May 19, 2011

Basketball Clinic

    


     On May 14, 16, and 17, 2011, a free basketball clinic was held at NEOS.   A local commercial team sponsored the event. 








     The exciting part of the clinic was that several Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) players were involved. 
  




There were 103 participants registered,                                                                                                              
       with 13 instructors, 
                   and 33 decisions for Christ.   


        

It was a wonderful time.
Devon Sulivan

Homeschool Graduation

  


     On April 15, 2011, Steven and DeeAnn were graduated from their years of homeschooling. They are now ready to go into the world and learn from different teachers.


                         Both Steven and DeeAnn are enrolled at 
             Faith Academy Mindanao for the school year 2011-2012.


May 8, 2011

Melissa Boyken

        From June 28, 2010, until May 13, 2011, Melissa Boyken volunteered as a staff member at the NEOS Fellowship Center in Tagum City.   Melissa came all the way from Bloomington, Indiana, to live with the Boado Family.  

Here is what she said about her time in Tagum City at NEOS:                 I had no idea what was in store for me, including what life would be like, what exactly I would be doing, and how I would  be living. This was a complete leap of faith for me. When I arrived, the Boado family greeted me with open arms and open hearts.  
   This ministry has opened my eyes to all God can do when  people are willing to serve Him with all their heart. The ministry  at NEOS is possible because of the faithful staff and volunteers  at NEOS. People give their time, energy, and hearts to help  share Christ with the people of Tagum City, Philippines. This  ministry has helped show me how much I want to give my heart to sharing Christ, whether in  a local church ministry or some other ministry.        

     Along this journey, there have been ups and downs,  good times, and not so good times.  Yet, God has been with me every step of  the way.  He just wanted me to trust in Him about  my future. He wants me to completely surrender my life to Him and allow Him to work.    

   I feel like God was trying to show me and teach me to rely on  Him.  He is my Father, the One I should run to in times of need.  He is always there. He is here for me when I am all by myself.  He promised to never leave me, and to always be with me, no  matter what. Throughout this experience I have realized that  God is the One who will always be there for me, and I am to  turn to Him always.   

     I now appreciate my earthly family more, and I was able to  experience the NEOS ministry and life with the Boado family.      

May 6, 2011

NEOS Staff

     The NEOS staff is very important in the ministry of the NEOS Fellowship Center.   Please pray for these seven very important people as they work together to bring people to Jesus Christ through the ministry of NEOS in Tagum City.



Paulino Junsay
Idylyn Casayas
Oshany Tikan
Marietta Junsay
Mae-Ann Ang
Eufracio Saycon
Emilyn Castrence

 

Midwife Valerie

   Here is a fun photo of Valerie with 10 of the children that she has delivered over the past 12 years. All of these children were at the VBS graduation program on April 29, 2011. The child kneeling down on the front row with the sunglasses on was the very first baby Val delivered 12 years ago. His name is Jade. The two women holding the babies are the mother's of those two little ones. God is so good to give Val the joy of delivering babies in Tagum and then watching many of them grow up to know Jesus through NEOS.  

Vacation Bible School/2011

    
     From April 25-29, 2011, we had our 19th Vacation Bible School (VBS) at NEOS.  There were 283 children registered with 40 decisions for Christ and 4 children counseled for assurance.
     It was a wonderful week.




Theme: Ten Commandments
Bible Verse: Romans 12:21
Motto: God wants You to Obey



                        

Steven Boado teaching the
      Bible verse.  






  
   DeeAnn Boado counseling four children for salvation.

Easter at NEOS/2011

     Easter is always a wonderful time at the NEOS Fellowship Center.   It is a time to hear about the story of Jesus' death and resurrection as well as a time to have fun and look for Easter eggs.   Our fun started on Saturday when the youth and NEOS staff came to the Boado home to color Easter eggs.

      On Sunday afternoon, the staff then hid the eggs for the children to find.   But, the children had to listen to the Easter story before they could have the fun of looking for the eggs.




  






                                                       Listening to the Easter Story.

  
              
  
     Each year Valerie chooses one of the children to be Jesus.


         
   She uses props to dress up the child so that the children can see what Jesus went through for them.

     It is quite a powerful and dramatic way to teach the Easter Story.   She goes through the story step by step with visuals and props and drama so the children will understand completely what Jesus did for them.

     Valerie also explains why eggs are used for Easter.  An egg is a sign of new life.   Jesus died and rose again to give you new life.

     If you are reading this blog and you would like to have new life in Jesus, please talk to your pastor or contact us through the 'contact us'/CTEN -- Mike and Val Boado/ link in this blog and we will be extrememly happy to lead you to the cross of Jesus.

