And God gave Eve to Adam... an African wedding

Everywhere around the world, weddings are a big deal and Africa is no exception.  Each wedding is unique – with the bride and groom displaying a sense of their culture and often times their convictions in the various aspects of their wedding.

In Africa it is a day of celebration – and I do mean the WHOLE day!  Recently we were privileged to attend the wedding of a young man, a good friend, in our church. It was a glorious occasion that we would like to share with you.

The entire church gathers together in celebration, at christian weddings, with many from the congregation involved in various aspects of the day.  

For us, the day begins at 8:00 a.m. when we arrive at the church to have our car decorated. 

Along with others, we are privileged to be driving the bridal party to various events in a decorated motorcade. 

After our car is decorated, we pick up the groomsmen at their gathering place and bring them to the church.  

Then it is off to the bridal location – of course this is where all the action is! 

Here is a short video clip of the ladies gathering at the bride's home.  This is a woman's event; friends and family of the bride sing and dance to encourage the bride and bless her as she leaves for the wedding ceremony.    What fun!!

Another fun difference came during the processional.  The groomsmen who were already at the front of the church dance slowly down the aisle as the bridesmaids slowly dance up the aisle; meeting in the middle, they make their way to the front.  

The ceremony itself is a mixture of KiSwahili and English and a mixture of African culture and western influence.  The emphasis is not on setting the scene, like so many western weddings, instead it is about bringing two families together under God, commitment to each other and charging each of us to be faithful.  

All of this has been quite the ordeal with preaching and singing, even an offering; it is after 1:00 p.m. when the church service finishes.

Now, onto the steps of the church for pictures!

Everyone gets into these pictures. Pictures  are taken with family, friends, co-workers, you name it.

At the right is a picture of the married couple with the youth of the church.



The bridal party then piles into the decorated cars to make their way to a pre-selected location for more formal pictures while everyone else goes on to the reception venue.

Picture-taking is a long process, especially at weddings; a crate of soft drinks is provided allowing everyone to refresh themselves after the pictures before moving on to the reception.




We are grateful for nice weather as many times receptions are help outside to accommodate everyone.

The party is big and becomes bigger as uninvited folks show up during the reception; no one is turned away, everyone is welcome to celebrate the union.  Food is served, everyone joins together in singing and dancing as one group to celebrate with the new couple.


Finally it is time to give gifts.  Music is played and everyone lines up to give their gift and bless the new couple.

This was a new sight, we had never before seen a bed given at a wedding reception -- what fun!  Hopefully the folks that gave the bed also transported it home for them!





It's now after 5:00 p.m., we've enjoyed the day, but we are worn out!  As we leave, the party continues. These folks know how to celebrate!

Pray for Juma and Carol as they begin their new life together under God.
Pray that they would keep God first in their lives.
Pray that they would be faithful to God and to one another that their marriage would be a testimony for all to see.

On the edge of Tsavo

Nature can be pretty loud.  Sitting on the edge of Tsavo East game park, staring out into the darkness, the continuous chirping and hum of insects is punctuated by the loud chatter and screeching of unhappy baboons in the distance.

Earlier, an elephant trumpeted to her youngest as we watched a family group drink at a nearby water hole.

We came to Mwatate to meet Augustino, the Makonde man – spending the night on the edge of Tsavo is an added bonus.

 Psalm 104 tells us creation glorifies God.  The creature glorifies its Creator. Not only did God create, but He put a system in place to maintain His creation.

Sitting here in the midst of God’s creation, which we call nature, it is overwhelming to consider God’s power as thunder rolls in the distance; God’s creativity as the long necked giraffe and the long nosed elephant amble past; and God’s provision as we watch a rock hyrax eating his supper.

“May the glory of the LORD endure forever; may the LORD rejoice in His works.   I will sing to the LORD all my life; I will sing praise to my God as long as I live.  May my meditation be pleasing to Him, as I rejoice in the LORD.” Psalm 104:31,33-34

Makonde of Kenya

While he doesn't know the date of his birth, this is not unusual.  Many Africans in his age bracket have no papers, no registry of birth, and, at the time of birth -- no way to identify the date ie. calendar, newspaper etc.   Many of his age group identify their year of birth or age by an event, if such an event occurred, such as – the year of the drought, the year of the flood, the year of the massacre…  things of this nature.

After David’s call to our cell phone, (click here to see previous post) we turned around proceeding down a public road at the edge of the sisal plantation. The Makonde man will meet us on this road.

Augustino is Makonde. We estimate his age as mid to late 70’s.  As we ask him questions, he relates his story.


