PREPARATIONS FOR GOING BACK TO GUAM

It does look like we'll be leaving pretty soon to go back to Micronesia.  We only need $200 more in monthly support, plus a car.  We are praying for either the finances to buy a car when we get to Guam, or if the Lord provides one here in the States, we would drive it to California, and ship it to Guam.  

We have not purchased our tickets yet, but we should be doing that in the next few days.

We mailed 22 boxes to Guam three weeks ago, so there is evidence we are really actually leaving soon!

NO LAPTOP, NO PICTURES!

As you may have suspected, we survived the frozen typhoon with only a little difficulty!  Four days without heat, power, or water (especially hot water) has made us appreciate heat, power, and water (especially hot water)!  We successfully moved down from Schooley's Mountain after some sad good-byes, and landed in Virginia, where...

...one day later, we were off to Nashville, Tennessee, where Steve had meetings with PIBC's President, Dave Owen and Liebenzell Mission's Global Missions Director, Bill Schuit.  They were in town attending a conference sponsored by PIBC's accrediting agency, TRACS.  We stayed with my brother, Sam and wife Nancy, and their two adopted Chinese children, Samuel and Rebekah.  We had a great time with them!  Back to Virginia, where...

...one day later, Steve was off for Winston-Salem and Clemmons, NC, where he met Dave again, and together they went to Columbia International University in Columbia, South Carolina, to meet with faculty and graduating seniors about the possibility of coming to PIBC for ministry.  Back to Virginia, where...

...one day later, both of us take off for Elizabeth City, NC, to visit one of our supporting churches, Weeksville Community Church, and long-time friends, Greg and Melanie Owens.  We had another great time!  Back to Virginia, where...

...it's today!  But tomorrow, one day later, we take off again, this time to spend the Thanksgiving holidays with our son, Jason, wife Kristy, and daughter Kelsey.  

Now the reason this entry is labeled "NO LAPTOP, NO PICTURES" is because my laptop broke - literally.  It broke at the hinge, with plastic pieces falling off and stuff hanging all out.  So, no laptop, no pictures.  And we have some good ones, too.  As soon as the Lord provides me with another laptop, I'll post some (I did manage to save everything on an external hard drive before the great break occurred)!  But many, many thanks to my mother-in-law, who is letting me use her MAC.

FROZEN TYPHOON!

When we woke up Tuesday morning, it was snowing. We were surprised. Everyone else was, too. And caught off guard. But the adventure was only beginning! The snow turned into a once-every-decade blizzard! You see, we live at the top of a mountain, which is higher in elevation than the surrounding areas. When there is bad weather, we generally experience the worst of it. And this was to be one of those times. We stared in awe as it snowed and snowed and snowed.

As we were walking back to our little apartment from our regular noon-time prayer with the Global Mission staff here, we could hear trees and large branches snap, pop, and crack under the weight of the newly formed snow.

Because the trees had not yet lost their leaves, they acted as gloves, and caught the snow as it fell. For many trees, the weight of the snow became too heavy, and they fell to the ground, each sounding like a rifle shot as they broke. It sounded like a battle outside, as shot after shot echoed through the woods. And the snow piled higher and higher. All over the mountain, hundreds and thousands of trees and branches crashed, some on power lines.

A typical scene around the Liebenzell Headquarters property the next morning.

Notice the large branches on the power lines and on the ground. This scene is behind our little apartment. Two and a half days later, nothing's changed. At noon, our power went off. At 2:00 in the afternoon, Anne and I ventured outside to measure what turned out to be 11 1/2 inches of snow - and it was still coming down hard.

Here is Anne with a 12 inch ruler.

Anne after placing the 12 inch ruler into the snow next to her. See the top? Only 1/2 inch is sticking up. Eventually, we lost our water. Then as evening fell, 45 to 50 MPH winds started whipping through - just like in Guam when a typhoon blows through! Only this time, IT WAS COLD!!! FREEZING!!!

Staying warm has been on our minds the most since last Tuesday. So we slept that night under all the blankets we could find, and in as many clothes as we felt comfortable. In the morning, when it's cold outside the blankets, and there's no heat in the house, most people will get up and build a fire in the fireplace. We don't have one! The only way we can stay warm is to throw on a few more clothes. Eventually, we even throw on the winter coat, the stocking cap (called by some a toboggan), gloves, and a scarf. And at some times since then, we've passed the time reading while sitting on a coach under a blanket.

