Dear Family and Friends,
 
My little hand hurts, my little hand hurts, my little hand hurts!  Cristian, age 7, kept screaming, crying and saying those words.  Accidents happen and having a house full of boys means trips to the emergency room sometimes.  There was no denying or ignoring his pain as you could see he had broken his right arm.  Kids and monkey bars seem so innocent, but expensive to go to the emergency room.  Cristian not only fractured his arm, the 2 main bones were completely severed and laying on top of his wrist.  Emergency surgery was necessary to put pins in his little arm.  He is now loving the extra attention and will be in a cast for several weeks.
 
Another emergency was to have new tires put on the van.  The side walls were badly cracked and we were planning on going to the Adobe church.  We have been driving the van with bad tires for several months.  While on another trip to Aquismon, San Luis Potosi, with all the boys the van caused us motor problems.  This was a 10 hour trip with the bad tires.  Coming back home the van just quit, but luckily we were able to find a mechanic to get us back on the road.  Another unexpected expense.  It made the weekend church/camping trip just that much more exciting, but several repairs once we got back to our regular mechanic.
 
Three unexpected expenses.  Three needs that had to be met.  Oh, wait a minute another unexpected expense came up in February.  The ceiling in the church fell in.  We had three weeks of non-stop rain and the roof leaked enough to cause a big mess.  Sheri shares a lot of photos on the Casa de Niños Facebook page and a church saw that our church was in need and they covered the expenses.  Job completed!  Thanks, Lancaster.
 
The other emergency needs came out of general funds.  The Emergency Surgery alone was $2,363.54, Tires, $420.00 and the Van repairs $650.00
 
Make a difference in a child's life when you give to Casa de Niños.  Emergencies arise when we least expect them.  Give and pray is all that we ask.
 
Working together,
David and Sheri DeBolt
Casa de Niños

Another month is gone. Time flies!

   We went to Eshowe again earlier in the month. This time we went to the church at Mvuzane, a rural area. There had been quite a lot of rain and we knew the road would be muddy, so we weren’t sure if we would be able to go there. However, the road was not bad and it didn’t rain on Sunday. The group was very small, but the welcome was very warm. They also encouraged us to come more often if possible.

   The Umzumbe church organized a special service and program to honor Mrs. Qwemesha, the widow of Nic Qwemesha, who served the Umzumbe church as minister for many years. So often people are praised at funerals, but the church wanted her to know now how much they have appreciated her. Michael was asked to preach for that service and the response from the family spokesperson (and others) was very positive.

   The day care center is doing well. The teachers have benefited from their training sessions and have put it into practice. We still have not been able to register the day care center with the government, but we continue to work on that.

   We are busy getting ready to leave for Kimberley for our two-week intensive classes. Both of us will be teaching classes we haven’t taught before, so we have been working on our lessons. I will be teaching an English class to first year students and Michael will teach the letters of James and John to the advanced students. Pray for safety for us as we travel there on Friday and for our classes over the next two weeks.

   There is a women’s conference on the weekend after we finish teaching. It is in Bloemfontein - which is on the road home - but I haven’t decided if I will be going to the conference or not.

   We have had some really hot weather and that certainly drains one’s energy! We do the necessary things - including mowing lawns - but it has been miserable. The past couple of days have been cooler and we have really appreciated that. We have had a lot of rain which is related to Cyclone Irina. Fortunately, we have not had the winds and floods that occurred further north of us.

   Diane and John had a dedication service for Matthew in February. The service was very special as it really was a dedication of Diane and John to raise Matthew in the Lord. They asked Michael and John’s dad to pray at the service and had all the grandparents and great grand parents stand with them. Diane will be starting back to work soon. John is very busy at his job.

   Rebecca and Gabriella are very happy at their new school. Their response to, “Do you like school?” is “No, I love school!” Erin turned two this week. She had a family birthday party on Saturday and had a great time. Dina and Sean keep very busy at work and we sometimes go and get the girls from school for them.

   Chayah keeps us all entertained with her antics and constant chatter. I think we all hear ourselves as she copies what she hears. Seanna is now 8 months old and a very contented little girl. Dawn is looking forward to the term break. It has been a rough term at school. JP really enjoys his job and is doing very well. (He helps us with our computers as well!)

Caryl and Michael

This Saturday, March 10th, from 9-11am at FMSC in Eagan we will be packing food for starving children. Are you willing and able to join me? If so, head out to fmsc.org and sign up under our group name (VCC).

Thanks,
Josh Watczak

Take a moment to imagine that you are a Somali woman who arrived in Minneapolis six months ago from a refugee camp in Yemen. Without English skills or friendships in your new community, you might quickly become lonely, and even afraid of leaving the house while your spouse is away at work. You would not be alone—there are many newly arrived refugee women who need additional support to build relationships and a support network in the US.
 
