Random

• The Crocs company appears to be in financial trouble. Solution -- attract more Japanese tourists to Guam and sales will go up. ~ link

• I finished the rough draft of the new PIBC/PIU catalog and have asked 10 people to proof/edit it. Maybe we'll be a little more accurate this time.

• One of our students was climbing over a wall (because the gate was locked), slipped, and dislocated her elbow. We all thought she had broken it but it appears that in spite of the pain there was no break. I won't say who it was but she is our only student from Texas...

• Dave got back last night with some good news from Chuuk. The US government is going to fund the repair of the potted Weno road -- which is almost the world's worst road -- just slightly better than the road to Dave & Joyce's home in Yigo. The Chuuk road (really the only road in Chuuk to speak of) will require a feat of engineering since it runs along the coast and is in many places below sea level. Dave & Joyce's road will require a miracle because it's subject to the fiscal whims of GovGuam.

• Walmart has its own stimulus package. They're paying out $2 billion in bonuses to hourly workers. Discount business is good because the economy is slow. Walmart is working on getting their act together. Credit is due. ~ link

• "The Other Side of Church Growth" -- stimulating interview with Philip Jenkins, who says we need "a theology of church extinction." ~ link

• My tropical garden is in bloom.

• My Google Voice activated--had to tweak new settings -- still won't support phone forwarding to Guam but for me that will be moot in a couple of months. ~ link

• Cheryl picked up two rolls of dollar coins for me -- no service fee @ First Hawaiian Bank.

• Quotable:

...new birth is not simply an individual-with-God affair of the heart. The new birth, expanded to its biblical proportions, is an act of God to create individuals to participate in the new community of those who follow Jesus in a missional direction. ~ Scot McKnight

• Our good friend and current supervisor (Asia region coordinator for Covenant World Mission) Dave Husby is taking on a new assignment. He will be the director of Covenant World Relief. Congratulations! ~ link

• My parents got married 55 years ago today and boy am I glad they did. Happy anniversary!