we are now a month in since a massively devastating earthquake hit haiti, bringing untold death, poverty and unprecedented needs that seem so insurmountable and discouraging. and yet even as the dust settles, only a month later, people have already begun to move on, forget and stop caring, giving, acting and advocating. as the church, we have to be the ones to keep the momentum and serve the poor and devastated in haiti. so i would really like to encourage you to check out HELP (help end local poverty). this is such an amazing organization led by one of my good friends, chris marlow, who has definitely risen to the occasion and is providing an opportunity to help haiti with something so simple as just buying a shirt or two. i just got 3 today, and let me tell you guys, these shirts are absolutely some of the coolest shirts i’ve ever seen! though it’s a high quality fabric with an uber awesome design, the best part is that every penny goes to help with haiti relief. so do yourself a favor and do haiti a favor and go buy a shirt.

while you’re at it, check out their official website, and follow them on twitter at @ChrisMarlow and @helpendpoverty.

thanks guys! let’s be a people of compassion and a people of redemption together.

have you ever noticed that leaves don’t really have any particular desires of where they’re blown and even if they did, you wouldn’t know it? they simply submit to the will of the wind. that’s how amanda and i have really strived to live as much as possible; submitting ourselves to the will of the Holy Spirit and letting Him take us wherever He desires. it’s not always easy, certainly not always convenient, and can often be abrupt. but isn’t it amazing how when you give God the control, you always ultimately find yourself in a much better destination (whether physically or spiritually) than you ever dreamed possible?

we moved back to austin, tx in september of last year… only 5 months ago! we were so excited to be here and have felt the leadership of the Lord the entire time we’ve been privileged to be back. we have held loosely to it though, rather than clutching with a white-knuckled, kung fu grip, as is very tempting when you love a city and a church as much as we have loved austin and the austin stone… but now the winds have changed recently and we submit willingly… and eagerly!

on march 1 (less than a month away! YIKES!), we will be relocating yet again to the great city of st. louis, mo where i will begin partnering with the journey church as a worship leader and pastor. needless to say, i am extremely excited… you really can’t have any idea how pumped i am! i will be working alongside lead pastor darrin patrick who also happens to be an acts29 network leader, and close friend of my current pastor (they’re writing a book together actually!).

this is a pretty amazing opportunity for us and we would certainly appreciate your prayers in the coming months. thanks guys!

grace and peace,
stephen miller

If you remember, we wrote a couple weeks ago about our decision to begin the adoption process for a child in Kazakhstan. As we mentioned in our last post, this will cost between $25,000-$35,000 and could take up to a year after the funds are raised. We decided rather than wasting time, we would begin the fundraising process right away while we searched for a great adoption agency that works with Kazakhstan.

As a result, we have opened a bank account and PayPal account dedicated strictly to our adoption in Kazakhstan.

We are asking you to pray about it and seek the Lord, and then come alongside us in changing the life of an orphan in the next year. You can do this in a couple ways.

1. Please pray that God will give us wisdom to move forward and favor with an excellent agency.
2. Please pray that we will have fortitude and courage to carry this process through to the end. This is a REALLY hard process! Everyone tells us that it’s more pain than we could ever imagine, but so worth it.
3. Please give to our adoption fund. You can donate on PayPal by sending your donation to adoption@stephen-miller.com

Thanks guys!

Grace and peace,
Stephen Miller