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."