Sorensons arrive

Eric and Karyn Sorenson are the new Covenant project missionaries joining the PIBC team this fall. Eric and their son Christian (16) arrived on Guam in August so they could be here for the start of the school year. Karyn, Katie (10), and Noelle (7) arrived to join them very very early this morning. (Their son Teyler is staying in the States to attend college.) Click on the picture for a bigger view.

Hafa adai! Welcome to Guam!

PIBC - LCG

Two of our Guam communities converged yesterday afternoon when the Lutheran Church of Guam and the PIBC students held a joint get-together, basketball and volleyball tournament, and BBQ on campus.

It was really good to bring these two groups together. The Lutherans have been very supportive of the school (utilizing student interns, helping fund student mission trips, hosting student car washes, etc.) -- even though most of the congregation had never been on campus. So it was a chance for people to get to know each other.

Snapshot of the good life

Melissa invited us for dinner

First snake of the year

Some of the PIBC guys are posing with the brown tree snake that Happiness Lodge caught this evening. The snake which is nearly six feet long was traveling along one of the chain-link fences on campus when Happiness grabbed it.

It was the first capture of the new school year and it put him ahead of Joyce Owen who has been competing with him for the past several years to see who can kill the most snakes.

Brown tree snakes are an invasive species on Guam. They've been responsible for the almost total decimation of the bird population on the island. Apparently they arrived as cargo stowaways from the South Pacific just after WWII.

There have been a lot of creative efforts to rid the island of the snakes. The most recent involves baiting them with acetaminophen laced rats. Apparently Tylenol is toxic to the snakes.

The USDA has killed 6,738 of the snakes in a trapping program that they started in 1998. But when you consider that it is estimated that there are about 2,000 of the snakes per square kilometer on the island the program by itself isn't enough. Guam is about 540 square kilometers.

I got my first snake on August 20th of last year. But I've only encountered one other since then. It was dining in the dumpster at our condo complex. I whacked him with my machete but he managed to slither back into the jungle before I could finish him off. In other words, I'm not even in the same league as Happiness or Joyce.

Hafa Adai #12

Greetings from Guam on this first day of fall (or spring if you're one of our Southern Hemisphere friends)! Here at 13° North there isn't a whole lot of seasonal variation. It's still hot and muggy -- but as usual the ocean breezes will be blowing across the island off and on today keeping things quite livable.

FALL SEMESTER
We are starting our fourth week of the fall semester at Pacific Islands Bible College. And once again we've experienced a major jump in enrollment on the Guam campus. Last year we had 84 students. This fall we're at 107, from a variety of Pacific islands and Asian Rim countries. (There are 63 students living in the on-campus dorms.) In Brad's spiritual formation class there are students from Chuuk, Palau, Yap, the Marshalls, China, Korea, Guam, and even one from the mainland US. At least two of the 20 students in the class are very new Christians.

Brad is also teaching the world religions class again. This is a class which meets one evening each week and then has a large online component, in addition to the reading.

A good deal of his time is directed toward the administration of the distance education program. He is also transitioning in to the academic vice president's role. The current academic VP, our friend Mary Johnson, has been asked by her mission (the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America) to spend more of her time administering the teaching-English-as-a-second language program that the Lutherans have throughout Asia.

Brad is scheduled to travel to Atlanta at the beginning of November so he can attend the accreditor's annual conference and learn a bit about what it's going to take to guide PIBC through the accreditation renewal process next year.

Cheryl is also taking on new responsibilities. In addition to her job as the PIBC central office business manager she will become the Guam campus business manager on October 1st. This involves additional bookkeeping and financial management.

STEVE & ANNE STINNETTE
As you can tell, there is just a lot of reshuffling at the moment. One of the factors in this game of musical chairs is that Steve and Anne Stinnette are returning to the States this week. Steve has had keratoconus, a condition which causes a thinning and major distortion of the cornea, in his left eye for at least 12 years. The keratoconus has progressed to the point where it appears that he is going to need a corneal transplant, which will put him Stateside for at least two years. Steve has up to this point been the Guam campus director. The Stinnettes have been serving on Guam and throughout Micronesia for 28 years. Keep them in your prayers please.

CHERYL'S MUSIC
We've been updating Cheryl's music website and yesterday posted a new song -- the first new song completed since we moved to Guam 13 months ago. (There are some others in various stages of development but we've found that it takes a lot of mental and creative energy to function in a new place.) Wash Me, Lord -- "a song of confession, the lyrics are based on David's heartfelt remorse and the Lord's abundant mercy, as recorded in Psalm 51. The imagery of water is used not only to convey the means of cleansing, but also to depict the goodness of living beside the river of the water of life." It's available at CaminoMercedMusic.com -- and as always, it is free.

