Steve and Casey Cretsinger Experiencing Tribal Missions in Guinea, W. Africa 
Steve and I with the bride and groom
Ceremonies are a big deal here in Guinea. I can’t but help but think that a major reason for that is because so much of life is simply survival. And when you spend so much time just trying to get through the day, a ceremony of any kind is a welcome distraction. I’ve given up trying to understand why families who don’t have enough to feed their kids will spend so much to host a baby naming ceremony (which feeds the guests a great meal, but the kids will hungry for weeks afterwards). Yes, ceremonies are a huge deal. Weddings, babies, funerals…everything needs to be done just right.
Momed, Steve’s right hand man and our adopted son, thought that he had done the right ceremony to be able to marry his girlfriend last year. Well, her family had different thoughts on that one. They decided that what he thought was a pretty good marriage celebration was in fact just a large engagement party. They were so serious about it in fact that almost a year later they came and took back his “wife” and baby daughter (who happens to be my namesake). They said he could have them back when he did the marriage ceremony their way.
So, this past weekend, we provided the means for him to do everything just right. And it was quite the bash. Mawa’s family lives in town, so this was a much bigger wedding than the ones here in our village. We had videotaped coverage of signing the marriage certificate at the town courthouse. We had a band playing at her family’s house complete with an actual singer. There was a tent where the bride and groom sat and people could come and shake their hands. Mawa actually rented an American style wedding dress and Momed had a suit made. None of this is common over here! This was a big shindig!
As much as we talked about every detail beforehand, there was still so much going on that I in no way understood! There was a lot of “oh, I forgot…” the day of and a lot of running around for Steve as he helped get everything in place. If you thought that things were finished just because they signed legal papers at the courthouse – you would be wrong. It wasn’t until the large group of religious leaders gave their approval that things were considered finished. We all breathed a sigh of relief when they said that his gifts to Mawa and her family were good enough for him to marry her.
We took a lot of pictures, tried to understand what was being said by everyone and watched Ephraim yet again be the life of the party with his dancing. We tried to get pictures of him, but it was impossible because the crowd was so thick we couldn’t get the camera near him.
It was a very long weekend. But, they are married (for real this time!). Gotta love the ceremonies!
The important men deciding if Momed's gift are good enough for him to marry Mawa
Live music!
Momed has become such a partner with Steve in helping our other missionaries that many of them were a part of the wedding as well. This is outside the courthouse.
A huge crowd gathered for dancing. You can see the tent for the bride and groom in the background.
