Wedding Bells

Wedding bells are in the air! No, not mine. 😉 August has been a big wedding month here with weddings almost every weekend, including 3 seminary students and a couple from my church small group. I love how every culture has their own unique wedding celebrations and traditions. For example, at a village wedding no invitations are needed; everyone is invited. Guests come to the homestead and camp out for a whole weekend. They slaughter some cows or goats to feed everyone. In some traditions the bride has been in hiding for a whole week. In others, the groom has to crawl on hands and knees to get his bride from her family.

Wambo weddings are just 'a bit' louder than a typical Western wedding. When these friends in my church small group got married, after the familiar church ceremony many of the Owambo guests and family broke into some spontaneous traditional songs. Click on the video below to watch a short clip!

At a Herero village wedding the groom's party stays at their own campsite away from the bride's family's house. The weekend is filled with different events like the bridal parade and slaughtering the cow. The final event on the last morning is when the groom's party walks over to the bride's family's house to get "their" wife (They are a more communal culture rather than individualistic, so the bride is becoming part of the family.). They go into the house for some final marriage advice, then emerge with the bride. She remains covered and the couple surrounded while they make their way to the vehicle to return to the groom's camp (along with her wedding gifts and luggage in another truck). Everything is done very slowly with their heads down to mimic cattle. The ladies traditional dresses and headgear are also picturing cattle. Check out some clips in the video below.

Christian weddings not only provide a tangible picture of Christ's love for His people (according to Eph. 5:25-27), but they also provide an opportunity for non-believing friends and family to experience Christian community. For example, guests at a village wedding camp out together, eat together, celebrate together...non-Christians rubbing shoulders with and having late night conversations around the fire with Christians. When outsiders experience loving Christian community it doesn't make sense other than lives transformed by Christ. "By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another" (Jn 13:35). One of the young adults in my church small group recognized this. When asked how he would apply the Great Commission in his life, he said, "I want unsaved family members to see Christ's love in me and my friends at the weddings I will attend this month."

Ondangwa Mission Trip

Around 50% of the population of Namibia inhabit the northern part of the country, making it a strategic location for missions. This area has fewer big cities, but is flooded with small villages. This more 'rural' dynamic, along with the travel time (min. 8hr drive from Windhoek) and language barrier (less people speak English) make it a more difficult setting for visiting missionaries. Yet, when an elder from my church asked to bring two of his teenage grandchildren on a mission trip, this is exactly where we went.

Being welcomed to the village by the youth and children

We partnered together with a NETS alumni who is a local pastor in the small town of Ongha. One of his major tasks since arriving only 1 year ago has been discipling his congregation who are very young in their faith. He is also the pastor for a few 'out stations' [sister churches] around his area. (Think, for example, of an itinerant preacher who would rotate between different churches each week.) So he organized for us to preach at a few different churches and also lead workshops on topics like forgiveness and how to lead a youth ministry. We were also welcomed into the homes of some of the church members to share meals together. The visitors got to try mahangu pap and 'marathon' chicken for the first time ('marathon' because you had to catch it first!). The families' generous hospitality was overwhelming, but a true display of an African welcome into the community and the family.

Teaching on forgiveness at New Jerusalem Church

Walking home with some students after school

Mahangu flour (before) on the left and pap (after) on the right

Catching dinner

Gospel Outreach Bible School

We also worked together with a small Bible school in Ondangwa called Gospel Outreach Bible School. We taught their morning classes for the week going through the book of Jude verse-by-verse and also looking at how Christians today should understand the Old Testament in light of the gospel. We also led a marriage seminar for community couples which was very well attended. One lady responded afterward that she had never heard anything like this before and was very thankful. On our last afternoon we had a joyous celebration together. The students prepared a traditional meal for us, then we played volleyball and another traditional game where one team was trying to fill up a bottle with sand as many times as possible while the other team was trying to throw you out with a tennis ball. Everyone was smiling and laughing and it was good conclusion to our ministry week.

Couples attending a marriage seminar

Teaching Bible school students about the book of Jude

Playing volleyball together

Playing the dodgeball-bottle game

As usual, we also spent our last few days playing tourist, debriefing the trip, and preparing the team to return home. Both of the teens expressed how their experiences in the village altered their perspectives on American life and material possessions and how they really had nothing to complain about. A recurring word used to describe the experience was "recalibrating." Even though I stay here in Namibia, I could say the same. The village life offers a simplicity and relationship-centeredness that helps recalibrate my priorities and values that get quite bent by urban life. How often the West thinks they have so much to teach, but don't realize how much they really have to learn.