Sixth Week - Wedding Day!!

The big day was Saturday! We had a few glitches. The worse was that the wedding gown did not arrive. John and I did not know that the dress was coming from Colombia as a wedding present, and it was stuck in customs because it was part of a larger package. It arrived two weeks before the wedding, but it wasn't released. Packages from Colombia rise suspicions. Somebody had to take the bride to the big town by the airport on Friday to find an appropriate dress. They found a dark red dress that worked. I already mentioned on last year's blog how hard it was for us to find a dress for Yesenia. They got home at about 8:00 pm that night. The ring boy's outfit was also part of that package. Well, the wedding went on! That was the important thing. But now you know why the bride was wearing red while the groom was wearing white!

Carlos and Rosario, Luis, the pastor, and his wife, Patricia, the lawyer, arrived Friday afternoon. Rosario decorated the condo for us. She brought everything from the capital. Carlos brought the special music. I downloaded the wedding march and played it in our computer. It was a beautiful, but simple ceremony. I have explained before that they had to have a civil ceremony, usually done a few days before the religious ceremony, but since we had both a lawyer and a pastor, we did both ceremonies together, one after the other, first the civil ceremony, and then the Christian marriage. There were a lot of relatives who had never been to a Christian service. They were all impressed by the music, the preaching, and how meaningful everything was. Luis preached on Proverbs 3:5-6. He applied it to marriage in a very clear way. We are going to review it with Yúa and Diana before we leave, since we know that they won't remember much because they were so nervous.

Diana coming down the stairs

Yúa waiting for his bride

Civil ceremony

Pastor Luis preaching

Kiss!!

All the guests

We had a long talk with Carlos. He said that of all the things we have tried here, the Lord has blessed the couples' ministry the most. He told us to keep concentrating on that as long as we can, and then leave it to the Lord. We have been worrying too much about finding a couple to take over the ministry, but it is the Lord's. He will provide the workers just as he brought us to this place.

We only have two weeks left here! We will continue with Bible studies and counseling right up to two days before our departure.

Prayer requests:

• Pray for blessings for Yúa and Diana, that they will keep the Lord at the center of their home.
• Continue to pray for all these couples. Some of their marriages are still fragile
• Pray for good health for the final stretch
• Pray that both of our flights leave on time. We only have 90 minutes in Houston to go through immigration, custom, security, and get to our second flight. It is also the last flight out of Houston. If we miss it, we have to spend the night!

Thank you so much for your prayers. You are an important part of this ministry.

Until next time... From the beach...