Preaching at the Guam Chinese Christian Church

Last Sunday I had the opportunity to preach at the Guam Chinese Christian Church. We have had a few students at PIU from the church before, but I have never been invited to preach there. It is a small church but there was a lot of enthusiasm. All of the songs were sung in Chinese but I recognized a few of them. My sermon (on Genesis 1.26-28) was translated into Chinese by a professor from the University of Guam. I enjoyed getting to meet new people and I am hoping that this will be the beginning of a good partnership that will help both if us be better able to minister to Guam’s Chinese community.

Monday Events at PIU

  I know I am posting these in the wrong order (the last post was Tuesday’s chapel) but I just downloaded these pictures from Daisy Murdock’s Facebook page and from my phone today. Monday was the orientation for all students with “team-building” events in the afternoon and a welcome barbecue and talent show in the evening. It was a fun day and the rain held off for most of the time we were outside. It was good to get to know the new students a little better and be amazed by their talent. Here are a few pictures of the day….

We started off with the presentations by the staff so the students would know PIU procedures

Stella (left) did the library orientation and Celia talked about office and financial policy

Students were thrilled to know all this information!

Then they headed out for the team-building games

This one required maximum cooperation

Fortunately, Pete, our new dean of men, was there to provide direction

It was all about having fun and getting to know one another

There was a little time to catch your breath and get a drink

The evening was about eating, fellowship and celebrating

The students were all divided into teams…

That each had to create its own culture and present it to the audience…

through creative means such as song, skit or dance

One team even cleaned the stage after they were done with their skit

Dean of Student Life, Rob Watt was the MC for the event. I got to be one of the judges along with Christel Wood and Joey Charles. I played the part of the mean, nasty, insulting judge – so different than the way I usually am. I think a good time was had by all.

First Chapel of the Fall Semester

Today was the first day of classes for the Fall semester and the first chapel too. So far the students seem to be enjoying their classes and I did not see very much evidence of syllabus shock. As in previous semesters we have a one-hour chapel at 11 AM on Tuesdays and Fridays and today was the day. We had a good time of singing led by our chapel praise team, introduced the faculty, staff and administration to the students (almost half of our students are new this semester) and I had some time to preach. I always start off by speaking about the core values of our school “Excellence, Accessibility and Transformation.” This time I focused on the “excellence” part of the mission statement and preached from Genesis 1.26-31 on presenting the image of God to creation excellently. We focused on the three commands to fill the earth, master or subdue the earth and rule; and how we can do each one of these as God did in creation and Jesus did while He walked on the earth. We fill the empty, bring order to the chaos and rule through service. It is fun to be back into it with the students and I am looking forward to my Old Testament class tonight.

1st Birthday Party

  Yesterday we enjoyed attending the first birthday party for Gwen Pate. Gwen is the daughter of Nino (PIU math teacher and administrator) and Glenda Pate. A first birthday is a very important event here on Guam and we were honored to attend. Last year we asked people to pray for “baby Gwen” because of her low birth weight and we are praising God for her health and the answer to prayer. It was a cute party and Gwen looked like a little princess.

Serenity had her party outfit on

 

All the kids helped Gwen blow out her candle… and eat the cake.

Friday Night Activities at PIU

  After a long day of registration everyone was ready to get some exercise and relax in the evening. So we had an evening set up for games and other activities for the new students. We played a little volleyball and basketball and some other “mixer” games. Yes, even I got on the court for some volleyball and had a couple good spikes and serves. There are some pictures of our new students too.

The volleyball competition was pretty intense

We were also working on re-shelving library books after the library renovation