This past week we got to attend the wedding of one of our contacts, Pastor Jerry. We originally didn't think that we were going to be able to make it, because we were scheduled to be doing a program that day in Nueva Vizcaya. Pastor Rolly was our hero and was able to reschedule it so we could attend the wedding.
We got to travel with many of the pastors that have been our contacts all over Luzon, so that was a blast! Meriam, the bride's, family sent a bus to Baguio to pick up people coming to the wedding. This was in addition to the normal bus going from Baguio to Tinoc. Both of the buses were packed, with many familiar faces from the churches we have been to. We crammed into the back of the bus with Pastor Chris, Pastor Rolly, Pastor Joel, Pastor Felipe, Pastor James, and Pastor Jimmy.
The wedding was on April 4, 2008 and 9am and when we went up to the church, there were already soooo many people there. Pastor Jerry leads over 10 congregations in the mountains, and it seemed like almost all of them came! People traveled for so long to come and support Pastor Jerry and Meriam and to be part of the celebration. In the Philippines, if you are free you can come to the wedding and to the wedding feast. Everyone is welcome at the wedding celebration.
This is a picture of the outside of the church with all the wedding decorations.
The beautiful bride, Meriam, getting ready to walk down the isle.
And here she is with her parents.
The wedding ceremony was beautiful. Pastor Jerry asked us to sing two songs during the ceremony. There were soooooo many people there. They crowded into the church, outside the back door, cramming in the windows, and sitting outside. There were around 2,000 people there! The only word to describe it, as well put, by one of the pastors, "WOW!"
Pastor Jerry seemed a little nervous about all the guests being taken care of and getting where they needed to be, so it was good to see a smile on his face during the ceremony.
This is a picture of the Lutheran Church in the Philippines pastors with the married couple. These guys are some of the ones who have taken such good care of us during our time here. They are all a lot of fun, and fun to watch interacting with each other.
Here's us and Vicar Matthew with the couple.
After the wedding we walked down to Meriam's family's home for the wedding feast. There were people lining the whole walk down to the house. We were seated at a table. Out came the rice wine and the food. The night before they butchered 3 pigs for the feast that night. The day of the wedding they butchered eight pigs, which was about 1500 pounds of pork and made 1500 pounds of rice! They also had huge clay pots filled with rice wine. It seemed like there was a stream of rice wine coming from somewhere, they just kept bringing out more. They feed everyone! The night before we got to watch them preparing the pigs. They use pretty much every part of it, so that was interesting to watch, and even more interesting to eat. While we were sitting at the table they came around and put a handful of pork on our plate: a slice of liver, a big slice of fat layers with the skin on top, sausage made from the intestines - cooked and filled with blood and onions, and a couple other big hunks of meat.
This is a picture of my plate at the wedding feast
As I was sitting at the table I was trying to imagine this feast being transported to a wedding in the U.S. It made me laugh really hard. The meat was really good but I am not to good with the huge chunk of just fat and skin. Thankfully they bring out plastic bags so that people can take home their leftovers. So we filled up a couple bags with the parts that we just couldn't eat. The bride's father was so excited to see that we were using the "native way" and that we would "have a snack later if we get hungry."
While we were eating at the table all of the people that had been lined up on the way down filed through the house, getting a bag of food. They fed everyone!
There were lots of festivities after the feast. We sang a couple songs during the afternoon. All of the pastors and Dave, Luke, and Ua got to join in the native gong dance that Jenny and I have done before. They were pretty funny to watch and looked like they were having a lot of fun.
I am so glad that we got to go to the wedding. It was so special to be able to experience the culture and to be there for Jerry and Meriam. It is definitely an experience that I will never forget!
On April 7th we went to Kayapa, Nueva Vizcaya and did our last program in the Philippines there at an outdoor school gym. We did a program in the afternoon for the kids and then another one in the evening for everyone. Here's a picture of our last program.
As we leave the Philippines on Sunday, I am really going to miss the people of the Philippines. They have been so wonderful to us, making us feel so at home. They have taught us what it means to give and to love without hesitation. I hope that someday I can come back here.
Here's a picture of us with some of the people in Kayapa, after our program.
We went shopping in the market yesterday to buy some souvenirs and gifts for people back home. Sam, the council president of St. Stephen's Lutheran Church, was our guide/haggler/body guard. This is picture of Sam and Pastor Felipe.
While we were in the market Dave almost got pick-pocketed. A young man came up behind him and reached his hand into his pocket grabbing our team cell phone. Sam turned around and saw him. He yelled at him and they guy looked very scared, shoved the phone back at Dave and ran away. Sam almost chased him down. It all happened so fast and Dave didn't even feel anything. I'm glad Sam knew what he was doing and took such good care of us.
At the market we also bought some cultural Filipino clothing.
Here's some of the pictures we took in our cultural dress.
This might be the last blog until we are in Taiwan on April 13th, unless we have time in Manila. Hope all is well back home!
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