Jono Miller

HOUSE WIFE FOR RENT

A while ago I watched the movie Julie and Julia. I’ve discovered how therapeutic cooking can be. On the odd occasion that I don’t eat up the road at Ruth and Jon’s, I’ve enjoyed trying to cook with a bit of creativity. Last week I decided to make bread. It came out perfectly. Nice fresh homemade bread – it rose so high it nearly hit the top of the oven. So today I tried again. Igor and I ate a slice of the rocks I produced. What went wrong? I don’t know. I used the same recipe, same ingredients. I tried to copy exactly the same methods as last time – but this time it all went pear shaped.

A REAL WINTER

My flat mate (house mate) Igor commented that he was very happy to have a real winter. That means lots of snow and lots of cold temperatures. When I asked him why, he said it felt right to have a cold winter, not a mild one. Weak answer!

Highlights of this ‘real winter’ include:

• Frozen pipes – mine and many of my friends
• Buying more thermal underwear – I now own a pair of ‘stockings for men without socks’
• My van hasn’t gone anywhere in well over a month
• Taking about 15 minutes to get ready to go
  
  Read more

THE THINGS THAT UNITE

Travelling around the world has allowed me to meet a large number of people from various countries and backgrounds. It is amazing the things which you can find in common with other people. I was on a train last night and quickly struck up conversations with two people who spoke English. Two days ago I met a guy who knew a lot about NZ and about the All Blacks and he has hardly left his small town in Ukraine. I get off the train early in the morning and am glad to see the familiar golden arches of Maccas (where I am writing this update). I meet another teacher and suddenly we are talking about educational matters and our students and funny moments in the classroom. I meet another Ukrainian businessman and we are quickly complaining about the laws governing (or should I say crippling) small businesses in Ukraine.

EXPECTATIONS

As a child I enjoyed reading the Chronicles of Narnia. Being from the southern hemisphere I never fully understood the terrible feeling the children felt knowing that the White Witch of Narnia made it always winter but never Christmas. We grow up with the expectation that certain things should always go hand in hand. Here people expect snow with winter. But we are yet to see snow this winter which is very unusual. We all have expectations for Christmas holidays. We have expectations for New Year. We have our own expectations in friendships, work situations, service in shops and restaurants. And we feel grieved when our expectations are not met. This is natural. Sometimes it is helpful. I have expectations of my workers and if they constantly fall short it is my job to draw their attention to their responsibilities. But often our expectations are unrealistic, selfish or both. We focus on what we expect from life and those around us rather than what we can give to others.

May I grow to give more and expect less. Ouch – that can be a hard lesson.

November Monthly Update 2009

A DIDGERIDOO IN MOLDOVA

Life is a funny thing. I went to Moldova to visit a friend for our midterm break. I went to an international motocross event, a christening, a 25^th wedding anniversary, spoke at a conference on citizenship and played an Australian didgeridoo. I really liked Moldova. Although there are some similarities to Ukraine – there are many distinct differences. I really enjoyed the people I met and the outlook on life which they have. They are a small country – a bit like NZ. They don’t seem to be too important to the ‘big wigs’ so they just get on with life where they are. I really liked the friendly optimistic attitude I encountered everywhere I went. Thanks to Tanya and her family for being wonderful hosts and

TO BE OR NOT TO BE – AND THE MOON

I walked home late last night from Ruth and Jon’s house and was surprised at how light it was outside. There were a few clouds in the sky acting as reflectors for a full and very bright moon. I looked up and thought the moon was shining brightly. But then I remembered that it has no light of its own, it is merely reflecting the light of the sun. How does it do that effectively? From the moon’s perspective, it needs a direct unblocked line to the sun. From my perspective, it needs a direct unblocked line to me. Other than that, the moon merely needs to be. It doesn’t need to do – just be. We have been challenged about being light and salt to our community recently. The light I need to be is a reflector. I need a good line to Christ so that I am receiving His light in my life, and then a good line to those around me so they have the opportunity to see Christ’s light shining through me. It’s not about doing – it’s about simply being. Being where God has me at this time to shine for Him.

UTSIM

One month down! And this wave we are riding is just getting bigger and bigger and soon it has to break. I hope I’m standing on the board and not going to get crushed. We have over 40 students (I don’t know how many – new ones signing every week). We have taken

WHO ARE YOU LISTENING TO?

Jon spoke at church last week. He helped unpack a little of what is the heart of worship. He gave us a number of questions to consider one of which challenged me to examine to whom am I listening. I don’t really listen to the radio or watch TV. I read books, I watch movies, and I listen to a few sermons. Where is the input into my life mainly coming from? It must affect the output.

I have been challenged at my lack of Bible reading lately. I try to read the Bible daily. But lately it has been duty more than communion with God. I remember my Mum, also brought up in a Christian home, telling me of the realisation that hit her one day – “the Word of God is alive and powerful”. I want to rediscover this in my life again.

Psalm 119 is all about the law of the Lord. How can my life be pure? – by taking notice of God’s Word and hiding it in my heart.

WHEN EVERYTHING TURNS TO CUSTARD

It seems like you are not supposed to have crises of faith when you wear the badge ‘missionary’. Does it mean I should lose that title, or do I need to face up to the rugged truth and call a spade a spade?

In my journal the other day I wrote: “God I don’t know what to do. I don’t know who I am – who You are – what this whole world and this whole life are all about. I’m confused – it’s almost like believing in You is too easy so it’s a cop out.”

For someone who hasn’t written in a while this isn’t exactly encouraging stuff. I want to write something else. I want to write something clever, or really inspirational. I want a good story with a poignant punch line and have people write back and thank me for it. But this is what I have. Questions with no answers. A God I can’t even begin to get my head around. A self I can’t even get my head around. A life that is good enough from

A 5 HRIVNA LESSON

I was riding the Kyiv Metro the other day when a young boy hopped on and started a spiel about something, hoping to be given some money. He was probably about 14 and he had some sort of disability that affected his speaking and cognitive abilities. I generally try to avoid beggars on the Metro system. He wandered the length of my carriage and I was surprised at the amount of people who placed money in his cup. Mostly elderly people and mostly 1 or 2 hrivna or even just a couple of coins. I thought about NZ or Australia. Those with disabilities are helped firstly by their families, but also by the government. Their level of care is pretty good. But maybe as fellow human beings we have absolved our consciences of responsibility by letting the tax dollar do the work. It’s rather impersonal. Ukraine’s system does very little for the disadvantaged. So perhaps the Kyiv Metro is the alternative to the welfare system. And perhaps it doesn’t hurt us to actually physically give instead of electing someone else to fulfil the responsibility for us. I’d already missed my chance. I quickly jumped out at the next station, tapped him on the shoulder and handed him 5 hrivna. The look of thanks in his eyes was worth a lot more than that!

GOD IS A VERB (Buckminster Fuller)

“I am a verb. I am that I am. I will be who I will be. I am a verb! I am alive, dynamic, ever active, and moving. I am a being verb.” (The Shack, pg 204)

I’m not sure what to add. So much of the way I live and function is based upon results. We like causes. ‘Cause’ can be a noun or a verb. We live our life looking at nouns. But God is a verb. We worry about the product – God produces. We focus on origins and foundations – God originates and founds. We want reasons – but God IS the reason for everything. God is a verb. He is all and He does all. I want to learn to rest in Him.

It’s going to be quite a process. . . .

UTSIM

When I write the next monthly update, we will have completed the first academic year of UTSIM!! Wow, praise God. If you had asked me a year ago what I would expect by now – I would not have even dreamed that we would be where we are.