Christmas Greetings and Blessings

Greetings on this Christmas day on Guam. I thought this morning would be a good time to catch up on this blog. I will be going to fellow missionaries and friends' (Ned and Marisol & children) home at 1:00 pm or thereabouts (in Micronesian time).

The Pacific Islands University Fall Semester is done and staff and faculty are on vacation until after new years. The students were really happy after that last class. It is really great to have a break from classes.

Last week, Lisa, our librarian asked if I could download some videos and burn them to DVD so that the library could have them available in the library. There really are not a lot of books and materials that I see available and these videos are specifically directed toward the Micronesian people. 4 of the videos are a 5 part series on the history of Micronesia. There is also an extensive list of articles you can read online. If you are interested, here is the link to the website: http://www.micsem.org/video/online.htm There are 64 separate videos to download. Number 30 is being downloaded now.

During this past semester I have hopefully been some help to the 4 students who were in an online introduction to computers course. One of their assignments was for all the students to work together to create a presentation in Open Office to demonstrate what they have learned. They misplaced a group picture, so I took one for them standing in front of the PIBC sign at the entrance to the campus.
On December 12th, the staff and faculty gathered for dinner and fun at the Guam Reef hotel in the top floor. The sunset was spectacular (they all are).

Everyone had a great time:





One Sunday, I attended the children's Christmas program. In this first picture, you can see that the Lutheran Church on Guam is located right on the beach. You can see the ocean through the windows behind the alter.

Here is the entire group that put on a wonderful program. They did such as good job of making Jesus the important emphasis of Christmas.

A couple of days ago I was bicycle riding and the sunset was spectacular. Now that the rain has slowed down, I can pull my camera out more often.



Last night, Christmas Eve, my church had a living creche scene with a carrabao (water buffalo) and some chickens captured from the jungle. Mary, Joseph, and the baby Jesus were represented by a couple who have a brand new baby (Hope) who is less than a month old.

I arrived early. The carrabao was taking advantage of the wait by grazing through the lush weeds getting a snack.

The re-enactment of Jesus' birth took place in local caves carved our during WW II by the Japanese using local forced laborers using primitive tools. Those are philodendron vines hanging down the cliff. The whole cliff is draped lavishly with plants and different kinds of philodendron. I heard the caves are privately owned and in very good condition.

Here is Joseph outside the cave.

Jesus was probably born in a cave -- not a wood stable. At the time of His birth, animal were kept in caves around Bethlehem.

It was a bit rainy and actually quite cool but the service was really great after we viewed the living manger.

Later in the evening there was a Christmas Eve service at the church. Pastor Jeff reminded us that Christmas is not just lights, glitter, and presents. When Jesus was born, the country was occupied by the Romans and the whole reason for going to Bethlehem was because of a census ordered by the current Caesar for the purposes of taking. Also King Herod had very ill will toward Jesus and wanted him dead. Also, today, not everything is wonderful. There is much darkness in this world and the Christmas glitter and lights do remind us that Jesus is the Light come to the world. Therefore, it is right to celebrate His coming to earth as a tiny baby just like tiny Hope who represented Jesus in the living nativity.

These days, because only my brother remains as my immediate family and I am thousands of miles away from any relatives, Christmas is very simple. I received a box from Roy and another from a friend in California. There was also a small gift from friends at the college. The molasses cookies from Roy didn't make it to this morning. I have been munching on the cookies from my California friend. This morning I opened presents. My brother is very talented. He made the tiny engine in his workshop. I also receive a shell captured by friends while "reef walking".

Now I must start getting ready to go for lunch. It is already 11:30 am !!!!

Getting close to the end of the semester

Thanksgiving has come and gone. It was a wonderful time of fellowship, thanksgiving, and food between staff and students and their families at the PIU campus. The staff provided the food and the students were invited to join in. I have lots of pictures.

Before dinner:
Rob Watt gave a short devotion and we sang a song before dinner.

The food was plentiful and the line long.

This is what a Guam style Thanksgiving dinner plate looks like. It is mostly the turkey dinner but there is always the addition of rice to any meal. Jen sure looks like she is going to enjoy it!
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I really like taking pictures of our students and they like to get their pictures taken!


I just got back home from the last scheduled PIU staff prayer meeting. It was a potluck. On Tuesday I go to the doctor for my regular check up and I would imagine I have at least gained back the 3 lbs. I lost over the summer! I don't have a scale so I am guessing. I have not been bike riding as much because the sun goes down earlier and earlier every day. By 6:30 PM it's dark.

I know, I remember back in the states, that 6:30 PM sounds like it's late getting dark. I remember those days I went to work in the dark and came home in the dark. Because of the close proximity of the equator (only 13 degrees south of here) the sunrise and sunset does not change dramatically.

