Darrow Miller and Friends

God Plus Ordinary People = Impact

Over the years I have been struck by the fact that God inhabits the ordinary. The birth of a child is an everyday miracle. God often uses unknown people to change their community or world.

Dallas Willard captures this concept in The Divine Conspiracy: “The obviously well kept secret of the ‘ordinary’ is that it was made to be a receptacle of the divine, a place where the life of God flows.” Likewise, my dear friend, George Grant, in his book, The Micah Mandate, notes:

After all, the future of our culture does not depend upon political messiahs or institutional solutions. Neither does it depend on the emergence of some new brilliant spokesman or inspiring leader. Instead, the future of our culture depends upon ordinary men and women in the church who are willing to live lives of justice, mercy and humility before God.

Recently, I received a letter from my good friend in India, Raaj Mondol. Raaj and his wife, Geeta, have been friends for many years. Their lives reflect the power of the God working through ordinary people.

Raaj has been affiliated with the Disciple Nations Alliance as a teacher – trainer in India and on the sub-continent. Geeta Mondol is an inspiration to my life in that through necessity and calling she has founded the Ashish Foundation for the Differently Abled which “seeks to work towards a society that views each person as being of value and importance and to make a difference in the lives of children with disabilities as well as their families.”

How different will the lives of the children of Ashish Center be because of the vision, hard work, and persistence of Geeta? What kind of impact for good will Ashish Center have in India? God alone knows the answers but we’re watching with great anticipation.

In his letter, Raaj reflects on a series of e-mails that relate to the DNA’s concern for the plight of women.

Thanks a lot for sharing your heart in this mail. … We were first connected to Andrew Brumme and Evan from Shadowline films when they were coming to India by one of our friends who had asked us to help them in getting contacts with people associated with the issue of Female foeticide in India. By God’s grace we were able to help them connect with some people when they came to do the shooting for the film. When we met them and talked at the Reflection Art Gallery we recognized how much we shared the same vision. We were so thankful that someone was making a documentary on this issue as prior to that we ourselves had been thinking of producing a short movie on the issue but for some reason we had not been able to do it. We recognized that when God puts his concern on a particular issue then He gives the same vision to many others in his household and it is very clear that this issue of the silent genocide of girl children is one among them.

 I do not know if I shared with you that the Lord has guided us to take up this issue as the main focus of our ministry through Salt Initiatives. We have been engaged in sharing the concern in the churches, college students and people in the urban communities. We are in the process of setting up a website letherlive.in where we hope to have an interactive medium and platform where women facing the issue can get help. Now it is under construction and we hope that by January 2012 it should be fully operational. We had told Andrew and Evan during their second visit to India that we will be happy to share this movie at different forums. It would be a good tool for us.

We are so encouraged to know that you are passionately sharing the concerns in your own teachings. We are thankful to you for igniting this concern in us for the state of women in our country through your worldview teaching. It has been an important part of our journey and Lord had time and again confirmed with us that he has been leading us in this path. We would appreciate your prayers for much wisdom and guidance from the Lord for our team.

Let Her Live and the Ashish Foundation recognize the significance of each human life. Here are two friends who understand that Ideas Have Consequences! and that the Biblical concept that all human beings are made in the image of God drives them to push back against the Hindu culture that so depreciates women and special-needs children.

God does inhabit the ordinary. He moves communities and nations through the quiet work of people like Geeta and Raaj. What has God put on your heart? Don’t let thoughts like, No one knows me!I have no resources …  I have no ‘power’ be barriers to what God might be calling you to do.

Remember, “the future of our culture depends upon ordinary men and women in the church who are willing to live lives of justice, mercy and humility before God.”

–          Darrow Miller

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About 
Darrow is co-founder of the Disciple Nations Alliance and a featured author and teacher. For over 30 years, Darrow has been a popular conference speaker on topics that include Christianity and culture, apologetics, worldview, poverty, and the dignity of women. From 1981 to 2007 Darrow served with Food for the Hungry International (now FH association), and from 1994 as Vice President. Before joining FH, Darrow spent three years on staff at L’Abri Fellowship in Switzerland where he was discipled by Francis Schaeffer. He also served as a student pastor at Northern Arizona University and two years as a pastor of Sherman Street Fellowship in urban Denver, CO. In addition to earning his Master’s degree in Adult Education from Arizona State University, Darrow pursued graduate studies in philosophy, theology, Christian apologetics, biblical studies, and missions in the United States, Israel, and Switzerland. Darrow has authored numerous studies, articles, Bible studies and books, including Discipling Nations: The Power of Truth to Transform Culture (YWAM Publishing, 1998), Nurturing the Nations: Reclaiming the Dignity of Women for Building Healthy Cultures (InterVarsity Press, 2008), LifeWork: A Biblical Theology for What You Do Every Day (YWAM, 2009), Rethinking Social Justice: Restoring Biblical Compassion (YWAM, 2015), and more. These resources along with links to free e-books, podcasts, online training programs and more can be found at Disciple Nations Alliance (https://disciplenations.org).
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