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Mission trips were one of the casualties of the pandemic. Due to worldwide travel restrictions, many remote areas desperate for aid were cut off from receiving medical care, needed supplies, and equipment. As travel restrictions began to lift, a group of medical professionals from the United States, Australia, Malaysia, and South Korea along with 21 students and volunteers began planning a mission trip to Indonesia. Many were Pacific Union College students, staff, and alumni.Dr. Backsil Sung, professor of biology at Pacific Union College, has been on many medical mission trips. Planning for this one presented new challenges, but also providential surprises. “God provided everything for this trip,” Sung said. “He opened the country step-by-step.” When the group initially began planning, Indonesia had only recently opened specific areas to foreign tourists. One month later, Sung said, the country opened remote regions. Within the next month, they lifted the PCR test requirement, and then one for travel insurance. Finally, Indonesia accepted visas on arrival without any other major requirements.Dr. Sung said God also helped provide $50,000 from friends and other supporters which, except for airfare, covered all the necessary expenses for patient transportation, medicine, equipment, supplies, and materials. The large donation also...

Pacific Union College is proud to announce that the education department received full accreditation, which allows the department to recommend candidates for a California state teaching credential and SDA certificates in elementary, middle, and secondary teaching. With receiving full accreditation, the education department requires one report due each year.The education department was given six months to address the accreditation body’s concerns. Dr. Jean Buller, chair of the education department, appeared before the state committee, and shortly after her meeting, full accreditation was granted. “The process is very rigorous, and we are proud of our approval status,” Buller said. The accreditation was conducted online for three days in April, and the accreditation team interviewed current students, graduates, and graduate employers. The education department initially received a few stipulations, including an increase in faculty training for student diversity, equity, and inclusion, meeting more often with the field advisory schools where teaching candidates are placed, and improving procedures for placement of students in lab schools. PUC has been fully accredited since the 1950’s. In May, the department also completed the process to renew our SDA North American Division Certification. ...

Jennifer Klingbeil read and watched the news about the war in Ukraine in February with both shock and compassion. Like many of us here in the United States, she felt moved to action, wanting to help the Ukrainian people but not sure how.That changed after Klingbeil received a call from Kellie Lind. Lind, Pacific Union College’s vice president of advancement, was reaching out as a friend to offer her home as a place to stay for any of Klingbeil’s relatives who might have fled Ukraine.Klingbeil felt like it was “a sign” since she had been thinking about PUC. She talked with Lind about her fervent desire to help Ukrainians. Perhaps they could work together. Their idea blossomed into an initiative -- Mission: Ukraine. Through the program, 10 Ukrainian students displaced by war will travel to the United States to attend Pacific Union College. Over 70 students have already applied to this program and have gone through a rigorous selection process. The chosen group will start school here in Napa Valley this fall.Both Ukraine and PUC are close to Klingbeil’s heart. Jennifer’s mother, Adventina Shiwotenko, was Ukrainian. Remarkably, she started the country’s first Seventh-day Adventist school in Kyiv. “Christian education was...

Since arriving at Pacific Union College in 2006, Asher Raboy has worked to build connections between the college’s music program and the Napa Valley community.Raboy, the chair of the music department and PUC’s resident artist in music has composed original works for students and brought diverse musicians to perform on campus. Now Raboy said a generous donation will help PUC further in building these community relationships.A $150,000 donation from the former local nonprofit, Angwin Community Ambulance, will help PUC renovate the main auditorium in Paulin Hall, home to the college’s music department.The renovation work, conducted in two phases, will include new seats and paint along with needed wall repairs. New carpet with thick padding and vinyl hardwood flooring for the stage will help improve the auditorium’s acoustics. The hope is for the project to be completed by early 2023, just in time for PUC to debut a student-led theatrical production -- an original musical written and scored by Assistant Academic Dean Lindsay Hayasaka. To many, the work might seem simply cosmetic. But not for Raboy.Raboy, who directed the Napa Valley Symphony for nearly two decades, talks of the project with the same passion you might find him talking about Brahms...

PUC recently received a valuable donation of equipment for the school’s swift water rescue course from Angwin Community Ambulance (ACA), a local ambulance service that was recently dissolved.The organization donated swift water gear, including wetsuits, helmets, gear bags, life jackets, and more, as well as technical rope rescue gear and rescue-specific personal protective equipment.Before being dissolved, ACA served the Angwin community for more than 40 years. During that time, many of PUC’s emergency services and emergency management students volunteered with the organization, providing emergency medical services throughout Angwin.The ambulance service donated the equipment to PUC in addition to sharing assets with other local groups that serve the community of Angwin.“Though ACA has dissolved, they still wanted to further their mission and serve the community,” said Matthew Russell, assistant professor of nursing and emergency services. “The donation of swift water equipment and technical rope rescue equipment will allow the emergency management program to continue to provide excellent training opportunities to our majors who in turn will use these skill sets to serve the Angwin community.” The new equipment was put to use in early July when students attended a swift water rescue course on the south fork of the American River...