Hannah's Coming Out Party

Here in Congo, moms are supposed to stay home with their new babies for the first three months after the baby is born. Part of the reasoning behind this is to help keep new babies healthy. There is even a specific word they call a mother the first three months after her baby is born—bwakele. So, the last three months Hannah and I have mostly been hanging out at home. We have gone out a handful of times out of necessity, such as to visit Mowa in his final weeks and to get Hannah’s vaccinations. But we have mostly been at home just waiting for Hannah to turn three months old so we could hit the town…well, kind of.

After a baby turns three months old, the parents have an official “coming out” service/party at their home. They invite close friends and their pastor leads the service. It is called a service to kobimisa mwana. Basically it is a baby dedication except that it is personal for just one baby at their home.

On Friday, the 28^th (a few days before Hannah officially turns 3 months), we had her coming out party. The service went a little something like this: We sang some worship songs; Sam, Hannah and I went into the house with a few people the pastor selected; the people surrounded us as we sang and then a couple people prayed over us; one of our guests (a pastor’s wife) carried Hannah out of the house while the rest of us followed and everyone was singing; the CECU Vice President held Hannah and prayed over her and then handed Hannah to Sam who then handed Hannah to me; Sam shared a brief testimony about Hannah’s birth and the gift that she is to us; Vice President Badi gave a short teaching and charged us to raise Hannah in Christ the way that our parents raised us; then a couple more people prayed; we sang some more, prayed again and drank tea together.

Now it is official…Hannah can leave the house.

Praying inside of our house

All of us coming out of the house singing.

The Vice President and Pastor Passi praying for Hannah

Our little family

The party wiped her out!

It is a blessing to be a part of this community that is so willing to surround us and support us as we raise our daughter. We are very far away from our family and close friends, but we have friends here who have added Hannah into their own families.