Monday, June 20, 2016

June Prayer Letter

Since we arrived home, Covington, in mid May we have been intending to, and sporadically working on getting a printed Newsletter ready to send.  We finally got it printed today.  We'll be sending it tomorrow.  You can read it below, if you like.

A couple of other things:

  • I just got off the phone with one our partners in ministry.  My friend's family just had a major answer to prayer.
  • I'll be leaving the first of next week to represent Liebenzell USA & Pacific Islands University at the IFCA International convention.  I am also hoping to contact some LMUSA personnel and friends while on the trip.  The convention is in Springfield IL.
  • I'm about ready to send out a news release about the hybrid class--part online, part classroom--that we are planning to offer this fall.  CFOR 303, Marriage and Family, will be offered through our Distance Ed. department.  The classroom portion will be taught in Palau.  Please pray that it will come to pass and be truly useful.
Find out more below:



HOWARD & KATHY MERRELL
Serving with Liebenzell Mission, USA & Pacific Islands University
hmerrell@piu.edu, 540 691 6539, 2106 S. Carpenter Drive.

Dear Partner in Ministry,

Story boards are the most uniquely Palauan of Palau’s souvenirs.  This one is special to Kathy and me because it is a gift from one of our friends in Palau.  Each story board is hand carved.  Carving is an ancient craft in Palau; it was used in the construction of the village Bai--a ceremonial community building--in making canoes, and to form household items.  Typically story boards are carved from the wood of the breadfruit tree--a tree that provided part of the traditional Palauan diet as well as wood for their canoes.  Today’s art of making story boards began during the Japanese occupation of Palau, so the story board reminds one of the recent, as well as ancient,  history of Palau.  Most of the college students Kathy and I work with were born in the time of Palau’s independence (The Republic of Palau is the fourth smallest nation in the world).  Their parents were born during the time when the United States was in charge of their islands.  Their grandparents were born in the time of Japanese occupation, and their great, or great-great grandparents were born in the time when Germany was in charge.  They took over from the Spanish.  One of our students gave this charitable summary of recent Palauan history: “The Germans brought us the Gospel, the Japanese taught us discipline, and the Americans modeled freedom for us.”
Story boards tell a story.  This one portrays a Palauan legend.  An old woman, like most Palauans, loved fish. Her son, and neighbors, didn’t provide any for her.  She would see people pass her house with the fish they had caught, but they didn’t share with her.  One day her son cut a limb off of a breadfruit tree growing at the ocean’s edge.   Where the branch had been, water immediately surged from the tree, each time a wave crashed on the beach.  With each gush, fish jumped out of the tree.  The neighbors soon became jealous of the woman’s good fortune.  Finally, an envious man chopped the tree down.  The water now poured out of the stump in a torrent and soon the whole Island was flooded.  Legend has it that one can still see the site of the Island off the shore of Ngiwal (“knee-wall”).  Interestingly, the Palauan Evangelical Church marks Ngiwal as the place where the Bread of Life, the Good News about Jesus Christ, first came to Palau, less than ninety years ago. 
The story models some characteristics that are held in high esteem in Palauan culture--sharing, caring for family, and the bounty of the sea.
The Lord continues to carve His story into our lives.  The first half of 2016 has been significant in Introduction to Christian Doctrine, and New Testament Survey, to three student, with one other non-academic student participating in many of our classes.  In addition we partnered with the Palauan Evangelical Church in various ways, took opportunities to promote PIU’s program, and were privileged to serve along-side and encourage fellow LMUSA missionaries Steve and Anne Stinnette.  The Stinnette’s are currently preparing the P.E.C.’s first missionary couple for service in Indonesia.
that ­regard.  January 1 we began our new role as missionaries with Liebenzell USA.  In that capacity we took on two new roles.  Howard became the director/instructor of Pacific Island University’s teaching facility in Palau.  This extension of PIU had essentially ceased to operate.  During the Spring semester we were privileged to teach two classes,
Now that we are back in Covington we are in the phase of our work that involves serving with the Marriage and the Family.  Howard will teach the classroom portion of the class at our teaching facility.  We’ll be returning to Palau for the Spring 2017 semester.
Director of Global Ministries at LMUSA.  Over the rest of 2016 we’ll be reaching out to potential world-changers and encouraging those who are already in the frontlines of service.  Perhaps we could share about the opportunities for ministry available through our mission.  We are glad to do so in most any context, from a conversation over a cup of coffee to a presentation in a missions conference.  At the end of June Howard will be representing LMUSA/PIU at the IFCA International convention in Springfield IL.  While he is on the trip he’ll make contact with some Liebenzell missionaries on furlough.  As far as long-distance travel, the plan is for just Howard to make a short trip to Palau this fall.  PIU is offering a Distance Education class,
Thank you, so much for partnering with us in this venture.

We praise the Lord for:      
  • The opportunities we have had in the first half of 2016  (We have been privileged to work with some fine folk who have great potential.)
  • Safety and good health
  • A web of relationships that is being built
  • Time we have been able to spend with family

We ask you to pray for:
  •      More students to enroll in PIU courses
  •      Salvation of some friends we made in Palau
  •      Ability to further the cause of Christ through our efforts of recruitment and encouragement
  •      Continued safety and health
  •      Sumer is a low time for income at PIU.  Pray for increased giving.

 
In His service and care,

H&K

LMUSA / PO Box 66 / Schooley’s Mountain NJ 07870-0066 // 908 852 3044, http://liebenzellmission.org/