On January 25th, we celebrated the wedding and the joining of 2 lives for the gl0ry of G0d!! One of our M@lian partners, D@n@ya, got married to his beautiful bride, R3bek@. It was a celebration filled with joy, excitement, and hope for all that G0d has planned to do through the lives of His 2 children, D@n@ya and R3bek@.
It was my first time to be intimately involved in the planning and preparation of a M@lian wedding and what fun it was!! We helped get the loads of tomatoes, onions, cabbage, egg plant, and rice needed to feed all the guest. We loaded up the cow in the moto taxi to be taken to be slaughtered and prepared for cooking. The moto taxi delivered a cooler for the drinks, the sodas, ice, chairs, tents, and everything needed for the big event.
Then the day of the event, the church was packed with people until it was overflowing. Tents were set up outside for those who could not fit inside. There was much singing, celebrating, and sharing of G0d’s word with those attending. Then a sweet, sweet ceremony where D@n@ya and R3bek@ united their lives, making commitments to each other before a crowd of witnesses that were moved and touched.
You see, many in attendance had never experienced a Christian wedding. They had never seen the joy and love expressed in this celebration and they had never understood G0d’s plan for One Husband and One Wife…the uniting of 2 to become ONE! As they bowed together before G0d, uniting their previous 2 lives into ONE life for the Glory and purposes of G0d, EVERYONE was touched!!
To finish off the day, we transported family members back to their gathering places where the celebration continued!! This is one of my favorite parts of wedding celebrations here…load up and declare the fun and celebration to the whole city….
When I asked my friends who had seen a Chr!sti@n wedding for the first time what part they liked the most, the response was unanimous…
- When they made their alliance, giving each other rings, and committing to each other to love in all things…whether there is money or not, whether there is health or not, whether there is good or bad…
- When they knelt together before G0d to surrender their lives as 2 to become 1…one husband, one wife…D@n@ya is now R3bek@ and R3bek@ is now D@n@ya, if one hurts the other hurts, if one rejoices the other rejoices!