April Trip North & West: Louisville, KY: Lavalette, WV; Gainesville, VA; Tupelo, MS; Siloam Springs, AK; Longview, TX; Jonesboro, LA – See more pictures on our blog at www.psmcmillan.blogspot.com
Three weeks from now we will have been back in the USA for a year. We are encouraged that from 65% our monthly support is now up to 76% of the needed $8090 monthly. Three more churches and two more families have pledged to take on our support for which we are grateful!
Of the other 170 new churches in VA, NC and SC we have contacted there are about 27 that have expressed interest in partnering with us. Pray that Peter would have wisdom as he emails and calls them to set up a time to speak at their church. 7 churches are praying about what their partnership should be. For those whom God has chosen to be our partners pray that the Lord will give the faith to trust him for the resources for that partnership.
I find myself asking the question; “How many more churches will I need to contact?” “Do I have faith that the Lord will raise up the partners we need?” I was encouraged by something that I read by Alexander Hay about George Muller:
George Muller, being called of God to care for orphan children in Bristol, England, and having no resources of his own with which to do it, trusted God to supply all his material needs…It is said that George Muller had great faith … but in what aspect was it great?... Faith, moreover, is not a commodity that we can have in store, and add to until we have much of it, and employ to accomplish great things. It would be wrong also to believe that faith gives power in proportion to the amount we may possess… The power is not of us at all; nor is it wielded by us. The power is entirely of God. It is He who works. Our part is only to believe He will do it…In George Muller we find a man, who in first place, was obedient to God’s call…Muller’s faith consisted simply in obe
dience and believing God would do his part.”www.ntmu.net (answer for workers/Faith’s Simplicity)
As a couple we know that the Lord has called us to be part of a church plant in Las Tablas, Madrid. We are encouraged by 1 Corinthians 1:9 “God, who has called you into fellowship with his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, is faithful.”
By Faith Our Tentative Schedule:
May 16th: Sunday am and pm. -Flat Creek Baptist Church, Lynchburg, VA
May 19th: Wednesday pm. - South Strand Community Church, Surfside Beach, SC
May 30th: Sunday am. - Sumner Baptist Church, Greensboro, NC
June 15th : Move from Chapin, SC to Virginia
June 15th- July 9th: Visit churches in NC & VA
June 25th: Covenant Community Church, Fredericksburg, VA
June 30th:Apply for Spain visa
July 10th – August 1st: Visit churches in PA,NY,MA,NJ
One day in 1793, William Carey, the Father of Modern Missions and some friends were discussing the need for foreign missions. Andrew Fuller, a fellow minister who was at that gathering, recalled, “We saw there was a gold mine in India, but it was as deep as the center of the Earth.” Fuller asked who would venture to explore that mine. Carey spoke up and addressed his friends: “I will venture to go down, but remember that you must hold the ropes.” By “holding the ropes,” Carey meant consistently praying for him, financially supporting him, and regularly communicating on his behalf with the churches in England. His friends agreed.
Since 1988 many of you have been our faithful “rope holders” and we want to thank you for the time and effort that you have put into bringing us and our ministry before the throne of grace, and for faithfully supporting us. It has been an honor to be serviced by you. However, to get to Spain we will need more “rope holders”. The expenses are higher and the spiritual battle will most like be harder. We live in a day when “holding the ropes” is considering just praying and sending money. Holding the ropes also includes staying in contact, providing feedback, constructive criticism, and maintaining lines of accountability
(The following is a interview between the McMillans and a potential “rope holder”)
RH: What is a “Faith Mission” and how does that relate to a “rope holder”? Mc: A “Faith mission” is a term used among evangelical Christians to refer to a missionary agency with an approach to missions that encourages its missionaries to "trust in God to provide the necessary resources" These missionaries are said to "live by faith" as they trust the Lord to provide “rope holders”, those who commit to hold the ropes.