I have been on 2 boonie stomps since my last post. The first was to "Sharks Hole" and even though I had my camera with me, all I returned with were some shells. Below is a collage of shells and sea glass. A group of about 40 set out from campus but not all went to Sharks Hole. Some chose to hang around the beach near where we parked.


The surf was high and the rocks were sharp. Most of the trek is a walk on the beach but in one spot there is a lot of very sharp lava rock. On the way out, I bumped into some rocks and got black and blue. On the way back one stomper (who shall remain nameless unless she decides to tell the story) was thrown onto the rocks by a 7 foot rogue wave and required 10 stitches. At the time I was climbing over the rocks assisted by a Department of Agriculture worker. (The people are so friendly and helpful here.)

The DOA workers were starting to look for rhino beetles which are not native and doing damage to palm trees, in the North island and they found some. There has been an erradication program going on for a while in the south part of the island but now they will need to start the same program in the north.

The second was a boonie stop down the "Spanish Steps" which is on the Navy Base. One of the men at the Lutheran Church of Guam stationed at the Navy base arranged and led the stomp. It was an opportunity not to be missed because access to the military bases is very restricted.

At the bottom of the cliff (requiring handy ropes strung for stommpers) is "Spanish Well" which is dry and then a flat hike to the water. Not a sandy beach and the currents were still strong from Typhoon Nino that passed near Guam at least a week ago. That was the reason the waves were so strong on the Shark's Hole stomp.


You may notice that I almost never have any pictures of the stomp itself. Most of the time I am thinking about hiking and not falling -- not taking pretty pictures. So, the pictures are all of the destination. I have no pictures of Shark's Hole because my camera was in a bag I can use underwater or to keep it dry if I happen to get wet. In the trek to Shark's Hole, everything I had with me got sopping wet. It was a bit cool and rainy so I had a sweatshirt on. It got totally wet and weighed about 10 lbs. when I got home and took over a week to dry.

The Spanish Steps were just steep with no place to take pictures safely without holding up the whole group. That's one fun thing about boonie stomps. They are group affairs because it is not something I would do by myself.

Soon it will be the end of 2009. I hope that you enjoy the Christmas season for what it is supposed to be -- not presents and candy canes but to celebrate the birth of Jesus as he came to earth as a man. The purpose of his coming was not for us to have all the trappings of Christmas but to die on the cross so that we might live.

Catching up on things

It has been a very busy fall and I have been ignoring my blog. This is to do some catching up.

The study center I worked on all summer opened when classes started. Some days every computer is in use. On other days - not so many. Below is a picture of the Study Center.


Soon after classes began, we had our annual Pacific Islands University / Lutheran Church of Guam challenge cup. PIU got to keep the cup for another year. Below, the ladies are getting ready for the volleyball games which PIU won because we were ahead when it started to rain!. LCG won the basketball but PIU won the tug of war 2 to 1.


One evening we held a Mystery Dinner for the ladies. It was like a progressive dinner but the students did not know what was coming next - snacks? main dish? salads? We staff stayed where we were and the students went from place to place. At first the students were a little shy but we had ice breaker questions and by the time the fifth group came around it was a grand time and we didn't need the questions. After all the students had been to each "station", we took all the food to the main classroom and ate some more and then there were a couple of games. In one of the games, 2 student would get a card that would say something like "cheek to shoulder". The picture below I got by pointing the camera up from the floor because the students were bent way over.


Three of the ladies wore a beautiful picture in blue.


At Pacific Islands University, we have "community groups" where students and staff are assigned to a group. We have had 2 activities. One day we met in the pavilion for lunch. The next outing was a boonie stomp to Paget Cave. I had been there before so I knew I could make the trip on my own but the men students in our group are so chivilrous. I had help over the difficult bits so I did not have to slide down on my rear and there was one spot going up I was glad for a hand to pull me up where there was a really big step. Larry (a missionary instuctor) runs every day and he beat us back to the car by a long shot. Melody and I brought up the rear during the section that is just steep enough to get us puffing every 50 - 100 feet.



Good exercise. When we got back to campus, we spoiled it with ice cream cones. Mint Chocolate - yum, yum.

Not everything has been fun and games. It is only with the Lord's help that I have been dealing with GTA (the local telephone company) who supplies DSL to the library and Study Center. It was immediately evident after classes began that we were having internet speed problems. We are still experiencing internet slowness. The conclusion is that we are located too far from GTA's office in Mangilao to get consistent service. I would appreciate your prayers and we discuss what we will do about the problem.

I have been doing some wood working. I finally got my scroll saw up and running and below are some of my new "tropical" themed boxes. What I have made was in a show last Saturday and I sold one box and a couple of other things. I will be looking at where I can offer my work for sale. One thing I will do is add another page on this blog where I can list some of my craft/art work.