So, it's been a little bit of a challenge to stay warm enough to keep on packing, find a way to eat, while trying to stay warm. And did we mention trying to stay warm?

So, there's been a small number of us here on the mountain who have spent time searching for a way down the mountain and a place with the Internet. A way down was found the next day. But it's taken a little while longer to find the Internet. Bill Schuit, our Global Missions Director, just called a few minutes ago with the word, "There's a warm fire in the fireplace and the Internet at Panera Bread at..." then he names the place. It's not too far away. So we jump in the car. wind our way down the mountain, and here we are! We still don't have power, water, or heat, but we have plenty of God's grace to keep us going!

We're planning to move down off the mountain this weekend to Virginia to begin our slow crawl back to Micronesia. Who knows, maybe we'll even have a chance to get a warm shower before we leave!

Where Did This Come From?

So you can imagine our surprise when we woke up this morning and looked out the window to see it snowing like crazy! We were just beginning to enjoy the colorful leaves of the Fall season when Winter shows up!

This is what it looked like around here last week when we went biking along a lazy river just down the mountain where we live. But no more! You'll have to forgive us if we seem overly amazed. As ones who have lived in the tropics of the Pacific for the last 30 years, snow seems so unreal. We still have to get used to it.

Packing Out

The time has arrived for us to pack up and ship out! At least, from Schooley's Mountain. We spent practically all day yesterday packing and boxing and taping and addressing. If you've read a copy of our last prayer-news update, you know that we plan to move down from the Liebenzell Mission headquarters here on Schooley's Mountain to Daleville, Virginia, for the last two months of our stay in the States. This is an approximate time table only. Steve is done with his degree and his eye issues are under control. So we've decided it would be better to move closer to our families, friends, supporters and supporting churches before heading back to Guam. We also need to concentrate on raising the remaining support we need, and it's easier to do that when we're closer to the people who know us and our ministry a little bit better. We have wonderful supporters - supporters who give, not only their finances, but also their time, ideas, commitment and love. We appreciate them very much.

Links to Bryan College Chapel Messages

While Steve was at Bryan College two weeks ago, he spoke in their chapel services, once on September 8 and once on September 10. If you would like to listen to those messages, just click on either of the above highlighted dates, and you will be directed to the Bryan College website where you can then download the message to your computer, or click the play button to begin listening.

What's Steve Been Doing #3

My most recent trip was to Bryan College, in Dayton, Tennessee. This was one of my most favorite ministry activities of my entire time here in the States. I simply love visiting the Bryan College campus. I was invited down by long-time friend Matt Benson, the Director for Spiritual Formation there. Bryan College has sent out two mission teams to Micronesia in the past years. We even have a Bryan College student doing a 4-month ministry internship with our PIBC missionary in Palau, Rob Watt (see below in "What's Steve Been Doing #1"). This is also the school Amy first attended before she was diagnosed with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. The campus is beautiful, nestled among mountains, and is itself located on a mountain. I always enjoy my time here.

Here is Matt (left), along with two of his three staff, Bryan graduates Danielle Rebman and Jessica Hundley. Jessica's boyfriend Joel, also a Bryan grad, is at the right.This is the third staff, another Bryan grad, Ben Norquist, with his expecting wife Ariel. Ben and our Amy were classmates several years ago, and met on a mission trip to Spain and Morocco. Ben invited me to speak in one of the classes he teaches, a Worldview class, which compares and contrasts differing worldviews with the biblical worldview. My stories from Micronesia provided a real life context for many of the concepts there were learning. Together, Matt's team is responsible for creating an atmosphere for spiritual formation in the lives of the Bryan students, mainly through chapel programs, student-led ministries (local and international), and student-led small groups with incoming Freshman. They train student leaders to assist other students in growing spiritually. One of the reasons Matt invited me down was to speak in a couple of their chapel services.

My theme was "The Power and Beauty of the Gospel" as lived out in the context of my life and ministry in Micronesia. I taught on 2 Timothy 2:15 illustrated with lots of stories about life and ministry in Micronesia. Real-life story lines, especially from the mission field, grab attention and provide the context for memorable application of biblical truths against the backdrop of post-modernism.

