Dog Gone!

Actually both dogs are gone. Last week I was forced to make a hard decision. PeeVee did not work well behind my apartment. He was digging things up. And we had enough dogs on campus so there was no place else to move them. So I talked to my friend Joyce and she had pity on PeeVee and JD and she has taken them on a trial basis. So far for the most part they are doing well. (Although PeeVee did eat a pair of Joyce's shoes.) I went to see them tonight and they were so excited to see me. Yet they seemed happy at Dave and Joyce's as well. They get to run and play in their back yard all day and are not tied up. I also have visitation rights. :o)

Stars in Guam

This is David Ahlgren (pronounce All Grin)... Although David grew up on Guam, he now runs a software company in Oklahoma which wrote software we use for online components to our classes. He also happens to also have been a foster son of David and Joyce Owen. He was here to train our teachers how to use the software. While he was here he brought me a fruit that I had never tried. It is called a Star Apple. You can see in the picture how it got its name. It was tasty but it really doesn't take like an American apple. It is always fun to be introduced to new things.

A Modern Day Miracle

Around my birthday last year (which is in October)... Hollie and I planned to go snorkling. Unfortunately something happened and we were not able to go. Either rain or some other type of emergency came up every time we tried to reschedule and tried to go. However we were able to schedule a time at the end of last week and although it rained the first day, we were able to reschedule the following day. This is GabGab Beach. It is on the Navy base (AKA BIG Navy). It was very fun and the first time I was able to find time to go since I got back.

Big Shoes to Fill

When Peter (our previous maintenance supervisor who is from Holland) left PIBC, he left some pretty big shoes to fill. Here are the Farnsworth children trying to fill them.

Teachers Training

The last 3 days on campus was held teacher's training. Since I am not planning on teaching this year, I did not take the training. However, I ended up organizing the food, snackes and drinks for the teachers for the conference. I also have helped with the transportation and housing of the teachers that have come from Chuuk. This has made this week EXTREMELY busy. I was up early every day (for the most part) and running around getting things, setting up, cleaning, preparing. It reminded me of the old days when I would help organize and execute parties and showers at PMA (my old job). It is a bit harder since we have less than ideal circumstances at the school for hosting these things (all things such as coffee pots, bowls, coolers, food, etc have to be lugged to the room.) The teachers seemed well fed and appreciative, and I did have fun.... But by the end of the 3rd day, I needed a nap. Napping is not something I do regularly but I was so tired I didn't have much choice.

A Island Custom

Quite frequently here on Guam, when we enter private residences we take our shoes off. This is also very common in many parts of Asia. Of course we don't do it in public places like Kmart. No Shirt, No Shoes, No Service (Like Kenny Chesney always sings. Right, Amy?) still applies here. However when I was home I often continued this tradition..... although not enough apparently since sometimes now I forget.

Liebenzell Micronesia

Originally it was planned to have a two day conference for Liebenzell Micronesia. This is most PIBC people on all the Islands and Aseal and Techimy who are in Yap working with the Yap Churches, and whom we worked with in Yap on our Christmas break last year. Unfortunately the speaker had multiple things arise which made him unable to attend so the conference was shortened to one afternoon during which we enjoyed fellowship, a wonderful meal, and updates on the work in the different islands.

Friday Night Adventures with Joyce

Joyce Owen is my friend who happens to be married to the President of PIBC. Neither of us are morning people so when we talked about bug bombing the Girl's dorm, we began talking about Saturday morning....but decided we would rather do it on Friday Evening. So we dragged all the mattresses out in the lobby. As we were doing that Mohahmmed was changing Joyce's flat tire in the dark in the rain. Then we discovered one of the bathrooms had a leaking toilet and about 2 inches of water on the floor so we ended up mopping it up. Finally when we were finished we set off three bug bombs and locked the dorm for the evening. Notice the results!!! Eeewww! Some of them were still moving. Now how is that for Friday night fun? Maybe next Friday night we will figure out how to empty the septic tank. ;0)

Thai Team Fellowship

On this past Wednesday night, the faculty and staff and friends of PIBC gathered together to have a time of fellowship with the students who went on the two missions trips to Thailand.

We had pizza and afterward each team member shared the many things they learned and ways they saw God work among them. It was very encouraging to hear their many tales.... and to see how God worked in their lives. I was so proud of them.

The "New" Peter

This is Tim and Melody Plaxton. I met them last year at orientation with the Liebenzell Mission. Unfortunately their support raising took longer than we would have hoped but I believe God brought them here in His perfect time.

