Pursue the Vision

Habakkuk 2:2 CSB

The Lord answered me: Write down this vision; clearly inscribe it on tablets so one may easily read it.

This building used to be a bread factory.

Now we bake a different kind of Bread. Jesus said in John 6:35 ““I am the bread of life,” Jesus told them. “No one who comes to me will ever be hungry, and no one who believes in me will ever be thirsty again.”

Here at Refuge Aviano we are committed to preparing the Way of the Lord. For preparing and sharing the Bread of Life. For providing a means and ends for people knowing Christ and His Salvation, and living a victorious life in Jesus Christ. And there’s a way to do that. We have a way of baking Bread. Some may not agree with how we bake this bread, and that’s okay. There’s other places with other ways of baking bread. But this is how we’re gonna bake this bread.

It’s vitally important that we grab hold of the vision of this ministry. Lack of understanding creates confusion and unnecessary conflict. And so there are some things I need to clarify about this ministry, who we are, where we come from, all of which are the ingredients for how we bake this bread. Are you with me?

Man, I’m excited about this. But here’s some back story first:

FOI MTTM - Our Story

It all started with an unhappy housewife… in post WWII Europe, the American military prepared for the long occupation of the continent by building small American style cities on US Bases. For the first time in US Military history soldiers sent overseas for their assignments were allowed to take their families with them. Attempts were made to make these bases small enclaves of American culture in order to feel like ‘back home USA’ for the warrior and his family. Schools, stores, recreation areas and even chapels were set up in an attempt to make things easier for the three and four year tours of duty they were expected to endure. At first all went well. Neither the soldier or family expected things to be just like home and the contrast to the alternative of having to stay in the USA while soldiers spent months and years away on a distant battlefield was a welcome difference. One of the items of early discontent, however, were the chapels provided for the soldier and his family. A key liberty for the American is the right to worship in the manner in which they choose. Chapels, in those days gave soldiers three broad choices; catholic, jewish, or protestant–the later choice was overwhelmingly dominated by ‘high-church’ pastors and controlled by a ‘General Protestant’ order of services. While some were satisfied with this offering most were not used to the limitations of these formal surroundings as their only opportunity to worship God. Soldiers, often encouraged by the unhappiness reflected in the faces of their families, sought something more. Soldiers began securing the permission of their commanders to hold services in the chapel during the week or on Sunday evening. These services were led by the soldiers themselves in a manner more closely aligned to their own denominational style and tradition.

The initial offering was the ‘Pentecostal fellowship’ and scores of these groups sprang up on US installations across Europe and Asia. As these groups became aware of each other they started the practice of gathering together on American holidays for fellowship, worship and mutual encouragement. By 1959 the informal leadership of these groups became increasingly aware of a glaring weakness in their organizational structure; no process was in place to oversee leadership succession. A thriving group often was devastated when their leadership rotated because no system was in place to insure leaders were trained and appointed in a timely manner. An informal council was held and leaders were asked to petition their denominational headquarters to send a missionary to aid in this process. Initially, no denomination officially responded to those requests. In January 1961, Don Amison, one of the early fellowship leaders curtailed his army career and traveled over at his own expense to help organize the work in Europe.  From these simple efforts of connecting for fellowship the ministry to the military was born. Soon a regular schedule of retreats, training events and local ministry centers was added to the structure of independent Pentecostal fellowships. Today, ministry centers operate in the Far East, Europe, and the USA.

Freedom Outreach’s core missions is simply: to connect military, veterans, and their communities with a missional Christian family.

Freedom Outreach’s vision is: to reach and involve armed forces personnel in a Cornelius style ministry. From the time they take the oath of service, throughout all deployments, until returning to continued fruitful service in their home church.

Cornelius is recorded in Acts 10 as the first gentile to receive the Gospel, receive salvation, and received the baptism of the Holy Spirit, speaking in tongues and praising God.

Our Local Mission

We, Refuge Aviano, fall under the umbrella of Freedom Outreach International. Freedom Outreach International is military ministry specific branch of the Church of God.

The Church of God is a movement with a reach around the globe into 189 countries with more than 8 million members and 15 million constituents. Founded in 1886, it is distinctively Pentecostal with a mission to finish the Great Commission.