The auditorium was filled with 750 students and faculty. The second day was a great challenge for me because I had an enormous headache that kept competing with my concentration and focus. But the Lord proved He was the dominant power. My favorite part of the whole trip was interacting with students and faculty alike afterwards in the dining room as we ate lunch and discussed spiritual issues together.

Some of you will recognize Pam Davis at the left. She was one of the Bryan students who came to Micronesia on its first mission trip in 2004. She returned to Bryan, graduated, and came back to teach English at PIBC in Guam and on our Tol island campus for one year. She's currently pursuing her Master's degree and is teaching at Bryan's writing center. Here she is seated with three other Bryan faculty. One of the other things I enjoyed was interacting with Bryan's President, Steven Livesay, Academic VP, Cal White, and the Development Director, Jim Barth. They provided great fellowship and insight into improving our operations at PIBC. One of the things we talked about was inviting Bryan faculty to take a sabbatical and come teach at PIBC for a semester or a year.

I can't tell you how blessed and excited I was to see Emily Cook, a 2007 Bryan grad who also came to Micronesia on the 2004 mission trip. A Freshman at the time, Emily shared with me about her spiritual journey since that time of discovering God's goodness. She has since graduated, has spent 6 months in Peru teaching missionary children, and is back in the Dayton community following hard after God's heart and teaching English as a Second Language in a local school. I stayed with Matt and his wife, Melody (and their two sons, Jonathan and Joshua, and as of yet a third child, an unborn daughter!) in their home. My last evening there found me on their back, screened-in porch, amongst 15 or so student ministry leaders. I was asked to share with them a little bit about how they could develop leaders under them to take responsibility for their ministries after they graduate next year, since they are mostly seniors. Again, I cannot possibly communicate with you all the excitement and joy I experienced sharing what I have been learning in the mission field with the Bryan community, and all that I learned from them.

When my time was done, I boarded a plane and headed once again to Winston-Salem and Clemmons, North Carolina. My main purpose was to meet with a fund raising consultant to discuss a plan for private funding for PIBC. Then I met Walter and Teresa Falardeau for lunch at Salem Village. It was Walter's birthday. No age given!

And helped celebrate Anna Mayer's 13th birthday (she's in the green jacket next to me) with her family.

And Sonia Talato's birthday with her family and friend, Jeanne Runyun. Again, no age given!

What's Steve Been Doing #2?

One of the things I also did was attend a Fund Raising Conference sponsored by PIBC's accrediting agency, TRACCS, in Lynchburg, VA. PIBC needs to expand it's base of private funding and this conference provided some training on how to begin thinking about this.

We had another visitor from Guam - this time our daughter Evelyn came. She was here to take her final comprehensive exams for her Master's degree at Liberty University in Lynchburg. She studies and prayed and studied and prayed some more...and passed! We're proud of her. While she was here, we took her to New York City...

The skyline from a boat on our way to Staten Island.

After our arrival at Penn Station, Evelyn stands in front of her favorite store (way in the background) - Macy's!

At McDonald's inside Macy's.

Anne and Evelyn in front of a small waterfall in the plaza at Rockefeller Center.

Now I don't want to lose you here. It gets little complicated, but here goes. Even though the eye doctor has released me from seeing her and has given me clearance to return to Guam (as long as I can come back to see her once a year, and can see an eye doctor on Guam 4 times a year), and since I've finished my degree, the only thing that remains is raising a little more financial support. Maybe you "picked up" on that from some of my previous posts. Only the Lord knows when the support will come in. Until it does, I will be working for PIBC full-time, only from here in the States. How do I do that?

From a distance! I have meetings with the leaders on site in Guam via the Internet, conference calls via a program called Skype, via long distance phone calls, and emails. I have been given responsibility for two major areas - everything related to the students at PIBC (including equipping them, mobilizing them, and placing then in other countries on short-term and long-term mission trips), and everything related to the staff (a Human Resources function). In addition, I've been given the responsibility of helping develop PIBC's Fund Raising strategy. One of the things I did was travel to California, not only to visit with Matt and Amy, but to interview a man for the Fund Raising position, and to meet with my assistant, Hollie Schaub, who will do things on the ground on Guam while I help coordinate things with her from here in the States. Make sense?