Melody had been here at PIBC before with her daughter, Erin. For one semester teaching English.... Now she is back with her husband, Tim. This time indefinately. As of this summer they sold there house in California and made the leap. They are excited to be here. And we are excited to have them.

Tim is the "new" Peter, or the head of maintenance any way. Although, Peter's maintenance skills were only part of what made him invaluable to PIBC - So I am sure we will still feel the loss in many areas (especially on weekends when all the students want to go to UA video store or when playing Mexican train - who will be the "Holland Train"?) AND I am sure Tim will bring his unique gifts to PIBC and we will be blessed in many different ways as well.

Food Glorious Food

One of the things I am in charge of right now seems to be food. I don 't mind so much but it keeps me busy. I have had to get food for the Thai team students that are staying on campus. I also am getting food catered for the Teacher's conference that is coming up. I also went with Hannahlore as she was getting food catered for the Micronesian Liebenzell Conference that will start this Friday. Finally we need to find a caterer for the fall semester. I will be looking for a caterer to put in bids for Fall semester. Although we have a new dinning facility.... we need a cook. Plus we need kitchen appliances. If you know someone who want to raise support as a missionary and come and be a cook - we are excepting applications.

Ok....now I have to go and order Pizza and back brownies for our dinner tonight with the Thai team.

Thai Team Returns

It was so good to have the Thai team back. They all looked well and happy. Some of them will be staying on campus to help clean up and get the campus ready for the beginning of the semester.

I am looking forward to a dinner tonight to hear them share stories about their adventures.

Getting Into the Groove

One of our traditions as PIBC staff has been an every other week prayer meeting with the staff including potlocks some of the time. Although not everyone is back yet, there is plenty going on right now that needs prayer, especially with all the transitions going on at the school. So those of us that were here last Sunday night got together for prayer, fellowship, and food. I have to admit these are some of my favorite times. However as all things happen - there will probably be some changes to this tradition, this semesters. With the addition of new faculty and staff, it will probably be impossible to fit in individual houses for such occassions.

And then there were 2....

I was very excited to get back from the States and see PeeVee, and he seemed quite excited to have me back. I was also somewhat surprised to see that he has a friend. One of the other dogs on Campus had a puppy and PeeVee and he are constant companions. He is very sweet and cute (as most puppies are). Some of the staff have named him J.D. for Joyce's dog, because they hope Joyce and Dave will adopt him. I was reminded by some of the Thai team students that it is also the name for one of our students - although he more commonly goes by a nickname. Unfortunately the place that they are staying has to be changed because they are making a mess and ruining termite traps that the school has installed. There seems to be no other places on campus where we have room for another dog - so they may both have to go to the local animal shelter. This makes me very sad because I love dogs - especially these two. :o(

Thai Mission Teams

This summer we had two different missions teams go to Thailand. One group went to an area where they taught English as a second language. The team has 5 people including Mac, Twinsanne, Elilai, Stella, and Ethel.

The second team went to a university where they were able to share with students the message of Christianity. This team also had 5 people including Hiob, Joel, Smileen, Jayleen, and Kalvin.

Both teams have been gone one month and will return tomorrow morning at 6am. Ned and I will be picking them up. Some of them will be staying on campus to help get the campus ready for school by cleaning dorms and cutting grass. I am looking forward to their lively presence.

Prayer Requests

As I slowly get back into the swing of life on the Island and at PIBC, I realize that there is a lot to do before the semester starts.

One reason for that is my boss, our campus director, Steve Stinnette, has been having eye problems and it has been determined that he needs to go back to the States for a Cornea transplant. (He actually will be coming to Philadelphia to Will's Eye Hospital).... He will be gone at least 2 years for surgery and follow up care. At this point there is no one to take his place. This means that it is likely that many of us will split his responsibilities at least temporarily. This will take place over the next 3 weeks as everyone else returns.

Please pray for wisdom in this process and for wisdom in finding someone to fill the position during Steve's absence.

Another problem we have currently is housing. We have limited housing available and with not that many students graduating - this means very little room for new students. There are very many details but please pray for wisdom in who and how many students to accept and where to put them.

We also have a bunch of new people starting including Tim and Melody Plaxton. Tim will be our maintenacne supervisor taking over many of Peter's responsibilities and Melody will be an English teacher. Eric Sorenson will be a new teacher.....He has a wife Karyn and 3 children. Karyn is a counselor and may be doing some counseling besides home schooling her two youngest children. A new Crystal will also be among us. She will be teaching some type of math. Delight (husband of Eveylyn) will now be working with Jens in the financial aid area. Please pray as we grow as a family that we would still be able to work together with a spirit of love and unity that we have grown to appreciate here at PIBC.