As any knitter knows, coming together with other women to knit is a therapeutic experience that builds community and develops friendships. MCC Refugee Services is excited to launch the second year of its Knitting Collective this March. Refugees, volunteers, and mental health professionals will gather weekly to knit, work through problems, and learn from one another. Through these activities, refugees can start to address the traumas of their past and the challenges of their new lives. Volunteers and professionals will have a chance to connect with refugees and learn about their experiences first hand, enriching their own lives in the process.
 
BUT, we need your help! Please share our need for donated yarn and knitting needles with your knitting friends and circles.  If you bring your donations to the Valley Christian Church office, we will deliver them to MCC Refugee Services.

Donations can also be brought to MCC Refugee Services at 122 West Franklin Ave Suite 100, Minneapolis, MN 55404. Questions? Contact Mina at Mina.Tehrani@mnchurches.org or 612-230-3227.

Dear Friends,
Thank you for joining with us in prayer again this month.
God continues to be faithful to MacLaurinCSF!

Thanksgiving
On Friday, February 17th, Jeff Van Duzer gave an excellent lecture on Why Business Matters to God. Students, business leaders, and pastors who attended were challenged and encouraged to think about business from a distinctly Christian perspective. (Audio is available on our website if you’d like to share this thoughtful presentation.)
 
We’ve had several opportunities to develop stronger partnerships with area churches. Brad Dewing has spent several Sundays with the good people of Discovery Community Church in St. Paul Park. Bryan and Brad had the chance to meet with the Missions Team from Hope Summit Christian Church in Rochester.
 
Our Spring Semester Reading Groups are well underway. We are grateful that these conversations are reaching fifty or so people who are reading and thinking about the implications of the Christian gospel for their lives.
 
Requests
Bryan Bademan, Executive Director of MacLaurinCSF, is developing a ten-year strategic plan for our ministry. Bryan has asked the board of trustees and staff to help shape this important document, which will cast a vision for our future. Please pray with us that we would be receptive of God’s wisdom and guidance as we think about our vital Christian presence at the University of Minnesota and our desire to connect the local church to the University. (We are excited to unveil this ten-year plan at our Benefit Dinner on Tuesday, October 16th.)
 
We recently had an energy audit done on our building and found that we have some work to do! We discovered that the greatest area of need regarding our energy loss is an unfinished space on the upper level of our building. Finishing this space would greatly improve our energy usage and would make a perfect office space for Bryan. We are praying for the funding and volunteer labor needed to coordinate the improvement of this space within the next few months.

On Saturday, February 25th a dozen Christian Student Fellowship alumni gathered for brunch at the MacLaurinCSF Center. We invited them to this Ministry Strategy Forum to hear about the integrated MacLaurinCSF mission, to ask questions about the combined ministry, to think strategically about our work, and to ask for their ongoing involvement. We’ve scheduled two more of these events for CSF alums—Friday, March 23rd and Thursday, April 19th. We are asking God for help in establishing strong connections with these former students and to integrate them into our ministry going forward.

In addition to our weekly Reading Groups, please keep these March events in prayer as well:
 
Tuesday, March 27th
    Paideia Forum: Perspectives on International Development
Thursday, March 29th
    Faith and Bio-ethics Lecture with Fr. Robert Spitzer
Friday, March 30th
    Film Viewing and Discussion: Fog of War

Blessings,
Brad Dewing
MacLaurinCSF

SPECIAL PRAYER NEED • FEBRUARY 20-26
 
Dear Friends,
 
We ask that you remember to pray for Mathetes Youth Ministry this week:  specifically for Randy Boltinghouse as he is speaking at the National High School and colleges in Digos City, Philippines.  Pray also for the students who will hear the Christian based lectures on Creationism (High Schools) or Sex and Purity (colleges and universities).
 
This annual lectureship that Mathetes offers to the High Schools and Universities in Digos City is an opportunity for us to make contact with students and faculty with the gospel of Christ. 

Please pray with us this week:
 • That many students and faculty will visit the Youth Center to talk further with Randy this week or to learn more about these topics
• For the Youth Center staff to be prepared to answer questions, welcome the visitors and establish a relationship that can continue to be built on after this week
• Strength, energy and health for Randy as he maintains a very busy schedule; speaking multiple times daily in crowded classrooms that have no air conditioning and little air flow.
• Open hearts and minds as many hear for the first time that God created the heavens and the earth (the Bible is accurate)…and that God has a plan for sex in their lives, what that plan is and of their individual value to the heavenly Father.
• Randy’s wife, Sarah, and his church while he is gone (that things run smoothly)
• That God is glorified during this week of lectureship.
 
Thank you for your participation with us this week.
 
