Monday, May 17, 2010

Meet the Voices of Micronesia #14 - Erten William

The team is already in LA California and have already completed two performances.

Their upcoming schedule this week is as follows....
Monday: All day practice at Grace EV Free (We are working on our one hour program)
Tuesday AM: Trip to the Getty Museum and Lunch at the Park
Tuesday PM: Performance at the School of World Missions in Pasadena
Wednesday: All day practice at Grace EV Free, 1/2 of the team will make a presentation about Micronesia for a high school geography class
Thursday: All day practice at Grace EV Free, Part of the team will participate in an inner city ministry in the afternoon
Friday: All day practice at Grace EV Free
Saturday: Leave for Santa Barbara for Sunday performance at Ocean Hills Covenant Church.

Now here is Erten...

Erten William
Home: Kuttu island in Chuuk FSM, Erten is the cousin of VOM team members Charles and Jaynee Sam
Age: 27 years old. He is a 5th year student with a major in Biblical Studies and minor in Elementary Education.

Erten was born in Kuttu, a little island "where everybody knows about Christ but not all are Christians." His mom was an active Christian but his father was not. As a child Erten "pretended" to know Christ to please his mom. He knew all the stories about Jesus but when he went away from home to Chuuk High School he got involved in some of the activities his mother warned him against. Then he got a letter from his mom telling him to read the Book of Proverbs where he read, "the fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge." Still when he graduated from Chuuk HS and went to College of Micronesia in 2003 he felt that his life was getting worse. Then he attended a youth rally at the Nadaku Church, listened to God's Word and it "changed my life." When he heard the message about "how can you have eternal life," he knew that "God had spoken to me" and he trusted Christ as his Lord and Savior.

After that Erten applied to the PIU Teaching Facility in Weno Chuuk and then later transferred to the Guam campus. At PIU he learned the importance of putting into practice what he learns in Bible class. He has seen God provide as he puts his trust in Him. His family is able to provide only very little for his education and for this trip yet his needs have been met.

His goal for the VoM trip is to let God prepare Him to minister in different cultures. He has never been to the US Mainland before. After graduation he wants to return to Kuttu and teach in a public school there. He also wants people to know that his island is very small but has a beautiful sandy beach that is very nice for swimming. When the tide is low one can walk to the neighboring islands. He invites all of you to come visit him on Kuttu after he returns.

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