Brandon and Leah Milan
Current SMOi missionaries in Canada
Leah - SWO summer staff 2005
Birthdays: Brandon - January 2, Leah - December 23History:
Brandon Travis Milan was born January 2, 1985 and raised in Boiling Springs, SC. He first professed faith in Christ in the summer of 1995, when he was 10 years old. He continued to grow closer to God throughout his teenage years, and through the encouragement of other Christians and his own bible study and prayer, God made clear to Brandon that he was called into full time ministry. He attended North Greenville College to major in Christian Studies, then he met his beautiful wife, Leah Henson.
Leah was born December 23, 1985 and raised in Bethel, NC. Leah came to know Christ at the age of 11 with the aid of her father. She also grew throughout her teenage years, serving as a student leader in her youth group, doing summer missions through the North American Mission Board, ministering to teens at Lake Junaluska , and serving as a staff member at Snowbird Wilderness Outfitters.
After being married only a short time, God made it clear to the Milans that they should seek out a place to serve. They took a position as a student pastor in Waynesville, NC, but after about a year, God made clear to them that their time there was coming to a close, and through various means, He opened up some doors for the Milans to serve at a church in Northern Manitoba.
Contact info:
328 Thompson Drive
Apartment 7
Thompson, MB R8N 0C4
Canada204.677.2767
Prayer Requests:
"We certainly need prayer as we get adjusted to the change. We also need prayer that God will fulfill our physical needs, such as relocation costs and clothing built for extreme cold weather. Pray that the community will be receptive to the Gospel and that God will use Leah and I to do a good work." -the Milan family
Strategy:
The Milans live and minister in Thompson, Manitoba, a city of about 15,000 in Northern Canada.
There are a few factors that make Thompson a very unique place to minister.
First, Thompson is one of the most isolated cities in North America . Though there are a dozen or so much smaller communities within a few hours (many of which are only accessible by plane or ice roads), the closest decent sized city is Winnipeg, which is nearly 500 miles away, and there isn't much in between Thompson and there other than trees, moose, bears, and wolverines.
Second, Thompson has one of the highest rates of disposable income in North America. In other words, a lot of people get paid a whole lot more than the cost of living. So they spend it on boats and multiple vehicles and snowmobiles and anything else they can get their hands on. The result: Materialism is rampant.
Third, because the many native reserves (or reservations, as they're called in the States) are dry (meaning alcohol-free), many people come in to town from the reserves specifically to get drunk.
Fourth, because it is so remote, people are constantly moving in and out of town. A lot of people move to Thompson temporarily because of the good paying jobs. It is tough to get to know people just to see them move 8 hours or more away.
Fifth, teenage sex and pregnancy are rampant there.
Sixth, gang membership among teenagers is growing along.
Those are just a few of the things going on. The Milans are ministering to teenagers there, so they always need prayer that God would show them how best to point them to Christ.
Despite all of the things listed above, the Milans know that God has called them there, because even though they're far from home, they've fallen in love with this place and the people in it.
They're still adjusting to the harsh climate change (and probably will be for a while). Though the summers up there are beautiful, the winters get down to -40°F (= -40°C). That's quite a bit colder than anything they're used to. And the isolation factor can get frustrating at times. Leah and Brandon are used to having just about everything they could want within a short drive. Even though they have a (very small) Wal-Mart there and a couple of grocery stores, the selection can be pretty slim. That takes some getting used to; although Brandon believes that compared to those in the jungles and deserts they have nothing to complain about.