Right now we have two missions teams in Thailand at two different sights. They return to Guam next Wednesday August 15th. Pray that God would strengthen them and give them unity in their teams to do whatever God is calling them to do as they finish up 4 weeks of service. Pray for their safe arrival back in Guam.

As I met with Steve and Ned yesterday, it became clear that there needs to be some changes in the area of student transportation. In the past we have tried to take students where they need to go. However with this many students, and the current gas prices, and limited drivers - it can no longer be done. Pray we would be wise in developing the new policy.

Pray also for wisdom in the area of providing meals for the students. We had hoped to have our new "Dinex" cafeteria up and running this semester but we found that it is not feasible. Some of our assumptions were incorrect, and so it looks like another semester where we will have to cater the food. Now before school starts we have to find a caterer. We also need pray for the best way to run our kitchen during the coming semester.

What would YOU like to drink?

A couple months ago, my friend Brad posted about drinks now made in Singapore. They are called "Whatever" and "Anything".... This comes out of the idea that often when you ask a guest what they would like to drink, these are common answers. Both these drinks come in about 5 different flavors, however Whatever is always an iced tea drink.....and I believe Anything is a fruit flavored drink. The catch is that you don't know exactly which flavor you are getting until you open the can and drink. I was so enthralled with the cleverness of this idea - I asked Brad to bring me some when he went to Singapore for a conference..... and lo and behold - there it was when I opened my refrigorator when I returned home.

Flying with the Farnsworths

For the most part our trip was uneventful but it was nice to fly with the some of my favorite people. Here we are waiting in Philly for the checkin counter to open. We were there 2 hours before our 5:30AM flight but the Continental employees did not show up and open the counter until 4AM.

The second picture is while we were waiting in Houston for our connecting flight which is sitting right outside the window.

Baseball Town

Reading, Pennsylvania where my parents live has been named "Baseball Town" - It is the home of the Reading, Phillies. On my last Saturday in town, my niece and her husband and our girl Lexie went to a game. Although baseball isn't necessarily my favorite sport - the minor league teams always have plenty of other entertaining things going on.

A Week at the Beach

The week before I left for Guam, I was able to spend a week at Bethany Beach in Delaware. Although the exact beach changes, spending a week together with my family has been a tradition for the last eight years. It was just a lovely time. I was surprised by how warm the water was in the Atlantic ocean.... My memories were much colder. It was nice also to experience the waves again since many beaches in Guam are protected by coral reefs, there are no waves.

Back on Guam

Tonight after about 24 hours of flying, I arrived back on Guam with the Farnsworths. It was nice to have someone to travel with during this leg of the journey. Over all the trip went without a hitch and was uneventful.... Although the last couple hours on the plane I thought I was going to go crazy since I haven't gotten much real sleep in the last 48 hours although I occasionally dozed which was better than normal for me on a plane.

It was so wonderful to see a huge gang at the airport including the Boydstons, Laura, the Stinnettes and Hollie. Hannalore stopped by with greetings once we arrived back at campus.

Of course it was wonderful to see dear PeeVee again and he was very happy to see me.

It is 7pm here and I am going to try and stay up for another hour or so. Rumor has it that it is the best way to get back on local time.

Sight and Sound Theater

This is the Sight and Sound Theater in Strasburg, PA (Outside of Lancaster). They put together first class musical productions of stories in scripture. I have seen Ruth, Daniel, The Christmas Story in the past and this time I saw "In the Beginning" which is the story of Adam, Eve, Cain and Abel.

Of course it gave me another opportunity to eat Pennsylvania Dutch Food and spend the day with my sisters.

Near and Farnsworth

One thing I did when I was staying with my parents is to invite the Farnsworths (my neighbors in Guam) and Ned's parents to dinner at my parents house in Muhlenburg township in PA. Ned's parents live about a twenty minute drive away. I was excited for my parents to get to know some of my friends from Guam.

It was a very fun evening.

Money Can't Buy Happiness

This is Happiness in the picture. He is a student from PIBC. This summer he had traveled with president, Dave Owen and his wife Joyce speaking at some of the churches. He also spent about 4 weeks working at the Liebenzell USA Retreat Center in Schooley's Mountain, NJ. Before I left for the shore - I spent one day durning the last week visiting with Happiness and picking up a few items that I forgot in my room when I was staying there for the Mission's conference. Unfortunately the weather was quite rainy but it was still nice to see him.