VOM Ministry at Central Peninsula Church, Millbrae CA, June 27th

On Sunday the 27th of June the VOM presented our program at CPC Millbrae. We did a 10 minute program in the worship service and then a full 75 minute program at the lunch fellowship afterward. It was a very hot day and the team did a great job despite baking in the hot sun during the outdoor performance. The church photographer took some great pictures of the performance which I am using for this blog post. I thought I would only use a couple of them, but they are so good that I am using almost all of them. The pictures really give you a good idea of what a VOM performance looks like. (You can get our CD and hear what a performance sounds like too). After the performance we grabbed several cold drinks out of the vending machine and headed for an evening performance in Fresno.

We danced and sang in praise to God in our unique island style in the worship service

Jake, Jayleen, Joyce and Justin (The 4 J's?) prepare for the outdoor performance.

A "rare" smile from Erten

Meluat grabs a full plate before the lunch performance,                                                                                   Grace gets ready to sing

 Charles and Grace are ready to sing

Jayleen begins the performance by blowing on the shell trumpet

Jake finds a way to beat the sun as he plays the keyboard

 Leeman leads us in the Palauan chant which uses the Beatitudes to explain what kind of man God can use

The ladies invite friends to hear the songs and "hear the truth from the Bible"

Meluat introduces himself to some of the audience

Grace explains to the audience where she is from

Kita introduces herself with a smile (and she doesn't need a mic)

Eric explains who we are and where Micronesia is, while the girls enjoy a little break in shade as he speaks

The audience enjoyed the performance. Shade was at a premium.

Leeman led the group in a Palauan hymn

Hands are raised in praise for God's love

One comment that we heard after almost every concert, "You can see so much joy in their faces when they sing"

Kita had one admirer that really wanted to get close as she gave her testimony

The "crucifixion" skit showed how Jesus took our sins on Himself, paid for them and triumphed over them in His resurrection 

The skit always had a powerful effect on the audience

People would often rise to their feet cheering as Charles stood, portraying Jesus' resurrection

I had the job of explaining the vision of the school and making known how people could partner with us in the ministry

The stick dance was almost always one of the highlights of the performance

In the stick dance the words were changed to show that we no longer trust in other gods to help us fight other people but now glorify Jesus Christ and trust him to fight the spiritual battle 

The ladies hula/worship dance illustrated the God is the potter and we are the clay

"Oh God, My God" reminds us of our dependence on God

At the end of the performance we had to jump pretty quick into the vans to make the 4 hour drive to Fresno

Dinner With Some Friends

After the Sky High adventure we went over to the Chung's house for an island style dinner. We met Tina and Howard when we did a performance for the Vacation Bible School at their church over in Danville. They are both from Guam and were very excited to meet a group from Guam in the Bay Area. They took a great interest on our school and in the VOM team. We are looking forward to getting together with them again in December when they come to Guam to visit family for Christmas. The students very much appreciated the opportunity to eat island food again. We are so grateful for Howard and Tina and so many people like them who were so generous to us on this tour.

Even though we were eating island food it was a lot colder in the East Bay than on Guam. Here Erten and Keiny try to stay warm.

Charles enjoyed the island food

As did Meluat, Maymay and Leeman

MMMMMMMMMMM!

Fun Day at "Sky High" June 25

We took a day off on Friday, June 25th to go to the "Sky High" trampoline center. The place had all kinds of fun activities that could be done on trampolines. I didn't know that places like this even still existed. The students had a great time. Thanks so much to our new friend Tina Chung who provided this activity for us.

One of the more popular activities was the dive into the soft "bricks"

The ladies seem to land before their hair does

Kita makes an athletic move

Why does this group look a little apprehensive?

Because they are about to be bombarded by this group in trampoline dodge ball!

The lone victorious warrior at the end of the dodge ball game

VOM Ministry at the Pleasant Hill Christian Church June 24

The VOM team members are now back on Guam (or to their home islands). They departed LAX on Saturday. Joyce and I are up at my parents' place in El Dorado. Over the next few days I will be getting my blog caught up to the present. In the meantime here are some pictures from our ministry at 1st Christian Church of Pleasant Hill last month.

We had a good group out for a Thursday night. Even in the US, churches are a lot more full at the mid-point of the service than at the beginning.

 After the performance there is always good fellowship around the PIU table and around the dessert table

The guys rest and gather up the equipment

Joyce and Maymay coordinate the donation table

Jayleen attractively displays the PIU Fact Book. If you would like one just let me know and I will send it to you. 

The guys get ready to head out with their host for the evening. I think the best part of the trip was all the good people we got to meet.

VOM Ministry at the Crossroads covenant Church in Concord CA (June23rd)

I know it has been a while since I have posted. Since the last post I have driven from Northern California to San Diego and then all the way to Texas and back. The VOM team has finished the tour, is packing and will fly out of LAX back to Guam on Saturday morning the 17th. I have a lot of pictures and over the next few days I plan to update the blog with a report on the rest of the VOM tour so that I have a full record of what happened on the 2010 VOM tour. So here are some pictures and a brief report on the VOM performance at Crossroads Covenant Church in Concord...

 We had a good group of people there for a Wednesday night. This is the church that Eric and Karyn pastored before they came to Guam

Kita gave her testimony about how she gave her life to Christ after PIU students ministered at her church. 

The performance of the song "Oh God, my God" always seems to be one of the favorites.

One of our friends came to the concert in a limo. They let Kita sit in it to get her picture taken. 

They also let Joyce and I ride in the limo and then took us out for Italian food after the performance. Yummy!

Millbrae Housing

We have spent a lot of time in the San Francisco Bay Area on this trip and two houses have pretty much served as hubs for us where we can stay when we need a place to go. In the East bay we have stayed with Karyn Sorenson's parents at their "boys' ranch." On the peninsula we have stayed with our new good friends in Millbrae, Peter and Angela Sun (and of course their kids and dog, Bo who is in the picture) They have graciously housed all our girls for several nights, the Suda's before they had to go back to Guam and then Joyce and I. They (and the other people at CPC Foster City and Millbrae) have gone above and beyond in ministering to us and we are very thankful for it. Again, we are amazed and thankful at how God has used His people to meet our traveling needs!

The ladies enjoyed a jewelry making party one evening

There was always plenty of food. Grace has dinner and shows off the completed jewelry

Kita and Maymay show the necklaces they completed

Meyou models the bracelet she made.

Jaynee models a matching necklace and bracelet

 Joyce enjoys having a place where she can relax and recharge

VOM Ministry at Hillside Covenant Church in Walnut Creek CA

On June 20, the Voices of Micronesia performed at Hillside Covenant Church in Walnut Creek, California. We had a great time there and it was very nice to have two nights (Saturday and Sunday) in the same place. The students, and we, enjoyed the opportunity to go on outings with their host families. Here are a few pictures from our time there.

The team, of course, sang beautifully. 

Jaynee Sam (right) played the role of the starving woman who is ministered to by Jesus in the "Crucifixion" skit. Soon after the performance Jaynee had to return to Chuuk for a family funeral. Please be in prayer for her and for her family. Keiny played the role of the blind man healed by Jesus. 

The VOM team joined the pastor and Hillside worship team for the final song of the service

Joyce and I enjoyed our time with our hosts Dan and Kaye. They took us up to the summit of Mt. Diablo and we could see all over the Bay Area. Sorry, no pictures of that because our camera battery ran out. We are continually amazed and thankful for the hospitable, gracious and generous people we have met on the way as we travel around California