Hafa Adai #17

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HAFA ADAI

from Brad and Cheryl Boydston --
developing Christian leaders
and serving the churches
in the Western Pacific

"In His teaching the islands
will put their hope." Isaiah 42:4

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Hafa adai from Guam, where we're well into the second week of the spring semester at Pacific Islands Bible College.


TRANSITION

We appreciate all of your prayer and encouragement as we've been processing the decision about our future. Covenant project missionaries are usually deployed for 3-5 years. And at the end of the spring 2009 semester we will have completed 3 years. It has become clear to us during the discernment process that the end of this semester at PIBC will also signal the end of our term of service here on Guam. We greatly value (and will greatly miss!) the friendship and mission teamwork we've experienced with our colleagues at PIBC, but we're moving forward in faith, transitioning back to the States this summer. Specifically we are planning to move to Phoenix, Arizona to begin laying the groundwork for a Covenant church plant. This will be our third new church project together and we're excited not only about being close to family in Arizona but also about coalescing a mission-focused congregation to reach out in an area of the world where the growth of the church lags significantly behind the growth of the population. We'll pass along more information as it becomes available.

Our mission finances are such that we're going to need some extra help to make the transition back to the States. We'll have moving expenses and we also plan, as part of completing our project with the Department of World Mission, to attend the Covenant Annual Meeting and Covenant Mission Week after we return. So, we will continue to depend on the generosity of our supporters through the summer months.You all have been very faithful and we do not take your partnership for granted -- especially knowing that many of you are working through your own financial challenges at this time. Thank you.


ADDITIONAL UPDATES

• Several students finished their degree programs mid-year, but we picked up 10 new students for the spring semester -- a net gain of five on the Guam campus.

• In addition to working on the accreditation self-study, and juggling academic administrative responsibilities, Brad is teaching the Evangelism and Discipleship class in PIBC's new graduate-level seminary program. This is the first year of the program so the small class size provides a unique opportunity for teaching seminar-style. He has three students in this class -- one from Chuuk, one from Palau, and one from mainland China. So far it is going quite well.

• Cheryl continues to work in the PIBC office keeping the student financial records and managing accounts payable and accounts receivable. PIBC just installed new student management software which required a week of training and then a lot of extra data input. But it appears that the whole system is running more smoothly than expected.

• Kent, who was with us last semester as a PIBC volunteer, teaching two ESL classes and helping out in the library, left Guam for California last Wednesday. This coming Sunday he'll be flying to South Korea to begin a six month teaching gig in a program sponsored by their government -- teaching English to children in rural areas.

• All three of our children were here for Christmas and that was an outstanding time. Betsy is now back in class at UC Berkeley and Kirk has begun his new job with YellowPages.com in Glendale, California.

• We expect February to be a bit chaotic. Brad will be leading a retreat for international pastors next week. Then we have the PIBC board meeting the following week. The week after that we will be in Thailand at the retreat for Covenant workers from throughout Asia (thanks to some special gifts that were given to the Department of World Mission!).


PRAYER

• Please pray for us as we continue to serve at PIBC this semester. Pray for our students, student-staff community group, and the mission of PIBC.

• Pray, too, for the sale of our condo. We plan to put it on the market in March in preparation for the transition.

• Pray for the retreat Brad leads next week and the Covenant mission retreat that we're attending February 14-21 in Thailand.

• Pray for us as we begin to make specific decisions about relocating to Phoenix and start to develop connections there.

Thank you for your partnership!


SUPPORT INFORMATION

The address for sending support is:

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.