This is the second post in my series introducing the members of the Pacific Islands University Voices of Micronesia team. The team will be presenting their program which includes original music, personal testimonies, relevant biblical messages, and other forms of Micronesian culture as they tour California, Arizona and Texas from May 12th to July 17th. So let me introduce you to....
Meluat Meluat
Home: Ngaralong and Koror, Republic of Palau
Age: 27, 3rd Year Student, expects to graduate in December 2011
Meluat was raised with his three brothers and two sisters in, what was then the capital city of Palau, Koror but his family was from the village of Ngaralong on the island of Babeldaop (the 2nd largest island in Micronesia after Guam). His parents were divorced when he was six years old but Meluat has fond memories of family overnight trips to enjoy the beautiful rock islands. He attended Emmaus High School (where Joyce and I taught 1984-88) and graduated in 2001. He became a Christian at Emmaus when one of the faculty there introduced him to Jesus Christ. After high school graduation Meluat joined the US Army and, after basic training in Texas, was stationed in Germany. He also did a five month deployment in Israel. After leaving the army he worked for four years in the Palauan Evangelical Church.
After starting at PIU in the Palau teaching facility, he transferred to the Guam campus to attend PIU full time. Meluat's time in the army gave him a desire to learn to work with people of diverse cultures and he has participated in several mission trips as a PIU student, including last summers' trip to Thailand. He says that the preparation for this trip has helped him improve his time management and people skills. Though he is used to working with Americans from his time in the army, he is a "little nervous" because he has never done ministry in America. His goals for this trip are to represent PIU and Christ well and to show what Micronesians can contribute to the global kingdom of God. He sees this trip as preparation for becoming a missionary and an opportunity to make friends and partners for future mission work.
His goal after completing his bachelors degree in biblical studies is to be a missionary to unreached peoples, probably in Southeast Asia.
2 comments:
Go Meluat!
Yaa..another micronesian that has a heart for unreached people..exactly what we need. We shouldn't just stay in our comfort zone.
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