Last Saturday, March the 17th, Dorta and I had what we called ‘martumpol’. This is a special service, designed for couples who are about to get married, to exchange their promise that they want to proceed to the holy matrimony. Martumpol is a prelude to the church announcements (especially in HKBP Church), as much as two sunday services, that the couple is going to receive blessings for their marriage. During this time, other people who objects may give in their formal objections. Should there be any good reason to reject the marriage, such as another wife or husband, the church’s blessing will be cancelled. To begin, thus the martumpol service. It also functions as an opening prayer to the Batak culture event called martonggo raja (for the groom’s family) and marria raja (for the bride’s family), where all preparations are going to be discussed by each family. Usually, martumpol is held two weeks before the blessing, due to the nature of the two times announcement in the church’s news.
In the service, the couple-to-be sign a letter of intention that the two will exchange vows on their wedding day. Both families witness this wonderful event.
Theologically speaking, martumpol is not the church’s blessings nor a service to tie down the couple. It is a service to ask for God’s blessings for the intention of the couple, so that everything will be according to God’s plan.
So, we did it. Next week saturday March 31st, we will tie the knot together, at a church’s blessing served by Pdt. Nelson Siregar, at GPIB Menara Iman building in Duren Sawit. Please pray for us since we really need God’s presence in our midst to stand true to what God asks us to be.
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