RH: How does TEAM assist the McMillans as faith missionaries?MC: TEAM assists us, our sending church and “rope holders” by handling our finances, providing tax deductible receipts, medical insurance, a retirement program, and on the field helping with documents, orientation, supervision, training and encouragement.
RH: How does a “faith promise” and “rope holding” fit together? MC: A “faith promise” is set between a potential “rope holder”, God and the missionaries. By faith you will trust the Lord to enable you to give that amount over a period of time.This amount is generally give on a monthly basis but can also be given quarterly or once a year.
RH: Do you need more “rope holders”? MC: Yes, since we left for the mission field in 1988 we have needed replacement “rope holders” as some have gone to Glory and others have ceased to give for various reasons…. plus the “load” or “weight” has increa
sed! We will need “rope holders” for about 15 more years until we retire.
RH: How can our church or a family “hold the ropes” for you? MC: First of all you can pray. This is the hardest to do.We will provide you with updates with specific ways you can pray. Secondly, you can make a commitment to help support us financially. Thirdly, you can be a part of a work team that travels to Spain.
RH: What is the financial support level that TEAM has recommended for you? MC: Each TEAM missionary is responsible to raise his own support from churches, family, businesses, organizations and friends. TEAM has recommended that we raise $8090 a month. When commitments equal the support level set by TEAM we will receive final clearance for departure.This support includes: salary, housing, medical insurance, retirement plan, social security, taxes, MK Education, travel expenses, ministry funds (office, documents, phone, internet, materials, resources, etc)and 8% to TEAM for their expenses.
RH: How many supporters do Peter and Sharon have now? MC:We currently have 515 people who receive our prayer updates. Each month we have 34 families giving a combined average of $2307 and 14 churches giving a combined total of $2935. This total of $5242 makes up 65% of our total recommended level of $8090. In January of 2010 our salary was cut to 51% until our income goes up again.
RH: How can a “rope holder” send their support into TEAM? MC: Missionary support can be sent via check, on line or electronic funds transfer. Gifts and commitments can be made online using TEAM’S web page. http://www.teamworld.org/give/give-online-now.html. Or by sending a check for the McMillan’s to: TEAM, P.O. Box 969, Wheaton, IL 60187.
RH: When do you plan to leave for Spain? MC: Our original target date was June of 2010. However we cannot apply for our visas until we have 80% of our support pledged. If 7 additional churches would give an average of $300 a month and an additional 20 families would give an average of $50 a month we would be at 100% and could leave this summer.
We are currently at 65% of the $8,090 recommended for TEAM Spain. Here’s how this looks on a graph:
Upcoming schedule for visiting our old and new “Rope Holders”
Sunday a.m.: April 11: Salem Baptist, Richmond VA
Sunday p.m.: River’s Edge bible Church, Hopewell, VA
(Monday – Thursday, 12-15:Together For the Gospel Conference in Louisville, KY)
Friday 16: May’s Chapel, Huntington, WV
Sunday 18: Grace Church, Gainesville, VA
Wednesday, 21: Marvin Newsom, Littleton, NC
Thursday - Friday 22, 23: Rich and Libby Unverzagt, MS
Saturday - Sunday 24, 25: Harvard Ave Bap, Siloam Springs, AK
Mon –Wed the 26th-28th: The Newmans, Jonesboro, LA
Wed., 28th: Siloam Springs Community Church, Jonesboro, LA
Sunday a.m. and p.m. May 2: Providence Baptist, Asheboro, NC
Sunday a.m. May 16: Missio Die Church, Asheville, NC
Sunday p.m.: Flat Creek Baptist, Lynchburg, VA
We are excited to visit each one of you as we share what we know about 2 corners of the world where God is building and will build his church.Not only that, but we get to be encouraged as we hear how God is working in your corner!We have faith and confidently expect that we will soon begin to work in Madrid and be able to send you more interesting reports!
