Here is a pictorial journal of some of the fun we've been having with our students. Our delay in blogging has come from having only intermittent email access. When we finally get to it, we've got so many emails coming in from churches we are heading to, that we don't get to our blog. So, here's what's been going on:
Having a jam session with a bluegrass band in Susanville. They'd never seen a slide guitar before, but loved it!
Karyn teaching some of the girls to dive while in Santa Cruz.
On TV in Santa Cruz!
A successful pig hunt in Castro Valley. Our students love pork, but their pigs live in pens, not up in the hills. They hadn't counted on hauling out a 250 pound animal from a ravine! Congratulations Keiny and Leeman!
Still singing strong with about four weeks to go. We appreciate all of your prayers and support.
Since we last left off, we've hit the road hard. The trip has been awesome, even though it took four hours to get from one end of LA county to the other, and eight to get from Castro Valley to Susanville (road work and snow all over Donner Pass). We were blessed to share in the main service of Ocean Hills Covenant Church in Santa Barbara, and then to the spend the afternoon at the beautiful home of Russ and June Michaelson. We were off next to San Luis Obispo for a special presentation at a community center, hosted by Eric's parents. There was really no way to predict the turnout, but 75 people showed up from a couple of local churches and lots of people from the neighborhood. The response has always been the same: "If we had known how good this would be we would have invited everyone we know." Following those comments there is usually an inquiry into the rest of our itinerary so they can encourage all of their friends and family to show up. The pictures show the rest of the story:
Performing for a small group out by a backyard pool in La Mirada. Commenting on LA's constantly overlapping and intersecting freeways, one student very seriously said it feels like riding on a roller coaster.
Eric is learning the traditional Chuukese stick dance because one of our guys has to leave mid-way through the tour! Protective lenses required . . . .
Even though it's pretty cold (from a Micronesian perspective), our students always plant themselves under a tree in the shade. One of our students very seriously expressed concern that her "lips are falling off" in the cold. She had never before experienced chapped lips and dry skin.
We took a detour to the colder side of the Pacific at Montana de Oro on the central California coast. They had never before seen seals. One student, after I explained that seals spend their day sleeping then eating fish, sleeping, then eating fish, etc., opined that seals must be Micronesian.
Hanging out at the tide pools of Montana de Oro.
Unbelievably, though this is Memorial Day weekend, we took the students up to Lassen Volcanic Park and played in eight feet of fresh snow as it continued to fall on our heads. This must have been specially arranged by Someone who knew our students had never before seen snow!
May 23 Ocean Hills Covenant Church, Santa Barbara, CA
Sunday morning services—30 minute concerts
May 24 7:00 p.m. San Luis Obispo, CA, Laguna Lake Mobile Estates Club House(On the left side of Perfumo Canyon there are two entrances to Laguna Lake Mobile Estates; be sure to take the second entrance which is Hedley Drive. Follow Hedley and the clubhouse will be on your right on the corner of Carolyn Dr. and Hedley. May 28 - 30 Susanville, CA (Southern Baptist Association is also participating in this)
May 30 Palauan Service, First Baptist Church, Susanville, CA
June 1 Shasta Community Church, Redding, CA
June 2 1 hour evening concert, Glenburn Community Church, Glenburn, CA
June 4 Baymonte School (several performances)
June 6 Morning: Gateway Church, Santa Cruz, CA
June 8 Noon: Neighborhood Church Ladies luncheon
June 9 Neighborhood Church, Castro Valley, CA “Omega” (youth group
June 10 7:00 p.m. Central Peninsula Church’s college students kick-off meeting BBQ and fellowship
June 11 7:00 p.m. concert at Foothill Covenant, Los Altos, CA
June 13 Central Peninsula Church, Foster City Campus, CA
10 min presentation at 9 and 11am services. BBQ and full 1 hour performance after the last service.
June 13 Evening concert at Hessel Church, Sebastopol, CA
June 15 500 children at VBS at East Bay Fellowship in Danville, CA June 16 Gold Country Baptist, Shingle Springs, CA
Youth meeting
June 17 Camino Community Church, Shingle Springs, CA
Evening concert
June 18 7:00 p.m. Gold Country Baptist, Shingle Springs, CA
Missions meeting
June 19 11:00 a.m. Antioch Seventh Day Adventist Church, Antioch, CA
June 20 Hillside Covenant Church, Walnut Creek, CA
30 min. performance at 9:30 and 11am services
June 21 7:30 Eric and Karyn speaking at Mark and Cathy Burket's home in San Carlos
June 23 Crossroads Covenant Church, 5353 Concord Blvd, Concord CA
6:00 p.m: One hour performance
June 24: 7:00 p.m. First Christian Church, 2115 Pleasant Hill Road, Pleasant Hill, CA 6:00 p.m. Dinner--RSVP required (Guest Chef, Gerry DeGuzman, will be serving: Chicken Adobo, Buttered Corn Kernel andCarrots, Steamed White Rice and Strawberry Filled White Cake). Donation-$5.00 per person; $12.00 per family; high school students: $3.00)
Please RSVP to Jo Alvarez so that they can get an accurate headcount for dinner: jndalvarez5@yahoo.com.