So, here I am with Amy and her husband, Matt, in Sacramento. They also helped me try to raise some financial support. They arranged for me to speak in the church where they work, Matt as a Youth Pastor, and Amy as a young women's discipler. Here we are at a wedding ceremony in Redding that Matt performed. For those of you who are familiar with it, notice the "David Crowder" look.Maybe it's more apparent here. Matt is becoming a good worship leader as well as a youth pastor. His preferred instrument is the bass guitar, but he's also teaching himself to play the guitar. When I was there with them, I got to play the drums. Amy took me around to a few new places. Here we are in Old Sacramento.

This is Hollie, my "right-hand-man" I referred to above. One of the staff for PIBC, Hollie Schaub, has been working on her Master's degree from BIOLA in Los Angeles this summer. After her classes, she drove up to Sacramento and stayed with Matt and Amy for a few days so she and I could meet together. Her husband is a helicopter pilot in the Navy, on deployment somewhere in the world. They've stationed on Guam for the past almost 3 years.

One of the cool things that Amy did for me while I was in California was take me to my first ever professional sports event - an Oakland Raiders football game.

I had told her that one thing I'd like to do before I die was go to an NFL game. It didn't matter which one. Well, the Oakland Raiders were playing a pre-season game with the Arizona Cardinals that weekend, so we went. It was great!

I know it doesn't mean anything in light of eternity, but the fact that my daughter and I got to do something like this was priceless. As you can see, I'm also speechless!

What Has Steve Been Doing #1?

You mean, besides working 30+ hours per week trying to finish my degree (see post below - I finished!)? Well, let's see...

One of the things I've been doing to is leading devotions for the staff here every week (when I've been here) which includes worship (here with my 12-string guitar) and a short Bible study. Depending on what's going on here, there may be anywhere from 6 or 8 staff to as many as 12 or 15.

Sometimes we host staff, visitors and volunteers in our little apartment for a meal and some fellowship. Here is Timo, Anika and baby Sylvie, from Germany, who took a three month vacation from their jobs in Germany to come and volunteer here in the U.S. at the Liebenzell Mission headquarters.
A couple of times, one of our missionary staff in Micronesia who was on furlough in the States would come by the Mission headquarters and see us. Here Anne and I are pictured with Schooley's Mountain regulars Mike and Jane Galley as we have a nice lunch with one such Liebenzeller, as we are called. Rob Watt is the coordinator of our PIBC Teaching Facility on the island of Palau. He came by for a day, and we had a refreshing time of fellowship. Another Liebenzeller, Melissa Heck, was also in the States this summer. She is our PIBC Dean of Women at our Guam campus. She also came by to see us a couple of times actually, but alas! the picture we took turneth not out!

We have taken several "support raising" trips down south, mainly to North Carolina. We have become very close to two different families in Clemmons, and friends with many, many others. These two families have hosted desserts and introduced Anne and I to may of their friends to try and help us raise more support. Teresa and Walter Falardeau and their family have been a haven of friendship, dependability and fellowship for us. We had a picnic in the nearby town of Lewisville this summer and watched one of their daughters in an outdoor production of Oklahoma!

David and Jill Mayer, with daughters Anna and Christen, have hosted us the last several times we've visited. Their family has also been a haven of fellowship, support and friendship, all contained in a fun-filled family environment. Here the Mayers are pictured inside the unfinished new house they are building, and they let me help sometimes!

OK, so what's this? This a picture of the broken ankle of one of our new missionaries who lives in North Carolina and is currently raising her financial support to come to Guam to work at PIBC. Her name is Stephanie Cooper. I've stopped by several times this summer to train her in raising support, and encourage her when "things broke down!"

And of course you can't forget about family. Every time I go south, I visit with the Talatos, this time to help celebrate Krystal's birthday.

Anne's Guest House Ministry

Liebezell, USA's head quarters at Schooley's Mountain houses not only the Global Ministries offices that care so well for all us missionaries, but also a Retreat Center Ministry comprised of 2 facilities - a Guest House and a Camp on 150 acres of "perserved farmland" here in the beautiful mountains of northern New Jersey.

One of the privileges I have had here at Schooley's Mountain is to assist the wonderful Retreat Center staff as hostess for the Guest House. This involves greeting guests, get them settled, interacting with the kitchen staff and helping them by setting up the dinning hall and cleaning it after each meal, fixing salads or deserts, serving meals, assisting guests with needs they might have, and interacting with the guests.

