A View into Tanzania: The Big Moments In Life

*Note: there have been three posts in the past several hours... one with primarily photos and two with some reflections.

Sunday we went to Luka and Eme’s wedding. It was simply beautiful. They had rented three Dala Dalas (the van-type buses that are used to take people into Morogoro) to transport people from town out to the church where the wedding was held. They decided to get married in one of the churches that Luka had built. We rode in the Dala Dalas with the guests while Luka and Eme went in PH’s car. By the time Tim, Peter and I got there, the church was already filling up and by the time that the service started, there was floor room only, and the choirs had to wait outside. But I am getting ahead of myself. The church was truly ecumenical – about 1/3 of the people in attendance were Muslim (primarily Luka’s family) and another 1/3 or so were Catholic (Eme was Catholic). Before the service, there was one choir singing almost nonstop – and there was one little girl in particular who was standing by her mom (near us) and dancing to the music. It was definitely one of those moments when you can feel the movement of the spirit throughout the room. Around 11 or 12, the service started. There were two couples getting married, Luka and Eme and an older couple. The service was fairly typical – it followed the same type of format as Western services tend to. The couples exchanged rings, and said vows, and then they were blessed by PH and the other pastor in attendance. After the service, there was an auction (like most other services we have been to). And then we all went back inside the church for the ‘reception’. It started with the choirs (there had been two or three that performed during the service and during the reception) singing and entertaining the guests while we waited for the newly weds to come back in. Once they did, the family and friends all gave blessings and words of encouragement to the couples. Then some goat meat was brought into the church for the couples to cut and feed to each other. Luka and Eme fed each other the goat and then fed a piece to PH also. They had decided, almost unanimously, that they wanted to go the more traditional Tanzanian route and cut goat rather than a piece of cake. Shortly thereafter, we were all fed and then given the opportunity to greet, congratulate, and present gifts to the newlyweds. All in all, the ceremony was beautiful and genuinely Tanzanian. Lucy and Baraka were both there sporting some new clothes. And when I walked out of the church for the auction, Lucy came up to me almost immediately and grabbed my hand to walk around with me for the remainder of the day.

But the service got me thinking about two things: the pull between traditional life and Western culture and the meeting of religions. (I will talk more about the former in another post.) There were three different religions (or denominations) present at this service and it was one of the most beautiful services I have ever seen. But that is the Tanzanian way – Tanzania is one country which has been historically peaceful among the different religions. For example (kwa mfano) in Morogoro, there are Mosques, a variety Churches, and Hindu Temples all on the same street. Usually, such close proximity would spell disaster or sectarian/religious violence (much like is happening in southern India right now) – but not here. People tend to respect one another. PH even told us today that Luka’s father, a devout Muslim, told him that Luka is his too and that he is so very proud of Luka. I truly wish this could be a view taken by the rest of the world (especially the Western world). People are seen as people, not defined by their religion, skin color, income, etc. It is a beautiful sight to see people of different faiths come together for the big moments in life and do it in a peaceful way, in which they are not trying to force conversion on the people around them.

I love that about Tanzania… religions can coexist without major disputes or animosity – it is the Gospel coming to life.

Peace.