A very special Kenyan wedding

On Saturday I went to a wedding! Sooo good.

Let me show you just a glimpse through some of the photos I took.There are many. Know that I have many more suitable, but I had trouble deciding which ones to leave out. 

You'll notice some differences between weddings you might be used to and this one.

 The pictures will tell most of the story

 Parents of the groom 

 followed by the most outwardly excited groom I have ever seen.

 the little nieces and nephews - gorgeous, yes?

 the bridesmaids -

and these are only two of the many.

Mother of the bride, my dear friend Grace, previous YFC National Director, with her son

 

and her husband Fred, the bride's father, walking in with the bride.

 At this Kenyan wedding the parents of both bride and groom were invited to give away their children. There were smiles and hugs all round. There's that happy bridegroom again,

and the happy couple after they had been pronounced man and wife.

This very African looking tent was our eating place

and I really appreciated this instructive sign. The bride and groom are from different tribes and here that matters and has the potential to be divisive.

These some of my new friends for the day

It is common for cousins to wear outfits made from the same fabric as all the other cousins. Caleb is a cousin on the bride's side.

 

There was quite a queue at the porta-loos and these four ladies decided they couldn't wait and headed off into the bush. I was amused.

Dancers from one tribe entertained us. The other tribe had different dancers and I missed a shot of them. Sorry.

The atmosphere was very relaxed

and it was a good time to catch up with friends. Here John from KYFC is with his wife Fab,

  and a group of YFC people, including Anna, the national Director. Great conversations.

 At cake cutting time the bride and groom take the first pieces of cake on a fork and feed each other.

My friend Grace, husband Fred (who is actually way more famous that his wife) and the newlywed couple.  Happy looking people, yes?

I had a really great time enjoying the different style of wedding and the culture and customs that made it so enjoyable and interesting.

And the company was very good. :)

YFC Nakuru

From Tuesday until Saturday of last week Lucy and I were in Nakuru, north of Nairobi, with Irene and her team.

 We spent one of those days seeing a little of what YFC does in that area.

We joined the team for Bible study, looking at the last chapter in 1 Peter, discussing Christian leadership.

We also visited the centre where young mothers are taught skills in tailoring and fabric crafts, paper bead-making and soap-making. YFC partners with  Mission in Action . This organisation was set up by an Aussie/Kenyan couple to  work within the community to strengthen vulnerable families so they can raise their children, rather than relinquish them to orphanages.

Several of the young mums there had abandoned their babies (check out the website above if you want to know some of the reasons why mums might do that here), but with the help of the organsation, are now caring for their little ones and being empowered and encouraged to make a good life for themselves and their children.

This is their tailoring teacher

and these are some of the bags, table runners and aprons they are making to be taken to Australia to be sold to fund the ministry.

YFC Kids program at Kibera

Kibera is the largest urban slum in Africa. Youth for Christ Kenya has a kids ministry there every Saturday. We went last Saturday with John, the guy who oversees the ministry team in Nairobi. 

 Mark was fabulous with the kids.

 they sang songs 

accompanied by Lucy on her ukulele.

Cast your burdens onto Jesus was a favourite.

This little sweetie was great at remembering her Scripture memory verse 

and these were enthusiastic participants answering Mark's questions.

After the program all the kids went to Mark's house, dropping off their muddy shoes at the door

and enjoying a snack before heading home.

Lucy had brought her Polaroid camera and film to photograph the kids in the YFC program, so that each of them could take a photo home. They were very happy.

The guys who were responsible for this program were Mark and Japheth, here with their coordinator John.

 

We had a really good time with them all.

Lucy loves to sketch portraits. She sketched Faith, who helped with the YFC program, as they chatted and enjoyed each other's company.