CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- When Andrew McMillan agreed to attend a speech in New Jersey 20 years ago, he never dreamed he was triggering a series of events that would eventually land him in Colombia, South America.

McMillan, a Charleston native, is the pastor at the Christian Community of Faith Church in Medellin, Colombia. He and his wife Kathy have worked as missionaries in Colombia for 21 years, and their two teenage sons have also joined them.

After college at the University of Virginia, McMillan traveled the country. At the age of 23, he became a Christian and attended Yale Divinity School, then took a position at a church in New Jersey, where he remained for six years.

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Andrew McMillan and his wife Kathy lead a conference of about 300 pastors in Colombia. The Charleston native has worked as a missionary for 21 years.

"I went over to listen to the guy and I didn't even say hello to him," McMillan said.

Two months later, while on vacation in Virginia Beach, he went into a local church.

"I really sensed something was stirring and God was telling me my time was up in New Jersey," he said. "I walked into a church office; I just wanted to see what was going on."

Once McMillan identified himself to the pastor of the local church, the man gave him Randy MacMillan's card and insisted he call him. "I said all right, relax, I'll call him."

That evening McMillan called the number on the card and spoke to Randy MacMillan who was working in Colombia at the time. MacMillan told him God wanted him to come to Colombia.

"I thought that guy was odd," McMillan said.

But the idea stuck, and one evening he asked God for a sign.

"I said, 'God if you want me to go to Colombia, I don't think you want me to, but give me a sign - a Macedonian call,'" he said, referring to a vision that the Bible says Paul received from God.

A few days later McMillan received a letter from MacMillan that read, "Consider this letter your call from Macedonia."

It was the sign he had been looking for. He resigned from his position in New Jersey and, at the age of 34, attended an intensive Spanish language program in Costa Rica.

He and Kathy had just started dating, but Kathy spoke Spanish and had always wanted to be a missionary in South America, he said.

"That's how we got to Cali," Colombia's third-largest city, McMillan said.

The couple remained in Cali for several years before McMillan said he began to feel a "burning and overwhelming love" for the Colombian city of Medellin. At the time, the city was the headquarters of Colombia's drug trade and had some of the worst violent crime rates in the world.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- When Andrew McMillan agreed to attend a speech in New Jersey 20 years ago, he never dreamed he was triggering a series of events that would eventually land him in Colombia, South America.

McMillan, a Charleston native, is the pastor at the Christian Community of Faith Church in Medellin, Colombia. He and his wife Kathy have worked as missionaries in Colombia for 21 years, and their two teenage sons have also joined them.

After college at the University of Virginia, McMillan traveled the country. At the age of 23, he became a Christian and attended Yale Divinity School, then took a position at a church in New Jersey, where he remained for six years.

One evening, he and a friend attended a speech by Randy MacMillan, a missionary in South America.

"I went over to listen to the guy and I didn't even say hello to him," McMillan said.

Two months later, while on vacation in Virginia Beach, he went into a local church.

"I really sensed something was stirring and God was telling me my time was up in New Jersey," he said. "I walked into a church office; I just wanted to see what was going on."

Once McMillan identified himself to the pastor of the local church, the man gave him Randy MacMillan's card and insisted he call him. "I said all right, relax, I'll call him."

That evening McMillan called the number on the card and spoke to Randy MacMillan who was working in Colombia at the time. MacMillan told him God wanted him to come to Colombia.

"I thought that guy was odd," McMillan said.

But the idea stuck, and one evening he asked God for a sign.

"I said, 'God if you want me to go to Colombia, I don't think you want me to, but give me a sign - a Macedonian call,'" he said, referring to a vision that the Bible says Paul received from God.

A few days later McMillan received a letter from MacMillan that read, "Consider this letter your call from Macedonia."

It was the sign he had been looking for. He resigned from his position in New Jersey and, at the age of 34, attended an intensive Spanish language program in Costa Rica.

He and Kathy had just started dating, but Kathy spoke Spanish and had always wanted to be a missionary in South America, he said.

"That's how we got to Cali," Colombia's third-largest city, McMillan said.

The couple remained in Cali for several years before McMillan said he began to feel a "burning and overwhelming love" for the Colombian city of Medellin. At the time, the city was the headquarters of Colombia's drug trade and had some of the worst violent crime rates in the world.

"We went and started our church in the living room," he said. "Five people showed up and one of them was drunk."

The church slowly began to grow. McMillan now holds three services on the weekends to crowds of about 600 people.

Charlotte McMillan, Andrew McMillan's mother, still lives in Charleston. His father, Harvey McMillan, was an administrator of McMillan Hospital and a past president of the State Hospital Association. He died in 1991.

"I gave him good advice a number of years ago," Charlotte McMillan said. "If you're going to be preacher, don't talk too long and have a sense of humor."

The family's time in Colombia has not always been easy. McMillan said he has seen people gunned down in the street.

He has also received threats from members of Colombia's left-wing guerrilla group FARC after a commander with the group joined his church.

But McMillan is able to laugh about some of those moments.

He said the night he received his first threat, a man called and told McMillan he would blow him up with dynamite, but McMillan didn't understand the word for dynamite.

"This poor guy is trying to give me a threat and I'm so dumb I didn't even know I was being threatened," McMillan said. The man eventually hung up without conveying his threat, he said.

Despite the threats and violence, McMillan persisted and after 15 years, he said the city has changed.

"We feel safer. We're not thinking about our life being threatened anymore," he said. "There are these cycles of blood and vengeance and the power of Christ can stop that."

Through his church, which is under the network Mission South America, McMillan and his wife operate a clinic and a day center for high-risk children.

The day center caters to 107 children, where they receive some schooling, medical assistance, "good food and a lot of love."

The family has also sponsored a number of small churches throughout the city and region in addition to prayer and gospel groups.

"Without the gospel there is no hope," he said.

For information about the Christian Community of Faith, contact Andrew McMillan at revi...@une.net.co or (561) 427-7466.

Reach Veronica Nett at veroni...@wvgazette.com or 348-5113.