Twila and Edward Miller International Student Scholarship Endowed Fund

We met at Goshen College and married the summer of 1968 when Twila (Gingerich) graduated. A year later, as MCC volunteers, we had the opportunity to work in Butwal, Nepal, at Butwal Technical Institute from 1969 to 1972, and again from 1976 to 1979. Our experiences with MCC in Nepal helped lead us to working in Kolkata, India, for about a year, when we helped Indian Mennonites organize and host Mennonite World Conference’s assembly in Kolkata in early January of 1997 — and later when we worked as MCC India’s country representatives in Kolkata from 2001 to 2007.

After our second son was born in Nepal, we had memorable conversations with Nepalies and were told that since we had been blessed with two sons, we could go ahead and have a girl without fear because our religious security was already fixed. We often heard the phrase, “Girls bring trouble, boys bring wealth.”

We loved the food, family life, train travel and the people of Nepal and India during our years in Asia, but we did not love the second-rate status given to girls. Education for a Nepali or Indian girl or young woman — or for a girl or young woman in many countries — makes a huge difference in the trajectory of her life. We firmly believe that educating girls and women in Asian and other countries is one of the best ways we can make the world a better place.

Our education at Goshen College and our years in Nepal and India made a great difference in our lives. We trust that this scholarship will benefit young women from India and Nepal, two countries that we love and think of as our second home.