I am an Ordained Bishop, credentialed in the Church of God.

Manfred and Angie are both Ordained Ministers, credentialed in the Church of God.

Credentialing requires years of oversight, years of education, years of experience, and a burden for ministry that costs.

Bishop is a title that I have in the Church of God.

This is how we bake Bread here.

Angie and I are assigned here as the Refuge Aviano Ministry to the Military Center Directors.

Center Director is a title that I have in Freedom Outreach International, by International Director and President, Doctor Rob Moore, and Regional Director, Bishop Andrew Provazek in K-Town, Germany.

This is how we bake bread here.

The Millers and Efottes, by way of our Calling and credentialing by our denomination and the LORD, are a pastoral team and by our own testimonies and declaration are Saved, Sanctified, and filled with the Holy Spirit.

Shepherding is our Calling

Administration is our Calling

Preaching the Gospel is our Calling

Teaching the Word is our Calling

Proclaiming the return of our Lord Jesus Christ is our Calling.

We have been trained, discipled, exhorted, prayed over, anointed, admonished, corrected, rejoiced over, mourned with, cherished, and encouraged in our Calling - and WE CONTINUE TO BE. And we LOVE IT. For that is the way of the Disciple.

We submit to those in authority over us, and we honor and respect them. We speak well of those in authority over us to you that you might be encouraged and also follow in the Way.

Brother and Sister are our titles we have here in Refuge Aviano.

This is how we bake bread here.

We have a team of leaders and influencers here in which I trust and value. I’ve personally sought after their character, their integrity. I’ve listened to how they speak of themselves and others. Those that don’t speak of themselves and others well, I can’t trust in this position. I place a great deal of trust in them to help us as a ministry provide a place wherein we bake bread, to prepare the means and ends in baking bread. And I depend on them to pursue my heart in ministry - in caring for you, in praying and interceding for you, for preparation in serving you, in building you up, and in all of this using their gifts and talents in serving our Lord.

Brother and Sister are their titles we have here in Refuge Aviano.

This is how we bake bread here.

And we have a body - our wonderful family here at Refuge Aviano - where the bread that is baked, we also break. We break bread together. We gather together. We encourage each other. We don’t tear each other down. We don’t drag peoples’ names through the mud. We lift each other up. We pray for one another. We rejoice with those who rejoice. We mourn with those who mourn. We celebrate small victories. We embrace big victories. We provide an encouraging word with small failures. And we provide a shoulder to cry on with big failures. We are the family of God. Each and every one of us are an extension of Jesus’s very hands and feet. We expect God to move in our midst. We expect the power of God to manifest in salvations, healings, sanctifications, bondages broken, addictions muted, and empowerment through the Holy Spirit to live a victorious life in Christ Jesus.

We teach the Full Gospel. We preach the Full Gospel. We don’t pick and choose what we want out of the Bible. We preach the Whole Word. This requires intentionality. This requires purposeful living. This requires us to make sacrifices at times, but so much joy most of the times. We recognize offense is a choice, and forgive others even when they don’t want to hear it. We understand we all come from different places and backgrounds - different denominations, doctrines, teachings, ethnicities, languages, cultures. And yet one thing binds us together - the Blood of Jesus Christ. If we can get under the Blood, we can bake bread together, and break bread together. If we can’t, it’s okay, there are other places to break bread. But this is how we break bread here.

Brother and Sister are your titles here in Refuge Aviano.

Psalm 133 provides a beautiful picture and a result of this mindset of intentionality.

Psalm 133 CSB

A song of ascents. Of David. How delightfully good when brothers live together in harmony! It is like fine oil on the head, running down on the beard, running down Aaron’s beard onto his robes. It is like the dew of Hermon falling on the mountains of Zion. For there the Lord has appointed the blessing— life forevermore.

There is an anointing in living intentionally with unity. The anointing brings a blessing. Blessed are those who pursue to live life together in harmony! LIFE is the blessing!

Here at Refuge Aviano, we are committed in our mission: to connect, equip, empower, and send. This ministry is not like most churches back home.

