Darrow Miller and Friends

Darrow Miller’s Trip to Indonesia

I taught three times (The Transforming Story, The Power of Story, and Reviving the Reformation) during my visit to one of the leading seminaries in Indonesia. Several of the young folks (under 30) came up to thank me for giving them hope for their lives, for the church, for Indonesia and for giving them a bigger space to live in their minds.

One of the young people was a third year student at the Institute. She is a first generation Christian from a Moslem ethnic group. She is the FIRST and ONLY Christian among her people. When I asked her how she came to know Christ, she said it was in a dream. Christ came to her at night in a dream. She accepted Christ. She was disowned by her family and, like Abraham in Genesis 12, left her home and community. This was a passage that I had taught on and she said that it was a passage that guided her as a young Christian.

She left a good job with a Western company to strike out like Abraham to find the city that God had for her (Hebrews 11:10). She had a longing to study the Bible and so ended up coming to the seminary. She is now married to another student and they are praying together about the kind of ministry God would have for them after they graduate. Her family, while not yet Christians, have finally accepted that she is a Christian; they have opened their home to her and her husband. What a glorious story of how God can work supernaturally today to draw people to himself!

The founder of the school has written 106 books, the majority in Indonesian, but he also has some in English and some in Dutch. He is a wise old man, dearly beloved by the students who have graduated from here. If I had to describe him, he would be like the Billy Graham of Indonesia. He is an evangelist and Christian statesmen. He came up to me after the morning session where I mentioned that individuals can change history. He said that this was a motto of his life.

He has been on friendship terms and has ministered to the political and religious leaders of Indonesia. He has been a personal friend and confidant of many of the last presidents of Indonesia. He has known all the US presidents back to, I think, President Nixon. He said that his life has been threatened four times, but so far God has protected him.

I also met with the man in charge of Transform Indonesia and the regional Transform Asia movement. He mentioned that the little time that Bob Moffitt and I have spent in Indonesia for Vision Conferences and other trainings has had a profound impact. He said over and over how he wants to work more closely with us.

I have known that Indonesia is the nation with the largest Moslem population in the world. Christians are a distinct minority. They are generally tolerated by the majority population, but can become easy targets of people with political interest using religious pretext.

Every morning at 4:00 AM (pre-dawn), which I don’t quite get (dawn is about 5:30 AM), the various Imams begin their call to morning prayers. The first one begins at 4:00 AM and every few minutes another one begins. The crescendo is at about 4:20 AM. At that point, one knows that this Institute of Biblical Theology is a very small island in a very large Islamic sea. Each Mullah has his own unique voice and “song.” So, it is like a chorus or symphony call to prayer. Very, very haunting!

-Darrow L. 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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