Day
5
Today
is a special day in the church and in Dano. Patrice and Astrid are
getting married. Patrice was one of the original house workers of
Geoffrey and Suzanne, when they arrived in Dano four years ago. Through
Geoffrey's efforts, much prayer, the help of the other missionaries, and the
work of the Holy Spirit, Patrice is now
one of the leading citizens of the community. He is a believer and leader
in his church, and has been certified as a licensed plumber, with the help of
the team who sent him to plumbing school in Ouaga. He is truly an amazing
example of what happens when Jesus's teachings are applied in our lives and the
lives of those we impact.
One
of the projects Chris wants to do is start a plumbing school in Dano, led by
Patrice. This and all of the proposed and existing projects including
Living Water, are done through the local church association (More about LWI and
other projects in another post).
As I
told my wife, Vickie, later in the day, we today experienced something that
probably 99.9% of Americans have not, an African Christian wedding. The
couple started the day at 9am with a civil service at the house of the Mayor of
Dano. After this, the church portion of the wedding started at 10am.
Arriving at the church building in Dano, I saw tents erected all around
the church with hundreds of people standing, sitting, and milling around.
We were, with the Sand's, quickly ushered to the front row of the church,
along with the other local missionaries. Chris was one of the official
photographers, and took over 1,000 pictures that day. At least 20 pastors
were introduced, including about ten that were on the stage. The couple
was led in by young children, and a bridal party, and seated front and center,
and the preaching began. About two hours later, the singing and dancing
started, and we were beginning to wonder how much longer. The duration
of the ceremony was about four hours, pictures were taken, and a meal was
served. We didn't stay for the meal, but were told that the food was very good,
and there was plenty for the hundreds of people that were there. A
collection was taken for the couple, as the groom's responsibility is to pay
for the food. Chris told me that Patrice would go into debt to pay for
this wedding, so the missionaries and us are all giving gifts of $$ to the
young groom, per his request. Two additional parties are planned for the couple
into the evening and night, where there will be plenty of food and dolo (their
home-made beer).
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