Graduation at PIU

Yesterday, Monday, May 10 of 2010, a large crowd of nearly 300 gathered in Mangilao, Guam at Faith Presbyterian Church to celebrate the first commencement activities of Pacific Islands University! (Up to this past year, we have been Pacific Islands Bible College.)










It was a great celebration of the hard work of our recipients of bachelors and associates of arts degrees in biblical studies! The students did a great job of entering on cue! They also sang a song written by one of our AA graduates in honor of the day.










Faculty members sat facing the crowd to the left of the pulpit while students were seated on the right, also facing the crowd. What a great photo op! On the far right of this photo you will see Dave Owen, president of PIU, and me (Melody) - this was the first year we had any of the faculty dressed in regalia. Those speaking wore regalia, but in the future, we'd like to see more faculty also thus dressed.







As the students' names were announced, each one walked down the center aisle to the front while I read a passage of scripture each had chosen for this purpose and then Dave presented them with their diplomas. It was a wonderful opportunity for students to share a passage that had special meaning for them at this point in their lives!







After the ceremony, the crowds gathered outdoors for a reception to celebrate! One of the ladies at the church Tim and I attend created a beautiful cake for the occasion, complete with plumeria blossoms!


















At the end of the evening, students and their families left for their own celebrations. Here are two of our young graduates covered with traditional leis, celebrating and honoring their accomplishment. Please keep our graduates in your prayers, that they would be able to serve and honor God with their gifts, talents, and educations. Pray that God would use them in a mighty way to bless their communities.

"Plan B" Works for Me!!

They say that it's always good to have a "plan B" - whoever, "they" are! Anyway, PIU's Spiritual Emphasis Days planners definitely had a "plan B!" Today, we were supposed to kick off with lunch at an outdoor venue (Bayview Church), but due to a tropical storm skirting our area, we started with lunch on campus - lots of laughing, smiles, and fun. No one seemed to mind the change too much! Later today, we'll be off to Bayview as the weather clears to hear Matt Augee speak. But earlier today, we were still on campus for food, fun, and fellowship!

We had some great activities! A group relay race
was first - here's a true action shot! It involved fishing for Lifesavers in flour (with mouths!), shuffling across the room in paper bag slippers, tagging a teammate who then had to carry a raw egg back across the room to two other teammates. These next two had to walk sideways, back to back, to the last two teammates back across the room, who then "danced" to the finish line! There were LOTS of laughs!







Following the relay race was a good "old fashioned" watermelon eating contest. Meluat definitely won, but everyone gave him some good competition, including Justin, from our community group. (I think the fact that we did this contest after lunch slowed things down a bit!!)

Regardless, everyone had a great time!






No shortage of smiles here!
Scroll down to see
more of our students!
















Pray for us all, students
and staff alike, to hear
from God over the next
two days - that we would be sensitive to His speaking
to us through the scriptures and the speaker at the retreat.

Check back here early next week for more photos of Spiritual Emphasis Days at PIU! :-)