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Greetings from the Pacific Islands Bible College campus where it is
Monday morning and a furious tropical squall has just blown through.
The sun is shining again.
SKELETON CREW
At the moment we are the only two staff people on campus. A few others
will be here later in the morning but most everyone is traveling right
now. Some are in the States visiting supporters and vacationing. Some
are on the mission teams in Thailand. (Check out the story on the PIBC
website)
SINGAPORE
Brad spent a few days last month in Singapore exploring a PIBC
partnership with TransWorld Radio. We're trying to figure out how our
developing distance education program might further serve the churches
along the Asian Rim. And while we haven't come up with a specific plan
it was a time of fruitful discussion.
SUMMER SCHOOL
Brad has been teaching the only PIBC Guam class offered this summer.
The world religions class, which meets on Tuesday evenings, has been
going really well. He will be teaching the class again in the fall on
the Guam campus and possibly in Palau and Chuuk -- utilizing a hybrid
of classroom lecture and online interaction.
THE COMPUTERS
We're over halfway done with the the set-up of the 90 new computers
the school received from a grant for the development of distance
learning. The computers which will stay on the Guam campus are done so
we are now installing the software on the machines that will be sent
to our sites on Chuuk, Palau, and Yap. Josh Jones, a college student
who works with Brad 10 hours per week, has been helping him. We are
also grateful that Mal Hamill, an Australian engineer who is on Guam
for most of the summer on another project, has been helping with the
computer set-up, too.
THE SORENSONS
Eric and Karyn Sorenson from the Bay Area will be joining us soon.
Eric and their son Christian are scheduled to arrive on August 2nd.
Karyn and their two daughters will arrive a few weeks later. Eric (who
is also a Covenant pastor) will be teaching theology and Bible. Karyn
is a family counselor who will be teaching and working with students
and staff.
THE PLAXTONS
Tim and Melody Plaxton have sold their home in the Sacramento area and
will very soon be joining us, too. Tim will be the chief maintenance
man and Melody will be teaching English. However, she is scheduled for
gall bladder surgery later today. Pray for her healing.
STEVE STINNETTE
Steve, our campus director on Guam, will be returning to the states
because it appears that he is going to need a cornea transplant.
Please pray for his healing. He may be gone for an entire year.
OUR CHILDREN
While we are not taking vacation this summer we're excited that Betsy
will be joining us for a couple of weeks. She is scheduled to arrive a
week from today. While she is here Kent will be in Korea on a study
tour. He was accepted into a short-term study program that should help
him with his senior thesis at UCI. Kirk has just finished his first
year at his job in San Francisco, and will be moving to a new
apartment at the end of the month.
CHERYL'S OTHER JOB
As a part of the self-supporting component of our project Cheryl works
15 hours per week in the office at the Guam United Methodist Church.
That's required a lot of extra attention these past few weeks because
they are going through a pastoral transition. It's gone well and
everyone is excited about the arrival of Fred & Naomi Agtarap.
Yesterday was their first Sunday.
PREACHING
Brad will be preaching at the two Bayside Baptist Church services next
Sunday. The following Sunday he will be preaching at the Lutheran
Church of Guam, where we have been worshiping.
DAILY TEXT
Mount Carmel Ministries in Alexandria, Minnesota has again donated
enough copies of the Moravian Daily Text that all of the student's in
Brad's spiritual formation class in the fall can have a copy. We use
these books to help teach spiritual disciplines. http://dailytext.com
TYPHOON MAN-YI
We experienced our first typhoon last week. Well, actually it was
still Tropical Storm Man-Yi when it blew past Guam doing a little
damage on campus -- but not much. We were fortunate. Portions of the
island were without power off and on most of last week. Typhoon Man-Yi
went on to beat up Japan for a few days but yesterday it was
downgraded to a tropical storm again. Picture and story
LIBERATION WEEK
This is Liberation Week on Guam, marking the anniversary of the
landing of American Forces on July 21, 1944. The Marines and soldiers
who landed on the beaches drove the Japanese off the island through a
few weeks of intense combat. During this week Guam also remembers the
thousands of indigenous people who were forced into concentration
camps. About 600 Chamorros were killed during the 31 months that the
island was under Japanese occupation. And there are still many
surviving Chamorros who will share their stories when given an
opportunity. The big parade down Marine Corps Drive will be on
Saturday morning and there will be a major display of fireworks in the
evening.
One of the amazing things about Guamanians is that while keenly aware
of the past they've moved beyond it all to the point where the
Japanese are now seen as welcome guests. About 90% of Guam's one
million tourists each year come from Japan. The Japanese own hotels
and have invested heavily in the infrastructure of the island. Even
our cell phone company is Japanese owned!
COME TO GUAM!
There are all kinds of opportunities here for short-term and
longer-term service. We need teachers (English, computer skills,
theology, ministry skills...). We need IT help. We could use
additional assistance with maintenance. Because of the severe nature
of the climate there are lots of ongoing maintenance projects. Some of
the very short-term projects on the Guam campus involve removing some
old fencing, putting up new fencing in some areas, painting, landscape
maintenance, installation of insulation over the ceiling tiles in the
classroom, study center, and administration building. If you know of
anyone who might be open to traveling halfway around the world to
serve in a new context let us know. :-)
SUPPORT INFORMATION
If you would like to support the ministry you can send a check or
commitment response to:
PM Support for Boydstons
Department of World Mission
Evangelical Covenant Church
5101 N Francisco Ave
Chicago IL 60625-3676 USA
Checks should be made out to the "Evangelical Covenant Church" with
the clear designation "for the support of Brad & Cheryl Boydston." If
possible print and include this .pdf form.
COMMUNICATION
• Check the current time on Guam before calling --
http://worldtimeserver.com
• Call us on our cell phones! Brad -- 671-988-4252. Cheryl -- 671-988-4243.
• Skype us -- BradBoydston or seespleez
• Guam address & phone:
Pacific Islands Bible College
PO Box 22619
GMF, GU 96921-2619
Office phone -- 671-734-1812
• Email us -- Brad@Boydston.us or Cheryl@Boydston.us
• Covenant World Mission -- http://www.covchurch.org/cov
• Pacific Islands Bible College -- http://pibc.edu
• Liebenzell USA -- http://www.liebenzellusa.org
• Liebenzell International -- http://www.liebenzell.org
• Our ministry website -- http://Guam.Boydston.us -- updated at least weekly.
• Cheryl's music -- http://CaminoMercedMusic.com
• Brad's website/blog -- http://Brad.Boydston.us -- updated almost daily
• Guam Visitor's Bureau -- http://www.visitguam.org
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