Sad to See Them Leave--the CAT Students

---

Last year, this year and I suppose every year this is a time of happiness, excitement and sadness. This is the time of year for students to graduate and leave. This is a time of parting, a time of ending and a beginning. Nancy and I know that this coming week will be the last time we will see many if not all of the wonderful young people we have come to know and love during our stay here. These young people who will scatter to such far distant places, Siberia, Serbia, Hungary, the Ukraine, Russia, Lithuania, Bulgaria, Israel, Macedonia, Estonia, Moldavia and other far distant places. We also know that we may never have the opportunity to live here again. If anything the future is an unknown and nothing, regardless of our wishes, is assured.

Today was the last Sunday many of the students will be here, the last worship service they will attend at the Sarka Valley Community Church and many had tears flowing down their faces as the service came to a close and the stark reality of "final" stood staring them in the face.

We are fortunate to live now, in an age when communication is so easy. With the Internet and e-mail many will keep in touch with each other and friendships formed here will last a lifetime. One young woman told said, "It really struck me in the fall when I was watching a movie with others. There, in the same room, were Serbians, Russians, Bulgarians and others all watching, in friendship together. This was something I would have considered impossible a year ago." We can hope that friendships formed here will help bring a bit of peace in our troubled world.

---

Photos

Yulia from Russia
Yulia said in the States her name is spelled Julia.