Wedding Bells at PIBC

On May 16th, 4 days after graduation our Valedictorian, Sonny (from Yap) married Elilai (from Palau and raised on Guam) another of our PIBC students. It was a wonderful ceremony and celebration held at the Palauan Evangelical Church on Guam. One of the symbolic events in their wedding was the pouring of two colors of sand together into one container. This was to show the blending of two cultures, two families, and two people into one in Christ. Pray for this young couple as they seek to glorify Christ in their marriage. Unlike most Micronesians Sonny and Elilai took the time to prepare for marriage through extensive pre-marital counseling with their pastor and to have a public church wedding to proclaim their vows before God and men. We are so very happy for them. They will continue to live on Guam while Elilai finishes up her degree at PIBC.

PIBC Graduation Day - May 12, 2009

On Guam, we never have a dull moment. Graduation gowns were ordered in plenty of time to arrive on island for our graduation. But all that arrived was the diploma covers and the valedictorian's stole. Each day we'd check the mail - nothing. Finally, we realized we needed a Plan B. Joyce Owen began calling alumni to ask to borrow gowns and caps for the occasion. Our alumni came through. But we still needed tassels. The only tassels we could find were small and royal blue (the school colors are hunter green and gold). So how do we make them work? A craft box of ribbons and some creative thinking by a group of students and staff came to the rescue and we were set. Remember the missionary motto: BE FLEXIBLE!!! (For pictures of this process click on the link to Melissa Heck's blog in the right hand column of this page.)

But the Lord's presence was very much a part of the day and that is what made it so very special. Steve first met our valedictorian, Sonny, when he took our Astumbo Community Church Youth Group to Yap years ago. Sonny was 10! What a privilege it has been to see God's work in the lives of many of our students for even longer than the years they have been at PIBC. In many cases our current students are the children of those we saw come to the Lord in the early years of ministry here in Micronesia. What a faithful God we serve!!!!

The picture above is of Lydia, one of our students from Yap. She is decked out with more than 10 lbs of leis made of flowers, candy, money, yarn and soda can tabs and more. This is a very common tradition among the islanders and we are always amazed by it. We have seen students who could not even see through the stack of leis around their necks and heads. Their caps seemed to be floating on top of a stack of leis. Lydia has probably as many on her arms as she has around her neck. Breathing was easier that way!

This is the last graduating class of Pacific Islands Bible College. In July, we become Pacific Islands University which will include the Bible College, our seminary, and a liberal arts college. More on what the Lord is doing in that area in later posts.

Here are some more great pictures from our graduation that appeared in the Pacific Daily News.

In Memory of...

Kathy Newell, the Education and English Language Acquisition professor at PIBC, went to be with the Lord this morning. [You can find more details on Kathy by clicking on the PIBC link to the right side of the screen.] As you can imagine, the entire PIBC family and many others on our island are in shock and are grieving. Please pray as the Lord leads you for the Lord to be glorified and people to come to Christ as the reasons she lived are shared in memorial services, for the students as they try and finish up their final exams, for those finishing up her responsibilities, and for the faculty and staff as we finish up the semester and prepare for the accreditation team arriving in less than 2 weeks. We rejoice that she has finished the race set before her and she is face to face with Jesus, yet there is a huge hole in our hearts because we miss her already. Yet the Lord in His mercy knew we'd be grieving today and led our president, Dave Owen, to share a message at chapel yesterday on trusting the Lord even when things don't make sense. Many have commented today on how timely that message was even though this application was not even thought of yesterday. Thank you Holy Spirit for being our comforter and guide in all things.

Thailand Mission Team

We thank the Lord for providing the airfare for our third team from PIBC to Thailand this summer. They will be in the country for 2 months as they continue working along side of the Thai Campus Crusade staff. This year the team is being lead by Kalvin, a PIBC almuni and now assistant dean of men. They have been getting ready in many ways: being faithful in their studies and personal relationship with Christ, learning to share the Gospel with those with Buddist backgrounds, talking about culture, language and food (picture above was take at a field trip to a Thai resturant for a "taste test"), praying, and trusting the Lord for the funds for the trip (this has included doing work projects and car washes). Pray with them for a speedy issuing of their visas, for the funds for their in-country expenses, and for a fruitful ministry while in Thailand. It is our prayer that the Lord will raise up full-time missionaries for Thailand and other countries from among those that go on these mission trips.

