Counting Down

As I finish up the last couple weeks before I go home I am trying to make the most of every opportunity..... Although I still have been working in helping clean up the dorms - I have also been trying to spend time with people and do some fun things that I haven't had time to do during the semester.

I have been to the beach several times. Once with the Farnsworths and another time with Peter, Tanja, Mac and Tobias. I have been to the Dededo Flea Market ( A big thing around here on a Saturday Morning.) Tonight we had a nice dinner with the faculty and staff who are still here. And we have had several game nights - the last 2 of which were playing Mexican Train (Dominos).

Strange Silence

Now that the semester is over. Graduation is finished. Most of the students are gone, except for a few working on the maintenance crew this summer. Some of the faculty and staff have left for state side travel and deputation work. All Liebenzell USA missionaries are required to be in Schooley's Mountain this June for a mission's conference which is held every four years. The campus has turned basically quiet.

There are a few of us staffer's here that live on campus. The office is open. Brad and Joshua are working on configuring the new computers for our distant education grant. I have been trying to clean and dig myself out of mountains of clutter which have accumulated mostly from class.

This week maintenance should resume a more regular schedule. I will also be helping cleaning up some of the remaining dorm work and repaint the logo on the middle of the court. Also I try to enjoy some fun times with the remaining people.

This last two weeks is completely flying. I wish it would slow down a bit although I am also looking forward to getting home and seeing all my friends and family. I am not looking forward to the longest day in my life - LITERALLY. I will be May 31st for over 24hrs since I will be travelling backward in time on this flight.

Pomp and Circumstance - Micronesian Style

Today was graduation. It really was a nice occasion. If you are wondering about the angle of some of these photos - I actually processed with the faculty and we sat behind the podium. (Not what I thought he meant when he said we would sit up front). The ceremony itself is somewhat typical. We had a speaker. There was music. The graduates were awarded their diplomas. The Valedictorian, Peter, spoke. Then apparently the Micronesian tradition is the bury the graduates in leis. Some were more creative than others as you can see some brought an inter tube as a lei. It was a very nice but exhausting day.

Assistant Dean of Mean????

This is Ned Farnsworth with his daughter Amelia. Ned finally entered the world of blog over spring break. He seems to be enjoying himself. Please be warned that blogging can be contagious.

Anyway the other day he added some entries and suggested that I check them out. I went into hysterics when I read a typo on his page in which he called himself the assistant "Dean of Mean" instead of the "Dean of Men". I think it is more likely that I would be the "Dean of Mean" than Ned who works diligently to make sure the Men have the best of care while balancing his family and teaching responsibilities.

Baccalaureate

It turned out to be a nice evening for Baccalaureate. Everybody was in their dress island or at least many of the people. However like a lot of things in the Islands, we got a late start.

There was some "special" music by the faculty/staff and students. As far as the faculty and staff go - most of us were surprised that we were going to sing but we pulled a Hymn together at the last minute. Dr. William Wood, one of our faculty, spoke and gave the message. The Saluatorian, May Vigil (another staff member), gave her address to the students. There was communion and prayers for the graduates. Overall it was a nice night except it was pretty dark at the end due to the late start. A reception of finger foods followed the service.

Joel and Amelia

My neighbors Joel and Amelia are growing every day. They bring joy to my life. I enjoy being silly with them and playing with them when ever I can sneak through the "secret door" for a few minutes.

PIBC or Narnia?

One of the English classes studied the Narnia book series in their class this semester. At the end of the semester they were broken into small groups to present different books to the class. These two were on their way to practice a skit for their group to illustrate the point of one of the books.

PeeVee

This is an updated picture of PeeVee. He is growing very fast. Not sure who will watch him this summer but that is something I am going to have to figure out soon. As my Dad pointed out when I talked to him - Only 18 days until I am back in PA.

PeeVee is going to be very sad when I am gone. He cries even when I am gone for only a few minutes. When I come back he does his best Kangaroo imitation.

