The Wedding

Saturday I had the great privilege, along with Engineering Ministries International EA staff, of attending the Ugandan wedding of Richard and Lydia.  Richard, as a site field manager on the EMIEA staff, oversees Ugandan construction workers building various EMIEA partner projects.

The wedding had been preceded by an "introduction" about a month before, where the bride and groom were introduced and the families were arrayed in their traditional dress.  The groom brought dowry and gifts needed to "purchase" the bride and had to be "accepted", along with his gifts, by the bride's family.  The high cost of the dowry and the wedding force the majority of couples to start a family before marriage, since custom must not be broken.

The wedding started with stirring music, and then the groom, five groomsmen, and two boys, all singing "Jesus, you make me beautiful", did an awesome dance-walk down the aisle to the front.  

 

Two little girls, dressed in white, along with five beautiful bridesmaids, sang and danced their way down another aisle,

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

including Hope (far right), a Ugandan on staff with EMIEA as Human Resources Assistant (notice Hope's "dreadlocks").

 

The bride followed, escorted by her father in village dress.

  Before vows were exchanged, Richard first had to look around the audience to check for objections to their marriage and then remove the bride's face veil to verify that it was Lydia he was marrying (not some imposter)!

 

They were then free to exchange vows.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The wedding was celebrated with much joy, clapping, dancing, and AWESOME singing.

Below is part of the EMIEA staff and spouses (and Grandma) with the wedding party.

The reception following was opened with a blessing from John,

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

the dancing re-entry of the wedding party,

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

and then a speech by Steve, the EMIEA Senior Project Manager, praising not only Richard's excellent project oversight, but also his spiritual leadership over the construction teams.

 Great food was plentiful (rectangular-shape at the top is Ugandan sweet potato),

along with colorful village dress.

                                                   Part of the wedding party changed clothes,

but, lo and behold, the groom got lost in the changing!!  Much time was spent by the bride and her attendants hunting for Richard, and there was great celebration,

                                                             

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                                                                                and dancing, when Richard was found.

 

 

 

 

 

Next on the agenda was lighting the wedding cake with sparklers, cutting the cake,

and the bride and groom serving each other.

The cake (both frosting and cake much harder than typical American cakes because of the humidity) was cut into small squares and served to the guests, and then the remainder was wrapped into "packages" and presented to several people, including John as director of EMIEA.

Next on the agenda was a speech by Richard, and another by Lydia, with Lydia's including a word of thanks to EMI for mentoring Richard,

and then presentation of the EMIEA gifts of a refrigerator and stove to Richard and Lydia.  

Next, Richard's (current) construction crew brought a gift to the bride and groom.

Then it was time for the rest of the guests to dance down the aisle to Richard and Lydia with their gifts.

The wedding was concluded by long speeches, including a speech by the Local Council Chairperson urging men not to beat their wives, a common practice here - one which wives traditionally expect and, in fact, where they see themselves as the "favored" wife if beaten. 

In a sense, the highlight of the wedding was Richard's speech, urging all of his construction crew to follow his example in marriage.  It was apparent that Richard does not think of it as just a job; he deeply cares about the guys and about their learning to live in accordance with Jesus' teachings.  The fact that the crew all dressed up and found a way to come to the wedding shows the honor they give to Richard.  He is making a difference in the lives of Ugandan men - one by one - and consequently in the love, honor, and respect given to their women and children.