Finishing up and heading back.

Wow,

A friend of mine used that word in sharing a devotional at a kind of impromptu retreat that several of us shared in the lovely Rock Islands of Palau.  Enjoying the time away were fellow LMUSA Missionaries Steve & Anne Stinnette, Hiob & Leah, the pastor & wife of the Koror Evangelical Church, Chris and Johanna, missionaries from LM Germany, three kids, a young lady from Papua, our guide Adolf, and us.  We stayed in a house about the size of a two-car garage, with a big wrap-around porch.  The porch rail is only about 20 feet from the water at high-tide.  Most of us slept on the porch, so we could enjoy the sound of the ocean and sea-breeze.  Adolf, Hiob and I went fishing, we ate well, and very much enjoyed one anothers company.  I hate to name drop, but the place belongs to the High Chief of Koror.  The food, sunset, scenery, fishing, and fellowship were all worthy of my friend’s “Wow.” 

Our camera needed batteries so we didn’t get any pictures.  One of our friends took a lot.  Anne shared them with us.  I uploaded a picture of the house where we stayed below.  If you want to see more pictures go to Facebook, anne spell stinnette posts.

Our time for this term of ministry here in Palau, “The Rainbow’s End,” is coming to a close.  The time has gone quickly.  Again Wow!  Our students are doing well.  We have been building and strengthening some key relationships.  We have had a couple of opportunities to do some recruitment for PIU.  We have some more on the calendar.  In order to shorten the time between visits, to Palau, I (HM) may come out here, by myself, in the fall semester and teach a compressed schedule class.    We would appreciate you praying for us as we make plans.  We are keeping busy.

·         Today I filled in for Pastor Mac at the Koror Evangelical Church, English Fellowship.  Mac isn’t feeling well.

·         Wednesday, we will share the opportunities at PIU with a group of high school seniors.

·         Friday I’ll be doing what I’ve dubbed a “Theology-O-Thon” with the missionary candidates being trained by Anne and Steve Stinnette.  A couple from the Palauan

EEvangelical Church, and a couple from Liebenzell Germany will be heading to the Island of Papua.  My session Friday will be a whirlwind tour of Bible Doctrine. 

·         We also have our usual schedule of classes, Monday – Thursday.

Beyond that, let me tell you about what the next couple of months look like for the Merrells.

·         We’ll pretty well finish-up classes on the school week of the 18^th – 21^st.

·         The next week will be reviews and exams, with a presentation at a youth conference thrown in.

·         I’ll be preaching at the Palauan service at Koror Evangelical Church on 24^th.

·         We’ll need to do a quick pack-up of our apartment on the 28^th.

·         We leave for Guam very early on the 29^th.  We’ll be there for PIU’s graduation.

·         We leave Guam on May 2, stop-over in Hawaii, on May 1, and arrive in Monroe Louisiana May 2.    J

·         It will be our joy to attend our oldest granddaughter’s High School graduation.  On Mother’s day I’ll get to preach at the church my son, Chad, pastors.

·         Our car is in Louisiana. We’ll drive to Texas for a visit with Chris’s family and then drive home in time for me to preach at Covington Bible Church May 15^th.

It goes on from there, but that’s enough for now.

I began by telling you about our Wow-inspiring trip to the Rock Islands.  Our little group included 4 Americans, 2 Germans, 6 Palauans, and 1 Papuan.  That is reflective of the ethnic diversity of this little Island nation.  The fact that we stayed at the chief’s house is also reflective of life here in Palau.  Tradition is very important.  Some of those traditions are very helpful—the way Palauans show hospitality, for instance—others not so much.  With TV, internet, and other inputs from East and West, North and South, some are struggling to hold onto the old ways, while others are all too eager to feed the old traditions to the fish.  What is really needed is a generation of people who see the world through Biblical lenses, who can help sort out what to keep, what to redeem what to leave behind, and what to reject.

We believe the potential is great.  Thank you for partnering with us as we pour our teaspoon of influence into the Pacific.