Oh.my.
When we got to the wedding we found that it was well underway!!
Yes, we were late, although we had come directly from dressing the boys {and we were not in our wedding attire ourselves – ha!} But in Africa nothing starts on time….except for David and Abby’s wedding, I guess!
We were sorely disappointed that we did not have time to set up the live feed. Emmy cried. I got teary. I hated to disappoint you who had woke up to watch it. I am so sorry. It was totally out of our control. And there was absolutely nothing we could do about it.
We grabbed some seats all over the church auditorium and slowly the street boys began to trickle in from the buses that were used to bring them.
The wedding was beautiful and the team was able to run to the guest house and change after the wedding ceremony before heading to the reception.
The reception was beautiful and Abby and David had the street boys served at the front of the line….when I saw that – I could not help but cry more. Not the back of the line – but the front. Amazing!
I think my favorite part of it all was that each got their own soda bottle. They could pick which kind they wanted!! And their joy was contagious!
There were seats, so I’m not sure why this little guy chose to sit against the wall. I guess we can each imagine for ourselves.
Another one eating by the wall. Hmmmm.
Look at his grin!! Pleased as punch, no doubt!
A plate of food, special clothes and a soda all his own!
By the way, Piper and friends….
some of the guests found flowers and adorned them almost like a lei.
Check it out.
This little guy must have been one of the late eaters, cause he is eating off a tray {they had run out of dishes and some of our team were feverishly working to wash plates from guests that had already finished.}
Check out the distinct tie below. Whoever sent that sure out to recognize it!!
{And I can’t think for the life of me, who the cartoon character is, call it jet lag, I guess.}
Thought you all would love to see the authentic African dress.
They were beautiful!!!
Emma has one.
Made especially for
her by the village where
she has ministered the last 6 trips – they love her!
And check this out!
When I asked if I could take this treasure’s picture,
he quickly displayed “his” family’s picture.
It was close at hand!
I told ya’ they would love knowing you all love them
and that that picture would be as loved {if not more}
as the clothes themselves!!
Pray for him, whoever you are who sent the picture!
Pray for him – look at the concern on his face.
Life has been cruel and hard…
but your picture and your love brought him hope!
This is Kathy from the team.
A true orphan-lover and fellow adoptive mom….
such a delight to call “friend”….
This is a little guy that Emma sees every trip. He has such a sweet smile….
and he is off the streets and in Abby’s home.
Stacy loving on the orphan….
And this is Celestia.
Mother of the Bride.
Orphan lover.
Sacrificial God-follower.
Servant.
Godly woman, passionate about seeing people set free from their pain.
And one of my dearest friends, ever.
A true kindred spirit.
We grabbed some seats all over the church auditorium and slowly the street boys began to trickle in from the buses that were used to bring them.
That was a good day!
The smiles were shiny and amazing.
Thanks so much for sharing this! ✟
So wonderful to see them so happy. What a beautiful day! And its bugs bunny, LOL
Oh my! My heart is so full just looking at these photos. What a joy to see the boys with those smiles on their faces and their bellies full of food and THEIR OWN soda. This reminds me of one of our trips to Brazil. We went into a pharmacy but couldn't take our drinks inside. We capped them and left them on a brick wall beside the pharmacy. We were inside a total of 2 minutes at most but when we came outside all our drinks were missing and around the side of the pharmacy were street boys drinking sodas. What joy it must have been for each boy to have his own drink and not have to drink one that's just left on the brick wall! One other note, I could not identify one item of clothing that I sent, not because it wasn't photographed but because it doesn't matter to me. It matters that I did what God called me to do and that the boys had wedding clothes. My blessing was received the day I mailed the clothing and seeing these boys so happy. Thank you again, Linny and Emma and the rest of the team for being the hands and feet of Jesus. I love you all!
My Heart! PRECIOUS PRECIOUS…Every last one!
Awesome and amazing how God uses angels on this earth to touch the lives of so many. The smiles on the boy's faces says it all. Beautiful, incredibly beautiful. Hugs and love
What a precious precious time!!! thank you for letting us be a tiny part of this beautiful day!!
I love seeing all those smiling faces!
bee blessed
mary
Wow! What a wedding! Makes me want to get married all over again just so I can do the same thing. The boys eating on the floor breaks my heart, even though I know they didn't have to eat there, that must be what they're used to. So sad. I loved seeing the photos. I can't wait to share them with my kids!
