The Graduate

Marilda, 21 has graduated from high school. Among her classmates was an Elvis Presley de Santos, or something like that… after hearing his first name I really didn’t pay attention to his last name.

Attending the graduation ceremony was truly a cultural experience. We were happy for Marilda and she was especially happy to be having a ceremony because earlier in the year the students were told there was no money available. Then one day she came to our house and excitedly announced that she was going to go to a planning meeting for a commencement ceremony. It would occur in 5 days.

We showed up at the ceremony at 7:00pm along with Marilda and several other families with graduates from our church, only to find out the time was now 8:00. So we sat down to chat. It became quite obvious that not much was ready and that it would not start at 8:00, so we started to take bets as to what time it would actually begin. I forget who won but finally the ceremony got underway at 8:50. But the main event was not until after the announcement of graduates when the real party started with the graduates serving food to their guests. By then it was well after 10pm, a great time for dinner. Huge trashcans filled with rice, meat and farinha were rolled into the room. The graduates flocked to them and brought back heaping plates. So now I can say I have eaten out of a trashcan (if I ever have the desire to say so).

Graduating from high school is by no means a certainty here. So for Marilda this was more than just a ceremony marking a foregone event. Her abusive father left only a shell of a family when we moved away years ago. You can imagine what her family has since coped with. Her siblings exhibit the scars of years of abuse. Marilda, however, has truly become a new creation since coming to know Christ a few years ago. With more confidence and self-assurance she’s done things she never dreamed of doing before such as going on boat trips, learning to swim and sharing her testimony in front of church. For Marilda, her graduation seems to represent hope for a future she never had before, hope that comes only from Christ and the miracles He’s performed in her life.