The Rest of the Introduction Pictures

 

Here's some more pictures from the introduction.  Introductions are a lot of fun banter back and forth between the bride's family and the groom's family.  Many jokes are told and much laughter is to be found.  We were blessed in that our first introduction to attend was in English so we could understand everything that was being said.  The basic gist is that the groom's clan come to look at all of the women of the land in order to find one.  (Kinda like Abraham's servant comes to look for a bride for Isaac). 

 

So they bring the girls out in groups in order to show them what beauty the land produces.  First the littles and then the older ones.  Sometimes they even bring out the grandma's.  But after a few groups the groom's family says, "Are you sure that's all the girl's you have?  Perhaps there is one more..." And eventually they bring out the bride.  Then she comes out a few more times wearing different clothes.  And then the grooms family brings a ton of gifts (or a dowry...or a down-payment on a dowry...because dowries cause huge problems here and because they can often be seen as "buying" the bride, Mr. Charles, the father of the bride, went against cultural norms and did not ask for a dowry...instead he gave permission for them to bring gifts as they desire...this was huge and we praise the Lord for his desire to serve the Lord in this way...he truly is a man of God...) After all that, they serve the guests a lovely meal.

 

 

Here are the girls being shown as some of the women of the Land.  Mbale town produces beautiful girls! :)

 

My handsome husband...

Here is the bride, Diana, in her white Gomice.

These are some of the gifts that the grooms family brought.  It was amazing.  There are many complex issues that surround introductions and weddings.  A lot of it is because so.much.money goes into these affairs.  The question of "how can you get married if you are poor?" is huge!  Another blog post in and of itself.

Finally, the brides family and the bride accepts the grooms family and groom and the two spokesmen shake hands in agreement and they are officially engaged! :)  In some cases, the groom would then be responsible for coming up with the rest of the dowry and after the dowry is paid, they may have an official church wedding.  In the case of Kenneth and Diana, they will be married as soon as a wedding can be planned.  :)