Thank you so much for sharing these Linny! I did see the shirt – my favorite shirt on my son when he was little. I imagined our new treasure wearing it until I found out about this and just knew that that special shirt should go. The little boy wearing it – looked like he is my son's age – so much older than my son when he wore it. Broke my heart. Will be praying for him and all the others. The photos are just beautiful, sad, happy, hopeful, and a reminder to be thankful reaching out to God daily.
Thank you.
Loved all the pictures! Thank you for sharing! What a blessing it was to have a small part with this! Would have loved to have seen the boy who got the clothes we sent, but I can't remember what tie I sent with the outfit! LOL! Doesn't matter, though, I loved seeing all of them and we'll continue to pray for him. God knows who he is!
What a beautiful picture, thanks for sharing:)
That little boy sitting up against the wall broke my heart!
Brooke Annessa
http://www.theannessafamily.blogspot.com
The boy holding the picture in front of him – oh that tugs. Hard life, so evident. Praying for him specifically.
That looks like an amazing day!
This blessed my heart more than you will ever know! I just would love to know what thoughts were running through those boys' minds! ;0)
What an amazing time – love these precious pictures. I can only imagine the big grin in all of heaven at this feast.
Thank you for getting pictures of all of those sweet faces!
The joy! The smiles! The wonderful excitement! The precious faces! The amazing outfits & flowers!
Thank you so much for all the pictures!
Thank you for all the photos. I just keep going through the pictures, searching their faces and wondering what life looks like through their eyes. I wish we could dress them again. And those who there wasn't enough for. I am glad that He is Enough when we aren't. And I am pretty sure I saw a shirt that I sent, only it had been "stretched." :o) Praying that we can go, my husband and I together, sometime soon. I know we will never be the same again. Thanks again for doing this for all of us who couldn't go, and letting us be a tiny part of it.
I love seeing the children with lots of food on their plates! 🙂
It's so nice to have them first in the food line, awesome!! 🙂
I was reading your post again and looking at the pictures. About the live video, please don't feel too bad about it, because you and Emmy did all you can, and we are so appreciative of all you've done 🙂 The pictures are awesome 🙂
I love all those smiles! Broken hearted over the ones that couldn't find one. God is so good:)
Thank you so much for sharing. I can not imagine the emotions thoese children felt, joy, love, maybe fear of the unknown, will come back again and pray over those young men, praying His love stays with them. Love that they were first in the line. Blessings to the sweet couple.
Those faces will be with me for a long time.
Linny,So fun to see those faces again. This is a day they will remember all of their lives. God is SO at work in Uganda. Blessings on this special Easter Day approaching to your fanmily.
Hugs from our family to yours.
Ellen Wylie and family
Thank you, Thank you, Thank you for sharing, serving, caring. God bless you abundantly!
Happy Easter!!
Mary
http://lundkids.blogspot.com
What wonderful post! One of my favorites EVER!! Such precious treasures. Wouldn't it be wonderful if they could all meet Jesus, and we could ALL be together for the Wedding Feast!
I just loved looking at all of these photos! What an encouraging post to see how this couple is being the hands and feet of Christ.
I finally had time to sit down and look at all the pictures! I've been looking forward to them. Lots of tears from me today! Thank you so very much for all you did/do and for sharing the pictures with us. God is GOOD! This is such a great reminder of what God has done for us.
Thank you (and the whole team) so much–
for being willing to be used by God,
for ministering to these boys,
for taking and posting pictures.
Putting a face with the outfit I sent just brings the whole situation so close to my heart. Makes my wonder more about "my" boy… what is happening with him now… now that the feast is over… after the bus took him back "home"…
There is such a haunting contrast in the eyes of him and the older boy (perhaps a brother?) he is pictured with. I pray that as he grows he holds onto the hope he feels this wonderful day, and that they all understand the love shared is not just from us, but that it's from Jesus!
Thank God for this 🙂
Showed the children the picture of the boy we have prayed for! One said he looks like a famous basketball player and the other side, "why can't we just go over there and adopt him?"
Thank you Linny for allowing our family to be a part of what God is doing.
Wow! Crying tears of joy here. Those faces are haunting, they could be MY boys, MY sons. But they have no momma to hug and love them. My heart aches. My beautiful brown faced son could have been one of them. Praying for them. God Bless them all. God Bless all of you who touched their lives.
So very cool to be a part of this from afar…thanks for allowing us to give. =)