Convocation

Thursday evening was graduation night for a class of 57 men from 34 different countries. It was our second experience of convocation, the initial was 60 ladies the first week we were here, but having helped to welcome the Thursday class, and watching the change in their attitudes and how they interchanged with each other, made this one much more meaningful. It is no secret that some come here with some misgivings/hesitancy. When they start to experience the benefits and the learning, you can see a change start to happen. Also, none or very few know or have even met each other. By the time they leave, they are "brothers" in Christ and there are bear hugs all around.

The fellow in the picture with me is Samuel, a banker, (Vice President of CitiBank), from India. He was voted valedictorian by his classmates. I told him bankers were not that popular in Canada, and I was very impressed thata banker would be voted valedictorian. He and I have had many interesting conversations about banking and also his work with the Salvation Army in his home city. He has a very dry sense of humour and he has been a pleasure to get to know.

The fellow in the centre of the picture with Marlene and I and the other couple, was the "Resident Coordinator" (RC) of the graduating class. The RC is kind of the "mother hen", responsible for the smooth sailing of the class. He deals with scheduling, side trips, coachs any difficulties and the like. This fellow, "Lovejoy", is an alumni of Haigai, and a real gem. He is from South Africa, grew up in Zibaubawe, lived in the USA for about 15 years, went back to South Africa to start a ministry and is now moving back to the states. The reason, as we understand it is that his kids are too American to live in South Africa as blacks.

The third picture is a choir the participants put togther during their time here, and I think recruitment was helped by the fact they had one of our volunteers, a very attractive 28 year old young lady from Oregon as their pianist.


We worked today (Saturday) which is very unusual, because we have a new class moving in today, tomorrow and Monday. Their classes start on Tuesday. This is the first time a class has come in the same weekend a class was moving out, while a second class is in session. There were 35 rooms to turn around, so the ladies were busy. We still had time for a visit to the pool so it wasn't too bad.

We are now six weeks into our 12 week stay which is hard to believe. It has been a wonderful experience to date and we both look forward to our remaining time.