One of the most exciting things about being at the Guest House is the opportunity to touch the whole world right here from this small NJ mountain top. Each weekend groups come from all over the Northeast (and sometime from around the country) to use the rustic facilities and quiet grounds for their church's or group's retreat. What's so exciting is that most of these groups are comprised of peoples from all over the world. One week we may be serving a group from Ghana, Africa and the next week, a group from the Philippines or Korea, and the next week one from various South American countries. Some groups are here just to worship and pray, some have restorative ministries, some are youth orientented, some are just for men or just for women, some are whole churches. But whatever the purpose or wherever they are from they have one thing in common. They want to help their people know and serve Jesus Christ better. What a privilege it is to get to know them and to serve them!!!

Most people coming to Schooley's Mountain think that Liebenzell is just a retreat facility with a strange sounding name. So during one of their meals here, I will share that Liebenzell is first and foremost a mission agency with a rich heritage dating back to the late 1800's. I will then share how God provided this farm that they are enjoying during World War II. I will then extort them to join with us in carrying out the worldwide ministry of Liebenzell, by taking what they are learning during the weekend and sharing it with the people around them.

Major Accomplishment - FINALLY!!!

Well, it was hard to imagine that I would ever be able to announce this, but now I can. I am finally finished with my Master's Degree! I mailed in the last assignment this morning. It was a comprehensive type of final exam covering all of my courses. I even mailed in my graduation fee. It's hard to believe. The last year and a half I've been working on it in the middle of dealing with the keratoconus in my left eye, which simply means my face was "glued" to the screen of my laptop computer almost the entire time. Literally, though, my face was about 8 inches away most of the time, even while reading the books. But rejoice with me! The Lord is good! He gave me grace and power. Many, many times I prayed, "Lord, would You please just give me some insight here? Would You please give me perseverance? I can't go on in my own strength!" And somehow, He always answered. It never felt miraculous, but as I look back over the years it took to get this thing done, it definitely was something where God took pleasure in being in the middle of.

My Assignment from the Lord

While my colleagues from Liebenzell Mission in Micronesia and from PIBC were celebrating the 80th anniversary of the Gospel's arrival in Palau last week, and doing business with the Lord at the annual PIBC Board meeting there, my assignment from the Lord was to take a break from my studies and deliver a series of messages from God's Word to a small group of pastors in a retreat setting 1/2 hour away from Schooley's Mountain, a place called Liberty Corner. These pastors came from several places in the U.S. Several are relatively new in the ministry, and several are retired missionaries who still pastor churches. Seven messages covered topics like passion, attitude, teamwork, and honoring one another.

The One-Armed Backyard Mechanic

One of our friends from Guam, Dianne Shelton, from Trinidad, but who lives in Guam, came to Schooley’s Mountain for a visit. After staying with us a few days, we drove her three hours west to stay a few weeks with her brother, Adrian, and his wife, Joann, who live close to Lancaster, PA.

After delivering her, intending to only stay a couple of hours, Anne and I got back in the car and started driving away. Five miles down the road, we could hear something was terribly wrong with the car we were driving, that Toyota RAV4 you’ve seen in previous pictures. To make a long story short, it turned out to be a broken water pump.

But the Lord brought together all the elements of a rather entertaining drama that was to last for the next eight hours. We were in the middle of Amish country surrounded by buggies and plenty of farms, it was late Saturday afternoon, but the Lord provided us with an open auto parts store, a one armed backyard mechanic named Horace, a rainless, cool summer night in Horace’s backyard to get the car worked on, plenty of wood blocks to jack the car up, and another helper named Billy.

Thanks to Adrian, who provided transportation carting me all around the country-side looking for parts, and a place to stay in his house for the night since we weren’t going to be going anywhere for a while. Adrian and I used our four arms to hold the flashlights while Horace and Billy provided the brains and the muscles in their collective three arms to do the work, dismantling half the engine just to get to the water pump, unbolting the engine from the car’s frame so they could alternately raise and lower it to get at the bolts in the tight places holding the broken water pump.

