A Wedding And A Funeral–When The Community Comes TOGETHER
Saturday, May 9th, 2009 | Uncategorized
Sometimes life is full of big events all at the same time. When it rains it pours….
Last Friday, everyone in my Bible Study group and I went to the wedding of our friend Aiyantu. She’s the first one in our group to get married and I’m sure she won’t be the last as most of the people in our Bible Study Group are currently single.
It was a beautiful wedding. It was mostly in Amharic, but my friend Blen translated for me. I like how the audience claps often during the ceremony. They make more noise than is heard in American weddings. They clap when the bride and groom exchange vows, rings, and sign the marriage certificate. After the wedding we went to the reception, had tasty tasty Ethiopian food, took tons of pictures, worshipped (The Protestants here do not dance at weddings. They “worship,” which involves some culturally appropriate dancing.), and had loads of fun!!
Then on Sunday (two days later) when we were all eating lunch, which we always do on Sundays, Sandra got a phone call that Goitam’s (another one of our members) mom had just died of cancer at the age of 47. I watched as everyone agreed to drop whatever they had had planned for the day and go over to Goitam’s house to be with him.
Personally, I am amazed at the level of community and support that I see from my friends in Bible Study. Sometimes in Bible Studies I’ve been in, we discuss what it means to have true Christian community. The Bible Study I’m in now doesn’t really talk about it (they don’t need to), they just do it.
For the wedding, we donated money to the bride and groom and plan to host a meal in their honor when we can give them their gift. For the passing of G’s mom (and this is more typical of Ethiopian culture), friends have come to G’s house every day since her passing and have spent hours there just being with G and his family. Some have even spent several nights there as well. Today, we are planning to host lunch at their house in support of them and their huge loss.
So, that is the end of my story. Coming from America, a much more individualized society than Ethiopia, I am learning tons about what it means to have true community from my fellow Christian friends here!!
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