David and Evelyn: Part 1David and Evelyn Lesaloi are friends of ours in the church. (This is the family that we are asking prayer for as he is on medication for schizophrenic disorder.) I have known David for 12 years. When we first came to Sekenani, David had one of the strongest testimonies in the community. He was infamous with his age mates as he refused to sponsor the beer for the warriors and had withdrawn from many of the cultural requirements.
Shayne and Tari as well as Almi and I helped him look for a wife. After searching for a Christian girl at several of our northern mission stations, he tried the Transmara area where he met Evelyn. She was a new Christian of only 6 months, but a sweet girl of 16. She was living with her mother a widow.
She was a good match, David felt, as neither of them had much schooling. Evelyn had three years to Davids one. Evelyn is a little ahead in being able to speak better Swahili and closer to reading.
On a day in Dec. 1999, I travel with David to Transmara to receive his bride. We spent two nights living at the local church as we made arrangement for transportation of his bride and family for the wedding service in Sekenani.
We left at 4 AM to return to Sekenani and be in time for the 1 o'clock wedding. After arriving, we found that an uncle who had traveled with us, would not allow the wedding to go forward without another cow being added to the brides price. This brought Evelyn's price up to 11 cows, a very high price. (About $2,000.00) We also had the Maasia Warriors blockade the school yard as they refused guests entrance due to Davids stand against their drinking and partying. After five hours of talks, a visit by the police, and lots of tears, David married Evelyn at 4:30 pm.
1 comment:
Jon, that is a very interesting story. I remember meeting them when I was there last year. I have enjoyed reading your posts about them today and finding out more of their history.
Hope your family has a very Merry Christmas!
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