I donât think I have much to say for today, Iâm here, Iâm settled in, and it is just going about the business of being ready for the evening service. I will tell you a little about the wedding I went to, as there were some differences than what any of my friends reading this would be used to.
Wedding
The wedding began promptly at 10AM African time. Which means it started around 11:30 or so.
It was quite hot today, the little village church in Sumbrungu looked like a mud oven to me! Iâm not sure if it was hotter inside or outside. The church was too small to hold everyone, so there were a couple of small tarp canopies erected that the overflow people were sitting under. Children crowded at the windows to see in.
The bride and groom arriving, the procession inside the church commenced. The photographer taking pictures as they were coming down. Of course, in my position as honored minister in the area, Iâm not too far behind the bride and groom. I was trying to duck down so that I wouldnât be sticking out like a sore thumbâŚ.errâŚunsore thumb (bad bad bad joke). Anyhow, I didnât want their wedding pictures to be some white guy in the middle that captures everyoneâs attention instantly. It should be on them!
Bro Samson preached for an hour or so before the ceremony. He did a fine job trying to reach the unrepentant who came for the wedding with the gospel. He told them whether they liked what he said or not, he at least told them the truth!
Then he began the wedding ceremony, which in text is exactly the same as I would use. The slight differences were the pauses for responses.
âIs there anyone here who can show just cause why these to should not be joined togetherâ
<pause>
And then Bro Samson would lift up his hands and the crowd would rejoice.
To the Groom: âDo you know of any impediment why you should not be lawfully joined togetherâ
âno pleaseâ
And then Bro Samson would lift up his hands and the crowd would rejoice.
To the Bride: âDo you know of any impediment why you should not be lawfully joined togetherâ
âno pleaseâ
And the rejoicing would begin again.
It was a celebration of purity. The people would celebrate that these two young people had preserved themselves in holiness for holy matrimony. That is why the crowd was rejoicing. Because this was SO RIGHT. It was being done THE RIGHT WAY!
I felt that the crowd rejoicing at those moments really accented the special nature of a true, holy marriage about to begin.
As Bro Samson pulled out the rings there was much cacophony. Iâm not sure if that was rejoicing, or oohing and ahhing? The congregation was just so into it at this point. Waiting to rejoice, waiting to be part of such a special moment.
I think the Bride and Groom would have liked to be anywhere but there at the moment. They looked SOOOO shy.
The rings were exchanged as the congregation continued to interject things I did not understand.
Finally the prayer, the ministers gathering, I put my hand on the groom and asked God to help him be a true husband, leader, and man.
Now it is time for the kiss! Apparently, since the congregation is so into the weddings in these parts, the grooms have begun to push back on them a little bit. Lifting the veil a little ways until the crowd gasps in excitement and then purposefully lets the veil fall back down to their utter disappointment! It is a grand joke, Bro Samson told me later. He doesnât approve so much as he doesnât feel itâs the right time for jokes, but he does not condemn it. As the groom starts to lift the veil, I hear âslowly! Slowly!â from the people. The groom slowly rolls the veil upward in keeping with this teasing the crowd tradition.
Finally a small peck on the brideâs right side, not just the cheek, but barely the lips! The congregation reacts! âNOâ!! It was not a good enough kiss for them. He must do it again! Another quick kiss, this time a little more square on the lips, but a little to the right too.
Did I mention the bride and groom were very shy? Also, Ghanaian culture does not show husband/wife affection in public much. You do not see a husband and wife kissing in front of anyone really at all.
Finally, they are presented to the crowd as Mr and Mrs Bro-Samson-Canât-Pronounce-It-Either.
Bro Jeffrey takes over as the emcee. He is very happy. The young man is from his church, not his son, but a spiritual son I think â or something. Bro Jeffrey wants the Bride and Groom to show how happy they are, we begin to sing âHappy Dayâ or another up tempo gospel song. Bro Jeffrey tells the Bride and Groom to dance to the song, because it is such a happy day! The congregation starts having a good time and moving their feet, clapping their hands, swaying back and forth, and moving around.
Did I mention the Bride and Groom were shy? While Iâm thinking âLet them go to their honeymoon!â Bro Jeffrey stops the music. âDonât you see bro Trevor over there? He came all the way from the US, and you must show him that this is a happy time for you!â
Oh no! He did NOT just bring me into this!
I am on the platform as well, I was moving around and clapping and dancing with the people.
Here Mr Groom guy, like thisâŚpleaseâŚanythingâŚa little bit so you can go to your honeymoon. Hurry up man!
He finally grabs his wifeâs hands and they begin to sway a little to the music. Finally bro Jeff is satisfied enough. The procession out begins.
Now time for pictures. EVERYONE crowds around. Itâs bright, hot, and dusty. There are mud homes as a backdrop for the pictures. I guess they were in front of a tree though. And those mud homes had electricity, so they couldnât have been ALL bad.
