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!

ACOUSTIC NIGHT, FEBRUARY 15

Sixty guest purchased tickets to attend Acoustic Night at the Youth Center. A delicious meal of chicken was served while everyone enjoyed music presented by a new band that practices at the center.

Each ticket was good for two dinners and youth were encouraged to bring a parent or friend who does not yet know Christ as their guest.

Janice Varner started the evening off by playing the keyboard while guests gathered.

Pictured: the band and Master of Ceremonies, Ram, asking members of the audience to share their love story.

DAVID & JANICE VARNER VISIT FROM THE U.S.

We were thrilled to have company from home during February. They were here in time to help us make 30 doz. cookies for Acoustic Night at the Center.

In addition to helping cut out and ice the cookies the Varners spent time at the Youth Center, participated in several activities and helped us prepare our current newsletter for mailing.

Pictured with the Varners is Edna Garbosa on the left and Rodger on the right.

NEWSLETTER AVAILABLE ON LINE

Our latest newsletter is available on line. Go to 'NEWSLETTER' in the panel to the right to open our Newsletter files. Click on February 2011 to view the most recent news.

Valentines

We had the privilege of seeing another soul being baptised into Christ this afternoon. Alvin is an RN associated with one of the colleges in Digos.

We are also enjoying the company of The Varners from "home".

Preparations are underway for a big week celebrating Valentines day at the Youth Center. We have activities scheduled for each evening this week.

Last night Babykiss was baptised. Tonight they went to the ocean again and I was able to witness the Baptism of Kevin. About 20 of us went down to the ocean to share in the joy of this occasion. Kevin came up on shore after the baptism and was shivering almost uncontrollably. They had forgotten to bring any towels, dry clothes or anything else. I mentioned this to him and he said "I was too excited to think about such"... I gave him my shirt (thankful for the excuse to be in a t-shirt.... cooler). The temperature is somewhere in the mid 70's.

Dixie had the privilege of setting in on a Bible Study with one of the students this morning. The girl had already decided she is planning on being baptized. While Dixie was at the center, she counted more than 60 students in various activities. The real joy is seeing that it did not even look crowded! The Lord does truly bless!

Return

Wow, We are sorry it has been so long since we have blogged!

We are back in Digos City. This morning, we were in the Digos City Church for worship and it was a humbling experience to see the increase in the number of youth! About 40 of the 60 that were baptized last year are now active in some part of the ministry of the Church! The others are not "gone" but just not always permitted to be an active part of the ministry by parents, schedules, or such. They need our prayers that their parents will be reached, hearts softened, or encouraged in some way, not discouraged.

I will try to get photos in the future. Ram (some of you may remember the pictures of his baptism on the blog or newsletter) was one of the lead singers in the praise and worship team this morning.

Dixie now has email lists working for updates! If you want to be on that list to receive email updates, please send us your email address to rdshew@yahoo.com and we will be happy to add you.