Click on "newsletter" at the right, then on November 2011 to see the latest newletter...

Some of you may remember a young man that accepted the Lord by the name of "Ram". This past sunday, July 31, we had the priviledge of hearing him preach a sermon to the Digos City Church. Following the sermon, four young people that have been attending a Bible study lead by him, accepted the Lord! Many tears of joy were shed during the service. The interesting discussion was by several of us sharing our reasons for the tears of joy... Of course the first and most important reason just knowing the committment and decision to accept Christ as their saviour! We are looking forward to others preaching in the near future. The church is asking the youth to preach one Sunday a month! Thank you for your continued interest in the Youth of Digos city.

The following was a note from the Youth Center today by one of the staff: "The team had a wonderful day today... we were amazed by the number of students today... starting from 10am-6:30pm the place was full of students...others stayed in the kitchen...some stayed at the libray... and this is the first time that almost all of the game materials were borrowed by the kids... also guitar and even keyboard... the tables were occupied... some used the benches as tables to play cards and chess and jenga..." Connor commented simularly that it was full all day, most days the kids come and go.

During the summer, one project was a "mission trip", where the youth and staff went to Butuan City and trained people there to do a Vacation Bible School, by doing one for them. We heard today that there were 12 baptisms after the team left. The ones that lead the next VBS in an area they wanted to plant a church, resulted in 8 more baptism. That "outreach" church is now averaging 60-70 in attendance! The Lord continues to amaze us in what He is doing!

Dixie returned from Manila today, after spending the last 5-6 days in the hospital with a friend (fellow missionary) who had major back surgery. We are please that Kay is doing well and hopefully be released from the hospital on Thursday or Friday.

The youth Center continues to be a haven for kids. Tomorrow they are planning a dinner and fun activities in the evening.

Time flies! Another School year is here in the Philippines. We have had students signing up for tutorials and Bible Studies this past week. School will be in full swing this coming week. On Wednesday we are planning a welcome party for all the students. Pizza is on the menu for a snack to be served, games are planned and challenges have been given to the "old timers" to bring new friends.

Connor Peoples has also joined the ministry for the next year. Connor is from Andover, Minnesota and is a recent High School Graduate. We are looking forward to his help and encouragement this coming year. He is already scheduled for tutorial and Bible studies.

We have two new employees: Cherry and Vincent. They are also scheduled for leading Bible Studies, Tutorials and other Youth Center responsibilities. Cherry just recently passed her board exams for Nursing, and Vincent is a recent graduate majoring in English. We are happy to have them on board!

I apologize for the small size of two of the pictures... I am not sure why some came out small and others large enough to see better. 17 left Digos to go to Butuan City on a "Mission trip" They were all in one truck - and had 5 flat tires before arriving. Butuan is on the north side of Mindanao, Digos in the southern part - about six hours apart, with good travel. I think it took more than 10 due to the flat tires. They are prepared to teach Vacation Bible School at the church there. As well as teaching, they are training the staff there to facilitate two more VBS's in outreaches they have started. They are dressing to emphasize the culture of the scripture and Bible times.

Not only do they dress the part, but they also act out the stories. Each child is given a "buff" to designate the group that he is a part. They have four groups, one is in the story time, one in game time, one in craft time, and the fourth in snack time. They then rotate to the next session. There were more than 70 children enrolled in the VBS.

Several of the mission participantes are new Christians - having accepted Christ this past year at the Youth Center. They are living their new faith by sharing Christ.

Wow, time does get away in a hurry. Kids had a lot of fun on the last day of the school year - scheduled games for the whole day. Winners of individual games won a Bible, group games won a small pizza for the team.

The Bibles purchased with money from VBS's last year have arrived and are being put to use. It is humbling to hear kids request a Bible instead of pizza!