Upon our return to Jarabacoa, Rick ran into a couple from Montaña, a village where we have spent a lot of time. Wily and AnaMaria invited us to their wedding the following Sunday afternoon. Becky was thrilled when Rick brought home the news.
Willy and Ana Maria have two darling boys, Wilmar, age 7, and Wilfred, age 2. Their names proudly announce who their daddy is! Willy and Ana Maria have been together for about 10 years and last summer had talked some about getting ¨married.¨ Now, in the eyes of the village they are a married couple. They have a home together, children together, they are faithful to one another, what more could you ask for in a couple?
It seems most rural Dominicans don't get legally or religiously married for a variety of reasons. For one in the D.R. getting married means going to a judge and paying money to be legally married and then being married in a church, publicly. All this costs money which is sorely needed for daily living. Plus, once you do all this you are REALLY committed and Dominicans tell me they like to keep their options open. We could list a number of other reasons, but you get the idea.
As Christians, we believe there is value in being REALLY married. God instituted this in Genesis and blesses it. It gives honor to both husband and wife to publicly pledge their love and loyalty to one another. Legally, it provides protection for the children and parents in the family in case the marriage breaks up or one parent dies. Again, we could list many more benefits to marriage versus "free unions" as they are called here.
Some time while we were gone, Willy and Ana Maria sought marriage counseling with Pastor Bill Hanson, pastor of the Jarabacoa New Life Church. During this time he encouraged them to get married and they agreed.
The wedding, as you can see from the pictures, had all the trimmings, down to nervous groom, a tardy bride and a ringbearer (Wilmar) who just about forgot his duty!
For us, it was the fulfillment of our prayers that many of the couples in Montaña living in "free unions" would choose to get married. Many are new believers and make lifestyle changes as they grow in their understanding of how to follow Christ. They stop drinking, they begin to dress modestly, they learn to control their anger and forgive. They need good models of what a Christian wife and a Christian husband are like. In Montaña they are seeing this in Damaso and Mirian. Damaso is the church planter sent from the main church. His wife and children faithfully attend the Tuesday evening service and encourage the believers.
On a sadder note, in one of the other church plants, we returned to find that the father of a young family who had been faithfully attending church (as a family) had just up and left with little explanation and no indication about where he was going or if he would be back. Often when this happens, the man has run away with a new girlfriend. We don't know if this is the case in this situation. What we know is this. There is a young mother with four children who has been abandoned. We spoke with the church and although the church is small, they will be looking after this young mom and her children.
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