After six months of intensive training our eight students finally graduate. Eight students, four males and four females, were able to complete the six-month discipleship-training course. The students believed that the training had fully prepared them for the ministry that God called them to do in their own respective villages and other unevangelized places in Myanmar.
The graduation ceremony was held at Mae Sai Grace Church and lunch was served afterward at the training center. About a ninety people attended the ceremony, but because it took so loooong to finish. The program ended about two-thirty in the afternoon by that time the lunch almost became a dinner. As a result, only the family, the staff and the visiting teachers made it to the training center for lunch. It was understandable though that many could not restrain themselves from talking too much, anyway, it was a very special occasion for us.
During the ceremony, the students presented tribal dances representing their ethnic culture, Akha, Karen and Kachin. They also sang their graduation song written they had written themselves. Two students delivered their response speech.
With the graduation over, the school would be closed for about three months. The students will go back to their villages and two of them will have new ministry assignments near the Myanmar-China border.
Cherry will go home to Australia for two months to renew her visa. Narlin and I, however, will stay and we will use the break to promote the school, to look and enlist students with leadership potential, we will make improvements with our curriculum based on our past experiences and we will do our lesson preparation. We are expecting more students in the next term but we are keeping in mind that a limited number of students will make learning experience more efficient.
Please continue to pray for Narlin and I as we work in partnership with Cherry. The burden of running the school efficiently falls on our shoulder. This would not be possible if we depend on our strength and ability alone. We need your prayer here. We are looking forward to a fruitful church planting activities this year through our students. Pray for us.
