PIU, Coffee with the President

COFFEE WITH THE PRESIDENT

A campaign to enable PIU to train a new generation of leaders:

As I sit at my desk, I can picture you, on the other side of this screen.

Yep, I see you.

You want to think about this for a few minutes.
You’d like to talk.
Do me a favor, would you?
Hold on just a minute. Maybe you can enjoy some coffee in the meantime. Right next to you is another friend of mine, who just wants the facts, and they want them now.

So, here is the Coffee with the President campaign in a to-go cup:

PIU is at a critical juncture. The
need for training Micronesian
leaders has never been greater, but
to continue our mission, we have to get through the rebuilding phase we are in.
We are reaching out to thousands
of friends, old and new. We are praying that one-thousand, or more, friends will partner with us in prayer, and financially, with gifts large and small.
You’ll find out more about the need and the opportunity at the “PIU Coffee with the President” YouTube Channel
Here is the video that tells you what Coffee with the President is all about:

We want this to be more than just a fundraiser. We want to become better acquainted with old friends and make new ones. I’m asking you to do two things:

1. Look at the menu and make a Coffee with the President commitment. You’ll find all you need to do that on our Donate page.

2. Help us reach out to others.
If you believe in the work PIU is doing, would you share this with your friends?
Don’t just forward a link to them, reach out and encourage them to take a look at the marvel that is Pacific Islands University.
A personal note, with a link to this blog post and/or a link to the video above would be one way of doing this.

We’ll send a PIU Tide’s Wave Coffee Mug to everyone who participates in this campaign, and I'll be sending a monthly video, so we can have coffee together.

OK, you’re welcome to hang around while I talk to my less hurried friend, but you’re good to go.

Just don’t forget that donate link.

*************************

PIU President, Dr. David Owen, is fond of referring to Pacific Islands University as a well-kept secret, or comparing Pacific Islands University to a treasure stored in a plain clay pot.

“We now have this light shining in our hearts,
but we ourselves are like fragile clay jars

containing this great treasure.
This makes it clear that our great power is from God,

not from ourselves.”
(2 Corinthians 4:7, NLT)

One could make the point that recently, our pot has been cracked. It is only by the grace of God, and the resiliency, and dedication of an outstanding staff, that PIU has continued its mission. What I see happening around me reminds me of a Japanese art-form, Kintsugi. Broken pottery is repaired with gold, and becomes something even more beautiful than it was before it was broken. As wonderful as it is, though, to see this bonding and unity of purpose in our PIU family, that is not really what is most important. Whether the container is beautiful or plain, it's what is inside the container that really matters. When I look in the pot that is Pacific Islands University, or when I put my ear to the mouth of the container, I see and hear marvelous stories coming from our students and alumni. In recent days, as I have been working to put this campaign together, I have been privileged to hear several of those stories. I hope they will encourage you, as much as they have me. You'll find several of these stories on our YouTube Channel. I hope you'll tune in often; in weeks to come, we’ll be adding more stories of alumni and students of PIU.

Our school has been clobbered with difficulties over the past year. At the top of that list of troubles is the battle President Dave Owen is fighting against T-cell Lymphoma. As I said earlier in this piece, we are rebuilding. To do that we need partners to come along side us financially. Much more, though,we need to expand our base of friends. That’s why we set this campaign up so that our goal is not a hundred people who will give us one-hundred large gifts, but 1,000—that’s right, I said “one-thousand”—people who will partner with us with gifts from micro to large. God does His accounting differently than CPAs. By His reckoning, the widow’s gift of two small coins was far more significant than its monetary value.

This campaign is an important part of that process. We need people to partner with us financially, but more we need friends who will pray with us. When I hold out my hand, it's not primarily to receive a gift. Mostly is it is a gesture of friendship.

“Then a poor widow came by and dropped in two small coins.
“I tell you the truth,” Jesus said, “this poor widow has given more than all the rest of them.
For they have given a tiny part of their surplus, but she, poor as she is, has given everything she has.”” (Luke 21:2–4, NLT)

The message of this campaign is going to people who represent a wide spectrum of economies. Some who read this are blessed with material prosperity such that they have likely spent hundreds, or even thousands, of dollars or euros in the past month sharing meals with others. Others who are receiving this will have less income this month than others will have spent on just one of those meals. How much each of us has from which to give is not the critical matter. What is important is what we do with what we have. The Apostle Paul wrote to the churches in Greece about a need in Jerusalem. He wanted to rally others to come to the aid of the saints, who lived where the Gospel had its beginning, but who were now in great need. Two principles reach across the millennia to us. Decisions about giving should be “according to what a person has, not according to what he does not have” (2 Cor. 8:12), and “God loves a cheerful giver” (2 Cor. 9:7).

Here is the standard I’m urging you to adopt, as an entry point for this campaign:

How much would you spend to take a couple of friends out for coffee, or your favorite beverage?

If a thousand of you make that coffee cup sized monthly commitment to enable PIU to get through this rebuilding time, enabling us to continue making solid, accredited Christian education—education infused with a Biblical worldview—available in this region, we can make a profound difference. I say that based on the difference we have made in the past. All over Micronesia, and beyond, there are women and men who attended Micronesian Institute of Biblical Studies, Pacific Islands Bible College, or Pacific Islands University, who are making a difference. The job isn’t done. Let’s not quit.

Speaking of not quitting, some of you have been greatly blessed by the Lord. You can go well beyond that cup-sized commitment. I hope you will consider doing so.

You fill in the amount that matches your circumstance. On our donation page you will find several ways—online, by mail, or through your bank’s bill pay service--that you can make a donation to Pacific Islands University. You may find it easier to send the first three, six, or twelve months of your gift all at once. You do what works best for you.

Whatever your gift, we’ll be sending you a PIU Coffee Mug. Whenever you use it, it’ll be our way of showing our gratitude, and the Tide’s Wave on your cup will remind you to pray for us. I’ll show you a picture as soon as I get one, and we’ll get it to you as soon as we are able. I’ll also be putting together a monthly video. It will be a way for you to meet some more of our PIU family, and find out what’s going on out here in the Pacific. I hope there will be opportunity for us to share a cup of coffee, a word about the privilege of serving our great God, and spend a few minutes in prayer. Even though it may be via Skype, across the miles, I look forward to sharing with you.

Thank you for taking the time to consider this project. I hope to hear from you. We continue to serve,

By His Grace,