Farnsworth Forum

We went to the pool at the Nikko Hotel today. Joel enjoyed practicing his swim moves, and Amelia had fun in the water as well. Here we are with our friend Melissa who introduced us to the Nikko pool. Joel's swimming teacher works there in Guest Relations.

On Thursday a group of 13 PIBC students sang at the National Prayer Luncheon on Andersen Air Force Base. Kalvin and I organized the students, and as always, they did a wonderful job. Leeman played the guitar and P.J. the keyboard to accompany us as we sang "How Great Thou Art" and "God is so Good" in English, Palauan, Chuukese, Yapese and Marshallese. We had students from each island group represented. The Lieutenant Governor of Guam, Dr. Mike Cruz, spoke at the luncheon. He shared a personal story about a Palauan mother who prayed for her son after he was shot. She wanted to tell him that God loved him, and God honored her prayer. A very inspirational story from an engaging speaker. Special thanks to all the students (Alicia, Benny, Chelsea, Elilai, Keiny, Leeman, Lydia, Miury, Molly, Maybellene, T'nel, P.J., Sonny) and Kalvin for participating in this presentation. To God be the glory!

During 2008 Marisol met two sisters and military wives from Ecuador. That was a HUGE blessing for her to have some Christian friends from her country. Once a month they have a Spanish ladies Bible study with some other Spanish-speaking women. We also enjoy social events together. For her daughter Isabella's birthday party Margarita organized some fun projects and games for the children. Margarita's sister Martha threw a birthday party for her son Gabriel as well. One Saturday we hosted the Bible study at our house Joel and Amelia shared their Duplo Big Farm with Isabella, all of them having a grand time. Joel enjoyed playing outside with his friends Gabriel and Rafael. Despite the kid and husband (me) interruptions, Margarita led the study that Saturday.

My Youth and Children class recently presented a youth program at the Palauan Evangelical Church of Guam. I always try to arrange programs in local churches that allow the students to practice what we are learning during our classtime. They chose the theme "God Looks on the Heart" from 1 Samuel 16:7. All of the activities were supposed to reflect the theme in some way. I learned a new game from the students. They sent around a roll of toilet paper and asked each person to rip some pieces off. Then we went around the group and we needed to say something about ourselves for each piece of T.P. I was glad I only tore off four pieces. Before the Bible study Rambo, Shelby and Lucy presented a very funny skit in which two women try to impress a guy. One lady has all the necessary accessories, and the other improvises with what she has. You can see the beautiful rice bag that she is using as a purse. To me the most effective part of the program were the small groups following Mike...

Please allow me to vent for minute. This is the new and "improved" Dora the Explorer, who will trade in her backpack for a purse come the new fall season. Is it really necessary to redo and make a beloved children's character into a mini-Barbie? I personally think children, and especially girls, are become too sophisticated already without the help of a TV role model. Please reconsider, Nickelodean! Do any of you out there concur?

Last Friday marked the day of our second excursion to the Guam Zoo and Botanical Garden. We used it as a home school field trip. Most of the turtles were bathing in the sun. Marisol held Amelia so that she could throw the food to the pigs. I enjoyed feeding the llama. She reminds me of Ecuador. Joel and Amelia always love to feed the fish. This is a breadfruit tree which is a staple food item in Chuuk, where the majority of our student at PIBC are from. It is delicious and can be prepared many ways (boiled, mashed with coconut milk, like Potato Salad, or even as French fries). Before we left the zoo, we said good-bye to our friend Mr. Peacock, or as the sign said, "Peafowl"!

The day has arrived. Hollie, our coworker and friend, is leaving for the sunny town of Corpus Cristi, TX, to join her navy pilot husband Aaron who left last month. Hiob, Hollie, Melissa and I all arrived together to work with Steve in the Student Life Department at PIBC back in 2006, and she is the first to leave us. PIBC graduate Kalvin (from Chuuk) joined our team last September. We had one final rendevous last Saturday at the beach for a picnic. We presented her with a Palau T-shirt and stone money necklace, which she is trying on. Our resident Palauan Hiob explained that that particular kind of stone money is for pregnant women. Hollie and Aaron are expecting their first child in October. Joel and Amelia are sad that they will not get a chance to see the baby. Joel wrote Hollie a card and Amelia gave her one of her baby's newborn diapers for Hollie's baby. "Out of the hearts of babes. . . ." Hasta la vista, Hollie and Aaron. We will miss you!

For science class we planted beans and they are really growing fast here in this Guam weather. We'll share more pictures later. As you can see, our family is enjoying homeschool.

We're still working on our ship in Joel's history class. Recently we cut down a small tree for the mark of our ship. Joel and Amelia helped saw off the branches, and we will now start assembling the ship with sail and all. Call it "living history"!

Festejando el Día de la Bandera Ecuatoriana el 27 de febrero, queremos que nuestros hijitos entiendan y aprecien su herencia ecuatoriana y estadounidense. Celebrating Ecuadorian Flag Day on February 27, we want our children to understand and appreciate both their Ecuadorian and US heritage.

We are studying about the USS Constitution in history class with Joel. We decided to build our own ship using a lawn mower box that our friend Joyce gave us. Here is our work in progress (cutting, spray painting and decorating). We'll show you more pictures as we continue this project.

Here are some pictures from our PIBC community group meeting last weekend. We really enjoy being a part of these times of fellowship. Thanks, Hartmut, for the nice pictures.

Today we dropped off Joel's entry to the "Reading Rainbow" Young Writers and Illustrators Contest. He worked really hard to finish his story entitled "Friends of the Sea." It was fun for him to see the TV studio and the antenna that brings him all of his favorite PBS shows.