AFRICAN WEDDING

Another son of the Mercy Ship family was married this weekend. Joseph “Kingsley” Eshun took as his bride his beloved Emelia. Kingsley has worked in the Engineering Department both on the Anastasis and on the Africa Mercy for 4 years as a plumber. Approximately 30 of his shipmates made an 11 hour round trip from Tema to Takaradi Ghana in one day to witness this blessed event.

None of the Westerners knew what to expect as this was our first African wedding. What we learned was the wedding ceremonies are much like the culture of Ghana. There is no rush. No rush to be on time, no rush to just “get through the ceremony”, no rush to get through the pictures nor the reception. There was time to wait for guests and family to show up an hour and half late, there was time to enjoy the shear celebration of the joy of this couple, there was time to make strangers feel welcome and part of the family, there was time for anyone to sing songs of encouragement and love to the couple. There was even time for everyone to dance around the church, offering the couple money and handshakes. There was time given to about 10 attending pastors to bestow blessings on Kingsleys’ and Emelia’s lives individually and as a newly joined couple.

At the reception I had the distinct picture of the Wedding Feast of the Lamb. As the bride and groom came back down the center aisle into the church that was now transformed into a banquet hall I sensed victory, perhaps it was the long wait and separation this couple had endured to finally be together. The bride and groom were seated first at a head table and attended to by their best man and bridesmaid. Next were announced their distinquished and honored guests and they were seated at the head table. Then the rest of the guests were served with refreshments as is the custom of our Ghanian brothers to be very hospitable and serving. To show the level of hospitality and the commitment to excellence of these two families they provided every Mercy Shipper a hot meal to take on the long bus trip home.

Several things struck me as being similar to weddings I have attended such as the bride and groom and wedding party looking very sharp, the decorations, approximately 400 guests, pastor, music, having a reception.

What struck me as beautifully different and why I love Africa so much is the level of expressed joy and excitement over this occasion. That not 1, not 2 but 10 pastors wanted to participate in the ceremony. That EVERYONE in the church danced, sang and laughed together as a family and community welcoming a newly formed family in their midst. But above all this there was one almost missed aspect that the Lord kept my attention on the whole time. While the focus of the day was on the Bride and Groom, my attention was drawn to the Best Man and Bridesmaid. I kept asking the Lord why that was. I was mesmerized by the selflessness of these two people who focused solely on the Bride and Groom. Their attention was never diverted from their task of taking care of every need of the couple. They prepared the couple, they continued to preen them in every way to keep them presentable and unencumbered as possible. They carried items for them, selected their drinks, laid napkins in their laps and even wiped the sweat from their faces and necks. A true picture of servanthood. The Lord showed me that Kingsley and Emelia have been working in these positions for years and now it was their day to be promoted to the Bride and Groom for their faithful service. Kingsley has served on the ship in a non-assuming role with joy, faithfulness and a quite humbleness and Emelia’s heart has been to work with great love in an orphanage near their home - - neither of them for the praise to be theirs but to bring glory to God their Father just as on this day their attendants were all about putting Kingsley and Emelia in the spotlight at their best. I learned a lot about being a humble servant this day - - not the lesson I thought I would learn going to a wedding. “My strength is made perfect in weakness. When I am weak, then I am strong” 2 Corinthians 12:9-10

Today I felt a great pride as if I were watching my own son getting married then I realized that service through Mercy Ships for our Father had made us family