In Case You Didn't Know . . . .

You may have noticed a lull in our communication recently. There's actually a good reason for this. Within about a month after arriving in California, we did a 180, went back to Guam for three weeks, and began a mad-cap adventure packing up our whole household to be shipped to Santa Barbara (besides trying to deal with two cats and two cars). That's right, after four years of incredible ministry living in Guam, we have now made the transition back stateside for a new adventure. Eric just began work on the staff of Community Covenant Church in Goleta, CA. It seems long ago and far away now, but before we left for Guam in 2007, Eric was serving as a regular pastor at a regular California church when the invitation came to begin a seminary at Pacific Islands University (PIU). After her initial reluctance, Karyn grew to welcome the challenge, and we signed on to a three-to-five year contract to work among Micronesians in Guam. The irony is that while Eric feels satisfied with the fulfilment of his obligation, Karyn feels like her work is on a roll. Thankfully, in an unprecedented move, the Evangelical Covenant Church granted Karyn permission to continue her work from 6000 miles away, our new home in Santa Barbara. So, while Eric strolls next door to his new office, Karyn parks in a chair at the parsonage and takes every advantage of the marvels of modern technology. Via Skype, phone, the Internet, and Continental Airlines, Karyn pursues her work as mentor, teacher, and counselor to students and staff at PIU. Of course, it's going to be a lot easier when our 20-foot long cargo container arrives with all of our earthly belongings! Stay tuned as within the next day or two we share more about the changes. For now, enjoy a few pictures from our crazy summer.


Inside the Cavernous Container





Mo, student with a servant's heart







"I get by with a little help from friends."





Shutting the door at last!

Sparing the Sparrows

 In the quiet moments that punctuate the busyness of life on Karyn's parents' ranch, someone wandered out the front door only to become the hapless victim of a dive-bombing sparrow.  After the nearly successful Kamikaze attack, he took a glance at the wreath adorning the adjoined door and beheld a tiny nest, complete with eggs.  Some creative flying fiend had determined that this innocuous looking decoration would be a good hideout, but little did she know the earthquakes she would have to put up with as the door is continuously opened and shut.  Nevertheless, the little mama has persevered and her chicks have hatched.  There's no place like home!    

"Even the sparrow has found a home, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may have her young" (Psalm 84.3).  Of course, the nest is a metaphor:  The best home for us is in God's immediate presence.  The Psalm begins, "How lovely is your dwelling place, O Lord Almighty!"  Like Mama Sparrow, who longs for her nest and protects it with her life, I hope we can each say, "My soul yearns, even faints, for the courts of the Lord . . . .  Blessed are those who dwell in your house" (verse 4).  Despite the earthquakes of life, I hope the metaphor and following pictures remind you to nest in the Lord. 

The Ranch House



The Front Doors



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The Wreath



No Place Like Home



Catching up in California

I now remember the same scenario last year.  We got to California and got so caught up catching up with our sons and other family members, that we neglected our blog for a few weeks. Oops - our bad. So, in an attempt to make up for lost time, here is a summary and a few pictures. Just emerging from the fog of jetlag our first Sunday, we decided to pay a visit to a nearby church, East Bay Fellowship. When a friend told the pastor's wife we would be there, she proclaimed it quite a "God-incidence." Last year, we brought the Voices of Micronesia (VoM) to minister at the same church's childrens' day camp, and it turned out that this very morning they were showing video clips from last year, featuring VoM! We were introduced, and an immediate connection was made in peoples' minds due to the wildly popular VoM. 
   

After a couple of days laying low, we headed south to preach for the first time at Community Covenant Church of Goleta (Goleta is Santa Barbara's northerly neighbor). There we met some new friends, spent some quality time with Teyler and Christian, and relaxed a couple of days with Eric's brother and family. In the process, we took a hike to Santa Barbara's popular Seven Falls (see pictures), rode bikes to the beach, and tried to hear each other over the screams of four girl cousins running in and out of Eric's brother's house. On Thursday, we drove further south and gawked at the variety and amazingly low prices of the Camarillo outlet stores. If one even finds such items in Guam, they are four times the cost (at least we don't pay sales tax in Guam)! Fortunately escaping with only a few small bags of merchandise, we then reversed direction and camped out a couple of days at Eric's parents' place in San Luis Obispo where we mowed the lawn (okay, Noelle mowed the lawn), trimmed bushes, did some crafts, and watched a couple of DVDs.  Last night we headed back to our summer headquarters in Castro Valley. Enjoy the pictures; we'll try to keep in touch more consistently!