The move to South Carolina went smoothly. We are settled in, glad to be in our home church, and welcome visitors! The furnished lake cottage has 2 bedrooms, plus a queen sized hide-a-bed. Once it warms up we can also enjoy the screened porch and dock. We have enjoyed learning to identify the birds here and watch them as we eat in the breakfast nook.
Here is the latest about Sharon’s health. Consultation with the oncologist and radiologist resulted in a reexcision to remove a little more tissue on one side which lowered her risk level enough to not have to go through any further treatment! We were able to schedule the 20 minute procedure for the day after we took Melissa back to Va. to start her 2nd semester. We praise God for his mercy on us!
The latest news…. from Las Tablas, Madrid: the group of believers has moved the weekend Bible study to Sunday afternoons. They reported 25 in attendance, including visitors. ….from Lecheria, Venezuela: The IBM church started two services with 142 & 158 in attendance! (with 8 people repeating.) Three elders are in training, Jesus Idrogo, Dilio Marcano and Ramon Cermeño.
Soon we will participate in a teleconference meeting with the Muhas in Troy, Michigan, a representative from TEAM, and the Chamorros in Las Tablas to discuss a questionnaire on the various aspects of team building. For example, here is question #5. What does it mean to you to work as a team? In other words, what does the word “team” mean to you in practical terms? We are trusting God to guide us as we contact prospective partners. Mailings: 81 to churches in Virginia; will send 76 for NC and 30 for SC. Phone calls: @60 Recent Presentations: CHBC in D.C. Dec. 23 and Jan. 3. This weekend, Jan. 23-25, we will speak at Gardner’s Baptist and Lake Gaston Baptist near Roanoke Rapids, N.C. before going to Sharon’s post op in DC and Melissa’s Dr.’s appointment in Harrisonburg, Va. Along the way we have 3 meetings with pastors.
February 7-12. We will attend the Biblical Counseling Training Conference in Lafayette, Indiana. Scott and Lorna Muha, our church planting partners who are going to Las Tablas in March, will also be attending.
Joyfully in Christ,
Peter and Sharon McMillan www.lastablasmadrid.org
Saturday, December 12, 2009
Thanksgiving Dinner 2009 Grace and Peace be yours in abundance to you who through the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ have received a faith as precious as ours…
First we’ll share a few ways that Grace and Peace have abounded in our lives: Sharon had the follow-up visit with the surgeon on Nov. 11th but had to wait an additional week for the complete pathology report. She has DCIS (ductile cancer in situ) which is not invasive and the tumor was small, 7mm. This is all good news as far as cancer goes. She is still doing therapy stretching exercises with her right arm to combat the effects of the surgery. The next step is an appointment with an oncologist on Dec. 22 to determine what further treatment will be recommended.
Thanksgiving gave us a week to be with Melissa and some time with Sharon’s side of the family near Charlottesville, Va. This is final exam week for our daughter, Melissa who finishes her 1st semester at James Madison University and has adjusted nicely. Heather is in Hopewell, Va. with grandparents, working as part time church secretary for West End Presbyterian Church while preparing to leave in February to teach English as a second language in Seoul, Korea.
Getting better acquainted with brothers and sisters in Christ at both Occoquan Bible Church and Capitol Hill Baptist Church has been a priority. Besides having people in our home, we participated in a 7:00 am Tuesday morning class on counseling entitled, “How People Change”. We attend a home group which has been reviewing the book, Respectable Sins. The Sunday School class is studying I and II Peter. Besides this, we listen to lectures from a course called Islam Through Christian and Muslim Eyes. Sharon read the book by Orson Wells, Homage to Catalonia in which the author makes the observation back in 1936 that Spain seemed to be the most atheistic European country. We both helped out at the 2 evangelistic Christmas Teas offered at CHBC. Together with the Muhas we have been developing brochures and info packets to distribute to our supporters. Peter and Scott are also contacting new churches to see if they would be interested in pursuing church planting in Madrid. We are so grateful for the input of everyone who gives us ideas and helps to push our info technology ability to higher levels! We are trying to blog and twitter to help the younger generations keep track of us.
