Farnsworth Forum

Hollie taught in chapel on Friday. She and Aaron will be moving to Texas soon for his work with the U.S. Navy. I will miss Hollie professionally and personally. Both creative and articulate, she is a gifted teacher and really knows how to relate to people. On Friday she presented her Top Ten List of Lessons she has learned during her time in Guam. As you can see, # 10 was Kool-Aid. Here in Micronesia Kool-Aid is not just a drink; it is an experience!

Here is a picture of our two little cuties waiting to get in the car for church this morning. Joel y Amelia están esperando para salir para la iglesia hoy por la mañana.

We recently had a visit from a chameleon. He started in our kitchen and then we pushed him out the window, and he changed color right before our eyes. What a wonderful science lesson for Joel and Amelia.

In lieu of a staff Christmas party, PIBC treated all of us on a dolphin watch cruise on December 22, 2008. What a wonderful treat and time of fellowship. Thanks, PIBC! All of us were so excited to be able to join this special PIBC excursion, and we were praying that we would see dolphins. Mom and Dad are hoping that the trip doesn't end up like Gilligan's Island. We went swimming and snorkling, and Joel was so pleased because he could go in the water and swim because of his swimming lessons. We enjoyed our time on the banana boat, even Grandma. Amelia poses with her friends Melissa, Melody, and Hiob. Here are some of the dolphins we saw. Some of the other pictures (courtesy of our colleague Hartmut) did not post here for some reason.

We taught the 2-year-olds at our church for the month of January. We made some new friends and enjoyed the new curriculum. Amelia enjoyed having Mama and Daddy for her teachers. Sarah dressed up for Chinese New Year. Doesn't she look pretty?

Joel continues to make progress in his swimming class, and Amelia likes to go along to watch!

When people come to Guam, we like to take them around on an "Island Tour" for cultural and historical orientation. We recently treated Grandpa and Grandma to such an expedition over three days, not all at once. Here is a photo review. Enjoy! Asan Beach was one of the landing sites, along with Agat Beach, for the U.S. marines in July 1944. They had come to liberate Guam from the Japanese. My parents' visit gave us just cause to visit Trans World Radio in Merizo, Guam. From this location they transmit to many parts of Asia, including to some closed countries. Joel wanted to pose with a carabao (water buffalo) that was grazing along our way. We also visited the ruins of Fort Soledad from the Spanish era. This monument marks the spot where Magellan landed in Guam on March 6, 1521. We finally found the Spanish bridge, dating back to 1870, next to a convenience store south of Agat. At Joel's insistence we had been looking for this bridge for over a year. Mission acco...

On January 6 we celebrated Three Kings Day complete with Bible story and presents.

Earlier this month we visited the Christmas Village presented by the local friary in Agana Heights. Who says Christmas is just for December? It was our first venture out in the new year (other than to the ER) following Joel's head injury. It was not the most impressive Christmas village I had even seen in size, but it was well-envisioned and had intricate moving parts and many original elements. We enjoyed it very much. Amelia posed next to the Nativity scene in the friary chapel, sunglasses and all. Joel could not be outdone by Amelia, so he asked to pose next to the electric coconut tree on the way out.

We are happy to have Steve and Anne back at PIBC. They arrived last night amidst many smiles and tears of joy. Joel made leis for them and you can see by their smiles that Steve and Anne enjoyed his gift of love. Hopefully their bodies will adjust soon to the time change. God worked a miracle in allowing Steve's eye to function well without surgery; he wears a special contact lense fit to his eye. God is good, and we are grateful to have our friends back with us again.

While my parents were here, we harvested two new bunches of bananas from our banana plants, which they got a kick from. Fun fact of the day: bananas do not come from trees but rather from a large herb. We had fun eating them, cooking them, and baking banana bread witht them. Yummy fun indeed!

The new semester at PIBC began on January 19. Here are some pictures of our preparation. Now we are using new software at PIBC. The owner and author of the software, Monk (real name Montgomery) came from Atlanta to train us. Thankfully he is not obsessive compulsive as the TV Monk is. I sat next to Cheryl and Melissa during the training, and she kept me well-entertained. Urte, our new PIBC registrar, is learning how to navigate through the new software. She and Karin have been a great help to all of us at the beginning of this new semester. One of my tasks at PIBC that I find rewarding and challenging is that of academic advisor. I have a number of students that I help to choose their classes and complete their program of study in a timely way. It also allows me to get to know some students that I normally wouldn't come in contact with too often otherwise. Here I am pictured with Judson. Please pray for me as I teach English for Academic Purposes 2 on Tuesday and Thursday mo...