Wedding of the Year

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”.