The hand of God is evident as events take place to prepare for the Muhas and McMillans to begin working in Spain. 5.84 million people live in the greater metropolitan area of Madrid, the 3rd largest city in Europe. Las Tablas is a new housing development on the northern side of Madrid comprised of various nationalities. Already a Friday evening get together has been established by a few local believers who gather with interested guests for a study through the book of Mark. About 100 people attended the recently held marriage seminar. We communicate back and forth on issues relating to doctrine and practice as well as personal matters, to begin the process of team building since we have not worked together before. The following is an excerpt from a church planter already working in a different area of Madrid: “There were about 75 present (at the Thanksgiving dinner), a little less than half non-Christian, including multiple nationalities. At one table of 8, there were 6 different ones! That´s indicative of the reality of immigration in Europe that is changing the cultural landscape, and the way ‘church’ is done in Spain.”
As we prepare to serve the Lord in a new church plant in Spain one of the challenges we face is the need for additional financial support. Our monthly financial need for Spain is $8090 a month. That amount includes; salary, insurances, transportation, ministry expenses, retirement, and other services. We do not have a guaranteed salary with TEAM, just the amount that comes in through those who partner with us. Our present monthly income is an average of $4075, which means that we are at 50% of the level we need to leave for Spain in June of 2010. Please be in prayer with us as we contact those churches and families who will want to invest in the church plant in Madrid, Spain. With the additional medical expenses we have been stretched more than usual. When we move to South Carolina in January we will look for part-time jobs to offset recent expenses. We anticipate grace and peace to abound in our hearts as we follow and trust the Lord.
Another move is approaching: #19. We love everywhere we go, but it hurts to leave from wherever we are at present! New address as of January 5th: 137 Haywain Drive Chapin, SC 29036
One last thing before we close: Do you get excited when you hear amazing stories about what God is doing at the four corners of the earth? Here is an opportunity to lock arms with others, join in His work and really make a difference: For the first 100 days of 2010, TEAM is challenging everyone to join in a campaign called Everyone One Hundred. From January through early April, you’ll get weekly emails with great information and important prayer requests from around the world. Your prayers are vital! Plus, you can join in the effort even further by giving financially, if God puts that on your heart. There is no obligation, and it’s easy to sign up at http://www.teameveryone.org/ A 100 day challenge…we are going to do it – come join us! By the way, if you don’t use the Internet, you can also sign up by calling TEAM at 800-343-3144.
Madrid, Spain. We are encouraged that after much consideration, prayer and discussion with fellow missionaries in Spain we see the Lord leading us to be part of a church planting team to Madrid, Spain. Our target area with be in the Northern part of Madrid in a section called Las Tablas. We will be joined by our fellow TEAM missionaries, Scott and Lorna Muha, who were church planters working in Caracas, Venezuela. Almost 2 years ago the Tablante family, members of the IBM church in Lecheria, Venezuela, moved from Venezuela to a brand new subdivision in Madrid. Aurora lives there with their 3 girls while Joel works in Saudi Arabia. With there being no Bible church in the vicinity, she would drive almost an hour on Sundays. She asked us to come and help start a church near her. In March we visited her, walked around just her section of 30,000 people, and she pointed across the highway to where 2 more identical sections have been built, all within the last 6 years.