Finally, it is time to leave, well at least for Bro Samson and the preacher from the US and the two brothers with us. âBack to the hotel and some air conditioningâ says Bro Samson. My stomach rumbles, the day started 1.5 hours behind schedule. Lunch will be every bit as far behind. Time for granola!!
Tea and Lemonade
The withdrawals started today. Or something like withdrawals. It was hot, in the summer time I drink A LOT. I donât eat as much in the summer, but I make up for it in beverages. Iâm so tired of just water and some guava juice. I wanted Tea and Lemonade. I wanted a whole gallon. I wanted it REALLY BAD. I couldnât believe how badly I wanted it. I donât think there is anything like tea and lemonade for thousands of miles. I canât even go jump in a car and buy it. Usually when I want something, JayC is two miles away. If I donât have it, I go and get it.
I donât have any Ghanaian Cedes. Even if I did, I couldnât buy tea and lemonade with them. Even if there was, Iâm not sure I would have gone down the road on foot to buy some at the first booth that would have it. I also knew it was such a petty little thing that I shouldnât care about, so I sure wasnât going to ask Bro Samson to take me somewhere and buy me a Sprite, or a Fanta orange, or anything with a little flavor in it!
Yet, it was crazy how badly I wanted it. I almost got moody. AnnaMay must have picked up on it in my texts, âDonât be crabbyâ, she replies.
Amazing the things I take for granted. I honestly think I was more annoyed that I couldnât just go get it. I think I was also annoyed at myself that such a small thing annoyed me.
This should NOT be a big deal!
Finally, lunch arrives. With some more juice. The juice in Haiti was amazing. Fresh juice. I still remember the passion fruit (or whatever it was) juice that Bro Tanis made for me. UNBELIEVABLE. That was 8 years ago, I still regard it as one of the tastiest beverages Iâve EVER had. The juice here is basically the local Tropicana. At least it isnât water!
Lunch was Fufu! I havenât tried fufu yet.  Fufu is made from Cassava and Plantain made into a dough ball. It doesn’t have a lot of flavor, it’s basically in stead of rice in your soup. Bro Louis from the church in Lexington, KY talks about it in loving hushed tones – his family hates it, but I canât wait to at least try it. Fufu is so much better than the Banku I tried a couple nights ago. I had my fufu in the palm nut soup. The meat in the soup was goat. Quite tasty! I told them to stop bring rice just for me, if the others are eating fufu, I can handle it just fine.
But I ate it left handed since I canât reach my mouth with my right. Which should not be done in Ghana. The brethren were not offended, but it WAS noted. I heard Bro Timoty say âleftyâ. I asked if it was ok, and explained why. They do not care, but it is definitely a thing that you should not do anything left handed. Bro Samson is left handed, but he writes (and eats fufu) with his right hand because they would get smacked in school if they wrote left handed.
The soup was very flavorful with just the right amount of spice. I donât miss American food yet at all. Well, when I Facetimed with AnnaMay and my brother-in-law mentioned cookies, that DID sound delightful. As for food though, Iâm very happy.
But I cannot believe how badly I want tea and lemonade.
After enough juice and water, I am finally quenched. I donât want it so bad as I write this, but I would drink the first gallon of it that came along.
It is odd the things that make you feel weird in your emotions when taken out of your normal routine. Today was very odd, I was shocked at myself. At least I was disciplined enough to control it. Perhaps I was slightly dehydrated too, but I have been drinking many bottles of water, some with Nuun.
This wasnât supposed to be a long post, but I am enjoying writing every day. I also am happy I will have so many memories jotted down from this trip.
Evening Service
Finally, it was time for service. Promptly at 7PM African time. Bro Samson, whom Iâve noted before as a very punctual rarity, got us in the car and we headed over. There were about 5 people in the auditorium. I didnât even get out of the car, the AC was nice after all. We went back to the hotel and returned around 7:50. Ah, song service in process! Thatâs better.
I preached on having a relationship with Christ. Not like normal Christianity âtrue joy is found in a personal walk with Jesus Christâ But knowing him FULLY. Taking the FULL revealed Word. Not Jesus on the outside of His Church in the Laodicean Age as it speaks in Revelations 3 because He has been replaced by traditions and sayings. But a God who has a name, finds identity in that name, that name that we are baptized in â the Lord Jesus Christ. He has a name, He is a person, and we can know Him. And when we say we know HIM, we also must know Him in the full Word.
So, again, I wonât re-preach my sermon here, but itâs nice to have a record of what I preached where!
After service, the brothers are teasing Bro Jeffrey hard. They are calling him Moses. Bro Jeffrey is everywhere for the convention, taking care of the smallest details. âWhere is your Jethro, Moses? He needs to tell you that you are taking too much on yourself and you need to appoint 70 others!â Good times of brotherly fellowship!
AnnaMay just sent me an email with a quote from the message she is hearing. It fits with todayâs blog too much to ignore.
âThe very God of Heaven coming to earth! Who do we think we are, that have to go through a little bit of suffering? What He did for us! Think of it, friend, study of it.â
Thank you Lord for what you did for me! Â Iâm sorry I complained, I can do without the tea
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