Life is good here. Teaching is going well; I am getting down to one or less catastrophic mistakes a day. We are getting into some interesting studies in Bible. We are doing a unit called "An Acceptable Sacrifice." We have studied out sin, a bit of Adam and Eve, and the story of Noah. As good as those studies are, there have been a few awkward moments that I will do my best to avoid next year. Sixth graders are not mature enough to appreciate the perfect world in Eden contrasted with a marred world in which God must make clothing for them. Yeah, the whole perfect world idea really grossed them out. They reacted pretty strongly against the idea of the first people having to marry their siblings. There was worse, but I will leave it at that.

I been able to have a couple of meetings with the Micronesian girls at my apartment for Bible study. They are so needy. This ministry with these girls has been the hardest part about being here. Susanne Choi, who heads up this minstry, took me around to several of their homes to show me the neighborhoods and see where these girls are coming from. This is sich an incredible opportunity, but parts of it are so hard. The hardest part is emotionally as I continue to find out more of where this girls are coming from.

The Micronesian culture is matriarchal; the women are the responsible ones who care for the children and make the important decisions. The men are steorotypically lazy, drunk and lusty. All of us girls have to get used to the men openly staring at you and looking you over. They don't even try to hide it. We have been told to not talk to them as a general rule, as that is seen as forward and encourages their attentions. This reversal of roles makes for tough women (abrasive, fighting, angry, the opposite of gentle), pleasure-driven men, poor families, and much abuse in the homes. The is no such thing as a marriage ceremony between a man and a woman. From my understanding, the man just informs the girl's father that they will be living together. Cheating and abuse (especially of the young girls in the family) is okay as long as you don't get caught. Most of the girls have been molested by fathers, brothers, uncles and cousins. Honestly, I have a really hard time digesting all of that. I don't understand how something so replusive to me can be so normal. The girs don't talk about it easily, and it is not polite to pry, so I guess it is up to prayer.

It would not be a surprising side effect of this behavior to have a lot of children. Children are a financial drain, so the "logical" thing to do would be to give the kid to a relative who has more resources. Most of the Bible Institute students who come to Guam from the Islands were not raised by their biological parents. Because the adults are pleasure-driven, they are often doing their own thing while the kids are running around in the streets. It is not uncommon to see kids running outside at 10-12pm with no adults around. I do see affection between the adults (especially the older women) and the children, so I guess it is not all bad. I have to really pray about how to teach and explain such concepts as love, marriage, God our Father and femininity to these girls. In many ways, their culture shares faults with the American culture. The same sin has creative ways of manifesting itself in different ways across the cultures. What a pleasure to be a servant of the God who is the God of all people and nations.

I have enjoyed a day off from school, thanks to Christopher Columbus. I have been taking it pretty easy since I caught a violent head cold from my roommate. Oh well, that's part of being a teacher. Even though I am sick, I feel rested and ready to go back to school. I miss those kids; they make me laugh. God was good to give me them.

Culture Clash

America is full of different cultures, and therefore worldviews. I suppose this may be why we are so postmoderistic and tolerant. I have been dealing with two completely worldviews: one during the week and one on Sundays.

Most of students are Asian of some sort. Asians are known for being success-driven, and this is most often seen in their view of education. Parents push their child to achieve the best education they can at great sacrifice to themselves and their child. A parent will do whatever they can to help their child succeed academically. Most Asians are in after-school tutoring. They will also bribe the teachers with gifts and compliments.Therefore, as a child you please your family by doing well in school. To receive a poor grade is to let down and disappoint your family. I often see a heavy pressure students put on themselves to accomplish, and a deep sadness or keen embarrassment due to a low score on an assignment.

While it is honestly nice to have hard-working students in the classroom, there are a few problems that present themselves. One of these is compulsive lying. Even if you have the evidence to prove the truth, the students will bold-face lie to protect themself; they call it "saving face." Every human lies; God's Word makes that clear. However, it is more of an issue with the Asian. It is to the point that I expect them to lie then they are confronted. I am trying to find ways to work around this problem. I have set the expectation of truth in the classroom, but it is as though I am going against their entire way of life when I ask why they didn't study for their test and expect an honest answer.

The second biggest cultural difference is in the Micronesians. The Lord has also given me the opportunity to work with the Micronesian Senior and Junior high Sunday School. I would summarize the driving force behind the Island culture as pleasure. They are content with a very simple lifestyle, and I have not seen strong evidence of materialism. They would rather work just enough to survive and buy alcohol... or maybe just buy alcohol.

The Micronesian culture is also mactriarchal, so the women are the "responsible ones" in the families. There is also a lot of molestation in the homes. The marriage process of the Chammaros (Guam natives) and most of the other Islands is to simply talk to the familes and then start living together. No vows, no ceremony. The girls coming into the SS class have such a skewed view of marriage and family, not it is hard to teach them about God as our Heavenly Father and the Love of Christ for the Church. We talk about things in Sunday School that I NEVER heard about in church. The lady in charge of the class is incredible and I am learning so much from her.

Well... it has been almost a month, and I am finally writing my first blog. I hope I will better at posting, now that I am settled. We just finished our second week of school. Today is Labor Day, so there is no school. There are 25 students in my homeroom, and a hundred 6th grade students all together. I am still trying to learn the names of the students. I think I have them pretty much down except for some of the Asian ones. Hee Jung and Jae Sung sometimes get mixed up into Hee Sung. Here is a picture of my homeroom after my birthday celebration. The Lord gave me the opportunity to talk to one of the girls about assurance of salvation. I would say that about half of my students would not profess Christ as their Savior. A few do not believe in God at all. There are many opportunities for eternity.

The church here is wonderful. It reminds me a lot of the church I attended while in college, Brookside Baptist Church. Our pastor, Marty Herron, was formerly the camp director at Northland Camp in WI. The preaching is accurately theological, but also personable and practical. Their are many ministry branches out of Harvest. I teach 6th grade at the K-3 thru 12th school, Harvest Christian Academy. Then there is Harvest Baptist Bible Institute which brings high school graduates off of the surrounding islands, and gives them a Bible education. Then there is also Christian radio station broadcasting throughout Micronesia.

There is a great group of singles and young married couples here. We are always going over to each other's houses, going out to eat, and doing random stuff. Today, we went on a hike through the jungle, and came out by the ocean. I got to jump a couple of times off of a 35 foot cliff into the ocean. Kind of shaky coming out the ocean because of the adrenaline. Then we got to go into a cave with the coldest water on Guam. Back into the cave a bit, there is was a large room filled with water we went swimming in by the light of candles and underwater flashlights. The Lord is so good to allow me to be here. Hafa adai!