Early life:
George was born and raised NW of El Reno, OK. The Miller family lived at the Darlington State Game Farm, a farm operated by the Oklahoma Wildlife department primarily for the purpose of propagating Bob White Quail, until dad's retirement. Mother worked as a home-maker and we always had a large garden.
The Miller's, dad, mom, and 2 sons, faithfully attended the Olivet Church of the Nazarene, a rural church located 4 miles from our home. George graduated from the 8th grade at the Mt. View School (Officially Darlington but used the old Mt. View school building).
George attended and graduated from Bethany Nazarene College (BNC) [Now Southern Nazarene University (SNU) after completing a year of internship at OU Health Science Center. It was at BNC that George met and married Nancy Sides. They were married for 47 years before Nancy's passing on Good Friday 2018.
Upon graduation with a degree in Medical Technology, George begin work in the VA Hospital in Muskogee, OK. They lived for only 6 months in Muskogee, but in that time a couple of important events occurred. It was here that George and Nancy joined the Gideon's International and in the church were introduced to the Caravan Program, a scouting program of the Church of the Nazarene. We served faithfully in these two ministries during our brief stay.
After the 6 month stay in Muskogee, we moved to Carnegie, OK where George served in the hospital lab and X-ray dept for 16 years. While in Carnegie we were active in the local Church of the Nazarene and in the local Gideon Camp. We held many positions within the church including Sunday School teachers, board members, caravan directors, & children's pastor, to mention a few.
George and Nancy as children both felt the 'call' to be a missionary. We filled out application and attended our church's screening process with anticipation of becoming missionaries and we were rejected. After the initial shock we poured ourself into serving at home and in our home church. We did have an oportunity to be a part of our church district's Work & Witness trip to the Dominican Republic. This was only a 2 week trip but we experienced cross culture ministry, although only as visitors or working tourists.
A few years later George's life changed when he served as a counselor at boys and girls camp. It was here, following a Thursday night service that George was sanctified holy as he completely dedicated his life to the Lord. It was following this camp that George and Nancy began the children's ministry and became affectionately known as Uncle George and Aunt Nancy. We purchased a van for use with the ministry. In addition to being children's minister at our local, we held 4 or 5 children revivals.
In 1987 we accepted a volunteer position to serve in the Raleigh Fitkin Memorial Hospital, Manzini Swaziland [now eSwatini]. God provided the resources and finances for this miraculous trip, as George and Nancy along with their eldest 2 children Gloria and Greg went on this trip. It was on this trip that our call to serve was reconfirmed.
It was Sunday night January 1, 1989 while setting in a 1st Sunday night missionary study service that my call was reconfirmed. It was not an especially moving service, but I (George) was in tears as this homesick feeling came over me. Monday, being the observed New Years Holiday, I was off work and in a spirit of prayer. I prayed, "Lord, if it is your will, you open the door and we'll walk through it." The wait was not long as Tuesday morning a secretary from our International Headquarters called asking if we were availabe to go to Papua New Guinea on a 2-year specialized assignment contract. My immediate reply was "Yes" and then I explained. God worked through many miracles but on May 5 we arrived in Port Moresby the capital city of Papua New Guinea. Our children Gloria was a senior in high school, Greg was a Junior, and they both lived in a hostel and attended boarding, Geoff was in the 2nd grade and Gary was ready to start kindergarten.
Our 2-year contract was extended to 4 years. Then during our first home assignment we were granted a career assignment [now Global Ministry]. We served 10 years in Papua New Guinea in the hospital lab/x-ray as while as district advisor, Christian Religious Education teacher, and even planted a church. Then after our 2nd term and enough education to meet the church's ordination requirements, we were transferred to the Solomon Islands where George served as District Superintendent. We started a Bible College campus were George and Nancy were teachers and George was principal. After 15 years in the Solomon Islands we were transferred to the Philippines where Nancy served as English instructor and George was the Chaplain at Philippine Nazarene University (PNC). This was our final assignment and our only position that we entered with an exit date in mind since retirement was based on my (George's) age.
It was while serving in the Philippines that Nancy was diagnosed with a terminal illness Arterial Pulmonary Hypertension (APH). She was placed on Oxygen 24/7 and so our travel her teaching was challenging. We enjoyed 47+ years of married life before her passing and 27 years of overseas missionary service (that includes the 3 years or so of home assignment).
Jeanne and I began dating in December 2018 and within a few months we were engaged. After a short engagement we were married on April 7, 2019 following our worship service at church. An intesting side note is we were in District Assembly on the weekend of our marriage. We attended the district meetings on the Saturday before our wedding and then were back in service, celebrating our honeymoon, on the Monday following.
