Featured PIU Student

I am reviving my posts on PIU students that I would like you to meet. This week my featured student is Mondale Tim. Mondale is a 27 year old seminary student from Nema in the Upper Mortlock Islands of Chuuk state of the Federated States of Micronesia. Mondale attended PIU at the Tol, Chuuk campus from 2004-7 and graduated with a Bachelors Degree in biblical studies on the PIU-Guam campus in 2008. He is in his 3rd year in the PIU seminary (PIES) and will receive his Master of Arts Degree in Religion with an emphasis in General Ministry at our May 7th 2012 graduation ceremony.

Mondale spent most of his childhood and youth on the island of Weno, the capitol of Chuuk, with his younger brother and two older sisters.  His father is still a pastor in the Chuukese church. Mondale “thought I was a Christian” as a child but made his “first real decision for Christ” as a first year Bible student at PIU. As a high school graduate he had spurned the advice of his uncle to go to college and went to College of Micronesia where he quickly “got myself kicked out.” That was when he decided to take his uncle’s good advice and he is thankful God led him to that decision.

Mondale is the current student body president at PIU and has been a resident assistant in the dormitories the last couple years. It has been a lot of work but “I had to plan my work and work out my plan.” Being in student leadership “helped me to make good decisions and good plans and helped me to be a better leader.”

Mondale has especially enjoyed being able to focus the last three years on theological studies, “I am full of theology here.” He is thankful that “I can handle the scriptures well now and explain them to my own people in my own language, in a way they can understand.” He says, “I would like more of my Chuukese brothers to come so that we can grow in experience and knowledge together.” The courses for me were more practical than just lectures.” “I had a good role model from my teaching.”

Mondale plans to return to Chuuk this summer to be a teacher. He is not sure if he will teach in high school or college. In addition, “the church is open to me to lead Bible studies and for preaching.” Mondale asks for prayer that 1) He will accomplish his plan and finish the semester strong 2) Direction for where to teach and serve in the church after graduation 3) His hope to continue on and get a more advanced seminary degree some day.

Seminary students at PIU are unable to receive any federal funds for their education costs. There are many young people like Mondale who would like to attend PIES seminary but are unable financially. Donations to the PIU scholarship fund will help more Pacific Islander young men and women get the training they need to serve the churches and schools of the Pacific region.

Island Tour with the Kecklers

We were so busy with the PIU teacher training and Story Crafting Conference that we did not get to take the Kecklers on a tour around the southern end of Guam until the next to last day that they were here. Joyce performed tour guide duties on Sunday after church and gave Sam, Maria and Rachelle the tour of some of the prettiest sites on Guam. Here is a picture of their lovely tour guide. Full disclosure: I stayed home and took a nap all afternoon. Here are a few more pictures of the Sunday drive around the southern end of Guam.

Sam was able to get up close and personal with a caribao

The Ceti Bay overlook is my favorite scenic spot on Guam. We ALWAYS take a picture of our visitors right there. So picture yourself there and come visit us!

Two other popular stops are Fort Soledad (the “Magellan landing site”) the shrine to Our Lady of Camalin (Her “landing site” as well).

The caribao at Fort Soledad recently had a calf

Guam is a beautiful and colorful place

My “Super” Birthday Party

Every year the Super Bowl happens right about the same time as my birthday, so our tradition the last few years (since 2003) has been to combine the celebrations.  This year we also celebrated three other birthdays along with mine. We had several of our PIU staff attend, a couple PIU students and some other friends dropped by too, including one Giant fan – Bill Schuit our PIU board chairman from New Jersey on his way to Palau, Chuuk and then the board meeting on Guam - and a family of Patriot fans – the Bradleys. The rivalries stayed peaceful, although you can see the tension on the faces in the picture on the right, and we all had a great time. The food was great and the conversation was lively all the way through. Here are a few pictures of the celebration.

The Patriot fans were disappointed, but managed to carry on. :)

I enjoyed the game wearing my 49er jersey, drinking coffee from my 49er 1981 season commemorative mug on my 49er red couch. The triple chocolate cake increased my enjoyment as well.

The other food choices were outstanding too. Maria made enchiladas and Rob fried up his famous hot wings. Daisy enjoyed them as you can see.

During halftime Sam, me Josh Ladd and Daisy blew out the birthday candles. The entire triple chocolate cake was quickly consumed.

The game and party were enjoyed by people of all genders.

Day 4 at the PIU Story Crafting Conference

The fourth day of the conference was held at the Tamuning Senior Center and was designed for church workers and Christian school teachers. There were three sessions, led by PIU librarian Lisa Collins, Maria Keckler and John McCabe. These were the last sessions of the conference.  The PIU A (Advancement) Team did a great job with the planning, organization and details of the conference. They all posed for a picture after the last session. The conference team (left to right) Greg Calvo, Irene Calvo, Rachelle Heverly, Celia Atoigue, Billy Edwin, Camry Ann Fichan, Maria Keckler, Sam Keckler, Lisa Collins, Me, Mo, John McCabe. Thank you team!

