LONG-TERM GOOD-BYES FOR MISSIONARY CHILDREN
June 5, 2009
by Dena McMaster
Missionary school teachers Dan and Faith Ketterer are finding it very quiet on the small campus in Brazil where missionaries send their children for schooling.
Graduating high school students in Brazil were faced with long-term good-byes as they completed school and left for their home countries.
One of the staff families, flying from Brazil to Europe, departed at about the same time as Air France flight 447 which crashed in the ocean.
"It was late Monday morning before we knew for sure they weren't on the flight that went down," Dan wrote. "We thank God for His mercy to us, though our hearts are heavy for those who have lost so much."
The junior class planned a banquet for the graduating seniors with the theme, "A Celtic Celebration," complete with a castle, knight, court jester and an executioner. It was an evening of fun that honored the graduates. The following week -- before graduation exercises -- there was only a little school and a lot of memory making.
"It always comes to such an abrupt end for our students when they not only graduate from high school, but also say long-term good-byes to friends they've known forever, leave home fairly permanently, and move to a country that feels at least somewhat foreign to them -- sometimes all in the same day," wrote Dan. "Please pray for our most recent graduates that they would continue in their desire to walk with God."
Pray also for Dan and Faith as they minister into the lives of the children in the classroom and try to provide shepherding and discipleship for kids whose parents are in remote tribes. |
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