Dance, Music, Volleyball--What's the Connection?

When I was a little girl, I would dreamily watch my brothers play sports. I would listen attentively as my father would instruct my brothers on the proper way to hold their bat, stand on the pitcher’s mound, slide into a base, etc. During batting practice, sometimes I was even given the privilege of throwing the ball to my brothers as my father patiently provided them with advanced batting instruction. Mesmerized, I would listen to the admonishments and advice my brothers received from their soccer and basketball coaches. But never once did I personally participate on a sport’s team. I, like all my other girl friends, participated in dance lessons: ballet, tap, and gymnastics. In middle school, my family moved to a new town which meant leaving the small school I knew and loved and attending a large, rather tough public school. It was here that I discovered such a thing as sports teams for girls. Unfortunately, if I thought the girls in this school were mean, they were nothing compared to the type of girls who played on the sports teams! No thanks. As much as the idea of playing sports appealed to me, the idea of surrounding myself with brutal Amazon girls appealed far less. Hearing that cheerleaders competed with other squads, I pursued cheerleading, where I erroneously assumed the girls would be less vicious. I stuck with cheerleading as my “sport” through my sophomore year in college. During that year, a friend convinced me to play intramural volleyball. I had never played volleyball before, but I definitely wasn’t going to turn down an opportunity to play a sport. I had a blast, and to my surprise, the women from the college volleyball team insisted I try-out for the college volleyball team. The rest is history. Although not an easy transition to go from a decade of dance to college-level volleyball, making the switch was, nonetheless, a highlight of my life. I LOVE volleyball! Additionally, almost as much as I relish playing volleyball, I love coaching volleyball. I love working in tandem with an individual and being part of the shaping process that helps them “to be all that they can be.”



Some of the PIU women's volleyball team players that I coach



And so it is that I chuckle as a type this blog. I look at the blessings I have received in my life: music lessons, voice lessons, dance lessons, sports instruction, drama/performance, and an incredible education, and I marvel at how each of those blessings has enabled me to invest in the lives of others. Whether it’s directing the Voices of Micronesia 2010 tour, providing counseling, teaching at the college, or developing and coaching a women’s volleyball team at Pacific Islands University, I so see God’s hand guiding and directing my life that I might invest in people “such as these.” I wonder what blessings you've received in your life? Don't underestimate your unique ability to make a lasting difference in the lives of others.



The PIU Women's Volleyball Team
*  These pictures and video were taken at the PIU Women's Volleyball Tournament held at the Agana Heights Gym.  PIU sponsored two ten-hour tournaments with up to ten island teams participating.



Yapese Dancers

The Internet was extremely slow on Yap, so while we were on the island, we were unable to upload this video, showing this beautiful Yapese dance.  If you go a few posts back (post dated 3/15/11), you can read about how we were able to attend this ceremony.  Also, I thought it was interesting that the men put a yellow-colored oil all over their bodies, giving them a yellow glow.  Furthermore, the light greenish/yellow "things" hanging from their arms and skirts, are fresh leaves.  Other than their red and blue "thus" (pronounced thooz), everything on their bodies is made with local flora.  

R & R Under the Sea

Yap:  March 16 & 17, 2011

Our working trip to Yap actually took place during Spring Break.  Since we were supposed to be off-work, we decided to take a couple of days to see just why this dot on the map is also one of the world's most sought after dive locations, a place that makes lots of people's "bucket list."  While it is true that 90% of dive tourists have no idea about the society beyond the walls of the dive resort, it is also true that 90% of the people living outside the dive resort have no idea exactly what lies underneath the water surrounding their island.  There is no way to describe it, so pictures will have to do.  By way of introduction, Yap is known for its Manta Rays, huge, graceful creatures flowing through the water without the slightest concern about the divers gawking at them as they glide by.  Spanning fourteen feet across in some cases, they stop in certain spots to let the little wrasse (fish) clean the accumulated plankton off their massive bodies.  Sometimes appearing in a line-up called a "Manta Train," they form an elaborate mating ritual as one-by-one, they float above diver's heads as if traveling through liquid space.  It is truly an amazing sight, but so was everything we share with you in the following slide show.