This is one of my turned things. It is two cup shapes to be a "latte stone".


I also have made some scroll saw boxes. Here are some pictures of my boxes.



For two weekends I looked for a bay where fellow staff member Melody Plaxton told me there was sea glass to be found. I was told the first time that the bay was on the Pacific side so I didn't go far enough but the ride was fun anyway as I enjoyed God's creation of the beautiful scenery.





The second time I tried I knew the bay was on the Phillipine Sea side of the island and I found it! This is what I picked up -- drying after soaking in clorine bleach to that they do not stink.


One day I went snorkeling with friends Laura and Jen where we encountered a blue starfish which is on Jen's head and my hand:Back into it's own environment on the sandy bottom:


Every once in a while I am reminded that for most people, English is not their first language:


I hope you have enjoyed these pictures. I am so blessed to be here on Guam serving God at Pacific Island University. There are many other things that I do not have pictures of. Pictures of chapel where God is worshiped. Pictures of the Lutheran Church where God is worshiped in song, prayer, preaching, praises, and fellowship with fellow believers. Every other Sunday night the PIU staff meets for prayer. We learn the needs of the university and the people involves and pray for each other.

Moldy Trunks and Torrential Rain

I went looking for something and, for the first time in weeks, I opened my antique wood travel trunk and almost fell over. Mold had struck and it stank. Pretty soon my whole house stank. I had been told things closed up would mold but everything else seems to be open air enough that I have not had a problem except for this one place that I didn't know about.

I emptied it out, tossed a lot of it and wiped everything else down with 2% bleach. I then washed the interior with 2% bleach.It has dried out now, and I put baking soda in bowls to try to get rid of any odor and the top is propped up a bit to let air in.

I can still smell it.

At 5:30 I decided it was time for a bike ride. It wasn't actively raining. Before I got out of the parking lot it was raining. If I went home at the first drop, I wouldn't get much riding done in the summer, so I kept on. I thought I had already experienced as wet as I could get while bike riding.

I was wrong.

I finally came home not because I was wet but because the streets were getting flooded. There was water running everywhere. I went through a puddle that was at least up to my axles. Good thing I wear saddles in the summer for riding. Sneakers take days to dry and also will hold lake Michigan squishing back and forth as one rides.

I have not gotten so wet that I had to wring out my clothes before hanging them up. This time I did. I made a big puddle in the tub. They are now hanging up to dry. when Brad and Cheryl Boydston left Guam they gave me a wood folding drying rack. It has been much used.

More sunsets

I seem to take more pictures of sunsets than anything else. I have never lived in a place before where beautiful sunsets are the norm not the unusual. Here are the best of the best I took last night. For a novel evenings bike ride, I did not get strinkled on, rained on, or dumped on. I expect during this rainy season to get wet regularly.
There is also thunder in those clouds now. This evening I got half way across the parking lot when a loud thunder clap rumbled. I turned around. That was my ride this evening. As you can see it's still raining out. I needed bottled water and took two 3 gallons bottles to the water store (the untreated local water can be drunk but it tastes awful). I got about as wet as the water in the bottles. The benefits of the rainy season are that everything turns green, green, green. This picture is out back of my apartment.

Sunsets

Last Sunday I was late leaving the house to go bike riding. Then, on my ride, there was a sunset so grand I have no words for it -- and no camera. The Lord really knows how to put on a show and sometimes all I can do is drink it in.

This evening (Tuesday) I rode down the cliff road to the marine lab at the University of Guam. Part of it I have to walk up. The rest of the road tells me that I am making progress in getting into shape. I went down, up about 2/3 of the way, turned around and whizzed back down to just before the steep part to a parking lot and back up past where I turned around and didn't stop once until I got to the point where I have to walk. The first time I went down there, I had to stop 3 times to recover before getting to the always walk part.

There also was a quite nice sunset and I got sprinkled on.

I have learned from several people here that you have to be really careful if you get any kind of injury here in the tropics -- that infections take off really quick. This was after I lost a fight with a Corell dish I dropped on the floor where it smashed and got me in the leg. I didn't go right away to see if I needed stitches but was told I should get it checked the next morning. So, I did. Too late for stitches. I don't think it needed any anyway. I think it's healed enough that there will be no infection.

PIU campus has been pretty quiet. The team that went to Thiland will be back by next week and then faculty will start arriving on various dates starting August. Things will get really busy really quickly then.

Pink Sea Sunset

On my bike rides I often get the opportunity to see some spectacular sunsets and cloud formations. This evening I was amazed by the pink sea with a pink sky.


Then, I looked at the sunset where the sun goes down and this is what I saw:

I don't see these sunsets from my home. So, my bike rides are a blessing at seeing God's beautiful ocean, clouds, and sunsets and getting in better shape.