From February 4 to 5, 2019, a Christian gathering in Jilin held a collective wedding ceremony for elderly people who had never had their own wedding ceremony.
Thirteen of the 44 senior couples were married for 50 years, ten over 40 years and the rest were married from 26 to 40 years.
Living in Dahuangdi Village, Guandi Town, Dunhua, all the wives are Christians, but none of the husbands believed in Christ.
In their era, brides seldom wore wedding gowns on the red carpet nor were wedding photos taken, something that had remained a regret for them.
Planning the ceremony took a month and the church provided them with a stage and made their families' photos into commemorative albums.
One husband said to his wife, "I regretted my entire life that I owed you a wedding, but now this has made up for it."
An elderly sister invited many of her family members to attend the ceremony. "Do you think I, an old bride, am beautiful? This is my special memory for my life."
Returning from cities to their hometowns for the Chinese New Year, the children of those elderly couples were also at the ceremony. Moved by the scene, they said, "Thank God and thank you to the church for fulfilling our wishes that we were unable to fulfill for our parents. "
Through the event, 30 relatives and children also came to faith, deciding to follow Christ.
Preacher Sheng Yingmei, the head of the gathering, said, "We need to care more deeply for other people. What God does through us lets people know that the church doesn't only read the Bible and pray inside closed doors, but also that, compared to the world, it has a different philosophy and is innovate, in order that more people could come to the Lord through understanding and being moved to faith."
- Translated by Karen Luo
(The author is a co-worker of the Dunhua CCC&TSPM of Jilin. )
