Mermaid turns missionary nurse

By GAIL HOLLENBECK, Times Correspondent
Published September 1, 2007

WEEKI WACHEE - Being a Weeki Wachee mermaid was a wonderful experience for Heather Miller.

But while living that aquatic adventure might fulfill the lifelong dream of some young women, Heather's dream is quite different. Her heart, she says, has always been in Africa, and she has dreamed of returning there.

"My grandparents lived in Africa. My mom came back to the States and did her nursing training. Then she and my dad went back to Africa when I was a year old. So for me, that's my home," she said.

"That's where all my experiences were, working with my mom as a nurse. That's where my passion came from. I saw a huge need there and realized that by coming back to the States and getting a quality education I could some day go back and meet that need."

Heather, 28, was brought up in Tanzania. Her husband, Jon, grew up in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Both had parents and grandparents serving there as missionaries. Though they had known each other most of their lives, the couple didn't start dating until they came to the United States to complete their education - Heather as a registered nurse, Jon with a degree in construction management.

Jon Miller, 32, thought that after college he would return to Africa as part of a missionary organization, like his folks. Then his vision changed.

"Until near the end of my college years, I always wanted to go back as a missionary through a mission organization," he said. "But when I learned more about how NGOs (nongovernmental organizations) do relief and humanitarian work, that really hit me as the reason why I wanted to go back in - a way that let me do more of what I wanted to do career-wise with my hands. In our definition, anyone that considers themselves a true believer should be a missionary anyhow, wherever they are."

Jon spent a few years working in construction with a humanitarian organization called Medair.

Meanwhile, he had established a particular criterion in looking for a wife.

"I didn't want to marry someone that would be heading in a different direction than I was," he said.

Heather, it turned out, was also seeing the value of working with a relief organization.

"With an NGO, you go into a crisis situation," she said. "Usually the places that you go are places that have been ravaged by war or famine. By bringing immediate relief, you can see how you make a difference. That creates motivation and passion and excitement."

Three years ago, the couple wed.

Before establishing themselves in Africa, the couple decided to follow some advice they had been given: Develop a support base in the United States and find a church that would pray for them.

"We were in Detroit for a year, and we said, 'Forget winter,' " Heather said with a laugh. "Jon's parents retired from the mission field and moved to Spring Hill, and he has an uncle who lives here, so we decided we might as well go where we have some family."

So they moved to Hernando about 2 1/2 years ago. The couple joined Christian Church in the Wildwood, where Heather met a woman who was a supervisor at Weeki Wachee Springs.

"She found out I love swimming and that I grew up on a lake and said I should audition. I had no idea what a Weeki Wachee mermaid was. But I got the job and ended up working there four days a week while I studied on the weekends for my nursing boards," Heather said.

"Then after I became a nurse, I continued to work there two days a week. I enjoyed it very much. I was very sad when I had to say my goodbyes."

Jon has been self-employed, doing residential remodeling. He also rebuilt his parents' house.

"That was another goal before we left," he said, "building my parents' retirement home."

Feeling that God was leading them, the Millers this summer became part of a Christian organization called Samaritan's Purse, a relief organization with a Christian emphasis.

They will serve a two-year contract while they live in Yei, a marketplace village in southern Sudan in northern Africa. There Heather will provide health care for the public and aid workers. Jon will manage the staff and run the workshop needed to help about 160 Sudanese rebuild churches that have been destroyed by the war and genocide that has ravaged the country since 2003.

On Sunday, the Millers' dream will finally come true. With their training with Samaritan's Purse finished, they will be heading back to Africa.

"For us, it's all about sharing the love of Christ and extending that to other people," Heather said. "When you can do it in tangible ways, it impacts people all the more. I have to admit, for Jon and I, that's exciting."

Jon agreed.

"It's a passion," he said. "It's a hard lifestyle, but it's exciting for us to meet the immediate needs of others."

Fast facts

To learn more

For information on Samaritan's Purse or to read about the work in Sudan, visit www.samaritanspurse.org/.

[Last modified August 31, 2007, 20:43:18]