God’s Mission Call: Full Circle

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By John Bryan

The call of God. To some it is a mystery; to others, a mandate.

Native Georgians, David Miller and his wife, Glynis, heard God’s call to mission service early in their lives. When David left his home in Adrian and met his girlfriend from Macon, it was a set-up. Match-makers had been trying to get them paired for a while and then it happened at a PTA school meeting. Within five months they were married and in ministry service together.

David’s first pastorate was in the Georgia town of Davisboro at Friendship Baptist Church. His schooling took him to Canada, Colorado, Illinois, and finally to New Orleans, where he finished seminary.

David and Glynis Miller David and Glynis Miller

God called him to serve in a variety of church roles: education, youth, music, administration and as a pastor across Georgia and beyond. Lincolnton, Greensboro, Columbus and Augusta were his places of service until the international call to Guatemala.

At 57 years of age, David heard the call to share the Gospel beyond his Georgia roots. He left his ministry position at Abilene Baptist in Martinez to begin a missional journey for eight years as a strategist and research analyst to discover unreached people groups in Guatemala with the International Mission Board.

The Millers confessed, “It was a God-thing that we were chosen to go to Guatemala at our age and especially because of the multiple mission trips which we had led from our churches to the same country.”

David’s conversion to Christ was under the preaching of a Baptist missionary who also discipled him, which ultimately led to his call into ministry and missions.

In recent months, when the IMB offered a Volunteer Retirement Incentive he and Glynis took the opportunity to once again return to Georgia. Not knowing what or where their next ministry would be, they registered for a 3-day Missionary Retreat hosted by the Georgia Baptist Mission Board at the Toccoa Conference Center. The Missionary Retreat, “Recalibrate,” offered encouragement, training, and networking for mission personnel relocating to the States.

David’s response: “I’ve never been prouder to be a Georgia Baptist.”

He commented, “Georgia led the way by example through showing love and offering to help dozens of returning international missionaries. We came to the retreat because we wanted to reconnect.”

Through Georgia contacts and prayer, David accepted the Interim Pastorate of Stapleton Baptist Church on May 1, completing the full circle of service from Georgia and back again.

“Stapleton reminds me a lot of Adrian where I grew up”, says David. ”God will use me to bring stability and direction.”

Bottom line: It is not where in the world one serves God, it is how you serve Him in your world. There is no age limit to following His call through obedience. The Millers are living proof of this.

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John Bryan is a state missionary serving in Cooperative Program Giving and Stewardship

David Miller, Glynis, International Mission Board