None of us were aware at the time that a small group had begun to meet on Friday nights. Uh- oh, that could mean trouble; we had 2 choices: forget about it and direct our energies elsewhere or approach them with the possibility of joining forces. Instantly they were excited at the possibility! They are two enthusiastic couples from Argentina, trained in Word of Life who have a vision for starting a church in the area. After several extended conference calls and consultations with TEAM, the believers in Las Tablas, the TEAM Spain leaders, and we see this as a win-win situation. It dovetails with the advice that we not jump in cold to start something on our own. Please be in prayer as we begin to work on our vision statement, strategy, and team building. The Muhas would like to leave sometime after January and we would follow Lord willing in May. We need to raise additional support as well. Las Tablas February, 2003
Las Tablas May, 2004
Las Tablas March 2009
A week ago Monday, Sharon had a biopsy done on a suspicious spot on her breast which turned out to be cancerous and would require surgery. Today the surgeon ordered an MRI to see if the cancer has spread to other areas. Should the MRI reveal other spots they will need to be biopsied before the operation as well. We trust that all the additional tests will be completed soon and we are looking at a surgery date sometime after the 26th of October. The post-operative reports will indicate if Sharon will need to undergo any radiation treatment. We will keep you informed and do appreciate your prayers that the tests will be accurate and any malignant tumors can be removed.
This past weekend we did a short presentation on missions during Occoquan Bible Church’s Fall Festival. We also did a missions awareness activity with the Awana children on Sunday evening.
Tomorrow we are planning to head down to South Carolina where Sharon will be attending a women’s retreat with the ladies from our home church. We hope to visit with Melissa on the way back. Next week we will travel to Schenectady, New York for a week of several speaking engagements with adults and children during the missions conference at First Presbyterian Church. We would appreciate your prayers that we would be instruments used to inform, motivate, and encourage the body of believers there.
A short family camping trip in Appalachian National Park is also planned.
We rest in the assurance that the Lord is in control of all these details.
9401 Cleat Court Burke, Virginia 22015 (804) 920-9739
September 10, 2009
Dear fellow partner in ministry:
You may be wondering what has been happening with the McMillans as you have not heard from us in awhile. We are still very much alive and in good health, as indicated in the results from the comprehensive medical work that we completed in July.
We drove up to Wheaton, IL for the annual TEAM conference (REAP) for missionaries on home assignment. While there we talked with several home staff and fellow missionaries concerning our next placement. We met with the TEAM Mexico field. The Mexico Field is considering a church plant in 3 different cities a half day’s drive east of Guadalajara, Mexico. A vision trip is scheduled for February. However at this point we are not strongly considering that opportunity.
Here are a number of developments that we have heard about in the Madrid area. 1. In Las Tablas, a new suburb in northern Madrid, where Aurora, one of our church members from IBM in Venezuela lives, we found out that there is a Bible study with @ 20 in attendance. Mark Johnson, a TEAM missionary in Madrid, visited with them as well as Aurora Tablante, the lady from IBM. Two Argentinian families started the group comprised of Latins and Spaniards. Peter has conversed with one of the men, Samuel, who is excited for us to work with them. The other man, Oscar has expressed his eagerness for us to join their venture. They are from the Brethren background. Around 200,000 people live within a 10 minute drive in either direction.
2. The other opportunity is in downtown Madrid working in a multicultural community. The area is called Lavapies. We visited this area with Micah and Kimberly Yaun when we were in Madrid. I have talked with a number of missionaries from Madrid about this area. They recommend that it would be best to work together with other missionary organizations (possibly setting up a cultural center/coffee shop) where we could make contacts, teach English, do Bible studies. As contacts and interest grow we would start the church plant.
3. As far as Tenerife goes, TEAM Spain is checking on some issues with another mission organization. There is a possibility to work in a section of Santa Cruz, the capitol city, but we don’t have many leads. The TEAM missionaries already working in Santa Ursula would like to see us work in the city of Icod (pop. @20,000) situated about 1½ hours west on the northern coast. A group of about 8 already exists at a 20 year old church. The building has water damage, is not in a strategic location, and TEAM would like to get a commitment from the leadership that they would be willing to sell the building and move to a more strategic location. The ideal would be to work together and not separately.
August for Sharon has been extremely busy taking a one month intensive course on Teaching English as a Second Language. Sometimes she had to go for several nights on just 4-5 hours of sleep. It was a month of reflection and studying for me, Peter, as well as an opportunity to improve my cooking skills. Heather has been with us as she also took the course. Sharon and Heather also have 2 weeks of reading and paper work to do before they can be awarded their certificates.
