say, “out of sight, out of mind” but that’s not been the case with my thoughts of you to whom I send these. I think of you often, pray for you and look forward to hearing from you. Please do continue to pray for me, it really does matter and help. And I very much enjoy hearing from you, how things are for you as well as any reactions, questions or comments you have on the things I’ve sent you.

With love and prayers, your friend, Mark

An introduction to this blog

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I’m just really happy that I can post for the first time on this new blog. Elsewhere there’s a more info about who I am and what this is all about. But to put something here, I’m Mark, I’m from Texas and… how can I boil it down to just a few words? I’ve had a very interesting and blessed life! I lived over 35 years outside North America, working as a Christian social service worker, or as some would call it, a missionary.

Talking to children at a refugee camp in Aceh province, Indonesia, after the Asian tsunami of 2004

I’ve been in contact with some of you for many years, sending you newsletters and personal notes from abroad. For others, this is a new contact and perhaps we’ve never met. So it’s going to be an adjustment for me to blogging and it may take some getting used to, some stumbles and mistakes along the way as there always are in any new start. But this site here is going to be “where I live” and where I aim to keep up my communications of news, changes, maybe even some of my past experiences and current views.

I am really excited at this new possibility. And I’ll be praying that I can adapt to these new ways and continue to produce the videos that I have been working on over the last few years, plus share the news of the wonderful things that have happened in my life through God’s love and power.

Sincerely,  Mark McMillion