Tobias or Not Tobias

Tobias is our German volunteer. He got here a couple of weeks ago and will be here until July 4th when he will receive his independence. :o)

He is 19 and he lives in the dorm with the students. He will be helping Peter, Scooter, and Mac with the summer maintenance projects.

Liebenzell Germany seems to be good at recruiting and sending short term volunteers. Tobias is about our 5th volunteer this school year. Any of you reading this are welcome to join us short term we can usually find something that needs to be done that we can use help with. You don't even have to be German. :o)

Farewell Dinner Pictures

From one Island to Another

This is my friend Joyce and two of our graduates. My days off this semester were often filled with work and/or sickness. So quite frequently - it wasn't really a day off. A couple of weeks ago, Joyce, Angelika, Jayleen, and I decided to go out to eat at Jamacian Grill on my day off . It is one of the popular eating spots on the Island. In fact, it is so popular there are two locations. Afterwards we went to a local hotel and caught glimpses of their fire dancing show from the pool. It was a nice break with some "Serious Food". I am going to miss Angelika and Jayleen - they are great women.

Happy Mother's Day

This is my Mom.

Here are some things that I love about her.

She is an excellent back scratcher.

She can get any stain out.

She can really organize a good party.

She made me snickerdoodles soaked in milk when I got my tonsels out.

For that matter, she always made me feel better when I was sick. My roommates and I used to refer to her as "Nurse Betty" because she always new what was best for what ailed you.

She is very generous and giving.

She married well. :o)

She loves me even when I am grumpy.

She supports me in whatever I do.

She likes to make my birthday special.

Look how cute she is. who wouldn't love her?

Unfortunately I won't get to see her ON Mother's Day but I am sure she is glad that is less than a month until I come "home".

Happy Mother's Day to all of you that are celebrating the day, I hope you feel appreciated and special.

Farewell Party

Last night the student council hosted a dinner to say goodbye to all the graduating seniors. It was a night of good food, skits, and singing. It was a beautiful night to be together.

Tonight will be our Baccalaurette service. It is basically a church service thanking God for the seniors and honoring them. It will happen at 5pm on our basketball court. A lot of people are now outside preparing and soon I will have to get ready myself.

Fortunately Sunday will be more low key and will be more of a day of rest.

Monday we will have our farewell luncheon as a staff and faculty where we will celebrate the graduation of two among us - May and Peter. And recognize and thank Peter as he will be leaving PIBC after 5 years. Peter works hard, selflessly, and generously with all that he is. The campus runs smoothly for the most part because of his tireless effort. Of course he also does all this with a good sense of humor. He will be missed by many.

The Fat Lady has Sung!!

Or at least almost for this semester. This past Thursday night was the final and I graded it before bed. Over all not as good as I had hoped since I thought they might have a better idea how I test and would have prepared differently.... yet some did extremely well including one student who blew me away by her vast improvement over her last performance.

One student needed my to pass my class to graduate - not a pressure that I enjoyed. After some high drama and last minute snafus, he was able to pull out a passing grade in my class. I was very thankful that I did not have to be the bearer of bad news and that he will graduate as planned.

Now that is over I am really glad and thankful that I had this opportunity to teach. Although at this point I will not be teaching in the Fall, I learned a lot from the students and the other faculty about teaching this semester. I have even begun to work on re-designing the class in my mind in little ways even though at this point I may not teach it again.

Bonus Questions

As I am making up the test this week, I have decided to put one of my bonus questions on my blog.

This question was on the midterm and many of you did not get it correct. So here it is again....

1. According to Freud, what are the three parts of personality? (4pt)
A. _______________ B. _______________ C. ___________________
Describe each part in your own words.

Don't fret though - nothing on the main part of the test will come from the old material.

Finals!