THAI MISSION TRIP VIDEO
This summer PIBC sent two mission teams of five to serve in Thailand. This is the first time that we've sent out teams that were all Micronesians (except for one Filipina) -- no American or German missionaries. So this was a turning point for the school. And it was truly life-changing for these students. Several are planning to return to Thailand to serve as missionaries for longer terms. The students made a 7-minute video presentation of their trip, which they uploaded to YouTube. There is a link on our website -- Guam.Boydston.us

NEW STAFF
Eric Sorenson, the other Covenant pastor and project missionary at PIBC, will be joined by his wife Karyn and daughters next weekend. Eric and their high school age son, Christian, arrived in August so that they could begin the school year on time. Eric is teaching Bible and theology. They have a blog at eksorenson.blogspot.com/.

STAFF NEEDS
Covenant World Mission recently asked for a list of short-term missionary opportunities. I sent them the following list of staffing needs this week:

1. IT maintenance and development, based on the PIBC Guam campus with some travel to other sites in Micronesia. (1-2 years)

2. English, science, math, philosophy, Bible teachers on PIBC sites on Guam, Chuuk, and Palau. Masters degree in field being taught is required. (1-2 years)

3. Campus maintenance person on very remote Chuuk island. (1-2 years)

If God might be tugging you this direction send us an email. A copy of the Covenant short term application is available at:
www.covchurch.org/mission/departmental-ministries/short-term-missionary-program

FINANCES
We know that we can serve here only as long as the churches, individuals, and families who provide for our financial support continue to do so. We've been overwhelmed by your generosity and the follow through with pledges and commitments that have been made. Thank you. We have lost some supporters through death and because people's financial situations change. So we have to continue to seek new support and to keep our financial needs on the radar. 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 - bradboydston.com/pdf/responseform.pdf .

THANK YOU!
We are so blessed to have so many active friends and so much family behind us. Keep praying for us and our students.

• Most of our students struggle with English. Pray that they'd be encouraged and that they would have the necessary perseverance to do their work.

• Pray for the island churches -- that they would be open to the enthusiasm and vision of the pastors and leaders completing the PIBC BA, AA, and diploma programs.

• Pray that our students and the churches of the Western Pacific would develop a passion for God's kingdom that would extend beyond the islands. In many ways islanders have more potential for effective ministry in the 10-40 Window of unreached people groups than Americans and Europeans. They're a lot closer culturally than Westerners and are a lot more flexible than we are.

Thank you for your partnership!

COMMUNICATION

• Check the current time on Guam before calling --
worldtimeserver.com/current_time_in_GU.aspx

• 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 USA
Office phone -- 671-734-1812

• Email us -- Brad@Boydston.us or Cheryl@Boydston.us

• Covenant World Mission -- www.covchurch.org/cov/mission/index.html

• Pacific Islands Bible College -- pibc.edu

• Liebenzell USA -- www.liebenzellusa.org

• Liebenzell International -- www.liebenzell.org

• Our ministry website -- Guam.Boydston.us -- updated regularly.

• Cheryl's music -- CaminoMercedMusic.com

• Brad's website/blog -- Brad.Boydston.us -- updated almost daily

• Guam Visitor's Bureau -- www.visitguam.org

Thai mission trip video

Our students who went to Thailand this summer have put together a 7 minute video that tells the story of their mission trip.

Convergence Island

Guam is not only the place where the cultures of the West, the Pacific Islands, and Asia come together (and occasionally clash) but it's also the place where the developing world meets the developed world. Thus at times you feel like you're living in the middle of a shameful dump. Not too far away, though, is the world of clean and slick.

Home Depot is scheduled to open next month. Not only will it be the world's largest Home Depot but I suspect it will be the Home Depot with the best view in the world. From the parking lot you can see Tumon and the bay -- beautiful spot -- just below the airport and above the world's largest Kmart.

PIBC's Guam campus is a place where many worlds come together, too. I received the preliminary figures yesterday. We have 102 students this semester -- up from 84 last year (up from 6 in 2001). In addition to the locals from Guam, our students are from Chuuk, Yap, Palau, the Marshalls, Ponphei, Korea, China, Bangladesh, and the Philippines. There are even some mainland Americans. This year's staff is from the US, Germany, the Philippines, Chuuk, Yap, and Palau. Convergence.

Benefit Concert for Stinnettes

Steve Stinnette, who up until a few weeks ago was the Guam campus director at PIBC, is returning to the States for at least two years so that he can have a cornea transplant. Steve and Anne will be leaving Guam is about two weeks.

Before they go, though, Calvary Baptist Church (1196 N Marine Corp Dr, Upper Tumon) will be presenting a special benefit concert to raise money to help with the expenses. Steve's insurance, we all found out after it was too late, does not cover transplants. The concert, featuring the congregation's praise team, will be at 6 p.m., Sunday, September 16th. Donations will be collected.

Steve and Anne have been working in Micronesia for 28 years, first as Campus Crusade for Christ staff and then as Liebenzell missionaries.

In the picture Steve is leading singing at the PIBC staff prayer meeting last February.