beautiful.

I have a confession: I really don't like weddings.  In ANY culture.

  I don't like lots of frill.  I don't like gushy.  I don't like over-the-top.  I really don't like lots of drama.    Don't like cheesy, don't like swoony, don't like expensive, don't like huge gatherings.  Just don't.

And this morning, there wasn't one wedding to go to.  There were five.  And it was crazy hot.  And everyone in Saccanville was going to be there.

So you'd think today would have been rough.

But surprisingly, it wasn't.

It was beautiful.

Cammie got the whole thing started.  (Cam, this post is for YOU...wish you could have been here!)  Then Junior, Abel, a bunch of the students, some community members...lots of people got involved.  And today, that resulted in the marriage of five different couples from Saccanville.

These couples have been together forever.  They have homes, lots of beautiful kids, a commitment and love for one another.  But, as is very culturally acceptable (in many cultures, I guess), for many reasons, they had never gotten married.  

But today--in front of, well, EVERYBODY, with their children beside them and dressed in every kind of satin and sequin imaginable--they changed that.

The students, Belony, and Elizay, of course, didn't sugar-coat anything.

"You've been stealing," Belony shared at the start.  "You've been taking what was not yours, and though you've been following after God, you have not been right before Him.  Now's your chance to make that change.  To make the declaration that that is NOT ok with you anymore.  That you want to love each other righteously before God."

While the boldness of that made me squirm a bit (Yeowch.  In front of everyone in the community?), it set the right stage. Their boldness, the boldness of the same men who stood before witchdoctors just a week ago, was nothing but truth.  And if you're gathering in front of hundreds of unbelievers, living in darkness, you've gotta boldly share His truth.

And it was because of that bold platform that the marriage was so beautiful.  It might have been before hundreds of guests, friends, families and onlookers, but the spirit was obviously just before God.  

That was beautiful.

It was also very culturally...educational.  

Everyone was working SO SO HARD not to smile.  Lots of glares.  Lots of angry eyes.  Keeping face.

But they were all just too happy to keep that up all day:)  It wasn't hard to catch lots of grins.

Some of the daughters and sons were sitting with or behind their moms and dads, and it was beautiful to watch them watching this example and testimony.

At the beginning, there were only a few people there.

(Lily and Ashline, her best friend from school.)

Leandre, Belony, Elizay, Simeon, Thelo and Junior all spent the day preparing, planning and preaching the service.

When the inside of the church reached about 98 degrees, everyone was sweating so much, and there were so many people...Lily passed out and slept the rest of the service.

By the end of the service, EVERY inch of the church was packed with people, with crowds of people surrounding the doorways, kids in the windows, passerby's in the doorway... PACKED OUT.  

Frankly, there just aren't a lot of married people IN Saccanville.  And so there aren't many weddings.  And there definitely aren't many group weddings!  It was the talk of the town and the event of the year, for sure.

Culturally, there are basically NO standards or rules (that I can tell) of what is polite at a wedding.  If you want to take a picture, you stand up and take a picture.  If you want to yell, or laugh, or sing, or walk around, or walk into the middle of all the brides and grooms to take pictures, or dance, or...  

It's all good.  My first 20 weddings here, that was hard to get used to.  

Now, I just profit the occasion and jump in there :)

 Each couple did their vows, one by one.

They promised to love each other forever.  Till death do them part or until Jesus returns.  And they promised never, ever, to soufle nan zorey lot moun...blow in the ear of another.

I really don't know what this means.  I guess it's some kind of expression for intimacy?  

Whatever you're doing right now, go tell your spouse you promise only to blow in their ears, till death do you part.

Alexandra is Lily's other best friend at school, and her mom, Ta-ta, got married today to her dad, Job.  She was so pleased, and I think Lily was a little jealous that HER mom wasn't getting married :)

In EVERY single wedding I have EVER been to in Haiti, the highlight for everyone, without a doubt, is the kiss.

As I was thinking about WHY that is today--especially when there are so many people living together unmarried and so many families with multiple dads and moms--I realized that while it's very common to greet people with a kiss on the cheek and to walk hand in hand while talking with a friend, there is literally NO public displays of affection between couples.

Married couples do not walk to church together.  They do not sit together.   They don't walk home together.  They don't eat together, go to market together.  You won't catch them on the street together. Honestly, there are many couples that we didn't even realize WERE couples after years of knowing them.  

You just NEVER see couples holding hands, talking, hugging, and definitely not kissing.  

So when it's time for that kiss, you'd better believe everyone is on their feet and pressed in as far as they can, and with the kiss comes an explosion of cheering, screaming and laughter comparable to when your team wins the World Cup or the Super Bowl.

You will think I am exaggerating.

That's why I took this video:

One word: Intense.

And that was only kiss number one.

But it was a singular moment that truly made the day a joy for me.

When it came time for Natalia to say her vows, Elizay asked if she promised to love Louis forever and to be faithful.

When she said, "Oui, Pas", Louis just lost it.  He broke out in the biggest grin, his eyes lighting up and love on his face.  His love for her was apparent, but even more so, his freedom.

He hasn't been a follower of Christ for long, but as he's grown, this sin area of his life has been gnawing at him.  It's been lowering his eyes, weighing his shoulders.  

As what was wrong was made right today, you could see everything change.

I mean, I could physically see his spiritual transformation.  I could see that bondage built by sin Broken.  His freedom exuded from his eyes and his smile and even his posture.  Louis was now a free man before the Lord.  And I got to see that.

THAT was beautiful.  

That made the sweat, the time, the cross-cultural bizarness and all the knocks at the door leading up to it SO worth it.

I don't know if anyone else even caught that special moment.  But I DO know that just as hundreds in Port-au-Prince only a few days ago saw and heard something crazy...the Gospel, hundreds in Saccanville today saw and heard something crazy, too...Obedience to It.

As Matt said as we were walking home after, exhausted with two exhausted girls under the hot Haitian sun, "I think the Lord was really pleased with the heart of that.  I think that brought Him glory.  Praise the Lord."

It really was.

Beautiful.