Sharon at TEFL class
On the 19th we took a day to drop Melissa of at James Madison University to start her freshman year. On September 1st we met with Scott and Lorna Muha to discuss and evaluate, and share updates on our next church plant. The Muhas are workers from Venezuela who accompanied us for part of our trip to Spain back in March. We are planning to partner with them in our next church plant. We trust that very soon we can make a final decision as to specifically where we will be headed. Please pray that together with the Muhas, TEAM, and our home churches we will be able to discern God’s clear leading.
We are participating in two of our supporting churches in the DC area. Capitol Hill Baptist Church and Occoquan Bible Church. We are getting to know church members by attending home groups, a Bible study, and Sunday morning and evening worship services. Peter preaches this Sunday at Occoquan.
Over Labor Day weekend we got together with Ben, Hannah, Heather and Melissa along with the rest of Sharon’s family. We enjoyed fishing on Lake Monticello and have been sore from water-skiing. And guess who caught the biggest fish?
Sharon with her nieces and nephew We will travel to New York, stopping in PA, MA and NJ the latter half of September, visiting with supporting churches and partners in ministry. In October we will go to Columbia, SC 9-11 for a church retreat, and the week of 18-25 we will participate in the missions conference at First Presbyterian in Schenectady.
JULY 18: THE WEDDING- WOW! Everything went wonderfully! What a blessing for us to see the excitement, joy and anticipation on Ben’s face as Hannah approached him at the front of the church. We count it a privilege to have such a sweet, godly daughter-in-law and be related to a God-honoring family such as the Drennons. Both Heather and Melissa were bridesmaids along with Hannah’s sister, Jennifer. Almost all of the McMillans came so we were able, at least for a brief time, to reconnect with them.
So, what have we been doing since last we wrote? A good portion of the time we have spent undergoing medical examinations and procedures to meet the TEAM requirements for redeployment. We made a trip to DC to look for an apartment and thanks to the help of Dixie Wright we were able to lease a one bedroom basement apartment from a nice family in the Burke area in the southwest suburbs. It would not be available until after July 15th, but the landlord let Peter take a load of household goods and books up. Monday, the 20th, we moved out of Sharon’s parents’ home near Richmond, Va. and settled in the apartment where we will stay for the rest of the year. We are learning the whereabouts of every thrift store in the SW quadrant! There are still a few furniture items lacking, but we hope to be able to borrow some from church friends.
Melissa works Sunday through Friday as an assistant camp counselor at Williamsburg Christian Retreat Center. She had a 2 week vacation and went up with Heather to New York to the grandparents’ cabin. Her freshman move in date for James Madison University is either August 18th or 19th.
Starting this Monday both Sharon and Heather will take a one month intensive course to get certified as TESL (Teaching English as a Second Language) instructors. This is a widely used method among missionaries to reach into a community and form relationships.
Sharon is writing this as we make our way back home to DC from Wheaton, Illinois. We attended REAP (Re-entry, Evaluation, And Preparation). About 100 TEAM missionaries and staff gathered together for a week of meetings and exchange. It was a great time of interaction, lots of ideas, interchange of experiences, and training on how to maximize our connection between resources and kingdom opportunities. We met several times with the missionary couple, Scott and Lorna Muha, who are considering teaming up with us in the next assignment. We interviewed many missionaries from various fields, including Mexico, to not leave any stone unturned as the saying goes. Every day we are involved in correspondence to various parties, research, prayer, and waiting on answers. We are hoping for a final decision in August so as to be able to direct energies and prayers to that end. We are excited anticipating this next venture with you!
Peter and Sharon McMillan Cell phone number: 804-920-9739 Email address: psmcmillan@gmail.com
e needed $8090 monthly. Three more churches and two more families have pledged to take on our support for which we are grateful!
