A FaithWorks Wedding

 We met Adrian and Juanita through a student who comes to the center. Adrian's youngest brother is a faithful participant in the Teen Impact program. Adrian and Juanita have been together more than five years and have four children together. They had wanted to get married but did not have the resources to make that dream a reality. All that was standing in the way was $50 for a marriage license, a place to have the wedding and a pastor to officiate. Just the day before a supporter handed me a fifty dollar bill and said, "I am sure you can find a good use for this." We tossed out the idea of having a wedding at the center and Darrell Haley agreed to officiate. He met with the couple to discuss marriage. When asked why they wanted to get married, Adrian replied, "We want to be a good example to our children and show them that we are committed for life." What a perfect answer. In our neighborhood (in our world, really), commitment is not the norm. Most people in our community just live together. Marriage is a foreign concept to many and our children never see this level of commitment. We were so proud of Adrian and Juanita when they exchanged vows in front of their children and their families in the FaithWorks center in January.