Worship with a beat!

Steve walked into the worship practice for our campus chapel services the other day and told the guys that they were doing a good job, but the sound would be much better if they only had drums. They all agreed and said "if only" with a sigh. Then Steve told them to follow him to his office. Waiting there was a digital drum set. You never saw such huge grins on the faces of those young men!!! This week Steve will begin teaching those who want to learn to play.

Meanwhile he has had fun playing with the guys for the last couple of chapels. Thanks Galley's for making this possible.

PIBC DAYS

PIBC Days (April 3-5 this year) is a celebration of what God has done over the years since the school started in 1976 as Micronesian Institute of Biblical Studies. Preparations begin when a theme is chosen and the students and faculty and staff are divided into 3 teams. This year's theme was 1 Timothy 4:12 - "Let no one look down on your youthfulness, but rather in speech, conduct, love, faith, and purtiy, show yourself an example of those who believe." The teams were given the Greek names of the words love (Agape), faith (Pistis), and purity (Hagneia). Each team is in charge of preparing an evening program. this includes decorating the main classroom, [Part of the Pistis team doing a worship song to motions] preparing worship, music specials, skits, [Hagneia doing a funny skit called the Holy Spirit Power Wash which had a serious meaning of the importance of walking in the power of the Holy Spirit.], and a message that is centered around the chosen theme of the year.

[Harold Gorgous, Liebenzell Mission area director, speaking on Faith]

During 2 of the days there are sports tournaments - basketball for the guys and volleyball for the gals -[Team Agape claimed the volleyball championship]

and a day of field games.

[Agape vs Pistas in the Tug of War - Students trying to find a bit of shade - Jens (administrative director) and Lydia(a senior from Yap) judging a race - notice the blue, blue ocean behind them.]

and food [Maybelline and Me You getting ready to enjoy the local cuisine.] Our team was Hagneia Here we are gathered together for a group shot.

We laughed, played and embraced the Lord together. What a sweet experience.

Beauty around the Island

We thought you'd like to see a bit more of our island home.

This time of year Guam is bursting with color as many of our plants are in bloom. The flowers are on our campus. (Row 1: Pink Plumeria -- Double Lacy Hibiscus -- Bouganvilla -- Row 2: Rock formations --Coral on the beach -- Pandanus or Walking Tree

The Pandanus Tree is very unique and useful. Its leaves are very strong and used for the weaving of mats, hats, purses, etc. But what makes this tree so unique is that it can actually move itself! See the long roots that are above ground. If the tree is not getting enough sunlight it will send out new roots in the direction of the sunlight and over time move itself to a better spot. It's large round fruit can grow to the size of a basketball!

And then there is the way that our Lord "paints the sky" every morning and evening. Truly His creation shouts daily His glory to all who "have ears to hear".

Film Making at PIBC

Part of Steve's job in the areas of Human Resources and Fund Development for PIBC is to create promotional materials. Our friend Ken Rife, who teaches film making and photography at Columbia International Universtiy in SC, volunteered to come out during his spring break to help with this project. He also brought along his daughter, Janae (a freshman at CIU) to be his assistant.
They spent many hours filming interviews with students, facutly, staff, local board members, pastors, and members of the community. They also filmed just about every aspect of life at PIBC that they could get that happen the the last week of March. Here Ken is getting ready to interview Hiob our Dean of Men in our lovey outside "studio" under the spreading palms of our campus.
















The last day Ken and Janae were on island we spent taking them around the island to get scenic shots. It was a gorgeous Guam day! Here Janae is getting flower shots and grand vista shots from Two Lovers Point.


Ken is at Tanguisan Beach taking pictures of the beautiful tree and coral covered coast line down the beach (You'll have to wait for the promo videos to be done to see what he was filming.)Notice the very, calm, very blue ocean in the background














One of the highlights of Janae's stay was being able to stay in the dorm with the girls. They embraced her as only Micronesian girls can do and she was also presented with her own Chuukese skirt. She is pictured here with Evelyn (our "daughter" and PIBC professor) modeling their skirts.

Thanks Ken and Janae for all your very hard work and maintaining an insane schedule for the week. We look forward to seeing the fruits of your labors.

We'll be praying for you as you produce these materials to further the training of Micronesian nationals to reach out in their own islands and into the 10/40 Window of Asia.