Rwandan Wedding Celebration!

Yesterday was our wedding celebration in Rwanda. It was an incredible experience, and we wanted to share a few pictures. Any Rwandan elements that were missed in our wedding in the US were included in this ceremony!

traditional Rwandan clothes

The ceremony included many elements of a traditional dowry ceremony in Rwanda. The two ‘families’ were represented ‘elders’ from AEE and Urewgo who ‘negotiated’ the union. Fortunately, they were able to come to an agreement, despite the Urwego elder’s request for at least 100 cows. :)

The cutting of the cake and feeding each other the “first bite” are important ritualistic elements in Rwandan elements as well. After cutting the cake, we served the members of each other’s “family,” symbolizing the significance of hospitality in our home.

A Rwandan Christian dance troupe from a local church came and performed at the ceremony. With loud beats from the drum coupled with exuberant singing, women and then men dancers performed some of the most elaborate and skilled dancing we have yet to see in Rwanda. As we suspected, they invited us into the dancing.

Antoine and Bob dancing

The dancers presented several traditional gifts to us. The picture below is of a wooden container of milk. Milk implies a desire for a home blessed with many children.

AEE, Urwego and Le Rucher all presented gifts to us. Pictured below is Antoine Rutayisire presenting us a gift from the AEE Rwanda team.

We felt so honored to be celebrated and loved by our friends and “Rwandan families” here. We truly felt immersed in Rwandan culture, feeling a deeper connection with the people and their traditions.

Burundi

I spent two weeks in Burundi in October (last month), working with Turame, World Relief's local microfinance organization. I wanted to post a few pictures from that trip, even though I am very late in doing so!

This (above) is Turame's new office. The organization has nearly doubled in number of employees and clients since I left a year ago--exciting progress for this young organization!
And here is the team--or most of them! Fantastic Burundians with a heart to help the poor and show God's love.
Sara Mathews and I visited a rural church in Burundi the first week I was there. In the picture above we are eating lunch with some of the pastors after the service. I love rural churches--the energy and sincerity of the people shines brighter in the midst of the mud brick walls and lack of instruments or sound system. Here are some of the members of the church standing in the area where they are building a new church building. One man is holding the hand-made guitar he uses to lead worship. They are praying for a second guitar, and the funds to finish the roof on the church.
No pictures of me here, so I guess I can't really prove that I was there. But I was! :) Bob and I leave next week on our visit to Rwanda, and we are also planning to go to Burundi for a few days. It will be nice to be there together this time, rather than by myself!

Back to normal life!

I haven't posted anything since the wedding...nothing about life now seems noteworthy compared to that! We have been busy settling in and adjusting, and enjoying finding a routine for daily life. Unpacking and settling in to the apartment has been a longer process than either of us anticipated, and has precipitated many helpful relationship-building experiences and discussions! We are now enjoying the fruit of our hard work, and even hosted our first small party here last weekend! Here are a few pictures of the apartment now, and the process.

Bob has thoroughly enjoyed using

the new power drill we have.

Now that we are finally getting comfortable, we are leaving in 10 days for our big trip to Rwanda! So, normal life, whatever that is, gets tweaked a bit. :)

Wedding pictures!

It has been an exciting month! At long last, we are getting around to posting a few pictures for those who could not be there. God surrounded us with great people who helped the wedding weekend to really be enjoyable for us and everyone involved.

Before I go on, we are grateful to Jeff Jensen Photography, who took most of the photos you will see here.

We were married in Normal, Illinois (Kristi’s hometown and home-church). Here are a few pictures from the ceremony at the church:

I must explain the one above--we asked a few people we know who have had an influence on us spiritually and also are spiritual leaders in their own churches to pray for us during the ceremony. This is very common in Rwandan weddings, so we were inspired by our friends there to include it in our ceremony.

Then, we had your traditional eating, cake-cutting, and toasting at the reception. A grand time was had by all, I think! We really felt blessed to be able to celebrate with so many of the people we love, and we thoroughly enjoyed the day.

There was a family from Rwanda that Kristi had gotten close to while she was in Rwanda who now lives in the US and was able to attend the wedding. They sang for us and led everyone in some Rwandan dancing. We were so grateful that they were able to be there!

So--it really happened! And now you have the photos to prove it. :) I think that is enough photos for now. Sorry for the delay in getting these up! A lot more has happened, and we’ll post some soon from the honeymoon and California reception!

Season of blessing

Only 10 days till the wedding! Last week we got an unexpected blessing from our church in Pasadena. We were at Bible study Tuesday night, intently thinking about the story of Joseph in the Old Testament, when there was a knock on the door and half the church walked in! They threw us a surprise shower, and it was a special treat to be able to enjoy it together! They prayed for us, then we had cake while the kids played in the backyard, then opened gifts--and Bob got to open this time. :) Here are some pictures:

praying for us

We are grateful for such a loving church family!