Steve's Fall Trips

Steve spent much of the Fall Semester traveling to fulfill many of his responsibilities at PIU. His first trip was to Yap to meet with church leaders and to encourage alumni in their walks with the Lord. Below is the building that is being refurbished to be PIU's Remote Teaching Facility in Yap. It is also the house that we stayed in during our first trip to Yap in the summer of 1978. While living here we both felt the Lord calling us back to Micronesia, which He brought about a year later. What a gift He gave us in placing us in this part of the world and allowing us to see His hand at work over time. The children of those we saw come to Christ that summer are now at PIU!!! Steve's next trip was for 5 weeks as he and PIU's president, Dave Owen traveled and spoke at several colleges and seminaries. Here Steve is sharing a message on the Great Commission (Matt. 28:18-20) at Shasta Bible College in northern California.

They also met up with Micronesians that are living in California, Texas, and Arizonia for a time of mutal encouragement and to share with them what PIU has to offer.

Another of the purpose of the trip was for meeting with our accrediting agency TRACS in Forest, Va. Pictured below are Steve, Howard Merrell (PIU Board Member from Covington, Va.), Bill Schuit (Liebenzell, USA Director and Chairman of the PIU Board), and Dave Owen (PIU President and fellow Liebenzell missionary).

There was also a time to dream and plan for the expansion of the Guam campus which is bursting at the seams. Steve and Dave met with Bill and Howard as well as Katherine (PIU grant writer living in NC) and David and Jill Mayer with this in mind. David is an architect and has volunteered his expertise to help with the expansion plan. He and wife Jill are planning to head to Guam this summer for the first time. Jill will help teach in our summer English program.

The traveling PIU duo then took some down time to learn some history from Micky Beckham, an institutional financial consultant and avid history buff, that has helped set PIU on track in the Fund Development areas that Steve now oversees.

Since its inception, PIU (formerly PIBC and before that MIBS) has always had as its main purpose to train Christians to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ effectively wherever the Lord takes them, no matter what vocation they pursue. Thus missions has always been an integral part of our focus. Another aspect of the trip was seeking opportunities for our students and alumni to complete internships or longer terms of service outside of Micronesia. In the picture below, Steve is speaking with a missionary to a Southeast Asian country about the possibility of sending some of our students there and they sending some of their people to PIU. God keeps doing "more than we can ask or think". Some days it is hard to keep up with Him.

They were also able to see several of those near and dear to all our hearts who are now "Stateside". Brad Boydston (former academic dean and current distance ed. teacher) and his wife Cheryl (former business office staff) now serving the Lord in Laveen, Az. outside of Phoenix are pictured here. They also met up with Aaron and Hollie Schaub and their new son Sam (see link to the right), Matt Augee and Dan Fields who had just been in Guam for our Spiritual Emphasis Days, and the Barretts who served in Guam and Palau with us in our early years in Micornesia.

The trip was very successful and they returned with more than 100 contacts and many possibilities to pursue.

Pray with us all as we continually seek God's direction and purposes for PIU.

Pray for:

- those prayerfully considering joining the faculty and staff of PIU

- US residents considering PIU for their education

- the expansion of campus facilities

- wisdom on how to best serve the churches of Micronesia

- the growth of our students spiritually and academically.

Pray also for the Lord to raise up a CFO to oversee the school's financial operations as this is our greatest need at the moment. If you know of anyone who has experience in this area and a heart for missions, please let us know, as you might be part of God's answering this prayer.