This is the time of year in Guatemala for graduations.  The school year goes from Jan. to Oct.  We witnessed two graduations this year.  The first was a boy from our church who graduated last Sunday from secondaria, kind of like high school and junior college combined.  Graduation enables them to begin a career of sorts, however limited.  It was a big deal for our church family.  All regular services were cancelled and a special service was held at two o'clock for about three hours, followed by a big meal.  Preparations for the meal began that morning by women of the church and family members.  When I arrived to help, all the family women were standing around two very large outside griddles, patting out tortillas (about 75 lbs of tortilla masa!).  They are from another town and not used to seeing me, so they stopped, stared and giggled for about 5 minutes! I cut and peeled potatoes and carrots for a stew cooking in a gigantic pot on a large fire.  The graduate's dad even tried to teach me some Kakchikel language, which resulted in even more laughter.  Before I left, one of our church women told me: " It has been many years since any missionaries have participated in our church and it is a great encouragement to us."  That made my day!

The other graduation was for our friend, Ana.  She graduated from "Basico", which is like a mix of junior high and high school.  She is the mother of four children.  She got married at the age of 15, and never finished school, so she has been going to classes for three years every Sat.  We are very proud of her.  Her parents are now dead, so she asked us to substitute for them at the graduation services, which took place yesterday - one at a local evangelical church and the other at the city municipal hall.  We took the family out to dinner afterward to celebrate.  It was a very special day.

Diana