In the 1990's PIBC added a campus on Guam and became a tiny degree-granting college.
Today PIBC is a small accredited college with about 200 students -- still functioning with campuses on Guam and Tol. (Although we've had to cutback operations on Tol because of infrastructure issues -- and because it is nearly impossible to meet all of the required operational and academic requirements in such an isolated setting -- at least for a full program.) We also have teaching facilities on Weno in Chuuk, as well as in Yap and Palau.We're in the process of trying to add a teaching site in Hawaii. This site would host undergraduate classes and classes in our new graduate level seminary program.
Obviously the school has grown over the years but has it stayed true to the original vision? As a relative newcomer to PIBC I've been studying the history and operation of the college and my assessment is that PIBC has changed. But it's not so much a total change of direction as it is an expansion of vision based on a greater understanding of the context.
Here are some of the changes in process:
1. PIBC started out as a school to train Micronesians. PIBC is becoming a school with a broader focus. Yes, Micronesians will always be an important part of PIBC but we now see the need for a college that is pan-Pacific and pan-Island -- even pan-Asian.
Some may fear that as the vision expands Micronesians will be forgotten and that they'll get the short-end of the stick. But the situation is quite the opposite.
As the vision has expanded we are now educating more Micronesians than ever before. It's just that we're also taking the broader context of the Pacific and Pacific Rim into account. And in a globalized world this will actually do more for Micronesia than a college focused exclusively on Micronesians.
Developing Micronesian leaders who understand the rest of the world will help these islands deal with the tsunami of globalization that is already breaking on their shores. Hopefully we are not too late in making this shift.
2. PIBC started out as a school to train church leaders. And church leader was defined very narrowly because church ministry in Micronesia hasn't been understood very holistically. Church leaders are pastors, pastor's wives, and people who work with the youth group.
PIBC will certainly continue to focus on developing such leaders. The addition of a graduate-level seminary program will actually take their training up a notch.
However, we now see that we've been defining church ministry way too narrowly. We have not done a good job of training people to be Christian leaders in the culture as a whole. And the irony of this is that in traditional Micronesian culture (which is rapidly fading) young people couldn't assume any kind of real leadership anyway. So, we've been training young people to be pastors and church leaders but when they graduate and return to their islands as trained young adults in their mid-20's or early 30's, they aren't allowed to take on any significant church responsibility.
Generally speaking, you have to be in your 40's before that happens. Thus our graduates often become local school teachers, government workers, business people, or if they are at all ambitious they join the Micronesian disapora in Hawaii or the mainland US.So, we've been providing Micronesians with church leadership training so that they can go work outside the church.
There is further irony in this, though. The fact is that for the sake of God's kingdom and fully penetrating the culture with gospel values, these graduates working in schools, government, and business are actually very strategically placed.
Our problem as a college is that we haven't been training them to think holistically about how to minister in the broader culture. They need to understand that "ministry" isn't primarily something that happens when you have a youth rally or preach in a church -- as important as those things are. Ministry happens when you take Christ to work with you. Addressing the issues of health care and education are just as much ministry as doing an evangelistic skit or preaching a sermon.
What this epiphany means for PIBC is that we're now rethinking our existing programs and adding new academic emphases to help our students address the broader needs of the islands. We will continue with our AA and BA degrees in biblical studies. And some of our graduates with these degrees will become pastors, local church workers, evangelists, and missionaries. Many will hopefully go on for graduate studies in theology before they assume positions of responsibility.
However, we realize that one of the greatest needs in the islands is in the area of teacher education. Governors throughout the islands are literally begging for trained teachers. Thus we are working on adding a BA degree in elementary education. We hope to have that in place by the fall of 2009.
We are also thinking through the best way to develop an additional BA with a broader liberal arts focus that will specifically equip islanders to be community leaders in business and government. We hope to have that in place by the fall of 2010.
It would be a real stretch for PIBC but in my mind the next great challenge after that is to address the health care crisis. Is God calling us to care for the sick? How do we do that in a context where the existing health care has deteriorated from what it was 25 years ago and is now absolutely dismal? Does PIBC need to get into nursing? Social work?
If we are going to be faithful to God's calling and the vision to develop servant leaders we will continue to evolve. We are no longer just a Bible college but are in the process of becoming a Christian liberal arts college -- aiming to develop leaders not only for local churches but for the broader island context.
Yesterday's graduation on the Guam campus was so good on so many levels. I would highlight just two indicators of the shifts that are taking place in the Western Pacific that surfaced during yesterday's ceremony.
The first is that we had two women (!) sharing the valedictorian honors. They stood together to give their speech. And when they started speaking Joy Hosei, who is from Palau, greeted the audience in Chuukese. Twinsanne Sam, who is from Chuuk, then greeted the audience in Palauan. They were symbolically acknowledging the significance of the other's culture. In a place where the islands have seen each other primarily as competitors this is a big deal. Our Micronesian graduates are beginning to see beyond their own islands and their own local cultures.
The second indicator involved the student group which sang during the ceremony. All of the women in the group had gone shopping and had purchased nice complementing outfits. But what they chose, when left to choose for themselves, was not traditional Micronesian. They chose to dress as any nicely attired Westerner or Asian.It's not that they don't see themselves as Micronesians -- but I believe that by what they chose to wear they were saying to their parents and the others from their islands -- we're no longer JUST Micronesians.
That's the story of PIBC. This school will always have a strong Micronesian flavor (and that's good!) but we're no longer JUST Micronesians. And we're no longer JUST a Bible college. We're evolving into a Christian college which is getting serious about engaging the people and cultures of the Pacific and Asia.
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