It is a big day for the Guam Merrells.
Yesterday, Monday, 1/18, was our first day of freedom from quarantine. When we arrived back on the island, the evening of the fourth, we were taken by bus to the quarantine facility. You would think we were dignitaries. Not only were we on our way to the island’s most expensive hotel, but our little caravan was accompanied by police--sirens, lights, and all. Intersections were blocked. It was a bit of overkill. On the sixth day, we were tested. The result was negative, so we went home, to serve another week of house arrest. It’s not something I want to repeat. It was infinitely more bearable because I was with Kathy. Still, like 2020, I’m glad I’m done with that.
Back to today, though. While many folk in other places are still seeing COVID-19 numbers worsen, things are better, here on Guam. Yesterday, we went to PCOR2 (Pandemic Condition of Readiness) 1 is the worst, 4 is best. The Governor also issued an Executive order that in-person instruction could begin yesterday. Most of our classes are either Tues. & Thur. or Wed. & Fri. So for the first time since early March, we’ll be meeting with students in the classroom. For our highly relational Micronesian students and old-school teachers like Kathy and me, that is a welcome relief. The start of a semester in our little school is always a big deal. This one is more than most. While Kathy and I were gone or quarantined, other staff were busy getting ready—temperature-check/sanitation stations, social-distancing markings, training sessions, mitigation plans to be filed, etc. plus all the usual. In spite of the work-load, we are glad for this day to arrive.
For Kathy and me, this day has another significance. We face it with a mix of emotions. This is the last semester that we will serve on the ground here at PIU.
I usually try to be creative and clever with my newsletter writing. This one is about as plain as it can be. Forgive me, but it is all time will allow. The plainness is in no way an indication of our lack of appreciation for you. It doesn’t seem possible, but, thanks to you, we have been serving at PIU four years now. Thank you!
I will brighten up this, otherwise plain piece, with a picture.
It is a reminder of a wonderful time we had over Christmas. Our whole family gathered at our elder son’s house in Rock Hill South Carolina. In the very front is Lucy, the granddog, with our youngest grandchild Ava (Chad’s). Left to right are: Chad & Tanisha, Harrison & Carrington Haley (Chad’s & the first married couple in that generation, they live in Utah) Kendal and Christopher (both Chad’s, Christopher lives in Louisiana) Kira (Chris’s) Me & Kathy, Silas (Chris’s), Madeline (Chad’s, Maddy is newly engaged. She and Sam are students a couple of hours from here, in Greenville SC), and Nancy & Chris (The Chris Merrells live in College Station Texas.) Two hemispheres, four states & a territory. I’m glad to say we are united not only as a family, in the usual sense, but as people who love and serve the Lord.
Please join us in prayer and praise.- Praise the Lord for this new semester, our last one here.
- We still have some students who are tuning in via Zoom, etc. Pray for all the machinery to work well. Thank the Lord for those who have spent many hours getting it set up. Switching from all online to mostly in-person is more trouble than one would think.
- While things are improving on Guam, it looks like it will be a while before we see significant change in most of Micronesia. I read that Palau may be one of the first nations in the world to achieve total vaccination. FSM with its many remote islands presents a greater challenge. The nations of Micronesia have kept COVID out by shutting down their borders. The combination of difficult access to healthcare and the severity of COVID-19, has rightly made the islanders afraid. Pray that they can transition to a post-COVID mode. (We all desire that, don’t we?) Making this transition is very important for PIU’s ongoing operation.
- On a personal note, I’ve never been to Yap, one of the states of the Federated States of Micronesia. I’d like to go there, to promote PIU before I move back to Virginia.
- I can’t say “what, why, or who?” but the last three weeks or so were a hard time of wrestling with some administrative difficulties. By God’s grace, I’m (I believe we’re) in a better place. Pray that I will support the fine people that are PIU with good leadership on this last lap of this assignment.
- Pray for our Board as they continue the search for my replacement.
- Kathy is teaching Introduction to Music, and I’m teaching Pastoral Leadership this semester.
- The Dr. David Owen Memorial Fund, a capital fund campaign stalled because of COVID. The fund did have enough success that we are now having much-needed roof repair done.
- I hope your Christmas was a good one. Ours was wonderful. We spent about three weeks in the mainland. Eight days in the middle of that at our son’s home in South Carolina. All our family gathered there. It was a great time for the patriarch and his young wife.
A new colleague observed that our school is a valuable resource for all of Micronesia. That’s a geographic region the same size as the Continental United States. The fewer than half-a-million who live there are matched by a diaspora that may be as big as the homeland, in terms of population. That is the community we serve. There is only one other accredited Christian College/University in this region, and the other school doesn’t focus on Micronesians. Guam is called, “The end of the spear.” We are the Western-most USA land. Our island has great strategic military importance. Likewise, PIU is in this strategic place as an outpost for training a new generation of leaders. Pray that this new semester will be the beginning of a new, good phase.
Thank you, for partnering with us so we could be here.
By His Grace,
K & H |
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