January Prayer Requests

We are now a full week into the Spring semester and three weeks into the new year. Normally this is the time when we assess the previous year and semester and make plans for the next one and this is what we have been doing. We had our first administrative meeting today and it lasted over three hours. Normally I would be exhausted after a meeting like that but I came out of the meeting energized and excited with the opportunities and challenges before us. We recognize that there are great obstacles and issues in front of us but we know that God is faithful to accomplish his kingdom work through us. We also know that a very important part of his kingdom work is accomplished in prayer so we share these prayer requests for the upcoming semester with you. We value all of our prayer partners all over the world and thank you for your concern for us. Here are our key prayer requests for 2013…

Personal

1. Pray that we will grow deeper and deeper in our relationship with Jesus. We don’t just want to know more about Christ, but know Him better and become more like him. If we do not have a deep connection to Jesus we cannot connect others to him.
2. We are thankful for good health in 2012 and we ask for continued energy and strength to continue our work here. I (Dave) have not done a good job of staying balanced in my life and have neglected physical health and it has made me a bit lethargic this year. At the urging of my co-workers I have joined a gym and, two weeks in, am already feeling better.
3. We are thankful for our families including our 5 grandchildren and the 6th on the way in March. Mike, Sam and the three that are here are a real joy and we miss being close to Matt, Kristin and Milo, Missy, Cliff and Leila. We also wish we could see our parents more often. We appreciate your prayers for our family.

Ministry

1. Joyce continues teaching at the Japanese school and helping out at PIU. I am continuing as president of PIU and teaching two classes this semester. I reported earlier that I had asked our board to leave the presidency of PIU after this school year so I could devote more time to the seminary and to teaching, but have mutually decided, with the chairman of the board, to continue at least one more year as president so that PIU administration will remain stable.
2. Students: Please pray that our students also grow in their spiritual lives, deepen their connection to Christ, become better trained to minister, grow in their love for learning and academic ability and build lasting Christian relationships this semester at PIU
3. Personnel: One reason I am staying in my present position is that PIU needs to hire two executive level administrators. We need a new Provost and a VP of Advancement. We have several people we are interested in and are in the process of raising money to pay them. In the past these positions have been held by missionaries which the school does not pay (like me). Now these will need to be paid positions. We need to have these people in place by July.
4. Joyce and I also continue to be involved in church ministries outside PIU. I often preach or teach at local Guam churches and plan to do some seminars in the surrounding islands. We also plan to be involved in helping with discipling of young people in our village.

Financial

1. Joyce and I have been very blessed to have been fully supported missionaries through Liebenzell Mission USA since our last major furlough in 2001-2. Our financial supporters have been amazingly faithful. However, we were informed last month that our support has dropped below the needed amount to keep us on the field and we will need to return to the US Mainland to raise support as early as this summer to raise an additional $500-600 in monthly support. In our position it is very difficult for us to leave for an extended period of time. We are hoping to raise at least some of the money needed before we would need to leave Guam. You can give to our ministry on line at the Liebenzell USA website here. Just click on category: people and fund: Dave and Joyce Owen. Please send me an email at dowen@piu.edu if you are interested in being a partner in our ministry or have any questions.
2. We also need to raise about $100,000 in 2013 for the PIU annual fund, the Rising Tide Fund. Our tuition is priced to make PIU accessible and affordable to our students and does not come anywhere near covering the costs of their education. The Rising Tide fund enables us to keep the school running, pay the teachers and staff we need and continue to provide excellent Christian education to the people of the Pacific Islands. You can click on the link to the right to donate to the Rising Tide fund

We are so blessed to be able to be in a great place like Guam teaching young people about God, His word and His world. Thank you for being a part of this with us. Keep looking here for more news about our work here and we will continue to let you know how you can pray for us.