June 27 Central Peninsula Church, Milbrae Campus, CA
10 min. performance at 11am service; full performance at lunch hosted by the church at 12:45
7pm Biola Congregational Church and Kerman Covenant Church, Fresno, CA
July 1-5 Youth Sports Ministry, Point Loma University, San Diego, CA
July 7-9 Killeen/Salado, TX
July 11 Redeemer Bible Church, Dallas, TX
July 13-16 Looking for opportunities to perform in TX, AZ and SoCal.
Well, we're in California! Our students arrived Wednesday, May 12, and were immediately awe-struck by the massiveness of LA (actually, we are too!) This is the first of our blog posts documenting our odyssey. Because our access to wireless is inconsistent, our ongoing documentary will be largely visual, sprinkled with brief written comments. So, here's our first installment . . . thanks for your prayers as we get underway.
Jet-lagged after a 15 hour flight . . . .
So cold, students donned socks with their flip-flops. Leeman is overheard saying, "It feels like we're walking in a refrigerator." It's in the mid-70's here . . . .
Rehearsing all day, culminating in a trip to Old Navy. When the store wasn't where we were told, one student commented, "Is that the only one on island - oops, I mean, in the State?" Needless to say, there was an Old Navy down the street. That night they wondered where the stars were when they looked up. "Uh, this is LA . . . ."
Taking a tour of BIOLA . . . the tour guides were dumb-struck after our students broke out a ukulele and blessed them with a Micronesian-style song. The students were dumb-struck in return when told BIOLA is not a large college . . . Neither could they believe that our hometown is some 350 miles away and still in the same state!
Our very first performance at an AWANA club in LA . . . Here is Grace teaching the kids a favorite PIU song. The kids were transfixed by a most excellent presentation by the Voices of Micronesia - off to a great start!
The children were absolutely mesmerized by a rendition of a Chuukese stick dance. Actually, it's a Christian adaptation of an ancient war dance, now redeemed for Christ! And to think, we've only just begun!
Although there really is no good excuse for a month of silence, even a humble explanation may be more palatable when presented through the medium of visual arts, aided by the marvels of modern technology in the capable hands of students who understand it. You know the old adage, "A picture is worth a thousand words." So here you'll see what has so preoccupied us over the last month: tuning up the Voices of Micronesia, coming to a place near you this summer!
The first ever PIU Days were held just before Easter break this year. Actually, this event has been celebrated for decades, but in years past the activity was known as "PIBC Days." Names change, and times change, but the fun does not! Three teams, named after the Greek words for Discipline, Witness, and Perseverance, competed in games, performances, team spirit, and a fellowship night. It was great to see everyone relax and laugh so hard that one couldn't tell if us white folk were red from sunburn or red from laughter (usually both). Our family was assigned to the Witness team wearing red in the pictures. Enjoy the slideshow.
Our work in Guam has a way of reminding me of the great multitude in Revelation 7.9, "from all tribes and peoples and tongues" who are before the throne worshiping the Lamb. The reason for that is simply that our ministry here is entirely cross-cultural. Even though our staff is only now showing signs of diversity, the student body is a panoply of cultures, and our church is another variegated tapestry of peoples.
I guess using "culture" to describe someone's background is a bit slippery, but it's more descriptive than simply identifying what country someone is from. For instance, even if you tell me you're from the US, I still don't know what your cultural background is. So, when I decided to share with you about my current seminary class, I quickly realized it's not enough to tell you that I have seven students from five different countries because the three who are from the same "country" are from completely different cultures within that country. It's really more descriptive to tell you that I have seven students from seven cultures. So, on Tuesday nights, I sit in front of a Chinese, a Chuukese, a Filipina, a Bangladeshi, and three Americans. It's the three Americans who really represent three different cultures. One is a local with Chamorro roots, a culture unique unto its own. Another is Caucasian from Alabama, and the third is of Spanish extraction, raised in a New Mexico town settled by the Spanish in the 1600s. Thus, though he is American, his first language and culture are Spanish, but not South American Spanish! Now, just imagine the dialog we have in class. It is rich as each accented word is shared out of his or her own culture. Categorically, I no longer assume that my cultural experiences relate to others' experiences, which has a distinct way of affecting the application of the theology we study. In a recent seminary class conversation about burnout rates among pastors, I came in assuming that one reason for the burnout is based on pastor's having more people to care for than is humanly possible. I guess I had thought it was a universal problem, until one student explained that in his culture this is not the case because a church of 50 people may have fifteen pastors! Here, it is not trite to say that I learn as much from my students as they do from me.
Sound interesting? Come out and join us! Seriously. We are in immediate need of undergraduate teachers, especially in the areas of general education. We are looking to establish our budding counseling center with professional counselors (even those working toward licensure); and of course, we need doctoral level seminary professors. The world is becoming cross-cultural, so get in on the trend and join us at PIU!
T
