“Full health, and undying bodies, will be the reality”

On Friday night we returned home to the sad news that our friend Todd Miller had passed away suddenly while on a run with his wife. His death was completely unexpected.

Todd and Jenn and their family served the Lord in Central Asia for many years, and had recently moved to New Zealand where Todd enjoyed teaching on biblical topics, including church planting, at Eastwest College of Intercultural Studies.

Jenn and the family have been constantly on our minds and in our prayers. Kierra is just a little younger than Hannah, next comes Brynn, and then Micah, who is a couple years younger than Nathanael.

We’re thankful to hear of the support that the Miller family has had. Todd’s parents and siblings were able to quickly get to New Zealand, and Jenn’s oldest brother and his wife are also coming (actually, may be there now). The funeral will take place in NZ in a few hours.

I’m mainly posting this to ask you to pray. It should go without saying, but as Jenn wrote in a recent email,“The pain is too great for all of us to bear”. May friends and family, and most of all the Lord, share the burden.

I can’t imagine the decisions that will need to be made. The new school year begins for the kids in February. The family is hoping to bring the body to Canada, and have a memorial service there in the coming weeks.

There’s also a practical way you can help. A GoFundMe page has been set up to help raise funds for travel and funeral expenses. You can donate and share the page with others here [campaign completed. Thanks!].

Todd passed away Saturday (NZ time), and he was scheduled to preach on Sunday. Instead, his sermon was read, and has been posted online. The title of this post is taken from his sermon. It seems that God wanted this message to have a much wider audience than it would have had originally.

Why not take the time to listen to Todd’s sermon, as you remember the family and pray for them? Listen here: Todd Miller’s Sermon on “The Poor”