Our mission is different - we understand that we don’t get to keep you here. The average time someone could be in attendance here is 2 years. Some we get for 4. Most will be less. The blessed will be here 8. Our last church in North Carolina had 6 generations of members! Our bread here has different ingredients.

This is how we bake bread here.

Our structure is different - we don’t get the benefits of “elders and deacons”, those individuals who have longevity and can help provide for the distant future of ministry. Our leadership structure is different, and the team’s responsibilities are different. Sure there are some similarities, and that’s helpful for understanding ‘authority and roles and responsibilities’. This is how we bake bread here.

Our strategies can be different - we need to adapt to mission requirements and availability of people. Deployments happen. Scalable missions sets happen. Aviano Air Base 50 years ago looked different than it does today, and 50 years from now will look different (if we’re still here). The strategy of doing ministry and doing community will have to adjust. This is just how bread is baked here.

What we Prioritize in this Mission

We believe in CONNECTION. We believe in providing opportunities of connection, and are intentional about connecting. I’ve been the dependent of active duty member, I’ve been the dependent of a deployed family member. I was a single Active Duty member, and I was married after enlisting in the Air Force. I deployed while I was engaged. I deployed while I was married. I deployed after we had kids. Both living stateside and overseas. I was a civil servant - an Army civilian. And I’ve been a DOD contractor. I know the importance of this community of faith, and how important this CONNECTION is!

CARING: Expressing the love of Christ in practical ways - to others in our fellowship and in the community where God has called us to serve. COOPERATION: We seek to be a complement to the ministry and services of our Air Force community. We especially desire to work along side of, not in competition with, like-minded organizations. This includes, but is not limited to, working alongside of our military chaplains. REACHING: Through evangelism - to reach the spiritually disconnected soldier, sailor, marine, and airman (and guardian) and help them connect to a vital relationship with God through Jesus Christ; Through outreach - to discover and connect those deployed from their stateside home and family and surround them with the support of a caring, local fellowship of faith; through discipleship - everyone’s ultimate journey in discovering their God-given purpose and talents. This is best done in a community of faith - a community like ours.

We believe in EQUIPPING and EMPOWERING the Saints of this fellowship. Jesus gave us the Great Commission and said to go to EVERYONE, making disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. This includes Bible Studies, Discipleship (practical living), Providing Opportunities to serve, Helping identify Calling, living purposeful, missional, victorious living in Christ Jesus.

DIVERSITY: We, all of us, are more similar that we’re different. However, we have all lived a lifetime thus far with our own experiences. In the body of Christ, there is no preference between race, rank, sex, marital or socio-economic status. Our fellowship should reflect who is here, and the needs of who is here, and our common union under the Blood of Christ. This is how we bake bread here. TRAINING: We are on an assembly line of recruiting, training, and deploying workers for the Kingdom of God and His church around the world. Those in this fellowship should learn to worship, serve, and lead - whether here, deployed, stateside in a local church or even in TDY environments at a chapel. We plug in and stay plugged in. We have been given a mission and stay on mission. Because this fellowship is how we bake bread, and break bread.

We believe in SENDING the Called. We believe everyone has a Calling and Purpose within the Kingdom of God. And our desire is to SEND you out into the harvest and seek and save the lost. We don’t get to keep you here. We have to send you forward with prayer and faith for every chapter of your faith walk in Christ Jesus.

Now I understand not everyone will want to be part of the bread baking business. Some may want to simply just break bread. But in this family, we’re not just a bunch of moochers and munchers - we’re all partakers of the process. We bake bread, and we break the bread baked. You have a role in the process, and I have a role in this process. You are gifted by God for it - for His glory.

Together we get to pull that fresh, warm baked bread out. Put it on the table. Grab a thick slice of love and smear some honey butter and proclaim with confidence, “Praise God, Life is Good!”

This is what we see in the First Church - the love of God operational within the body, and the body missional in purpose for His Glory. We see it in Acts 2:42-43

Acts 2:42–43 CSB

They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread, and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and signs were being performed through the apostles.

You know where this doesn’t happen? Where there’s division. Where there’s unnecessary conflict. Where there’s people stirring up people against other people - usually because their feelings got hurt and they hold on to offense. You know who’s normally in the middle of it all? The devil. The last thing he wants is a unified church proclaiming the Gospel and tearing down his territorial strongholds.

