Mike's First Official Wedding

     On July 8, 2010, Pastor Mike Boado officiated his first wedding.  Brian and Nenncar now live in the NEOS facility in one of the boarding rooms.   

     Brian drives a pedicab that belongs to NEOS.  This pedicab is a motorcycle with a side-car that is driven as a commercial vehicle.   Brian uses it to provide for his family and it also gives NEOS a little extra income each month.   

     We are doing as much as we can to help NEOS financially right here in Tagum.   We are very grateful to Brian and Nenncar for their part at NEOS.   Please pray for this young couple as they grow in Jesus.   

Ro-Ann's Wedding

  

      On June 29, 2010, one of our former NEOS students and teachers, Ro-Ann Valera, got married in Tagum City.   It was such a joy for our family to be a part of the wonderful celebration.

Melissa Boyken

Melissa sharing her testimony
at Youth Fellowship.   

 
   Melissa Boyken arrived in Tagum on June 24, 2010.   She is now very involved in the NEOS ministry as well as our family.   Melissa goes to NEOS on a regular basis just like one of the NEOS staff.   She helps with all of the children's ministries as well as the youth ministries.   Melissa is also being a big help as she is the one in charge of DeeAnn's homeschooling for now.   We are all very glad that Melissa is here with us in Tagum.   Melissa plans to stay in Tagum until May of 2011.  

Treasure Swap at NEOS

     A Treasure Swap is where people bring things from their homes that they do not need anymore.  It is then laid out like a garage sale.  So, everyone donates and then simply swaps. There is no money involved.  Just sharing and swapping.
  
  
    
     On June 11, 2010, NEOS had its first Treasure Swap.   We did it for the volunteers who are teaching all of the Bible classes at NEOS.

We also gave each of them a bag of school supplies.

  
      We are very grateful for our NEOS volunteers and all that they do to help the NEOS ministry flourish.   Please pray for these young people that they will grow to know Jesus more and more as they continue to learn as they teach at NEOS.

Early Childhood Workshop

    
     On May 26, 2010, Valerie spoke to 51 preschool teachers on how to understand child development and learning.
The teachers walked away encouraged and excited to start
a new school year.

Vacation Bible School 2010

From April 19 - 23, 2010, the NEOS Fellowship Center had its annual Vacation Bible School. This year's theme was 'Creation.'

Esther Boado taught the Bible story and Janet Saycon taught the Bible verse.

We had 270 children registered and 11 of these children made decisions for Jesus. Three children were counseled for assurance of salvation.

The 7 days of Creation.

Faith Academy Mindnanao Outdoor Education

From April 17 - 24, 2010, the entire student body of the high school of Faith Academy Mindanao in Davao City, came to Tagum City and to the NEOS Fellowship Center for one week of what is called 'Outdoor Education.'

By the end of the week, 54 adults and 2 children from Faith Academy had touched the NEOS ministry in Tagum.

Esther and Jinsil doing a skit for the Bible story.

The Faith Academy students were able to minister to NEOS by putting in the foundation of a house, the foundation of a fence, a garden, and helping with Vacation Bible School.

It was a wonderful week.

Easter Sunday at NEOS

On April 4, 2010, 34 children and 27 adults heard the Easter story. Valerie used pictures, drama, and visual aids to tell the story of Jesus' death and resurrection.

Four children made a decision to follow Jesus. After the story, the children got to enjoy the fun part of Easter and look for Easter eggs.

It truly was a fun filled day for all of us.

Volunteer's Outing

On April 1, 2010, we took all of the regular NEOS volunteers to the beach for a fun day. In the morning we did a workshop on how to lead worship and how to deal with the weekly Sunday school classes. In the afternoon they simply got to have fun in the water.

Our NEOS volunteers are mostly young people who are excited about being trained to be used for God's kingdom.

Kindergarten Graduation

On March 25, 2010, Idylyn Casayas was the graduation speaker at a local kindergarten in Tagum City.

Idylyn came to Christ at NEOS as a young girl and has been teaching at NEOS since 1997. What a joy to see a NEOS disciple doing just what she was trained to do.

May God be praised.

Creative Electricity

The island of Mindanao is in a state of calamity due to the lack of rain since December. The water level is so low that many of the wells are completely dry. Due to the lack of rain, we are having scheduled electric power failures daily. The shortest has been 30 minutes and the longest has been 5 hours. We never know when it will happen or for how long. So, we are ready at all times with a back up power system for the house.

Mike takes the battery out of the car, hooks it up to a 400-watt power inverter, and then plugs in an electric fan and a lightbulb. Ta-Da!! Light and air at the same time. It sure helps me to sleep in the afternoons when it is hot and it helps me to do lesson plans in the evenings when it is dark. So grateful for the inverter that Mike bought several years ago.

Valentine's Day at NEOS - 2010

The NEOS Fellowship Center had two special celebrations for Valentine's Day.

The first one was for the youth on February 9. Mike and Val shared on the topic of True Love Waits to a group of 97 youth and adults. We are trusting God that the young people were challenged to save themselves for marriage.

Steven (in white t-shirt) and some friends.

The second celebration was on February 14 and it was for the adults.

Mike and Val spoke again but this time it was on the rules of communication. There were 15 couples in attendance. They learned how to sit down and talk about situations that come into their lives.

Rules of Communication:

1. Speak the Truth in Love

2. Keep Current

3. Act and don't React

4. Attack the Problem, not the Person

The Rules of Communication were taken from the General Association of Regular Baptist marriage counseling topics. Mike attended a GARB conference in 1993. We have been using what he learned at the conference in our marriage and with other couples ever since.