Can you believe it??? Starting tomorrow is finals week. My final exam (that is the one I am giving) is on Thursday night. This week I have a group of papers to grade and then my final exam to make up and grade. Next Tuesday (5/15) is graduation. We have 10 - 12 people graduating. Some with an AA in Biblical Studies and some with a BA in Biblical Studies. Two of those who are graduating are Staff - Peter, our mainentance supervisor, and May, our librarian assistant. Two of the students finished in Fall and are just waiting to walk in the ceremony.

Please pray for the students this week that they may remain focused and dedicated to their studies.

Summer Mission's Teams

This summer we will be having 3 seperate mission's team going out from PIBC.

The group pictured here is going to Thailand to Teach English As a Second Language.

There is another group which will also to Thailand and will be at a University and work with the Campus Crusade Staff there building relationships with the students and sharing their faith stories.

Finally but really the first group to go will be a group which will be going to the Marshall Islands (also in Micronesia). They will be performing and serving at a youth conference of about 5000 youth from the Marshall Islands who will be celebrating 150 of the church in the Marshalls.

"Mr Hottie" serving our Country in Kuwait

Aaron was shipped to Kuwait with his unit in the beginning of April. Since there he has shaved his head and grown a weird fuzzy thing on his lip. I informed him that his "Mr. Hottie" nickname was in dire jeopardy. Hollie, his wife, left at the beginning of this week for the states. She will visit her family and then begin graduate school classes this summer. Both Hollie and Aaron should be back by the end of the summer if all goes as planned.

There are more pictures of his experience in Kuwait if you check out Hollie and Aaron's blog.

As you read this maybe you want to take a moment and stop and pray for Aaron and all the men and women around the world who put their lives on the line in service for our country. Pray also for their families back home who miss them.

Distance Education

Last semester Brad worked very hard in editing and submitting a grant which would allow us to get the equiptment we need to enhance our distance learning capabilities at PIBC. It seemingly took forever to get it approved. But finally in the beginning of April, the first portion of money for the grant was received and in almost lightning fast speed, especially for Guam, the 88 computers were ordered and they arrived yesterday. Brad will be working with our part time IT guy this summer configuring these machines correctly for our use. This is great blessing for our school.

Where's Melissa?

The other week the prayer meeting was at the Boydstons. Brad's favorite color is "Shrek" green. Not thinking, I wore my "Shrek" green pants (A bargin from Ross that are very comfortable) that day and I blended into to the walls in their apartment.

You Never Know

Living at work is a different experience. The students really have access to you 24 hours a day. Seven days a week. You never know who is going to be at your door and what they will want or need. Even though the students have learned for the most part I am not an early morning person - Especially on Saturdays - This last Saturday morning, there was a loud knock on my door. One of the students was "bushcutting" the lawn (They don't mow on Guam.... not sure why.) and he found a kitten. He wanted me to take care of it. Since I adopted the stray puppy, maybe he thought I was interested in starting my own animal house???? Anyway the kitten was adorable so I took it to meet my neighbors kids. (Ned took the picture.) Since I just didn't think I could handle another animal - especially one with fleas..... I drove it to the animal shelter - GAIN (Guam Aninmals in Need) where hopefully they will get rid of the fleas and find it a nice loving family. Stray animals are a HUGE problem on Guam, especially Dogs. Stray Dogs are referred to as "Boonie Dogs" and they roam the island looking very nasty and some of them being quite mean. Several of our staff members were bitten by Boonie dogs this year.

PIBC 2 minutes of Fame

Copied from Brad's Blog. Not sure why of all the things on Guam, they decided to single out PIBC but they actually found and used our actual Logo in the TV spot.

As seen on TV

PIBC was prominently featured in an unexpected place the other night -- Comedy Central's the Colbert Report. It provided a chuckle or two.

We came out looking a lot better than Guam's Congresswoman Madeleine Bordallo. Apparently, no one bothered to tell her about Stephen Colbert (who thinks that Guam is in the South Pacific) and the Colbert Report. It appears that she thought that she was being interviewed by a television journalist.

