Today is a big day. Personally, I can’t believe I actually made it to day 300 on this thing and I’m only about a day or so off. But, more importantly than that, the fourth year high school students that I’ve been working with for the past year in Malaybalay are graduating. When I first met this group of students, I was a little overwhelmed. Nearly 25 of them showed up the first Saturday in June, and I was left to fend for myself that day. I wasn’t sure if they understood english, or anything I was talking about, but I just started talking and prayed something landed with them. The next week, over 30 showed up, with pretty much all of the ones that were there the week before returning. I guess they liked something.
For three months, I met with these students once a month, and eventually they got to the point where they felt a little more comfortable with me. After a couple of weeks, our number settled at a little over 25 that would come every single week, and they all began to get heavily involved with our Saturday kids ministry as well. I enjoyed our time together, and the students seemed to hang on every word. There must have been something that kept bringing them back because they were giving up at least five hours of their Saturdays to drive way out of town and come to a kids program to sing camp songs and feed these impoverished kids.
After three months, I felt really good about where the small group was heading. I knew I had to go back to the States for the holidays, but I was excited to return back in January and pick up where we left off. However, plans don’t always go the way you expect them to. When I got back, only three girls, Lucyl, Clau Clau, and Charie, were still attending, and the rest hadn’t been back. I went to the school to invite the students back, and when I saw them on the streets, I begged them to return, but still these three girls were the only ones to come. I couldn’t be too disappointed though because these were three of the girls I had been praying for, and it was so exciting to see where they were now remembering back to when we met in June. They have come a long way.
When I arrived in January, these girls were shocked to see me, but excited I was back. They all gave me updates on their lives, and while the situations weren’t the best, they still had a rather bright outlook. Lucyl told me about some of the decisions she was struggling through and how her family situation wasn’t really ideal. One day, she eventually broke down and told me she wasn’t going to be able to graduate, partly because of finances and that she just wanted to give up. Luckily, we had some great volunteer teams that came through, and many of the girls helped Lucyl through this time. She even got a job, working part time to pay for her own school (unheard of for high school students in the Philippines).
Today, she graduates, along with the rest of her classmates. It took everything in me to not drop the rest of my savings so I could stay the couple of extra days to see these students graduate, but I knew I needed to get home and be wise with my money. While I knew I wanted to be there, it was more than enough for me just to know Lucyl would be graduating along with the rest of her classmates. While it was only three girls that were left when I returned and I wasn’t able to be their teacher anymore because of gender issues, I was glad it was these three. I’m proud of them today, and wish I could be there to celebrate. Congrats girls…
