And what a wonderful celebration it was
2018 had one further special highlight: on the picture you can see the first graduates from the Diospi-Suyana-School. We thank God for these wonderful young adults whom we had the privilege to teach for five years. They were taught about maths, history, chemistry, music…, but also learnt that faith in God is a practical matter of everyday life. (S)He who trusts in God will not be disappointed. That is a bit of good news for their future lives.
Their “Graduación” took place on 19th December attended by the whole school community at which celebration they received their final school reports. That evening the Auditorium shone brightly, being decorated with velvet tablecloths and fresh flowers. The school kitchen laid on a delicious menu.
The festive programme lasted four hours. Dr Martina John, in her role as school board, gave every pupil a modern Bible translation and expressed her wish that these books may accompany their new owners throughout their lives. Nicolas Sierra, in his role as Director Académico, gave a small historical review on the past five years, i.e. since the school’s foundation. In his address Christian Bigalke, who was the class teacher, made reference to 1 Corinthians: “It is time for the harvest,” the head of school called out and explained Paul’s statement that one sows the word, another waters it and a third brings in the harvest (1. Corinthians 3:6-8).
Class 10’s choreography came right before a waltz danced by teachers and parents. The programme ended with a dialogue speech delivered by Sam Welch (Australian) and Maria Isabel (Peruvian). They thanked their teachers on behalf of their classmates and added several interesting and funny anecdotes from the past few years.
The future has started for these pupils. Please pray for them, since they will continue to need support, because the Peruvian labour and training market is extremely competitive. To the best of their abilities our teachers prepared the young adults for the challenges of life, but nevertheless it will be hard.
Maria Isabel (standing on the below group photo in the middle far left) was 22nd out of 700 applicants in a recent application exam – this was the second best result of our State! But unfortunately only the top six are admitted to study law at the University of Cusco. Respect is also due to Katy (below, far left): she was 32nd out of 900, but even in the area of medicine only the best six were taken. We hope and pray that our former pupils will be successful in finding their desired training or university places.
At the end of this report we thank God from the bottom of our hearts for the time we were able to spend together at our school. /CB
