Dear friends in Jesus Greetings from Ecuador! Due to some log-in problems I could not send mails for some time. Now I have signed up with a new email [EMAIL PROTECTED] Well,We are very happy here at the beginning of this New Year, because, last Sunday I blessed the marriage of Daniel and Diana. I really could not help crying when I blessed their marriage because it was the first marriage that I bless after coming to this mission and staying here for 17 months. Theirs was the only marriage of 2001.Here it is very rare to get married in the church, and still more rare it is to get married young people. Those who marry here usually have children and grand children. And that too is very rare. The men fear to get married telling that they will loose their authority after marriage. The women also don’t like the bond of marriage, because they will loose a pension from the government for the unwed mothers. Moreover, it is very expensive here to get married. They will have to pay to the government to register it. And they cannot even think of a marriage without a grand feast. So the poor people fear it. When I talked with many on this issue I tried to convince them that to live together a man and women without receiving the Sacrament of marriage is adultery, but they don’t understand and admit it. They say that it is adultery only when a man has relations with more than one woman. The Sacrament of marriage is no matter of concern for them. Only the Holy Spirit can convince them. Please pray for our people. May God bless you all Fr.Rafi Kootumkal Ecuador
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