In Christ who is our Peace,
Rodger and Dixie Shewmaker

_Dear Family and Friends,

Thank you for the support and encouragement you offered us during the Christmas season as we struggled through Gabriel having seizures. His seizures have reduced from approximately 3 per day to now only a few in the last month. We are very thankful.   

We are entering a season of great transitions. Through such seasons it is best to remember the faithfulness of God. This month we ask your prayers in the following matters:

1. On Thursday, 9 February we turned in all the documents we understand are needed for Rwanda’s Child Commission to declare Mugisha Gabriel adoptable. We ask that this process will be will be rapidly completed and Gabriel will be matched with a family who can nurture him to thrive.

2. Last year, Dave begged God for Sophia to be admitted to Wheaton College. After her admission we did not know how we would pay the tuition. Friends in Rwanda and the United States arose to the challenge and her first semester was paid. As she left Rwanda from her Christmas holidays we still did not know how her second semester of tuition would be paid. A few weeks ago, Sophia was given a grant that has paid all except a few hundred dollars of her spring tuition. We are very thankful.

3. Our family will be returning to the United States in June sensing God has called us to mature ROC as a missionary sending organization. Please pray for this transition. Our hearts are much like how we perceive Paul must have felt as he left a local church to move to a new location. We are pouring our lives into people while entrusting their future to the Lord. This season requires for us to give up our sense of home and community to answer a new call. May God be glorified in this transition.

Thank you for your prayers, support, and encouragement that empower our family and ministry.

Imana ikurinde (May God Stay with All of You),
Dave and Jana

P.S.  To read more stories of our transition see our recent blogs at http://jenkinsinrwanda.blogspot.com/2012/02/gestures-of-affection.html and http://jenkinsinrwanda.blogspot.com/2012/01/farewells-of-hope.html

_Dear Family and Friends,
 
Double trouble or maybe better said two for the price for of one.  January 6, 2012, Casa de Niños received twin brothers:  10 year old, Jose and Pablo.  Not identical twins, but their words, their actions and behavior are always in unison.  Their father died and their mother is in a mental hospital.
 
January 26, 2012, Casa de Niños received another two brothers:  7 year old, Cristian and 10 year old, Marco.  Unfortunately they lost their father also and their mother is a prostitute.  Not a good home situation!  
 
Both sets of brothers have many challenges ahead of them, but with time and much love they will grow physically and spiritually.
 
IT IS NOW OFFICIAL:  Angela (20) has her driver's license.  Once I crossed the street hand in hand with Angela while taking her to kindergarten.  The first time I let her drive the car alone I said, "Be careful crossing the street!"  Today she is studying Psychology at the University of San Luis Potosi and working at a clinic helping young people overcome their problems.  
 
Are you making plans to travel to Mexico on a missions trip in the future?  The following news information was released on January 23, 2012.  "One person died in drug related violence every half hour in Mexico during 2011."  That is an average of "48 executions per day", which means over 17,500 executions during 2011 including a U.S. Immigration officer in San Luis Potosi.  It went on to say that "25 % of the most dangerous cities in the world are in Mexico".  "Ciudad Juarez is #1 before Kandahar, Afghanistan".  One of our boys (Rito) grew up in Ciudad Juarez and said everyone lives in constant fear.  He is a runaway from Ciudad Juarez.  The authorities, December 1, 2011, caught him in San Luis Potsi and sent him to us until a living relative can be found.  He has neither a mother or a father.
 
I am not discouraging missions teams from visiting, but laying out the facts and risks.  Someone asked me last year, "If you had a teen would you send them to Mexico on a missions trip?"  "Honestly, NO" I said.  When you can smell marijuana inside your home because the gang kids outside the home are sitting on your doorstep, smoking marijuana, you know drugs are too close to you.  Stating facts, not discouraging mission teams!
 
From December 27, 2011 - January 3, 2012, we enjoyed a visit from Casa de Niños supporters, Larry and Joan Manning and their granddaughter, Bekah Rose.  They worked hard, enjoyed the children, traveled to the Adobe Church, and much more.  Were they in any danger?  No, but, like the saying of Fox News: "We report, you decide".
 
From twins and brothers, to drivers license, to missions travel was the content of this letter.  Please pray for the spiritual growth of each Casa de Niños child.  Pray for the safety of Angela as she becomes one more driver on the crazy streets of Mexico and please pray for the safety of all missionaries and mission teams that work throughout Mexico to spread the Good News that Jesus saves!
 
In closing, the cleaning lady, which many of you know, "Señora Vicky" has retired officially after January 31, 2012.  She faithfully worked for 15 years at Casa de Niños.  She loved her work here and especially loved the children.  She will be greatly missed.  If you would like to send her a note or a gift for her many years of service, please send it to our forwarding agents.
 
Casa de Niños
Larry DeBolt
2950 E -350 N
Bluffton, IN 46714
 
Working as your missionaries to Casa de Niños,
David and Sheri DeBolt