Joe and Tara Miller were interviewed at the 2019 Overseas Instruction in Counseling (OIC) Missionary Training Conference held in Memphis, Tennessee, where they shared some of the joys, delights, and encouragements they’ve known seeing the Lord’s work in their own lives and the lives of those He has given them to disciple overseas. The Millers are the Japan National Coordinator for OIC. Joe also serves as a Counseling Pastor at Canyon Hills Community Church in Bothell, Washington, USA.
The Apostle Paul wrote in his pastoral epistle to the Ephesians, “And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God… to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ…” (4:11-13, ESV). The beauty of the gospel call is manifested in that Christ’s followers are individually entrusted with gifts to be used to present, among all cultures and people groups, the Bride of Christ in unity and maturity of faith. While it is one thing for believers to know their gifts, it is entirely a different ballgame for those gifts to be utilized profitably for the glory of Christ and encouragement of His people.
Joe and Tara Miller know they have been entrusted with specific gifts and abilities for discipleship, counseling, and teaching. As such, serving with Overseas Instruction in Counseling’s Biblical counseling training ministry has given them the opportunity to utilize their gifts and calling effectively in building up the Christian church in Japan. While there are numerous mission organizations any follower of Christ could co-labor with in fulfilling the great Christian mandate, the Millers chose OIC because they realized its ministry enabled them, at maximum capacity, to utilize their gifts in teaching, expositing the Word of God, and encouraging a community of believers in Japan that comprises only 0.2% of the population.
The Millers understand the ministry of OIC to be like a two-sided coin that encompasses fundamental aspects of the Great Commission, namely going and making disciples of Christ and then teaching each to do all He has commanded (Matt. 28:19-20). As Biblical counseling is essentially discipleship, they loved the opportunity to train and encourage Christian pastors, leaders, and church members in Japan in Biblical counseling which helps each person involved to be actively and joyfully obeying their Lord’s commands.
However, Joe described himself as once a “purist expositor.” It is quite fascinating that he had initially refused Tara’s advice to partner with OIC after she met Wayne and Susie Vanderwier (the founders of OIC) at an ACBC (Association of Certified Biblical Counselors) conference. But four years later Wayne was invited to present as a guest speaker for a class Joe was taking during his Doctor of Ministry program at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. Wayne spoke passionately about the need for Biblical counseling and the goals of OIC and Joe’s interest was piqued. Joe had grown in his understanding that Biblical counseling, with its emphasis on the sufficiency of God’s Word for all of life and godliness, should be an integral part of the life of the Church, but he noted, “it took Dr. Wayne and a personal one-on-one to convince me that OIC was a place to be.”
OIC, the Millers recounted, is a gospel-driven ministry in that the modular programs are designed, in part, to help teachers identify whether or not attendees have a saving relationship with Christ. If not, the course content helps the instructor to introduce students to the Gospel often seeing regeneration take place leading to changed lives and opportunities to walk alongside these new believers as they grow in maturing Christian faith.
Even though Japan was not initially on their radar, as new OIC partners the Millers joyfully answered the call to go to Japan in 2016. During the initial visit to Japan, they immediately fell in love with the people and saw the need among Japanese believers for strengthening through the Bible. The Millers realized how much these brothers and sisters in Christ were hungry for and desirous to know more about the Word of God. Therefore, they labored for three years teaching and equipping Japanese believers for the work of the ministry.
Along with opportunities to exercise their gifts and abilities, what brings great delight for the Millers are the strong, genuine relationships they have been privileged to develop with the Japanese believers that arise from the love of Christ that binds His people together across all cultures. They are also greatly privileged to see transformation take place within Japanese churches through these teaching and mentoring relationships.
It is evident that the Lord is using OIC to send out people like the Millers to equip Christian saints and cause the church worldwide to grow into maturity of faith in Christ Jesus each believer is called to. This truth is further evident among the Japanese people by the strategic steps currently being taken to bring about a coalition of Japanese churches that embrace Biblical counseling, affirming the authority and sufficiency of Scripture to change hearts. The Millers, with the OIC family, are prayerfully trusting the Lord that the coalition will lead to the establishment of a government- and citizen-recognized and nationals-led Biblical counseling certifying organization in Japan. Joe shared his excitement and confidence for what the Lord will do among the Japanese people if this certifying organization is successfully established, commenting, “we are convinced that once a national certifying organization is established in Japan, they will then take Biblical counseling and make it better than we could ever make it and take the Pacific realm by storm.”
The recent testimony of the Millers is a tip of the iceberg of what the Lord is doing through OIC ministry team members in equipping the saints across the world and so bringing His Church to maturity of faith for His glory. And, as a voice for the OIC team, the Millers admonish and challenge anyone who has the needed gifts and abilities and who loves and desires to teach the Word of God, discipling and counseling cross-culturally, to consider partnering with OIC. They also challenge local churches to send and to readily support individuals among them who are willing to obey this call. The entire OIC team is excited about what the Lord is doing worldwide through the many team members faithfully serving in various countries. Readers are encouraged to pray, partner with, and support this great cause for the glory of God alone.
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