Palau Recruiting Fall 2011

Alii, 

Finally my Palau Update!!! I had to get through the end of the semester before I had time to sit down and get it done. Palau was amazing to say the least. We left on Thanksgiving Day right after the annual PIU Thanksgiving meal. We arrived in Palau around 5:30pm and after dinner at the Famous Burger joint the "Bem Ermii" we stopped to get an internet phone card and met two girls from Ponepei who were currently attending Palau Community College and told them about PIU and they both were very interested and one of them showed up Sunday to the English Service. We sat outside with Hedrick and Hyob (Pastor's at Koror Evangelical Church and former Professor, and Alumni of PIU) and talked for a while then slept early so we could get rollin in the morning. That morning I had and appointment with a Chinese student who was a senior at Bethania Evangelical Seminary which is a private all girls High School on Palau. She wishes to come to PIU next Fall and is working on her visa to come this Christmas for a campus visit. Then we headed over to Palau Community College where our PIU Teaching Facility is located so that I could interview an applicant to oversee the TF. After the interview we headed out to the villages and were able to talk with students at Bethania High School. I also got to stop by my Pastor's house in Ngerelong and got to meet his family they fed us FISH! We were able to meet many young people who are working construction or at their parents stores or just relaxing. They were all very interested and we were able to get their contact info and gave them brochures and applications to them. We also went to a Softball and Volleyball Tournament where we were able to meet a few students and some very important people in the Island. That night we were invited to the Emaus High School (all boys Christian High School Run by the church) to join their Thanksgiving Dinner. Got to catch up with one of our Alumni and talk with many future college students who showed great interest in our school.  Saturday we hit the road again meeting many possible students and more important people. One lady we met was a famous Christian singer in the islands and the President of Palau's sister. She had just finished White Ribbon Day to raise awareness about Domestic Violence and gave a call to all the men to take a stand and be good husbands and fathers. She also just got some legislation passed to help with this issue. We were unable to meet with the President because he was in Israel but, we did leave some information and brochures with the Vise President. When we got home that night we had been on the road for 12 straight hours. On a tiny island that is alot of driving!! Our Driver Balku (one of our students uncles) agreed to drive us around and he said he had never driven that much in his life and was so tired he went to bed without dinner and for Micronesian's that never happens! Sunday morning was our last day there and we joined the Palauan service and were able to share some with them. The English service was immediately following and we also shared there and some of the students we met came to the service. It was a great weekend and we got 34 students information who are interested in coming. Most of them will graduate in May so they will come in Fall  2012. We had many students graduating this Fall and have many open spaces we need to fill for January so please join us in Prayer that God will bring us the students we need and begin preparing their hearts now. 13 out of 16 states covered in two days Great Is Thy Faithfulness!!!!

For His Name Sake,

Daisy E. Murdock

Upcoming Palau Trip: January 24th-31st I will return with a couple others from PIU to recruit some more students and follow up on the ones already contacted. We will be presenting in the High Schools and attending the youth rally at the Korror Church.

Purity Ceremony

This semester has been full of God's Grace and Blessings and one that tops them all this semester is the Purity Retreat I had the privilege to experience with my girls. Purity is a topic that for the most part is not an open topic here in the islands for discussion even among churches but, it is a topic I felt we should dive into. Karyn Sorenson who is one of our Faculty Members here at PIU was so awesome to step in and teach the girls on this topic. She is a counselor here at PIU and has much experience in this area and has gone through purity commitments with her own children as well. Last year around February we began a series of Purity talks with the girls and began praying about what God would have us do with the information we have been given. As we got into this semester and the girls began to seek the Lord's guidance in this area they approached me and asked if we could do the ceremony because they were ready to make their commitments to God. Karyn and her husband Eric were called by God to pastor a church in California so she was unable to join us this semester however, God provided a way for her to come out and while she was on island finishing up her class that she was teaching was also able to finish the Purity talks and host the Ceremony with the girls. So two weeks ago on Wednesday November 23, 2011 13 girls participated in the Purity Ceremony. Some were able to have their parents present and others had friends and sisters in Christ to witness their commitments. We gave the girls the task of writing their own commitments and were completely blown away by the depth and hard work they put into these. They were real and personal and reflected accurately what God was in fact doing in their lives. I personally have never witnessed anything like this and was completely intimidated by what they wrote. I didn't know what to expect at the ceremony and was blown away by the work of the holy Spirit in these girls lives. Below are some Pictures from the ceremony and I want to thank first of all God for all He has done in these beautiful daughters of His!!! Also I wanna say thank you to Karyn for giving of her time to come and minister to us and to those of you from Grace Baptist Church in Salado, Texas for sponsoring each girl's ring. Also to Joyce Owen, thank you for letting us crash your house last minute for our retreat!!! And to Meluat our professional photographer, we cannot thank you enough for your time and the great pictures you took for us!!!