Matthew and Tanpo--Togolese pastor in training and graduate of part one of training



praising God with music during graduation

This was a two part ceremony. The first part was a church service with four hymns, an OT and NT reading along with the Gospel and the longggggggggggg sermon. Like the service in Nano village last week, the offering was the most joyful time of the service with many people getting up to do the butt dance. Even Pastor Glenn and Dr. Dongo got up and joined in.  It was a lot of fun even though one of our team members (who will remain unnamed) dropped the offering with the left-hand – a cultural no-no.
 
After the church service, there were several speeches from the attending dignitaries, and all of the students were awarded their diplomas.  The wives that attended also went up front and shook hands with the faculty and offered some small tokens of affection to their husbands.  Apparently, this is the first time that the wives and husbands have shown any public affection at this ceremony. Even holding hands is considered taboo.  So this was perhaps a brave step forward in showing that Christian households can be affectionate and loving in a public way. Glenn and Ron were really surprised by it.