The first two weeks of school seem to have gone by in a blur. With two classes and administrative responsibilities I am keeping pretty busy! Our meeting with the College of Micronesia people went very well. They will be working on the copy of the agreement we gave them and present their changes within a couple weeks. We hope to have the agreement finalized and approved by the end of the semester. This will especially help our Chuukese students to cross-enroll in COM to get their general education classes. Thanks for praying about that. In addition to the partnerships we have been working on a curriculum revision that would enable the students to take a "practical ministry" minor within their Bible major program. We have noticed that most of our students do not go directly into church leadership. Many are becoming teachers in public or Christian schools. Also, even the ones that go into pastoral ministries need to have another skill because most Micronesian churches cannot afford to pay a full time pastor. We have already added a minor in Teaching English as a 2nd Language. Other minors we intend to add as we can staff them are elementary education, music, missions, pre-seminary, Christian education and, of course, pastoral ministries. We plan to have the plan completed for PIBC board approval next March.
I am enjoying my two classes. It has taken a while to get the students comfortable with the Distance Education format of the Cults class. A few of the students from Chuuk had no experience with computers at all. Others have a lot of experience. I have been quite impressed by the depth of thought going into their posts to the online discussion. I am learning a lot from them about their island churches and how cults and other groups operate in Micronesia. The Prophets class has also been fun. We begin each class with "preaching time" where any student can share what God is teaching them through the passage we are studying for that evening. We try to emphasize specific application. Every week I am touched by what God is doing through His Word in the hearts of the students.
Tonight I will be going off-island to Chuuk for four days of meetings. I will be meeting Monday with the some of the head pastors of the Evangelical Church of Chuuk to discuss how PIBC can better meet the needs of their church. We also will be discussing the meetings that we will be having next April to celebrate the centennial of the Gospel arriving in Chuuk. Part of the celebration will be a meeting of the island church leaders, Liebenzell Mission leadership and PIBC board and administration to formulate a common strategy for reaching the outer islands and putting together a plan to send Micronesian missionaries outside the islands. I will also get to meet with the staff and students at our Chuuk Teaching Facility in the main island of Weno and our Chuuk campus on Tol island across the lagoon. Please pray for good communication and smooth seas!
Joyce and the Little Lambs Pre-School
The Little Lambs Pre-school now has 12 students, 8 of which are in Joyce's class. She is there every day from 9:30 AM to 1:30 PM teaching alphabet and reading skills to her 2-4 year olds. She also has found a Bible curriculum called, what else, Little Lambs that focuses on evangelizing pre-schoolers. She is also taking two PIBC classes, working with some of the PIBC female students and helping out at PIBC with whatever is needed. Joyce is looking forward to taking a few days in Palau in October to help out Samantha after our grandson is born. He is due September 26. We would appreciate your prayers for Joyce and for Michael and Samantha.I will be back from Chuuk Thursday night. I will post a report on my Chuuk trip soon after.
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