Lisa Miller: Why I Think She Was Right to Surrender

The evening January 29, 2021 — having first secured permission to do so — I broke this story into the public Web: Lisa Miller Surrenders Into US Custody.

I included this:

I believe Lisa did the right thing to protect her daughter Isabella in the course of the last eleven years or so. I also believe she did the right thing in surrendering now that Isabella is of age. I commend her for that.

Before long, I was asked via Facebook as well as private email why I think it was the right thing for her to do.

Before I answer the question, I present to you a principle and a warning from Someone far wiser and experienced than I:

OK, here you have potential reasons for Lisa Miller to voluntarily and unilaterally surrender to American authorities — any of which would cause me to say I believe she did the right thing:

1. Being “on the run” in a foreign country gets less and less sustainable, especially when the Nicaraguan authorities had been on an unfriendly hunt for her for quite a while.
2. As I understand it, the above hunt included questioning of and pressure on the church(es) she was known/suspected to be affiliated with down there.
3. The reason for her original flight from the States was no longer a factor since Isabella came of age last year.
4. She has family and other loved ones in the States with whom she has had little to no contact over the last decade, and coming in out of the cold was a way to resolve that problem.
5. She sees this as an opportunity to try to clear her name as well as give a witness for Christ.
6. Isabella having become an adult made Lisa’s continued life on the run no longer for righteousness’ sake and it was time to return to face the music.
7. One or both of them are facing health issues that can only be addressed by coming out of hiding.
8. Lisa decided it was time for Isabella as a young adult to be getting a more normal life, instead of one on the run or in hiding.
9. She is finally done faking her Christianity for cover and is ready to resume a real life (after prison, of course).

For the record, I do not know why she turned herself in, OK? I’m just telling you reasons I can think of that strike me as right reasons for doing so. (And relax — I do not believe the last one to be her reason for surrendering.)

Frankly, I have little use for armchair quarterbacking that presumes to know what someone should have done in a dangerous situation in an unfriendly environment abroad. I know the feeling of being the one abroad. I know the feeling of being second-guessed and criticized in that circumstance…but not to my face. I will not stoop to that in Lisa Miller’s case anymore than I did in the case of Sam and Nancy Davis just a little over ten years ago. 🙂

I trust Lisa and her advisors to have made a godly decision in light of factors I know not of.

Recent posts I have done on this story (just in case they don’t show up further on down):

• Lisa Miller Surrenders Into US Custody
• Lisa Miller in Quarantine

I am honored and blessed to have Lighthouse Trails feature my blog post here: Breaking News: Lisa and Isabella Miller Back in the U.S. After Nearly 10 Years in Hiding. Many thanks!