Miller Family Completes Mission Assignment
Rufus and Jeanette Miller and their four daughters (Kelsey, Karmen, Katelyn, and Kristi) returned from Ecuador last week, ending their seven years of service as RMM missionaries in that country.
Dressed 
in matching yellow shirts in honor of Ecuador’s participation in the current World Cup, the Millers reflected during an RMM chapel today on the combination of positive developments and difficult circumstances that marked the past seven years. They left in January 1999 to assist with the ministry of the Shekinah Foundation’s refuge for street children in the city of Manta. While many of their initial expectations for ministry were not realized, Rufus and Jeanette commented that they came to see the importance of building relationships and modeling a Christian family lifestyle and felt that this was probably their most valuable contribution to the Ecuadorian church’s outreach.
Their daughters, two of whom had participated on a dance team at the La Paz church in Manta, performed a choreography set to a Spanish worship song.
At the close of the chapel service, Paul Kurtz, RMM’s director of global missions, presented the Miller family with a sculpture of Jesus washing Peter’s feet, thanking them for their ministry of compassion and empathy.
The Shekinah Foundation continues under the leadership of the Ecuadorian Mennonite Conference (IEME) and currently houses approximately 25 children.