Andrew's Graduation!

Today was my last official Micronesia Ministry duty--and it was in Oklahoma!  One of my boys in my very first youth group (Saipan) who came to probably at least the first six or seven Catch the Wave youth retreats graduated from Army boot camp today.  (His parents even bought my old car back in Saipan.  His mom can be seen in Seaside Escape Ladies Retreat photos from earlier this summer.)

His story is complicated.  His parents are Filipino.  Donald (the dad) had a job working in Chuuk.  Salvi, the older brother, was born in Chuuk.  Chuuk is a state of the Federated States of Micronesia which is in free association with the US.  So the means that Salvi can come and go or work in the US almost as if he was born here.  But when Andrew was born, his mother was in the Philippines at the time.  The boys lived in Chuuk until ages 11 and 12 and then moved to Saipan.  They graduated HS in Saipan and went on to get associate's degrees in nursing.  But where Salvi can freely stay and get a job, this wasn't so for Andrew.  Andrew's "easiest" option was to join the military.

Since he wasn't a US citizen, his process is very complicated and takes forever.  So, while Andrew waited, he moved to Guam to finish a bachelor's in nursing.  Sometime this last semester, his time had come. (It had been over two years since he enlisted.)  He finished is upper level nursing classes three weeks early and shipped off to boot camp.  He only has two classes remaining to finish his degree, but those will have to wait.

Today, I drove the 2 1/2 hours to Lawton to be a part of his celebration. I met up with the Buchers. (Yes, you previously saw them in Saipan pics, but they are here for the summer.  Dave was Andrew's pastor in JH and HS.)  Salvi (older brother) now lives in Portland and flew in for the occasion.  What a fantastic time of catching up and celebrating!