Happy Days Are Here Again

Today I was able to pick up my computer...... not only were they able to save my data after my computer crashed but they actually saved the computer some how for a mere $68. Of course it is $68 AND I have to reload much of my software. However the price for saving my grades and my pictures and not having to buy a new computer was well worth it.

Thank you all who were praying.

Good Neighbors

Here is Guam I have very good neighbors. The Farnsworths. Ned, Marisol, Joel (3) and Amelia (1). We share stuff. They invite me for meals sometimes and vice versa. We play games together and watch movies. We share holiday traditions like at Easter we made Resurrection rolls together..... And now after six months of promising I finally helped Ned to set up his own blog.

Farnsworth Forum

You will see a picture of me and PeeVee taken by Joel. After being gone six hours, PeeVee has come back to campus. He does not seem to know that this is not his home. I am thinking that the kids that took him were not the original owners but were the reason that he was missing from school for the first time he disappeared.

I am thinking of renaming the dog Boomerang because every time he disappears he seems to find his way back to campus.

Loss

This is not my week. On Monday evening I came home and was checking my email. My computer was going very slow. Finally the "blue screen of death" appeared. Something you can reboot and then everything is fine. But not this time. I have had my share of computer problems and tried at least 5 methods of restarting my machine but it would not start up again. The last message stated that it did not find a hard drive. For those of you who are not technical - this is a very bad thing when you are positive that there is a hard drive. The really bad thing is that I have not taken back ups well since I have been here. There always seemed to be something more important. Just the other day I thought.... "I better take back ups." I planned to do it this week. Unfortunately not before my machine crashed. I took the machine in to the professionals to see if they can retrieve any of the data. Much data for my class and most of my pictures are just now gone unless a miracle happens. A bit sad but at this point there is nothing I can do.

Another loss is PeeVee (The Dog). Once again he is gone. This time some neighborhood kids were walking by and said - "Hey that's our dog." He seemed to know them and willing went with them without a leash. So off he went. I was sad to see him go - this time permanantly. But I was concerned since Amelia (my neighbor) - was getting bitten by fleas since PeeVee arrived and nothing seemed to control them. So I actually was on the verge of trying to find him another place to live any way.

Hopefully the next thing I lose will not be my sanity..... oh wait..... I think I lost that awhile back.... Oh well....

Interestingly, the pastor at the church I attended preached on 2 Corinthians 12 which Paul talks about how we go through trials of many kinds but God's grace is sufficient for us. I am thankful for God's grace in all things.

Leaving on a Jet Plane!

Something else that happened in the last week is that I finally picked and arranged my flight home. I will be flying home on Thursday May 31st. I will be looking forward to see all of you and visiting with you. I be back in the "States" until the end of the first week of August and then at this point I plan to return for another year..... Lord willing of course since I have to raise support again to continue.

I hope next semester to find a place on Island to get my feet wet with a little more counseling since I can't really do much on campus since being the Disciplinarian and the Counselor is a conflict since people will not be able to be open with you if you can also discipline them. Of course I don't want to put in too many hours since my job as Dean requires a lot of my time.

I will be staying in Reading with most of my time home but I will be coming down to Philly for visits on a regular basis throughout the summer.

It's Amazing.....

How quickly time is going. Less than a month to graduation. I have 2 more classes to teach and the final.

This week was extremely busy. I had 2 homeworks to grade and a five page paper. Then I had to prepare for class.

In some ways I really enjoyed class. Of course I enjoy working with the students. However I have the opportunity to do that as Dean as well. I love when I read their assignments and I get to know them better or I see that they understand things. This last batch of papers was on the Keirsey Temperament Sorter. They were to report on their temperament (or personality) type according to the book. Artisans, Idealists, Guardians or Rationals. Then they were to give me insight into their lives to show me how the test either accurately portrayed them or ways that the test seemed to not quite fit them. Some of the papers were excellent and I was very excited.

