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 !!!!