This Is Tough. God Is Good

Like most of you, we weren’t able to go to church for most of this spring. Our Guam church provided

recorded messages. One morning the preacher was one of our PIU graduates. He talked about the fact that, though we might not finish the work we are doing, if it is God’s work, He will finish it (Philippians 1:6). As I listened to John, I was applying his message to the situation in which Kathy and I find ourselves.

Early in 2020, I, Howard, decided that I needed to set in motion a plan to leave this role at PIU. From the beginning, January 2017, I have known and made known that my position of leadership at PIU is a battlefield appointment. Though the battle isn’t over, it has reached a different phase. Kathy and I have been privileged to bring a measure of stability to a difficult situation. I’ve been privileged to make and strengthen alliances that should serve the school well into the future. We were able to work with a team that accomplished the daunting task of the renewal of our accreditation for ten years.  We’ve been privileged to invest in the lives of some of the finest young adults in the world. It’s been good, and still is. But, it is time to bring things to a close as far as my part is concerned. PIU needs a leader to set the agenda and lead for the next 5-10 years or even beyond. At 70-years, I’m not that leader.

In March, just before my birthday and about 5-minutes before the Coronavirus shut everything down, I announced to the Board of Trustees (that’s who I report to) and to fellow administrators here at PIU that I would be leaving my position as President of PIU in May of 2021 and that we would be moving back to Virginia. I had a series of announcements in mind so that by now my planned resignation would be totally public. As viruses are wont to do, the Novel Coronavirus infected the timeline. One of my concerns was not to allow my news to detract from graduation. We really didn’t have one. We had planned to pass on the news personally to many of you. We planned to do part of that while on a trip to the mainland. We were supposed to be finishing that up about now. That didn’t happen (more in a moment) so, with the release of this letter, we are going public with this news. We’ll be leaving at the end of the 2020-21 academic year.

So, how are we doing?

It’s been hard, but by God’s grace it’s been good—at least mostly.

We are healthy. We eat well and exercise regularly. Thanks to our partners who work with us our needs are met. We enjoy our fellowship with our Guam church, small group, coworkers at PIU, and by long-distance our family, partners, and friends around the world. 2020 has been full of happenings and decisions with which we must deal. Our pastor and his wife, Tom and Rose Van Engen, retired at the end of May. They are in their new home in Illinois. The Van Engens are younger than we are. Their departure reminds us of our age. In the early weeks of 2020, I struggled with our plans for the future. Of course, COVID 19 came calling. We are very thankful that no one in the PIU family has been infected, though some of us have been tested and there have been infections within the close circles of some of our team. The sudden changes and the need to make hard choices has been challenging. We had, and still have, some students who had nowhere to go. Together with some students for whom it worked best to stay, they remain in the dorms. Kathy and I and the Tavarez family live on campus. As Alex T. and I joked, we became the wardens of the compound. Together we have had the responsibility for the health and welfare of 30 (at the beginning) young lives. By God’s grace we have made it thus far—though not without difficulties. I have often thought of this phrase, that came up in my devotional reading, about the same time Corona struck, “exhausted, yet keeping up the pursuit” (Judges 8:4). I would add, “By God’s grace.”

How can you praise with us and pray for us?

•            Much of the economy in this region depends on tourism. Here on Guam that has been completely shut down. Up until about a week ago, the expectation was that things would begin to open up further, starting tomorrow. An upturn in reported infections caused our Governor to reverse that decision. There have been no visitors from Japan, Korea, or other places from which tourists usually come. There won’t be for at least another month. From business owners to dishwashers, has devastated the economy.
•  Most of Micronesia simply closed their borders. The President of Chuuk Senate, the Father of one of our teachers, has been stuck here for three months. We have students who can’t get home. Folk can’t travel to attend funerals, or, in some cases, it has been impossible to transport
  bodies for burial (culturally, that is an important matter).
•  People’s lives change. There are always issues in people’s lives. We, especially H. need wisdom.
•  Pray that the transition to the next president will go well. We still don’t know who that
  will be.
•  Pray for our transition into what will be next for us.
•  We had been hoping to take a trip to the mainland later in the summer. That is, almost for sure, cancelled. Perhaps Christmas time. 
• We rejoice—though sadly from afar—in milestones in our grandchildren’s lives. Carrington is now the wife of Harrison Haley, and a graduate of Louisiana Tech. The new family lives in Utah. Little sister, Kendal, just graduated from Rock Hill High School. She was awarded a full scholarship to her first two years of college. Three of our grands, Kendal, Silas, and Kira are busy becoming drivers. No fenders have yet been bent.
• PIU entered into a relationship with a group from Texas called Hartwell Educators Institute. It should have both short-term and long-term benefits for PIU. Getting it going takes a lot of work. Pray that we can do that work well. We are constantly exploring ways to better serve the Micronesian communities. Pray that I’ll have wisdom to know which conversations are worth pursuing.
• Kathy taught Music 201 to the college students and piano to the three older Tavarez children. They were able to do an online recital. Kathy has enjoyed working with them. 
• I was recently told by the President of TRACS, our accrediting agency, that, for school like ours, the expectation is a 20-30% reduction in student numbers this fall. Pray that we’ll be the exception. 
• Most of our students don’t thrive in an online environment.

·         I’m teaching two classes during the summer, both online—all our classes are online, right now.

·         We plan to start our Fall Semester with mostly hybrid classes—there will be students in the classroom, masked and six-feet-apart, and at the same time, there will be students online. It is a new way of doing things for many of us. As far as I know, I’ll be teaching one class. We sent our IT guy on a shopping trip to use some of our Higher Education Emergency Relief money to beef up our digital capabilities.  Pray that we humans will also have our capabilities beefed up.

·         Liebenzell Mission USA is in the process of appointing a new Director and team. Pray for Dr. Chris Matthews. We believe he will do a good job.

 We are sorry that we have been out of touch for so long. For the record, I think we have only been to the beach three times this year. I’m not sure we have even gotten in the water. Though we admit it has been a hard year, we are privileged to be here, doing what we do. Thank you for standing with us to make it possible.

I’ll finish with some family pictures, Kendal’s graduation and a shot of Carrington and Harrison Haley with Tanisha and Chad

       

By His Grace,

Howard & Kathy