Unfortunately being and Dean and trying to teach - I feel that both jobs were not done as well as I would have liked. There was never enough time in the day - and even on my "day off" I was often found preparing for class or grading. I am so ready to be done and to get some rest. I am glad the end is in sight. Next semester I will not be teaching - I will be glad just to have time to hang out with the students more.

He's Back!

On Monday afternoon I was sitting in my apartment and I heard a noise outside which sounded like a dog crying. It was a dog crying. It was PeeVee. He had a rope on him. Someone had tied him up. But he came back to see me. Unfortunately I was on my way to take the students shopping so I didn't do anything about it and he was gone by the time I got back.

The next day around lunch there was a knock at my door. One of the students was there and PeeVee was with him. I decided to tie him up so he would stay and we could take care of him.

The last couple of nights I let him sleep in my apartment so he would not keep barking all night. Turns out that he was house broken. However he keeps waking me up in the middle of the night to either go out or to play since he often sleeps a lot during the day because of the heat. It is a bit like having a baby. Last night after the third night I just put him outside after we walked the campus at 4am.

A lot of the students and some of the faculty and staff were also glad to see him back. One of the guys came over with Peter when he heard that the dog was back. He told me that the guys were praying that God would send the dog back because they saw how sad I was when he was gone. I was really touched that they could pick that up and that they wanted me to have the dog.

We are not sure how old he is but I am a bit afraid that he might look like Marmaduke when he is full grown. Seems like he has grown quite a bit in the last couple of weeks already.

Homework Reading Links

This week we are learning a bit about Personality Disorders. You can read along with us if you like. Follow the following links.

Homework Reading 1

Homework Reading 2

Homework Reading 3

Dog gone Crazy week.

PeeVee the Puppy has disappeared. He spent most of yesterday afternoon sleeping in my apartment with me. But he went out in the evening and no one has seen him since. My neighbors said when they saw him it looked like he was limping and bleeding. Although they said he didn't look too bad. Either way he was not here in the morning at my door. He did not follow Ethel around when she fed the other dogs. Their were no additional missing slippers (AKA FlipFlops). All things which are not normal since PeeVee has showed up and decided he lived here. Hopefully he will still return but so far there is no sign of him. Of course he did have a collar when he arrived here so there is always the chance that the original owners found him again.

I am still fighting a virus and this week I ended up with back spasms. I never had them before but I have to say that the term is very descriptive. It made it extremely hard to get almost anything done. Today I do feel a little better. My back is no longer in spasms but a little sore. I am a bit afraid to move. I put heat on it and stretch it out a bit when I can. And I have to say an Apple a day does nothing for me.

Only 4 more weeks left in the semester. There is a lot of work to do before then. Especially for class. This week I have to grade a couple of assignments in addition to preparing for class.

Can you believe it?

Break is almost over! I can't believe it. It seems to have been very busy. Besides being sick, I was involved in transporting students - especially the Chuukese students to church activities/services almost every evening.

I also still had my regular responsibilities of getting groceries for weekend food and food for the break.

I did accomplish the ominous task of getting done my taxes, but I didn't get anything done for my class. So now instead of getting ahead as I had hoped, I am behind. Sheesh.

Last night I helped my neighbors dye eggs, make resurrection rolls, and watch the old movie, "Easter Parade". A fun way to celebrate the holiday.

Today is Easter..... besides church - nothing much going on here which seems a little weird but I am not feeling all that well with an extremely bad sinus headache. So it is no big deal.

Appropriately enough "Ginger", the campus chicken seems to have hatched babies. It is fun to see the little chicks. PeeVee, the puppy who has somewhat adopted me, wants to play with them but I am not sure they really grasp that concept when he is chasing them.

Anyway I ruined yet another memory card for my camera. I bought software to try and recover the pictures. If I get some - I will post them later.

I wish you and your family the happiest of Easters.

He is Risen!

