Welcome! It's been a long summer, and a hot one for many of us. Now it's the end of summer and kids are back in school, the weather is cooling down, and the Olympics are coming soon. It really has been awhile since our last newsletter. Some of you have written wondered what's going on -- we are still around and going strong.

OUR MONTHLY CONTEST
We want to just thank you all for referring your friends. We appreciate your help in getting the word out about Saints of Virtue! Since we have not published a newsletter for awhile, we wanted to award a winner for each month we missed.

The June winner is: breanna@myself.com
And the July winner is: scapegoats@email.com
And the August winner is: thenabena@juno.com

LATEST HAPPENINGS
As we mentioned last newsletter, we have been looking for funding to do a new game(s). Things have been looking very good on that front in the past month (and we appreciate your prayers!), but right now we don't have any news we can share. In the next month, we certainly do hope we will have some news. Keep praying for us! We even put off this newsletter for a month hoping we could share some news. But God is teaching us patience and waiting for His timing! What we can now share is that we are working on several game design concepts. One is based on Saints of Virtue; not quite a sequel but something like that. We will definitely keep you up to date.

We are currently working really hard on a Christmas marketing campaign for Saints of Virtue. Historically, most of our sales occur over the Christmas season. Soon we will be running a special Christmas promotion which will run for one week only. As a subscriber to this newsletter, you will get all of the details later this month. So keep your eyes peeled!

BACK TO SCHOOL
Going back to school after a long summer can cause a lot of different emotions and feelings. Some young people can't wait to get back to school and see their old friends and teachers. Others are nervous about going to a brand new school or even going to a new school in a brand new town. For some of us, perhaps, going back to school can be downright scary.

"What if people don't like me? What if my clothes aren't in fashion? What if I get a really bad teacher? What if I don't make the team? What if I can't get the classes I want? What if that bully is still after me? What if school Lunch is still as bad as last year? What if (you fill in the blank)?"

The truth is that heading off into a new school year opens up a lot of unknowns. Even if you are home schooled there are still tons of unknowns that lay just around the corner. All of these unknowns can get a little overwhelming if we let them.

The good news for those who have a relationship with Jesus is that all of those unknowns are known. God knows what is in store for you this coming school year. Not only are the unknowns known, but God is actually in CONTROL of all of those unknowns. Not all of the events that unfold this school year
will be pleasant, but God gives each of us His solemn promise that He will turn it all into good. Check it out:

"And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose." ROMANS 8:28

Did you catch the part that says "all things"? That doesn't leave much more to worry about does it? Try not to worry about the unknowns this year. Trust in WHO you know. God knows everything.

PS. If you want to read a wild story about a young guy who had an incredible time while getting schooled, read the story of Joseph starting in Genesis chapter 37. Now there's a guy who had some rough times at school. The good news for us is that God uses it all for good, just like he did for Joseph.

LATEST UPDATES ON OUR WEBSITE
We're working on an overhaul of our website for the upcoming Christmas season. If there are things you don't like about how it currently works or have ideas of ways we can improve it, please let us know -- it would help us out greatly! Any and all opinions (good and bad) appreciated! You can write to us at: mailto:developers@saintsofvirtue.com?Subject=Website_Improvements

WEBSITES TO CHECK OUT
A few recommendations by us:

http://www.Christianity.com : This is a new Christian mega-site. Like iBelieve in some ways. It's totally brand new and may have some things to work out, but you can see it now.

http://www.christianheadlines.com : Get the latest news from a Christian perspective. You get to see many sources of news and the headlines from these sources. This is great to easily see news relating to or interesting to Christian.

http://www.catechumen.com : Here's a new Christian game that is coming out in October. Cool graphics and great sound...check it out!

http://www.christshock.com/christshock/ : No, this is not some strange tabloid newspaper. The Shock refers to Shockwave. You'll find some great shockwave oriented sites that share the gospel.

In Christ,
The Shine Studios Team

You can write to us at mailto:developers@saintsofvirtue.com

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