In dealing with people that are divisive and intentionally try to sabotage ministry, in Romans 16:17-18, we’re instructed to go as far as avoiding these people “because such people do not serve our Lord Christ but their own appetites.

Romans 16:17–18 CSB

Now I urge you, brothers and sisters, to watch out for those who create divisions and obstacles contrary to the teaching that you learned. Avoid them, because such people do not serve our Lord Christ but their own appetites. They deceive the hearts of the unsuspecting with smooth talk and flattering words.

Proverbs 6 tells us that such behavior is detestable to God: Proverbs 6:16-19

Proverbs 6:16–19 CSB

The Lord hates six things; in fact, seven are detestable to him: arrogant eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that plots wicked schemes, feet eager to run to evil, a lying witness who gives false testimony, and one who stirs up trouble among brothers.

But unity within the Body. Bless God, we’re like a mighty Army. Deployed by God for the tearing down of spiritual strongholds and seeing people liberated by Jesus and set free!

That’s how we bake bread.

As a matter of fact, saints of God if there is anyone who tries to stir up dissension or division or tries attacking anyone in the body of Christ we stop them. I say go as far as pausing the conversation and say lets call them now and settle the issue. Normally their posture changes rather quickly.

For Refuge Aviano, in the year where we proclaim Hope has a Name - this is what I pray and see:

A new/renewed sense and fostered community within the Body.

A community and love within the body that ‘prefers each other’ and seeks to serve one another - that seeks to actually out-do one another in love.

A community of grace and mercy, flowing in the gifts of the Spirit.

A family of believers that expects the presence of God, and the power of the Holy Spirit to be active and operational, and carries His presence into the community.

A family of believers that believes in living out their gifts for the benefit of the Body.

A family of believers who believes in extravagant generosity - living on faith that doesn’t make sense, but makes faith.

A family of believers who believes in and lives out servant-leadership, actively seeking opportunities to serve and help lead.

A family of believers whose primary purpose and goal is the fame and renown of Jesus Christ; to be His hands and feet, to be the Kingdom of Heaven near to this Aviano community.

A family of believers who live and experience the spiritually disciplines of:

- consistent prayer, - saturated in the Word, - actively professing the Gospel, - faithfully tithing, - missionally generous, - fasts for breakthroughs, - and reflects the love of God.

100 new decisions for Jesus - each one receiving a Bible and First 40 Days Devotional

$20000 towards Missions/OCF

New renovations including additional toilets and kid-friendly spaces, office space AND work started on an apartment for the director and family.

A family of believers that are Holy Spirit filled and operating in the power of God.

A family of believers ACTIVELY extending the living HOPE, that is Christ Jesus.

This is the Bread that we’re baking.

Hope has a Name. It’s not Refuge Aviano. It’s not Ryan and Angie Miller. It’s not a program or title or updated evaluation report. Hope has a Name and that Name is Jesus. And we have the blessed opportunity of sharing that Hope with all of Aviano, Pordenone, and the rest of the world.

1 Corinthians 11:17–33 (CSB)

Now in giving this instruction I do not praise you, since you come together not for the better but for the worse. For to begin with, I hear that when you come together as a church there are divisions among you, and in part I believe it. Indeed, it is necessary that there be factions among you, so that those who are approved may be recognized among you. When you come together, then, it is not to eat the Lord’s Supper. For at the meal, each one eats his own supper. So one person is hungry while another gets drunk! Don’t you have homes in which to eat and drink? Or do you despise the church of God and humiliate those who have nothing? What should I say to you? Should I praise you? I do not praise you in this matter! For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: On the night when he was betrayed, the Lord Jesus took bread, and when he had given thanks, broke it, and said, “This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, and said, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes. So, then, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sin against the body and blood of the Lord. Let a person examine himself; in this way let him eat the bread and drink from the cup. For whoever eats and drinks without recognizing the body, eats and drinks judgment on himself. This is why many are sick and ill among you, and many have fallen asleep. If we were properly judging ourselves, we would not be judged, but when we are judged by the Lord, we are disciplined, so that we may not be condemned with the world. Therefore, my brothers and sisters, when you come together to eat, welcome one another.