20 June 2010

a wedding and a child dedication

Yesterday was Fatoumata's wedding.  She has grown up living with Uncle Joseph and Tante Marte (as a niece) but has become basically their child because of a bad situation with her parents.  I can't imagine how many feelings she was having Friday night and Saturday morning. She must have been excited and nervous and happy to get married but i'm sure sad to leave her family and place she has known for a very long time.  The thing with Malian weddings is that when they get married they don't hardly know each other.  He is from a village quite a ways away, so she has probably only talked to him in person a couple times.  What we do in the States is ask a person to go out with us or date when we are interested in them.  Here it's not dating it is asking them to marry and become a fiance.  It is different.  They cannot be alone together because it is a big temptation for both of them, as they say. I can understand that, but I could not imagine marrying a man I barely knew.  The wedding was beautiful.  The choir was singing for a while ahead of time.  Then here comes a big long line of choir members, pastors, men beating drums, women singing, and Fatoumata in her wedding dress with the veil covering her face and Jeremy next to her. During the wedding, they sat up front next to each other with a best man/woman on both sides.  They didn't hardly look around much but sit still look at the people sitting down and once in a while maybe smile. I could tell Fatoumata was really nervous though.  So the 3 1/2 hour service was filled with preaching and singing and then finally Uncle Joseph married them with the rings, prayer, and a first kiss that I know she was taken aback by! 

Le Vieux, my baby, ha, was dedicated in church today which was very exciting.  I pray for him and that he would grow up to be a man of God and that by his parents growing closer together in love for each other, he would have a great example to follow.


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