Here is a publication our mission just sent out. The editor was kind enough to include my article about trust.

 Here is the latest edition of around the world. It contains several items that may be of interest to you.

Click here.

HM

June Ministry Report

 Dear Partners in Ministry,

A number of encounters and observations over the past few months of ministry have impressed me with an essential component of any endeavor that involves teamwork, trust. Kathy and I are very aware that you extend trust to us. We don’t take that for granted. Thank you.

One of the ways we encourage our Liebenzell family is by hosting a Zoom meeting once a month, every second Monday. At our June meeting we’ll be discussing how to encourage greater trust between team members and partners. Pray that we can help each other.

The second half of May, Kathy and I were busy. May 17-18 we were at the Mission’s headquarters in

Schooley’s Mountain, NJ. We participated in a weekend in honor of Hudson Taylor, the pioneer missionary to China who was the inspiration for the start of Liebenzell Mission. It was my privilege to be one of the speakers at the event. Here is the handout that I gave to the guests. While there, we reached out to one of our missionary couples who serve at headquarters. They are dealing with a serious health issue. Please pray.

On Sunday, May 19, we drove to Newark Airport and left for Guam, where we served for four and a half years. Our time in Guam was full. Our colleagues there have had a lot on them in the recent past. Hebrews 10:24-25 speaks of “stimulating one another to love and good deeds,” and “encouraging one another.” The two main things we did while in Guam was encourage our colleagues, often that took place over a meal. Encourage and eat.

Kathy was the speaker at a ladies’ luncheon. I was involved in the two-day Board Meeting for Pacific Islands University. The recent typhoon and other matters have been tough on the school. You can read more about it here. I have been appointed to serve on the

Board. Please pray that I and the rest of the Board can be an encouragement to the new President, Ian Richards. Pray for all of the personnel at Pacific Islands University.
(The picture is of us enjoying breakfast with the chair of Biblical Studies at PIU, Iotaka Chorum, and his wife Vivian. In addition to his academic responsibilities, Iotaka is teaching a non-credit program for Chuukese pastors and other leaders. He is teaching the classes in his first language, Chuukese.

While on Guam we attended the funeral of a good friend and colleague, Dr. William Wood. We were able to spend time with his wife Christel. Kathy spent time with a good friend whose husband had just died. On the way home from Newark, we attended another funeral. It was for Barb Schuit, the wife of the former LMUSA Global Ministries Director, Bill Schuit. We arrived back in Covington on the evening of May 30. Our Lord counseled us to work while it is day.

It is a privilege to minister to these servants of the King. Praise the Lord with us, for this opportunity, you help make possible.

On a personal note: We’ll be in South Carolina the end of June. One of our granddaughters is getting married. All of our family and two of Kathy’s siblings will be there. We’re taking our camper down for an extended time with family.  

Thanks for your partnership in our ministry.

 

By His Grace,

H&K

An opportunity to invest in a good institution

 I don't normally use this blog for fundraising, so let me say up front, "this post is about fundraising." I'm not making an appeal for funds for Kathy and me, though a report and thank you note will be in another post soon to be posted.

So, if you aren't interested in reading a fundraising note, now would be a good time to surf elsewhere. Do so with my blessing and thanks.

As most readers of this blog know, Kathy and I have invested a significant chunk of our lives in the ministry of Pacific Islands University (PIU). PIU is not operated by Liebenzell Mission (LM), though it was founded by LM and maintains a close relationship with the mission. Kathy and I serve with LM.

A combination of integrity and lack of space prevent me from going deeply into all of the causes for this, but PIU is in a difficult situation.  A couple of reasons I can mention are the devastation Typhoon Marwar caused to the campus and the ongoing deterioration that a tropical climate brings to buildings and equipment. As the former defacto maintenance director on the campus, I can speak with some authority about the latter. You can see some pictures and read more here.

When I was in that maintenance role, I noticed that it was important, when things were in the process of deteriorating, to reverse that momentum. Even if the upward progress was small, it was significantly better, for morale, than watching the campus rot, erode, and be blown away. A significant step forward that the school made was taken not long before I went there to serve as President. The installation of a solar panel array on the library roof not only brought a significant saving in utility costs but also enhanced PIU's position in the community as an institution that was helping to care for the vulnerable environment of Guam. All the public generation of electricity on the island is by diesel generators. Solar power makes great sense in that isolated tropical island environment. 

The two entropic forces I mentioned, above left the solar array inoperative. Currently, the school does not have funds to repair the system.

The new President of PIU, Ian Richards, is raising funds to restore the system and continue the repairs that become necessary from those relentless forces. The figures President Richards was given indicate that the money invested in repairing the solar-power system (some of the repairs costs are covered by warranty) would be paid back in utility savings in less than three months.

If you are willing to join Kathy and me in investing not only in fixing a broken solar system, but in helping President Richards to reverse the downward momentum in campus infrastructure, please visit the site I mentioned above, https://lmusa.org/give/piu/. Funneling funds through the fund at LM will make your gift totally tax deductible and allow LM to assume the clerical work of responding properly to your donation. (Truth in advertizing: LM uses 10% of project donations to pay for their administrative costs.)

Whether you invest financially in the project or not, please invest time in prayer. While Kathy and I were on Guam, I had the opportunity to talk to a graduate who had been in a couple of my classes. He and I had used some COVID relief funds to build picnic tables to maximize students being out in fresh air during the days when the virus was spreading. My friend was rightly pleased that our tables had survived the storm. :) He is currently working at the school, as part of the Student Development Team. He told me about his brother, who is teaching school out on one of the "out-islands" of Chuuk. I used to call this guy "my cousin" because he had a gap in his teeth, like me. I'll call these brothers "M and M." They are what it's really all about. Micronesia needs young servant-leaders who, M and M, teach and encourage from the viewpoint of a Biblical worldview. 

That's a power far greater than what is produced by a bunch of solar panels.

Thanks.