Oshany and Idylyn

     Oshany Tikan and Idylyn Casayas are two gals that are a super part of the NEOS Fellowship Center.   Both of these young ladies came to Jesus as children at NEOS.   They grew up at NEOS and were trained at NEOS.   They are now training others and teaching others what God has done in their lives.

     On this trip Idylyn was blessed to take her very first airplane ride.  It was also her first time outside of the island of Mindanao. Oshany was blessed to take her first ride on the large 747 aircraft.





Dressed up like the mountain people in Baguio City.
     Valerie took them with her to Manila to help with the video workshop at CSM for Val's books.   This trip was possible because of the generous gifts of the NEOS supporters.  

    
     It was a fun time for the three of us to not only do ministry together but to also see the sights of Manila and Baguio City.  

Agoo, La Union


     On April 17, 2011, Mike, Val, Steven, Oshany, and Idylyn, were privileged to worship in Agoo, La Union, for Sunday morning.   Those of you who know the story of how Mike and Val met will remember that Agoo is where God brought them together.  

     Mike preached at Community Touch Christian Fellowship and Steven shared his testimony.  The church is meeting in a house right now.   It is the very house where Val spent her first night in the Philippines 23 years ago.  Totally nostaligic.  

    
     Since there were two services at CTCF, Val took Oshany and Idylyn to visit Agoo Christian Fellowship during the second service which was ACF's regular worship time.  

     Oshany and Idylyn had the impromptu joy of teaching the children's SS class at ACF.  

   They were a great encouragement to the SS teachers and director.

   Before we left Agoo, Mike and I were able to visit a very special family that was apart of our beginnings 23 years ago.   We had a wonderful visit with the Selga Family.   The father, Pedong, is now very weak in body but still strong in spirit.  One daughter, Judy, is suffering from cancer.  We were able to pray with the family and encourage them to keep their eyes on Jesus.   This family has been through much pain through the years and we were glad to see that despite Satan's attacks, our friendship was still strong.   To God be the glory.

CSM Workshop

  
     On April 16, 2011, Val once again did a Sunday School workshop with the help of her wonderful NEOS staff members Oshany and Idylyn.   This time the workshop was at the Church Strengthening Ministries (CSM) offices in Paranaque, Manila.   This is the ministry that prints and distributes Val's Bible curriculum books, The NEOS Bible Curriculum For All Ages.

 

     The really exciting part of the workshop was that it was done in front of video cameras. The CSM staff will take all of the footage from the workshop and make it into a two-hour training video on how to teach Sunday school and how to use Val's books.

 

     We are excited about this video and look forward to seeing Val's books being used in ministries throughout the Philippines and the world.



 

May 5, 2011

Damosa Workshop

    
    
     On April 9, 2011, Val did a Sunday School workshop in the Damosa district of Davao City with help from NEOS staff members Oshany and Idylyn.  
 
Oshany and Idylyn teaching a song.

We were a total of 28 adults coming from 8 different churches. The consensus at the end of the day was that their time was NOT wasted and that they were very glad they had joined the sessions.   AMEN!!!   

Leader's Conference in Buda


      On March 24 and 25, 2011, Mike and Val spoke to 82 pastors and lay leaders in the Buda district hill country north of Davao City.  It was a wonderful two days of sharing from our hearts.  We were encouraged and refreshed by our time with these wonderful people.  

Mike: Four Rules of Communication
       Rule 1 = Be Honest, Eph 4:25
       Rule 2 = Keep Current, Eph 4:26-27
       Rule 3 = Attack Problems and Not People, Eph 4:29-30
       Rule 4 = Act and Don't React, Eph 4:31-32

Mike:  Anger
       * Anger is a Natural Emotion
       * What makes you angry?
       * When does anger become sin?
       * Levels of anger
  
Mike:  How to Win Over Anger
      1.  Admit and Confess to God
      2.  Give Your Anger an Expiration Date
      3.  Be Spirit-Controlled
      4.  Speak the Truth in Love
      5.  Express yourself Positively
      6.  Focus on Forgiveness
      7.  Steps to Forgiveness
            
Mike:   Training Leaders
   It is hard to find FAT people
      Faithful
      Available
      Teachable
   We must learn to train and delegate so that others will get involved.

   Principles in Training Leaders:
     Train others to help
     Teach them the Bible
     Tell them the work to do
     Transfer the burden

Val:  Sunday School Workshop



Steven and Esther did a song for the delegates during the worship time on March 24. 


All of us together.