A Tanzanian Wedding

Last weekend two employees from Treasures of Africa got married. They wanted to celebrate with all the TOA children at their wedding.

So on Saturday July 7, Jodie and I crammed the children and two caregivers into our new TOA van (a few of the children had left earlier with Eli to the church because they were helping him or in the wedding). When we arrived at the church everyone was standing outside. Since this is the church our TOA kids attend and Eli is their pastor the children are quite comfortable with the people and surroundings. They ran off in various directions…except for our youngest and Awadhi and Jerry…they stayed near Jodie and I.
After greetings Eli announced it was time to enter the church. We took our seats and then immediately stood to sing some praise songs. After singing Eli announced the groom was arriving and more than half the church ran outside to cheer the groom as he approached the church. In front of the groom were a group of about eight dancers. The music played and they danced as he entered the church. Then behind the groom was the crowd of people who were in the church but ran outside to cheer him in. As the groom VERY SLOWLY walked down the aisle with his best man the dancers continued to dance all the way to the front and as the people came in they made their way back to their seats…still cheering. Once the groom was standing at the front of the church with his best man the dancers danced back down the aisle and waited outside for the bride.

When the vehicle the bride was in drove up to the church the people inside the church cheered wildly then immediately jumped from their seats and ran outside cheering. They danced and sang and cheered as the bride stepped out of the vehicle. The celebration outside went on for at least 20 minutes. Finally the bride made her way towards the entrance of the church. In front the eight dancers led everyone inside the church. Behind the eight dancers were four of our TOA middle kids (Mary, Catherine, Witness and Raymond), dancing in front of the bride. I was so impressed watching them dance in unison. They did a great job!
The bride looked beautiful as she entered the church. Walking next to her was her bridesmaid and on each side of them were a mini-bride (our very own Diamond, wearing a wig to give her long hair) and a mini-groom. Just behind the bride was our Irene, who was dressed very similar to the bridesmaid. As soon as they entered the church Irene took her place in front of the bride and walked with the mini-bride and mini-groom down the aisle. Behind the bride was half the congregation who had run outside as the she drove up to the church. They were still cheering and dancing.
Once the bride walked halfway down the aisle, she stopped and the groom with his best-man walked down to meet her. The groom lifted the bride’s veil and stood next to her and they continued walking down the aisle together. This whole process took about 30 minutes…walking VERY VERY SLOWLY. The dancers kept dancing with everyone cheering and dancing.
Once they made it to the front there were chairs set up on the right side where the wedding party was seated. The pastor of the church (our very own Eli) introduced his bishop who came to the front and began to speak. He talked about love and marriage and told a lot of stories. This went on for about two hours. Halfway through his message there was a distraction in the back of the church. I turned around and saw an armed policeman enter the church and drag a man out. It caused quite a stir and about half the church ran out of the building to see what was going on. Jodie and I remained in our seats and had the TOA children stay seated. The bishop who was speaking paused briefly but then encouraged everyone to return to the church. It took about 10 minutes but eventually everyone came back in and the bishop continued speaking.
• Side-note: The policeman situation was a misunderstanding between him and the man he pulled out of the church. Eli happened to be outside at the time when it all happened and was able to settle things and the policeman apologized.

After the bishop’s message it was time for the vows. The bride and groom stood and came to the center in the front. The vows part took about an hour with lots of cheering by the congregation.
After the vows and the announcement of husband and wife they went back to their seats. Then Eli took over and began the process of introducing all the pastors in attendance. There were about 10 pastors and each was invited to come to the microphone and say something. Some pastors shared a little and some gave a mini-sermon…some of the mini-sermons were not so mini. At the end Eli invited Jodie and I to say something. I decided it was best to say something short and sweet.

The official ceremony was over and the bride and groom along with the bridal party and all of the dancers made their way out first. They went outside dancing and the congregation followed, also dancing. Everyone danced in a path that led out and around a bit and then back to the church. Once they returned they went directly to the area set up outside under tarps.

Now it was time for the reception. Jodie and I were asked to sit towards the front with Eli and his wife Rosa. The cake was brought out by women who came forward dancing. It was cut and the pastors and family members came forward as the bride and groom fed them a piece. Then food and sodas were served to everyone. After eating it was time to present the gifts. If someone had a gift for the bride and groom, they were announced and then they would dance towards the front as everyone cheered them as they presented their gift to the bride and groom. After the gifts were given people came forward to take photos with the bride and groom. After their pictures were taken the people would leave. It was beginning to get dark. Jodie and I took photos and gathered up the children, loaded them in the van, with about five more extra people asking for a lift to town. Our van was FULL.

As we drove home the children sang in the van. I love it when they sing together. It was a very nice day…a very special day!