Historic Graduation Ceremony

The last week has been a proud week indeed, as we had the first historic BA graduation here in Melut after the war. The students worked hard on finishing their assignments and theses, which made me remember my own time as a student. However, at this graduation, I was on the other side as a teacher, which was an amazing experience. We've had many important people coming, like the Commissioner of Melut County, other political leaders, and heads of different church denominations. GTC is one of the few inter-denominational colleges in Sudan and we've had graduates from six different denominations. I was so proud of these men standing there in their robes and thought that I was truely looking at the future of Sudan.

Melut was the original site of the college before the war, which had to be vacated in 1986 due to heavy fighting in the area. The college was then moved to Khartoum where it operated until 2006. When peace came in 2005, it was decided that the college should move back to its original site as the cost of living in Khartoum is very high. The students were then given the option of moving to Melut or staying in Khartoum and finishing at Nile Theological College. 16 out of the 28 students decided to be brave and move - brave because the compound was still occupied by the army , which did not want to leave and during the first two years, there was no power or clean water on the compound. I dare say that the students suffered for their decision to come as did the principal, Philip Eisa, who had moved his whole family to Melut. Having said this, despite all the hardship, last week's graduation service made it all worthwhile for them. Next year will be the first time for GTC to have a new intake after the move from Khartoum - the plan is to then have a new intake every year.

October 2010: Elim Short-Term Trip to Sudan
Elim has now approved a short-term trip to Sudan for October 2010. The trip is mainly aimed at giving participants a look-see and experience of Sudan and will be around 11-13 days with 2 days in Nairobi on either side. We have limited the size of the team to 10 people and the cost for this trip has been set at £1,750 (it might be lower but we will know more once the flights are all booked). If you'd like to participate in this trip or get more information, please contact either myself or Elim Missions headquarters at missions@elimhq.net

Have a wonderful Christmas and a blessed New Year!