OVER 400 ATTEND GRADUATION PROGRAM
After two trips to Kpalime and several hours of planning, the day finally came, 18th June 2011. It had rained at dawn at about 2:30 am. I remembered waking up because of a loud thundering sound indicating beginning of rainfall and I was lamenting whether the program would come on. I was up at about 5 am to join the brethren at the center where the program would take place. Final preparations were made and all was set for the program to start at 9 am. However, due to the rain that night, guests were late in arriving.
The program started at about 10.00 am. Some of the guests included all the congregations in the Kpalime area, brethren from Lome who came along with a singing group to grace the occasion, chiefs and elders of the Kpalime and surrounding villages, Police chief, army boss, Stephen Ashcraft and wife, most of the preachers of the church in Togo, brethren from Ho in the Volta Region and family and friends of graduating class and well-wishers. The guest speaker was Bro. Sammy Dzamesi a preacher, principal of the Sonrise school, WBS worker and an elder from Ho church of Christ, Ghana. I also spent some time to give the background of CBS, our achievements, challenges and our plans for the future. Certificates were awarded to eight (8) who had completed 38 courses. Bob Turner, director of extension program at the Bear Valley Bible Institute also delivered a special message from Bear Valley and awarded the certificates and portfolios to the students and instructors. All the preachers present laid hands on the graduating students while a preacher from Ho offered a special prayer. A student representative delivered a special message from the student body and the first part of the program for the day came to an end.
We moved to the venue for the reception where guests were served food specially prepared for the occasion. It was an exciting moment because several preachers were together and spent some time discussing the welfare of the church in Togo. The graduation program brought unity through fellowship.
The third and final part of the program was the church service organized by the graduates. The eight preachers took control of all the activities of the service demonstrating their leadership abilities.
Finally, on Monday, I had a meeting with all the preachers and thanked all who in diverse ways helped to make the program a success. I facilitated the assessment of the entire program and accepted comments which would help in organizing future programs.
In spite of a successful program, I had to spend three days taking treatment for exhaustion and had to rest for two days before returning to Accra. We wish to thank Gabriel Oaks, Stephen Ashcraft and Bob Turner for the financial contributions.
Willie Gley