Last Saturday was a day we had been looking forward to with
much excitement. It was the wedding day of Simon Hall and Wendy Cornelious.
Simon is a BMS volunteer who teaches ICT at KISC. He has been working at KISC
since January 2010 and in that time Dan has worked very closely with him as they
share the ICT teaching between them. Wendy and Simon meet two years ago a few
weeks before Wendy was due to leave to return home to Minnesota in the States.
After a year living 8,000 miles apart Wendy returned to Nepal last summer to be
the RE teacher at KISC.
The wedding was a real KISC wedding. They got married in our
school hall and had the reception in the courtyard outside. Many of the
students helped to decorate the school in preparation and several played roles
on the day including ushers and servers. All the staff and secondary students,
along with many primary students were invited to the wedding. 4 of the 6
bridesmaids and 4 of the 6 groomsmen work at KISC, and one of the remaining bridesmaids
was a KISC parent. The wedding was officiated by the Primary Principal. During
the photographs the happy couple posed with each year group in the secondary
school. Two separate groups of students performed a song and a dance during the
reception. |
| Simon brings Wendy on the Rickshaw as part of the "Janti" |
The wedding was a real international wedding. It started
with the “janti”, where the grooms party dance to the brides house to collect
her and bring her to the wedding. In reality this involved most of the wedding
congregation, a band, and Simon cycling on a rickshaw to bring Wendy back to
KISC. All the ladies were wearing their finest Saris, the men were in a mixture of traditional Nepali dress or western suits, many adorned with Topis (traditional Nepali hats). The service started with the groomsmen and bridesmaids entering together
American style, including Sam as a pageboy (he got a great reaction). The
service was also streamed live on the internet and watched by about 150 people
around the world. During the service we sung “Salvation belongs to our God” in Nepali and then English and
prayed for the couple Nepali style (all stood up praying out loud at once). The
food served was traditional Dhalbhat thakhari (Lentils, rice & vegetable
curry), with the trimmings (every bit of chicken in a curry). The Year 11
students performed a Bollywood dance and the bride threw her bouquet to the
waiting single ladies.
The wedding was a real witness. The faith of the happy
couple was the first thing on the lips of everyone when they talked about them.
The speeches contained honest testimonies of the father of the bride, groom and
best man. The Christ-like love that Simon and Wendy have for the people of
Nepal was evident in the way they planned, conducted and involved people in the
wedding, and is regularly evident in the way they live their lives, serving Him
here in Nepal.
The next morning Sam said to me “Can we have another wedding
at KISC”.