As they confronted the monster-stuck, hard-to-get-at bolts, Adrian and I prayed. Actually, we fasted and prayed (we didn’t have dinner). We prayed for each bolt to come loose, and rejoiced when each one finally did. It was all extremely interesting as I watched Horace and Billy creatively confront jam after jam with backyard ingenuity, at one point even using a 6-foot long 2 X 4, a 4 foot length of metal chain, and a magnet.

When they finally got at the broken water pump, it was time for Adrian and me to pray for Horace and Billy to find the right place for each unloosed bolt, because there were an awful lot of them lying on the ground. The engine would alternately be raised and lowered again and again as each bolt was prayed into place. At midnight, the work was finally done, we could all go to sleep, and give thanks to the Lord for letting it all happen so close to friends like Adrian, Joann, Horace and Billy.

A Plan to Root against the Hokies?

Anne and I recently took a trip down south, landing in Winston-Salem and Clemmons, trusting the Lord to introduce us to some more people who would be interested in becoming financial supporters in our ministry, since we need about $700 in new monthly support before we can go back to Guam. We stayed with David and Jill Mayer, and their two girls, Kristen and Anna, whom we’ll introduce and share a little bit about in the future. But while we were there, we got the treat of spending a little time with Josh Ladd, whom the last time we saw, seemed to be a little 12-year old boy. Those of you who know Josh may be as shocked as I was to see that he’s now a 6’2”, 245 lb. offensive center for his high school’s football team, which was in the North Carolina State finals this past year. And he's only 16, and still growing! Josh’s dream is to play for NC State, then get drafted by the NFL. I told Josh that if he made the NC State football team, I would cheer for him and root for the NC State Wolfpack, even when they played against the Va. Tech Hokies. Those of you who know me, know that that’s real dedication and commitment, and maybe even a miracle.

GO GERMANY!

We have been receiving all kinds of friends and visitors lately, which we really enjoy. Some are new friends, and some are friends we’ve known for years, as you’ve read. Another new friend whom we’ve just met is Stephanie Haug, from Germany. She’s here for a few weeks volunteering as a missionary worker at the Retreat Center. She knocked on our door a few days ago, stopping by just to say ‘hi.’ In the course of our conversation, we learned one of the things she was missing by being here in the United States was watching Germany play in the 2008 European Soccer Championships. The very day, the very hour she stopped by, Germany was playing Portugal in a quarter final match. I knew the game was on TV, and told her she could watch it if she liked. WOW! Did she jump for joy! I watched it with her, and I don’t know which I enjoyed more – watching the game or watching her watch the game! The word “Perfect, perfect!” was used quite a bit, especially when the game ended and Germany had won. Needless to say, she has a date to come over to our apartment and watch Germany play Spain in the semi-final match day-after-tomorrow!

More Friends

They are probably going to kill me (figuratively, of course), but here are Del and Patty Stancer, long-time friends from Guam. Patty came out to Guam in 1979 as a part of the Campus Crusade ministry and, among other things, met this military guy named Del. In the wedding that followed, Patty actually asked me to "give her away" as her fill-in dad. They normally don't look like this (Del's hair is usually much shorter!), but they also came for a visit.
One of their daughters, Carmen, is working as a missionary midwife in Davao City in the Philippines. She's a little younger than our daughter Amy, but she sent me this picture of herself "in action" helping this young Filipina mother-to-be get ready to deliver her baby. Carmen and I often chat online via Skype. She's a young woman filled with faith, working for the Lord in a land and culture quite different from her own. She bears strong testimony to the faith of her parents.

A New Friend

This is Christina Scheck, from Germany. We had just met her a few minutes ago, but felt like we knew her for much longer. She has two brothers, Heiko and Jens, who came to Micronesia a few years ago as volunteers for our ministry there. When I visited Germany in 2002, Heiko and Jens toured me around their village, Ulm, and we enjoyed great fellowship, even though a German-English dictionary was necessary for much of the time.
Christina, or Ina, as she likes to be called, was also in the States volunteering to do ministry in a local church about three hours drive away. Even though we only spent little time together, our bond in the Spirit was instant.

The Colors of Spring

Spring came, and it was beautiful around here.
We actually have a peach tree (I think - it looks like a peach tree now) outside the front door to our apartment.

Anne could tell you what these flowers are. All I know is that they look very pretty.
And a cherry tree right outside the Guesthouse.