I wrote this, this morning, on our mission's WhatsApp page. It may serve to encourage you. You probably won't recognize the names, but the gist of the article applies to all who faithfully serve the Lord.
Today, Kathy, Rob Johnson, and I will attend the graduation exercises of Pacific Islands University. President of the University, Ian Richards has led the school in combining this graduation celebration--and Micronesian folks really know how to celebrate such occasions--with a celebration of the school's 50th Anniversary.
PIU has made in a difference in this mostly neglected part of the world. The picture of Alan and Joe, above, is one piece of evidence. PIU was founded by Liebenzell Mission and the three churches (kind of mini denominations) it founded in Chuuk, Palau, and Yap. Over the decades a succession of Liebenzell missionaries have served at PIU. Currently, Dot and Gary Houde, and Alan and Lisa Flowers serve here. While President Richards is not an LMer, his conversations with Rob Johnson are leading to a deeper level of cooperation.
A 50-year celebration is all about heritage. I've been reading 1 & 2 Kings in my devotions. Heritage, both good and bad, is writ large on those pages. Today we celebrate a good heritage.
In a totally unexpected way, Kathy and I were privileged to serve in a distinguished line of leaders of this school--Dorthea and Roland Rauchholz, Christel and Bill Wood, Joyce and David Owen, Kathy and I, Mihamm and Manuel Rauchholz, Vivian and Iotaka Choram, Amanda and Ian Richards. All of us, with the exception of the Richards, have deep roots in Liebenzell.
From time to time, the Lord leads His servants through explosive progress. Most of the time, though, progress comes through long-term faithfulness.
Pray for PIU.
Rejoice with us, today.
Let what we are celebrating today, be an encouragement to you. If we keep on keeping on, treading in the right direction, in spite of periodic setbacks, by God's grace, *_we_* --and we need to emphasize the teamwork that word implies--by God's empowering grace, we'll get something done.
*Servants, keep on serving.*
