Marriage Blessing, Blood of Jesus Healing Church 12th August 2007

Pastor Danis and his wife, Juliet, have three children and are married under traditional practice. But as Christians they decided to hold a marriage ceremony in the compound of their church, a simple concrete building in a neatly swept compound, shaded with mango and plantain trees. The church has several people sleeping on mats in the church, others sleep outdoors under simple thatched shelters. They have come to the church to seek healing, some for mental illness.
The wedding ceremony involved the trappings of European wedding customs, the frothy white dress, the bridesmaids in matching outfits, the exchange of rings, and the signing of the register. But after the ceremony events took a distinctively Ghanaian turn - the entertainment consisted of various innovative ways to extract money from the guests. The wedding invitation itself consisted of a specially printed envelope - in which you are expected to put your donation, and of course there was a church 'collection' accompanied by joyful singing and dancing.


Then the methods became more unconventional. Guests were first asked to approach an enterprising pastor to touch the bride's bouquet of silk flowers and receive a prayer in return for a donation. The flowers were then auctioned to the highest bidder, with much rivalry and excitement as the women guests tried to outbid each other. Next the women were invited to bring their children to the pastor who asked them to say aloud their ambitions for the future career of their sons and daughters. As they offered their 2,000 cedi (about 10 pence), the pastor said aloud the position which they hoped for, whilst bursting a balloon with a pin. What careers came top? - doctors, nurses, teachers and soldiers were the almost unanimous choices. I wondered how many of the children brought by their hopeful mothers, mostly farmers and traders, will get that far.