Saturday, January 12, 2013

Tree of Life Graduation 2013

Presentation of Certificates

 My heart is full of joy today after celebrating the first Tree of Life graduation in Sierra Leone. After six weeks of intensive training in community health, moringa management and Bible study, nine graduates received their certificates of completion today. It was a wonderful time and I am so proud of the effort that went into planning the event.

Pastor Emmanuel, the instructor, and the students planned and prepared everything for the celebration. It was wonderful to see how they pooled their resources, gifts and talents to make a wonderful event a success. That is something we are trying to instill in our students. We want them to see that they have the power to solve problems themselves and that should work together as a community for the common goal of the group. They executed this principle beautifully today.

Students' Skit on Hygiene
Head Table and Speakers
We met together and about fifty people attended the ceremony apart from the students. One of the students catered the event and provided African couscous and chicken. The students pitched in to buy soft drinks for all the guests. We had the ceremony at the Hope Center in Jui, Freetown thanks to the generosity of GCPN. We even had a dance group come in for some entertainment. The students also performed a health skit teaching the crowd the importance of good hand washing skills and how to manage dehydration.

The entire graduating class!
Again, I cannot tell you how full my heart is to see the success of this ministry so early on. I was thrilled to hear testimonies from the students on how they are sharing their new-found knowledge with their families and neighbours  I was able to share with them a challenge and that was to take this blessing of education and go share it with the world. The theme for their class rang out as they said it together, “Live it, and go share it!” What an appropriate and powerful message. It is my prayer that they will go and share the Gospel and this new education with the world! To God be the glory for it all…

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