He came to Mwatate from Mwindumi, Mozambique with his uncle in the year of Tanzania’s independence -- that would be 1961, he would have been an older teenager of working age. This fits with the history of Mozambique.

Between 1961 and 1962 several laws were passed in Mozambique to improve living conditions for nationals.  They also abolished forced labor during this time.  This would've given Augustino and his uncle the opportunity to leave Mozambique.  Also, the border of Tanzania was open as part of the East Africa Community thus, papers would not be needed to go from Mozambique through Tanganyika (present day Tanzania) to Kenya. Even today research suggests that more Makonde live in Tanzania than in Mozambique.

He tells of many Makonde coming to work on the sisal plantation. He had two children while working on the plantation. One now lives in Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania and one in a nearby village.

He pulls an old Kodak picture sleeve out of his jacket pocket – obviously a prized possession --  opening it up to a black and white picture of himself as a young man.

Today Augustino and another older Makonde man, now crippled, are the only Makonde on the estate.  In 2004 all non-Kenyan workers were order off the estate.  Augustino says he and two older Makonde men were allowed to stay, but one has since died.  They don’t get money from the estate, but there is a small house in which they can live out their days.

As Jerry relates his testimony, Augustino acknowledges God’s presence in his life.

As we finish up our conversation Augustino puts on his hat, squats down and picks up a small bundle of wood which he has scavenged.  This will be used to heat water for tea and perhaps cook a bit of food.

Someone comes by – “Shikamoo mzee” (She-ka-moh  mmm-zay). We are happy to hear the KiSwahili greeting of respect for the older man.

Pray for Augustino and his Makonde friend – we don’t know his name.  Pray that God would make Himself known to them in powerful ways.

Augustino is uneducated, so he and his friend are unable to read.  Pray that God would send believers into their lives to encourage them, to bless them, to show them the love of Christ,  that they would truly know Him in their last days.

David -- God's Divine Appointment

Witnessing God at work is one of the best things about our calling – talk about the ultimate planner! God orchestrates our path, He lays it all out and we just go forth – much as Moses did – God moves events, allowing us to be in His planned place, at His planned time, to meet His planned people – incredible!

Meet David (a security guard at a large sisal plantation in Mwatate) and his family. (In many countries in Africa, parents use the name of their first born, thus we are called Baba and Mama Chuck.)

So -- Baba and Mama Sarah and their children, Sarah (12 years old), and Ruben, (8 years old), -- there is another daughter, Beatrice (6 years old) living with her auntie near Mombasa.

David was God’s divine appointment when Jerry came to Mwatate a few weeks earlier looking for over 1,000 Makonde people which research says are there.

We return to Mwatate today, as planned, and have the opportunity of visiting Baba and Mama Sarah in their home as we make a plan to meet with a Makonde man, whom David has heard about.

As we enter the small three room mud/brick house, sitting on the frame of their settee, bare of cushions, the poverty in which they live is evident. We notice an abundance of water containers along the wall, more than ten – 20 liter water containers and a separate huge container that must hold at least 50 gallons – this is a very dry place and water is a problem, so they store as much water as they can and use it sparingly.

Mama Sarah carries in a pot of hot, sweet tea which she serves us without milk, more evidence of their poverty and Sarah runs in with three small round pieces of fried bread in a plastic bag which her mama puts on a plate and sets before us – one for David and one each for us. This situation is difficult, we know they don’t have money to do this, but it would be insulting if we refuse their hospitality.  Jerry takes a piece of the bread and divides it for the two of us and we ask Mama Sarah to join us and eat the remaining piece, which she does.

The Makonde man was to meet David earlier in the day, but he hadn't shown, so the new plan is to drive a short distance out of town to see the Mwatate Baptist Church property returning by David’s house to see if the man has come and then take David to work as we leave town.

Sarah and Ruben ask to ride along in the car and the plan is set. The children run off to change into their best clothes for their car ride and we finish our tea and conversation about the workings of a Sisal plantation. (Click here to read more about sisal.)

It is now four o’clock in the afternoon; we've dropped Sarah and Ruben back at home, took David to the sisal plantation to begin his shift of work and are headed out of town.  We are disappointed, we didn't meet the Makonde man -- couldn't find him anywhere.

The cell phone rings – it’s David – the Makonde man has come to the plantation gate where David is stationed, can we return?  We looked at each other and smile – of course we can!

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David and his wife are believers. There was a real atmosphere of peace and contentment in their home even in the midst of poverty.  Pray for God’s protection upon them, for health, for their needs to be met, and for God to lay His blessing upon them.

Using some special gift money which was given to us, a Bible was given to David, in appreciation for his help. Pray that God would open His word and the Holy Spirit would light this home with understanding and growth in relationship to Christ.