Yap: Making Connections

March 14, 2011
Tuesday was the day to put on my dive program coordinator's hat, and meet Yap's legendary Bill Acker. If it weren't for Bill, Yap would only be a tiny dot on an enlarged map of Micronesia (“tiny islands”). Bill came here in the seventies as a Peace Corps worker and couldn't get Yap about of his head. He returned here, and basically discovered the scuba industry, making Yap world famous for its manta rays (you also may have heard of Yap as the island of stone money, but that's another story). Bill was very open to our school's very unique dive-training program which is intended to certify dive masters who can get solid employment back in their home islands. We had a great chat. He introduced me to his dive shop manager, Jan, who along with everyone I've met among his 85 employees, is very interested in what we're doing. Bill would love to employ more Micronesian dive professionals.


Bill's Dive Resort



One doesn't always do things by appointment here, so after meeting Bill, we decided to try to find a woman who we heard was trying to find Karyn (few people seem to have phones). It seems that she dropped by the PIU teaching facility saying she heard there is a woman here who is a counselor and specializes in working with victims of sexual abuse. Her interest revolves around her work running a woman's center for victims of domestic violence and sexual abuse. In true island-style, no one seemed quite certain where the facility was located, until we were finally directed to a building that was surely the one. Surely it wasn't, but close! This was the building the women's center had originally planned on using but is now being used for a daycare. While Karyn was inside trying to get the location straightened out, she noticed an announcement instructing parents to make sure they get their kids immunized for mumps due to the recent outbreak (we forgot that mumps even existed!). A moment later, Karyn detected a little five-year-old Yapese boy watching her. He crept closer and closer and then gently put his little brown hand on her white leg as if overtaken by curiosity at how white skin must feel. Taking comfort from her mumps inoculation, Karyn reached out her hand so he could touch her; instead, he took her hand like they were going to take a walk together – too cute, just like the rest of the little ones staring at these strange white apparitions with wide brown eyes. By the way, later we finally found the woman's center . . . and it was closed. Not to worry, we've got a couple more days.


After a quick visit to the ESA restaurant to grab our once-a-day meal, I made my way back to the apartment, and Karyn went straight to the PIU teaching facility to use the internet.

For the next couple of hours I met with Liebenzell missionary and PIU board member Harold Gorges (PIU was originally founded by Liebenzell Germany). Harold is a wealth of information about Micronesia, where he has served since 1978, living in Yap the first 10 years. Like everywhere, I suppose, we are visiting a very unique culture, but I was stricken by how different it is from the other Micronesian islands. Westerners struggle to tell the difference between one Micronesian and another, thus falling prey to the assumption that they all share the same culture. Little could be further from the truth. Even here in tiny Yap, one group fails to understand another, exacerbated by the fact that they speak languages as different as English and Chinese. It is a culture that is private, patriarchal, and clan-driven, yet scarred by sky-rocketing substance abuse and suicide rates. To boot, this shame-based culture won't talk about its problems. Naturally, some of this characterizes the church, and therein dwells the problem. So, helping the church build the infrastructure I referred to in yesterday's entry is much easier said than done. Fortunately, as believers, we know there is hope!That evening we sat around a generous dinner table with Pastor Asael, his family (Chuukese), some leaders of the


Pastor Asael and Techimy


Yapese church, a German/Canadian couple volunteering in our teaching facility, Harold, and another visiting missionary from Liebenzell Germany. It was time to say goodbye to the latter, Armin, who had been with us at PIU, in Palau, and now in Yap. What a joy to later hear Pren, chairman of the Yapese Evangelical Church board, as he managed to balance sharing his testimony (in excellent English) with an ever-present wad of bright red betelnut in his mouth. He found Jesus (the other way around?) when he was told he might not make it through a serious surgery, so he had better make peace with his God. Pren had no God, but after reading a Gideon Bible and constantly bumping into Christians, he sneaked into church and discovered that God is named “Jesus.”



Pren



What wonderful fellowship we had that night across the cultural lines; another taste of heaven, where all God's people speaking languages from every people group, will join together in proclaiming Jesus as Lord.

One thing every missionary has the joy of experiencing: The presence of God's Spirit transcending every cultural divide!