Talibas gouvernmental marriage
Talibala has been a member or our church since 2006. He has been training with me since 2007. He is a very good young man and is leading our church on the outskirts of town, called Tingandogo.
Marriage is a very complex thing here. There are three marriages. Custom, government, and church wedding. The people don’t count it as a marriage if you don’t do the customary thing. (A customary ceremony is usually held in the village where the bride’s family is from.) The government doesn’t accept a custom marriage or a church wedding so a legal marriage ceremony is held at the mayor’s office. After both of these steps are complete, we hold a church wedding for our members, making it a three-step process.
Last Saturday, I went with Talibala and his fiancée Pascaline to do their government marriage. It really is a neat thing. Usually the mayor or his assistant performs the wedding. They ask them to choose between a monogamous marriage or a polygamous marriage and to say whether they want to share their goods or keep everything separate. They chose a monogamous marriage and agreed to share all goods so the laws for this type of marriage were clearly explained. Then they do vows and sign papers, and they are finished. I was excited to see how Talibala was treating Pascaline. He treated her with respect and with honor, which is not normal in this culture. God is really beginning to create a new culture in our churches. It is exciting.
Talibala and Pascaline getting officially married at the Mayors office.
