Yap Ministry Team Chapel

Yesterday our Friday chapel was led by the students and staff who went to Yap last summer to do 6 weeks of ministry with the Yap Evangelical Church. Staff member Billy Edwin coordinated the chapel and was one of the leaders of the Yap team. In addition to the PIU team members, Drew Phillips and Nathan Cobb joined the team from Beeson Divinity School for a couple weeks. Even though they weren’t there for the chapel it was good to see pictures of them ministering with our students. It was obvious from the testimonies that God did some great things in the lives of our students and in the lives of the people they ministered to in Yap. One of the ways PIU is privileged to serve our partner churches in Micronesia is to be able to send students to the islands to assist the church in the ministries they are involved in. This is also prepares our graduates to be effective in their communities and churches when they return as PIU graduates.

Jesse Hartt (left) reported about the youth and children’s ministries the team led while they were in Yap. The team was involved in Vacation Bible Schools, youth retreats and many other ministries to young people. Josh Ladd talked about being able to come alongside PIU alum Asael Ruda who pastors 5 churches in the villages of Yap and being able to help him during the summer and give him a break. Josh thought it was “amazing” how he got to preach in the churches through an interpreter. He was thrilled that the interpreter was Gideon Moofal who had been his father’s student (and mine) in Palau back in the 1980’s. Both Jesse and Josh said that the best thing about the trip was the relationships built with the Yapese youth and Josh plans to go back to Yap at Christmas to continue them.

The women who were part of the team also shared about their experiences in Yap and sang some of the songs they taught there.

One of the youth the team met in Yap was Philip Ranganbay. Philip shared his story of how the Yap team inspired him to be more committed to his faith and to come to PIU. He also reported about how God met his need for airfare so that he could get to Guam and study here.