Break Down

Last night Peter and I were dropping students off at a Church service about 45 minutes from Campus. Hiob arranged that only one van was needed for pick up and the church would transport the other students back. Since it was Ned's birthday and I was supposed to be having cake with the Farnsworths - I was going to drop and leave. Peter thought he might stay. So I took off right away after dropping. One student who just went for the ride noticed that the van seemed to be shaking. We stopped and looked at the tires. I couldn't see anything. So I decided I could go to a gas station or go back and find Peter whose cell phone has died. So I turned around to head back when shortly he passed me going the other direction. Fortunately we both saw each other and pulled over. I only noticed because the new Van which had been plain white until yesterday had Pacific Island Bible College on the side. Peter looked at the Van and he didn't notice anything either so he agreed to follow me. We were driving along and the shaking actually stopped. I thought hey we are in the clear. We stopped at a Red light and all of a sudden I noticed that the Van had no power. I was able to turn onto the side road but could not quite make it into the Mobile station. Orginally it looked like I was out of gas but that didn't make sense since it was full. Peter pushed the van into the Mobil station with the other van because even in neutral and 3 guys from the mobil station the van would not move. It appears it is a problem with the alternater. Peter took Percia and I back to campus and planned to pick up the van today. Fortunately that van was not needed to pick up the students.

Flat Stanley Returns to PA

On Flat Stanley's last day here, we did a little sight seeing.

Picture 1 - Flat Stanley looking at Tumon Bay

Picture 2 - Flat Stanley at Latte Stone Park - Stone only found in the Marianas Islands thought to hold some type of shelter.

Picture 3 - Flat Stanely & the Pope. This statue was resurrected in commemoration of the Pope's visit in 1981 - the first and only visit by a Pope to Guam. It rotates once in a twleve hour period. 85% of the Island's population is Catholic.

Picture 4 - Flat Stanley in a Spanish Canon left over from the Spanish occupation of Guam

Picture 5 - The Chocolate House. This is part of a Spanish Governer's Palace. Apparently Hot Chocolate was served here in the afternoons.

Spared Once Again

Typhoon Kong-Rey changed directions and pretty much completely missed Guam. We had a little rain and some light winds but really nothing of Typhoon proportions.

Also apparently we were under a Tsunami watch again. This also again proved to be a miss. Although because of the geography around Guam (i.e. Coral Reefs and the Mariana's trench) - it is my understanding that a Tsunami of huge proportions is highly unlikely.

So at least for now all is well.

Typhoon Kong-Rey

Although not a Typhoon yet, Tropical Storm Kong-Rey is expected to reach Typhoon strength sometime tomorrow. The current computer model has the eye of the storm missing Guam but we have already started to experience some winds.

Either way it is expected to be more of a "banana typhoon" which only causes minor damage (Knocking banana trees down) and windows don't necessarily have to be boarded up.

Tomorrow morning we will meet and determine what action plan we will put in place for the storm.

For those of you on the east cost - A Typhoon is basically a Hurricane in the pacific.

Heges here!

This morning we had a Palm Sunday Service on Campus. Our friend and former boss George Hege gave the message. This morning his son, Nate also arrived from Korea where he serves as a helicopter pilot in our Army. It is good to see people from "home".

PeeVee

This puppy seems to have adopted us at PIBC. He had a collar when he first came to us so he must have been someone's dog but so far no one has claimed him. He is very friendly and cute. I decided his name should be PeeVee which are the intials of our maintenance supervisor who is leaving after he graduates this year. I am not sure why Peter is not flattered??? At least he is a cute and friendly dog. :o)

PIBC Days

Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow are PIBC Days here at the school. Yesterday all the pictures I took were lost when I accidently destroyed my memory card. So here are pictures from today's activities and fellowship time which was lead by the team of which I am a part. I have to say I have had great fun over these last couple of days. They remind me of my old youth group days quite a bit. As you can see from the pictures Flat Stanley is having a good time too. He helped cheer and keep score during some of the games. Today's games were just basketball and volleyball. Yesterday was mostly races and relays (some of them quite silly such as spinning around with your head down on a stick) I don't think any one made it back to the starting line without falling down at least once.