LCC's 14th Graduation Ceremonies!

The tossing of the caps of the LCC International University graduating class of 2009!

On the way to LCC with flowers for the graduates!

It's a tradition to give graduates flowers upon their graduation. Ieva enjoyed helping me pick them out & carrying them the whole way to LCC. And since they were tulips, we had to stop for a photo shoot near a flower bed of tulips on our way to the bus stop!

Ledina reading scripture in Albanian.
During the Baccalaureate service, a selected scripture passage is chosen to be read in the native language of each graduate. I believe this class had 10 nationalities graduating.

Altynay from Kyrgyzstan was selected to be the graduate who spoke at Baccalaureate.
She gave an extremely moving testimony of finding Christ at LCC through her relationships with staff & faculty members and other Christian students.

A very happy Tanya crosses the stage & receives her diploma during the graduation ceremony.

Tanya is from Ukraine & told me just days before the event that she couldn't wait for her parents to arrive, as it would be their first visit to LCC during her 4 years there! Many of our students families are in the same situation and can't afford to travel to experience the place where their children study. Many of our international students didn't have parents there at the ceremonies with them at all.

After graduation with Algis & Egle, both from Lithuania. Egle has been one of Ieva's babysitters for the past 2 years & she still has another two years before she'll graduate (we're thrilled to keep her around). We know Algis well, as we've spent a lot of time talking about life with him during his years as a student. He is a talented worship leader and has led numerous chapel bands during his student tenure.

After graduation with Yuliya. She is from Ukraine and has been very involved in student leadership at LCC. In fact, she was selected to win an award for servant leadership out of her entire class. We've known her well over the years and are sad to see her go, but excited to see what great things she'll do next!

The Stave family at our 7th LCC graduation ceremony. This is the 4th class we've been privileged to journey with from their freshmen year until they graduate. What a gift to see students grow & develop throughout these crucial years! This is why we love our jobs!