“Now praise we great and famous men,
The fathers named in story;
And praise the Lord who now as then
Reveals in man His glory.” – W.G. Tarrant
I first heard of him in 1997 when he was scheduled to inaugurate our campus student ministry – PENSA. He was the Greater Accra PENSA Regional Leader and his name sounded so foreign that I really looked forward to meet him so I could match name with face. Unfortunately, he couldn’t make it and delegated his deputy (Elder Dan Nii Teiko Tackie) to undertake the assignment.
Fast forward to 2000 and the Church’s General Council Meeting took place. As part of the decisions from that meeting, Rev. J.F. Asante-Ayeh was to leave PIWC-Accra for Lesotho as Missionary. In his place was this same Rev. Steve Millar who was now being transferred to PIWC-Accra from the Adenta District.
The next four years was really exciting. Within a year, Pastor Millar organized a very interactive ‘Bible School’ for all presbyters and other interested members of the church. The lecturers were himself, Rev. John Waller (his Associate Pastor) and Eld. Chris Ampadu of Samaritan Strategy. I enrolled and took advantage of the school to deepen my understanding of God’s Word – the Bible.
Pastor Millar believed in young committed people and used them for ministry. Upon completion from school, he noticed that Elder Kofi Amponsah had tasked me to edit the Home Cell newsletter for the Church. He quickly drafted me and two others to develop the PIWC-Accra 10th Anniversary Magazine, an assignment we managed to execute with alacrity.
Over the four-year period of his ministerial tenure, Pastor Millar demystified the full-time ministry to many of us young people. He instilled confidence in us and trusted us to do big things for God. For example, until the year 2003, members of the Youth Ministry were joining the ITI-PENSA Conference fully sponsored by the church. At that point, a few of us felt that we needed to have our own youth conferences. I discussed it with the Youth Ministry Leader and he approved it on condition that the Resident Pastor will agree but he wasn’t sure this could happen. I broached the matter with Pastor Millar in a casual chat and he simply said, ‘if you can organize it, I’d foot the bill’. This was simply too good to be true and it really challenged us. I spoke with a few others and we put our hands to the plough and within a week or so, all arrangements had been made and we had a budget from the Pentecost University College. We took the estimate to our Resident Pastor and before us, he called the Finance Chairman (Elder K.O. Danso) for a brief discussion after which he minuted on it for approval. We had a four-day camp meeting with all 86 members fully sponsored by the church with active participation by the Pastor and his wife as well as the executive. That commitment exhibited by Pastor Millar left an indelible mark on my life.
In 2002, I was nominated to serve on the Area Youth Executive Committee. The Leader, Pastor Isaac Nii Kotei Djani indicated that he needed to consult my pastor before my name was submitted to the Area Head for approval. How a young graduate who had very scanty experience in Youth work and who was not even an officer of the Church could be approved, baffled me. Yet, my pastor approved it and my name was forwarded to the Area Head who subsequently appointed me to the Youth Executive for Accra East Area.
In 2003, when The Church of Pentecost was celebrating its Golden Jubilee, a sub-committee was constituted to plan and organize the first Christian Business Fair at the Trade Fair Site. From nowhere, my pastor had gotten me nominated to be a member of the national committee.
I have never forgotten how involved Pastor Millar was in the life of many of his members, how he kept inviting them to the New Mamprobi Mission House and how he will encourage us to pray in all circumstances, study and know God for ourselves, dress neatly, speak well, be diligent in our duties no matter how menial and believe God for a great output.
Upon his transfer to the Takoradi East District in 2004, he invited me from Takoradi to request my assistance to his planning committee towards a major anniversary by that district. I agreed to spend a week as his guest to offer the needed assistance to the district. Upon arrival in Takoradi, I was so well received that I ended up travelling there two more occasions as though I was some kind of a ‘consultant’ to them. Yet I had completed school just some four or so years back. That was the extent to which my pastor placed his confidence in young people who made themselves available for use by God and his ministry.
From PIWC, Pastor Millar pastored in Takoradi East District, PIWC-Tarkwa, and New Weija from where he now proceeds on retirement.
I thank God for his life as well as Mama Fidelia and their four children and wish all of them a most blessed time in retirement.
God bless you so richly, ‘Sterling’ Pastor Steve (as he loved to be called). I firmly believe that you have served God extremely well and played your role for the advancement of His kingdom. Congratulations Sir, and enjoy a well deserved retirement!
My dear friend,