Lisa Collins led a seminar on creatively, and dramatically, teaching Bible and other stories to children. “Tide” made another appearance at the conference too.

It was a “hands on” conference. The attendees used the tools to practice telling each other stories. I think Sam and Maria used the puppets for a little “marriage therapy.” :)

John taught “orality” in his seminar right before lunch. Lisa watches over the lunch counter. (This actually was the leftover after everyone ate. We were blessed with more than enough food.)

Maria led the last session on “The 6 Stories You Need to be Able to Tell.” This seminar, I thought, was applicable to education, church, business and just about any other area. We are planning on having John, Maria and Sam back this time in 2013 for the 3rd annual PIU Story Crafting Conference.

Day 3 at the PIU Story Crafting Conference

Day 3 wrapped up the morning sessions at Saint Paul’s North Gymnasium that were specially directed to classroom teachers.  Maria (left) focused on telling the stories that communicate the teacher’s vision and purpose for the instruction. She began the session by having PIU English teacher Joey Charles sing some “story songs” that showed the power of music to convey powerful, emotional stories. We all want our teaching to be “sticky,” and all the conference attendees indicated that they had learned several things that would make them better teachers.

I was not able to attend the evening session with John McCabe Friday night. and I was sorry to have missed the cultural stories that were told by the attendees. Again the feedback from everyone was good that the time was profitable. I am very thankful for our speakers, Maria, John and Sam, flying out from California to share their expertise and lives with us. I am also thankful for the many local business sponsors of the conference. The picture here is of the Friday evening meal supplied by the Jamaican Grill Restaurant. We also had meals supplied by McDonalds, Subway, Blessed Bakery, Winchells and Chamorro Gardens. National Car Rental donated a car for our speakers’ use for the week.

Day 2 at the PIU Story Crafting Conference

The theme of the 2nd morning of the conference was “The Power of Your Story.” Your personal story is like none other and has the power to touch and transform lives, if you know how to capture it, craft it, and give it away. Maria Keckler taught a very interactive workshop to help us develop the discipline of story crafting and showed us how to do it effectively. Each of us came out of the session with at least the beginnings with a well-crafted way to tell the story of our own lives.

Several of us had the opportunity to tell our own stories and then have the group work through improving and streamlining the story to make it more effective. Left, PIU librarian Lisa Collins tells her story with a little help from her puppet friend “Tide.” It was fun to hear from and get to know each other a little better as we learned. In the evening session John McCabe took us through the “nuts and bolts” of crafting biblical and cultural stories. On the right, PIU staffer Greg Calvo tells the story of Two Lovers Point in both the Chamorro and English language.

Scuba diving instructor Fred Schmidt explains to the evening session the opportunities available in the PIU Scuba diving curriculum while student Jonie Jones takes care of sound and video tech

Day 1 of the PIU Story Crafting Conference

The PIU story crafting conference has begun. The first morning session, at the St. Paul’s North gymnasium in Yigo kicked off with a snack and “get to know you” time and then we launched into the first seminar on “Teaching that Sticks” with our keynote speaker Maria Keckler. It was good to see the collection of pastors, church workers, school teachers and students there. We were hoping for bigger numbers but are very happy with the good mix of different kinds of people. The evening session, led by John McCabe, “Orality, Telling the Story of the Bible” took place on the PIU campus in the main classroom. The conference will continue through Saturday and there is plenty of room to join in and participate.

Maria Keckler, the main speaker in the morning sessions, is the President and Founder at Vineworks Publishers, Inc. as well as an adjunct Professor at San Diego Christian College. She studied at California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo. She writes to provide water and nourishment for the budding story teller, leader, author, and book in everyone. As the president and founder of Vineworks Publishers, Inc. and Managing Editor for Stories from the Vine, she is actively looking for powerful stories and exceptional writers who believe their mission in life is to inspire others and help transform lives through the power of Jesus Christ. Maria also speaks to national and international audiences on a wide range of topics, including the role of Instructional Technology and New Media on education; the art of teaching; writing and publishing; and leadership and life transformation.

John McCabe, the main speaker for the evening sessions, has actively served the Lord for over 13 years: as a servant leader; a worship musician; as a missionary; and as a teacher/speaker. His passion lies in making disciples and equipping the saints. Prior to his committing his life to serving God, John was in public education as a classroom teacher for 11 years as a Mentor Teacher in his school district and Master Teacher for the education departments of Stanford University and San Jose State University. After receiving his Master’s Degree in Curriculum and Instructional Design, he consulted for Intel and NASA. He has also completed a 40 hour intense S-T4T (Storying Training for Trainers) program in November of 2009 taught by Bruce Williams and Steve Sims of e3 Partners. Today, John lends his talents to the business world along with serving at his local church, GateWay Bible. John and his wonderful wife Laura, along with 3 cats and a king snake, live in the Santa Cruz Mountains on the California Coast.

The A-team did a great job planning the conference and kept things going smoothly. Ceci made sure all the audio-visuals worked properly.