Our First Christian Zambian Wedding!

 On Saturday, our family was invited to a Christian wedding. The groom was a young man that is a deacon in on of our churches. We were all excited to attend! The kids had never been to a wedding so they were super excited! Early Saturday morning, Zeria and I went to the market to buy gifts for the bride and groom. We went to the village and found the people at the church. There were so many people that they decided to move the ceremony to a house that had a big shade tree. We sat in the back under the big tree and observed all that went on. Look at the pictures below for the rest of the story!

 The children were so happy to see our kids again! This is a place we frequent and our kids really do have sweet friends there!

 Kendall was greeted by Samson and Iwell, the two pastors presiding over the wedding.

 From left to right: Iwell, Samson, the best man, the groom, the bride, and maid of honor.

 The wedding guests that attended the wedding.

 Lauren and Daddy enjoying the cool shade at the back of the crowd.

 The bride and groom. Let me explain something. They are looking down and without a smile because they have to show that they are sad to leave their families. They looked down the entire ceremony, even when they were saying their vows, giving rings, and receiving gifts.

 Iwell preached and did a great job of preaching God's Word instead of tradition!

 The big moment...the HUG! Everyone yelled and screamed!

 He prayed over Mr. and Mrs. Daka and their new life together!

 Giving of gifts was unique, but there was a huge confrontation because many people want to follow tradition and the family wants to follow Christ. They made a list of special guests and when your name is called you present your gift to the bride and groom. Well the family just wrote down to say "the family of the groom" and "the family of the bride". People from the family were angry. I mean shouting at the man reading the names and caused such a scene. Then a man got up and shouted at everyone because every person's name was not called. It was sad that they were so selfish and complaining when the day was not about them. This is Zeria and I presenting our family's gifts to the bride and groom. It was sad that the family caused such an uproar, but I guess that is what happens when tradition and Christianity collide.

 Lily and Naomi playing as the gifts were being given. Naomi is Lily's best friend.

 Moses and Easton were worn out. Moses loves Easton so much that he wore Easton out.

 We went to the Lungu's house for a meal after the wedding and our kids played ball with their 5 children and ran around. It was so fun to see our kids playing with kids who treated them fair and were not too rough with them. They were sad to say goodbye to our kids and kept shaking their hands saying "BYE!"

My most favorite picture of the whole day. Lily's face is just lit up. She loves Naomi and these precious girls so much!

Overall, we had a good day. It was long but so much fun!