Pioneer Service School

left to right, front row | Sally Dela Cruz, Natalie Balboa, Billa Jitiam, Cecilia Pinfen, Aida Ramirez, Josie Adanza, Ciarah Konings second row | Lito Dela Cruz, Danny Balboa, Lesa Nelson, Elwihna Doses, Joanne Clundrina, Evelyn Reselva third row | Owen Coit, Mike Pyle, Brian Oclima, Debbie Gump, Timmy Adanza, Jackie Hendriks, Jun Reselva fourth row | Glenn Odani, Patti Odani, James Cleaver, Me, Jeff Andrews, Troy Hamasaki, Mark Hendriks

"Shining as Illuminators in the World"—Philippians 2:15 …was the theme of a two week course of study that I was privileged to participate in. Class started the day after our convention concluded. The purpose of the class was to teach us how to become more effective in our ministry, encourage us to be more aware of Bible principles involved in making decisions, and most important—to strengthen our relationship with Jehovah God and Christ Jesus. Class started at nine o'clock and continued until four o'clock each day with a lunch break at noon. Meals were lovingly provided by the congregations of Guam. Let me just say…WE ATE (and ate) WELL! There were 23 students in the class and 2 instructors—Glenn Odani and Mark Hendriks. The students came from many of the islands of Micronesia.

There were three days that we went out in the ministry to apply what we had learned the day before. My car group included Billa (above), a mother and wife from the island of Rita in the Marshall Islands. When we returned from the ministry we enjoyed reenactments of conversations had in the field (below).

 

This is Debbie (left) and Natalie (right), a missionary on the island of Dublon in Chuuk returning from the field. It began to rain just as we came back. Debbie is in my congregation. We spend a lot of time together in the ministry each week. She is quite humorous and fun to be around. 

Our congregation fed us lasagna the second week of the school. 

left to right | Maybelline, Liberty, Emma, Charlene, Shay, Naomi Me, Jeff, Debbie

Jeff moved to Pohnpei to help the congregation and is also involved with construction of Kingdom Halls in Micronesia. We're hoping to go out and visit him and his wife, Polly.

left to right | Billa, Troy, a young sister from the Machanao congregation, Billa's daughter

 left to right | Lito, young brother, Sally, Jim's wife, Jim, Natalie, Danny, Jun, Evelyn 

Friday evening, after the final class, we enjoyed dinner at the Hilton.

Delicious food, entertainment and good-byes! 

Billa and her daughter are, as mentioned above, from Rita, Marshall Islands. Troy is a missionary from Ebeye, Marshall Islands. They were singing a Kingdom Melody in Marshallese. Lito and Sally have been missionaries in Chuuk for over 10 years. They are currently on Tol, one of the more primitive islands. Jim and his wife are part of the Chuukese group that is associated with the Machanao congregation on Guam. Danny and Natalie, as mentioned above are missionaries on Dublon, Chuuk. All but Jun and Evelyn sang us a Kingdom Melody in Chuukese. Jun and Evelyn are translators on Kosrae. They have been in their assignment since 1999. When they arrived there were 12 in the congregation. Now there are 22. 

In this game I had to shake the hands of 5 brothers. The idea was to find Aaron's hand. I chose the wrong one to everyone's delight! Kemic (right) and Aaron have the same size hands.

Jun, Pinfen, Evelyn

Me, Sally, Mama Lulu

Pinfen works in the translation office on Yap with Lesa (pictured with class), translating Bible literature into Yapese. Mama Lulu has been a pioneer for many years in the South congregation on Guam. At the close of class she said, "Old as I am, I can still improve…I am happy for that!" How very endearing! 

Also in our class (pictured in class photo) were Timmy and Josie, also in translation on Yap; Joanne from Dededo congregation on Guam; Owen who moved to Guam shortly after we did and serves the Machanao congregation; Elwihna, a mother of three from the island of Pohnpei; Ciarah, the oldest daughter and sister of five siblings from Pohnpei (via Indonesia, born in the Netherlands); Brian from the Tagalog congregation on Guam; and Mike who moved with his wife to Pohnpei about a year ago.

Our instructors were wonderful—both very fine teachers with very different styles! Glenn (right, with Danny, Natalie and wife Patti) serves the congregations of Guam, Rota, Tinian and maybe Saipan. 

Mark (right with wife Jackie) serves the rest of the congregations in the islands of Micronesia. This class really helped me to see how important it is to consider how Jehovah God feels about things and how well he takes care of and educates his worshipers. 

It was lovely to get to know all my classmates.

Aaron and I are eager to get out to their islands to see them again!