Overflow: Outreach Weddings :-)

What a tremendous blessing to be apart of 2 of my outreach families getting married. About 6-8 months ago Diane Cornelius (dubbed wedding lady in Haiti) because that is the ministry that God has called her to. In the states she owns & runs a bridal shop in Lexington, KY. She fundraises and brings everything a couple would need to get married...dresses, rings, shoes, suits, decorations, jewelry, food & pays for the wedding licenses. This is God's ministry call on her & her husbands lives. She has done over 100 marriages thus far at the mission. Coming in 2-3 times a year to do weddings at the various campuses.

In Haiti getting married is expensive anyway you look at it. Even if you do NOT have a ceremony where you invite close friends & family you are still looking at $40+ USD by the time you get a physical, pay for transportation to the city to see a judge, & get the needed paperwork. Majority of people (especially in our area) cannot afford this. So many go there whole lives without being officially married. At first I thought well...I mean a paper doesn't change much...does it? I mean if they are living as though they are married & have for years then what does a paper change... Well little did I know a marriage paper changes ALOT! It makes it so you can participate in society fully. You can be apart of a church, you can hold leadership positions and you have the dignity & pride knowing you married the love of you life. These are just a few things.

Diane contacted me probably about 6-8 months ago letting me know that a team from Lexington asked her to help with communication while planning a wedding for anyone from the deaf community that wanted to get married. As I was helping...I got to thinking about my outreach families. I wondered how many of them who had significant others in their lives were married...I wondered how many would like to be if the opportunity arose. I talked to Presidue & asked his thoughts on having an outreach wedding. He seemed to think it would be a good. He said he would ask the families & find out if there was interest. Many of the outreach families (probably 2/3) are single mothers. There was interest. So I voxed Diane & asked what she thought AND she was EXCITED and all on board. We originally had about 7 families who wanted to get married but for various reason were unable to this time but we had 2 families that did get married the first week in July!!!

Diane's first day at the mission we hiked the mountain behind the mission so that she could meet both of the families. We could tell them the schedule for the next few days and hear more about their stories.

DAY 1- SATURDAY = HOMEVISITS

Family #1- Stevens Family

Stevens has been coming to the Miriam Center Special Education Classroom that Stephanie set up for the past 2 years. He is one of the original kids. He has a very loving & caring family. We had a nice visit with Stevens family. Stevens parents have been together for 16 years. They have 5 kids Stevens is the youngest. Stevens is one of the original kids in Stephanie's special education classroom. I just loved seeing how excited both of his parents were to get married officially. They both just could not stop smiling. I am Excited for the dress fitting tomorrow and to spend some more time with this family.

Family #2- LesKatie's Family

LesKatie has been apart of the therapy aspect of outreach for the past 2-3 years. Most weeks her father brings her to outreach. I have only met her mother a handful of times. We had a nice visit with LesKatie's family. One thing I notived when we arrived was they were charging bother their solar power lantern and solar power christian radio out on the rocks. LesKatie was full of smiles and laughter. Her parents have been together for 13 years. They have 2 kids and one on the way due in September. LesKatie's mom was not feeling well at all... she had the chickagonya virus on top of being 7 months pregnant. She did not feel well at all.

DAY 2- SUNDAY= FITTINGS

Sunday afternoon the couples came to the mission. We started up in the chapel with a time of fellowship. Diane & her husband shared about the ministry God had called them to then Diane's husband shared a scripture lesson.

After that their photographer Sarah (a professional wedding photographer) took portraits of the families...She photographed all 3 days & made them each a photo album & printed 3 pictures for a frame.

LesKatie's Parents

Stevens Parents

Then the Men & Women split off (why I mostly have photos from a girls perspective). The men got fitted for their tuxes, shoes, etc. while the women went to get fitted for their wedding dress. It was so much fun to help these ladies pick out their dresses & see the excitement on their faces.

After everyone was fitted. We met back together and took each couple individually to get fitted for their wedding rings. What a beautiful moment!

That Evening I set out to decorate a PVC pipe walker for LesKatie so she could participate in the wedding :-) It was fun... some ductape, streamers & bows

DAY 3- WEDDING DAY!!!! YAY!!!

The brides started showing up at 2:30 to get their hair, nails, makeup, etc. done. The guys showed up around 3:30 to start getting dressed. I was unable to participate in the getting ready part as I was running Monday outreach & then had a staff meeting to attend. I am so thankful for the interns who took my phone & captured pictures for me :-)

The wedding was small & intimate. Each couple was allowed to invite 15 family & friends to the ceremony & reception to follow. The entire service was translated into English for all the Americans who were attending & helped pull it off. I did not get a ton of picture because I ended up sitting up front with LesKatie & left my phone back at my original seat.

The couples then got a tap-tap ride home

What an ABSOLUTELY wonderful day to be apart of. You want to know something truly WONDERFUL. That next Sunday LesKatie's parents showed up at church!!! PRAISE THE LORD!!!

Some fun pictures we took at the end of the wedding.