June 27-29 was the Gospel Days Celebration in Palau. Gospel Days celebrated the 79th (I know I said 80th in a previous post, but it was actually the 79th. As Pastor Billy Kuartei said, "we usually celebrate Gospel Days every 5 years, but we could not wait, so we celebrated only 4 years after the last one. Maybe we should have it every other year.") In 1929 a German missionary and a Chuukese Christian brought the Gospel to Palau. The celebration consists of many church services, kids programs, panel discussions, church meetings, lots of singing and an abundance of food and fellowship. As I mentioned yesterday, it culminated with the ordination service on Sunday.
The main speakers were Martin Auch and Bill Schuit, the Global Directors for Liebenzell Mission International and Liebenzell Mission USA. Both spoke on issues of leadership and the need to look ahead to plan to apply God's Word to the changing world of Palau. We also saw a wonderful slideshow on the history of the church in Palau. When we think of the sacrifices made by those early missionaries, it makes any sacrifices we make seem small in many ways. The church was also challenged to think beyond themselves and reach out to the needs in the world for people who will go out and announce and live out the Gospel in other cultures.
Joyce and I each participated in panel discussions. Joyce teamed up with PIBC graduate Daisy Ulitich for a women's discussion on family and church issues. I participated with a panel of pastors discussing church and family leadership issues. There were many good questions asked and a lively discussion. It was exciting for me to hear the vision that many young Palauans have for ministry.
One of the most fun parts of the celebration is hearing the many choirs from the different village churches. The outfits are colorful and the singing is incredible. There were also choirs from the youth groups, a Bethania girls high school alumni choir (it looked like the ages of the choir ranged from about 18 into the 60's), school choirs and even a choir made up of alumni from Micronesian Instiutute of Biblical studies (the precursor to PIBC) which sang songs in Chuukese. The songs ranged from traditional hymns sung in Palauan to contemporary Palauan (sort of Islandy country-western/cha-cha styles.
June 27-29 was the Gospel Days Celebration in Palau. Gospel Days celebrated the 79th (I know I said 80th in a previous post, but it was actually the 79th. As Pastor Billy Kuartei said, "we usually celebrate Gospel Days every 5 years, but we could not wait, so we celebrated only 4 years after the last one. Maybe we should have it every other year.") In 1929 a German missionary and a Chuukese Christian brought the Gospel to Palau. The celebration consists of many church services, kids programs, panel discussions, church meetings, lots of singing and an abundance of food and fellowship. As I mentioned yesterday, it culminated with the ordination service on Sunday.
The main speakers were Martin Auch and Bill Schuit, the Global Directors for Liebenzell Mission International and Liebenzell Mission USA. Both spoke on issues of leadership and the need to look ahead to plan to apply God's Word to the changing world of Palau. We also saw a wonderful slideshow on the history of the church in Palau. When we think of the sacrifices made by those early missionaries, it makes any sacrifices we make seem small in many ways. The church was also challenged to think beyond themselves and reach out to the needs in the world for people who will go out and announce and live out the Gospel in other cultures.
Joyce and I each participated in panel discussions. Joyce teamed up with PIBC graduate Daisy Ulitich for a women's discussion on family and church issues. I participated with a panel of pastors discussing church and family leadership issues. There were many good questions asked and a lively discussion. It was exciting for me to hear the vision that many young Palauans have for ministry.
One of the most fun parts of the celebration is hearing the many choirs from the different village churches. The outfits are colorful and the singing is incredible. There were also choirs from the youth groups, a Bethania girls high school alumni choir (it looked like the ages of the choir ranged from about 18 into the 60's), school choirs and even a choir made up of alumni from Micronesian Instiutute of Biblical studies (the precursor to PIBC) which sang songs in Chuukese. The songs ranged from traditional hymns sung in Palauan to contemporary Palauan (sort of Islandy country-western/cha-cha styles.
No comments:
Post a Comment