Graduation in Los Ranchos

This morning I was invited to the 6th grade graduation of a little public school way back in the mountains of Honduras, past the village of Duyusupo and on up the mountains to a community called Los Ranchos.

What a surprise when I walked in and there was a large banner across the little one-room school house that read, “Joan Tyson, Madrina of our Graduation”. This meant that I was chosen to be the special guest or “godmother” of their graduation.

The reason for their honoring me in this way was because the four young people who were graduating from sixth grade were “Opportunity of a Lifetime”, sponsored children.
The parents living back in this mountainous area were so proud to see their children reach this level of education, and you can see by the number that not many are able to do this. They are so grateful to the Lord and to the sponsors in the United States who made this possible.

The teacher/principal is a Christian and has over 50 from grades one through ninth in his class. He teaches them all in one room. Our pastor in Duyusupo is in charge of the Opportunity program in this area. The service was opened in prayer and all during the graduation the principal read Bible verses. God was not left out of this graduation, nor is He left out of this little public school.

There were about six teachers from other schools present. What a surprise when one sat down beside me and began to thank me for giving her an opportunity to not only go to our school but to graduate from teachers college. Now, she is a teacher/director, just like the one in Los Ranchos. Then I learned that she was his wife and they have two children. She talked to me about her sponsor who passed away just before she graduated. Her eyes filled with tears as she thanked the Lord for the great opportunity He had given her.

After the service, the principal announced that with great sacrifice the parents of the graduates had prepared a meal for us. The meat was tough and the tortillas were cold, but a steak could not have tasted any better because it was prepared from hearts of gratitude.

On my way back this morning from Los Ranchos, I began to think about our own high school graduation that will be held on Sunday night, the 22nd, in the tabernacle where there will probably be over 1000 in attendance and about 85 graduating, and then our 6th grade graduation will be on Monday night and the grammar school auditorium will be packed out with more than 600 and probably close to 100 sixth graders graduating. But my heart told me that our teachers and everyone involved in planning these graduations will have to go a long way to surpass the graduation service that I was honored to be in this morning in Los Ranchos, Honduras.

Thank you to every sponsor of the OPPORTUNITY OF A LIFETIME program.

The Memories continue…

Joan Tyson