1 UPBEAT MUSIC 50 years ago a lot of things changed for women in NZ. Skirt hems went up, bras got burnt and contraception became more available. Women found it liberating. Since then, women have left their traditional jobs in nursing and teaching, got better pay and moved up the corporate ladder. Today women have more choice, more control over money and a lot more power. But far from corporate boardrooms, over the mountains, through the forests of the West Coast and down past the lake is a whole other world, where 21st-century rules don't apply. In this isolated village, women still live in submission to their husbands and do what they say. The guys here do traditional jobs ` working the land, running the mill, fixing things and building stuff. Their wives have the babies, raise the kids, cook, clean and sew. As fundamental Christians, they're living a very literal interpretation of the Bible. The men make all the rules and wear the trousers. Most modern girls simply wouldn't put up with it, but Gloriavale women seem happy with the arrangement. Contrary to media speculation, they're not all desperately tunnelling their way out. So just what keeps them here? TRANQUIL MUSIC Captions were made possible with funding from NZ On Air. Copyright Able 2016 It's just before dawn, and Dove Love is heading to her work in the community laundry. The men have stoked the boiler, the water's piping hot, and now Dove and her team are cracking into the day's work. There's a million shirts, pants and aprons hot out of the dryer, and they aren't going to iron themselves. PRESS HISSES At 22, Dove's the oldest single girl on this shift, but the possibility of dating is not on the cards. Girls here don't get to pick and choose. They just sit tight and wait to be asked, and that doesn't always happen. I think that every girl would like to get married one day. But I also believe that it's just a matter of doing the Lord's will in my life. I know that even if it was His will for me not to be married, I would be happy with that because there have been other people that haven't been married and they are still happy and content with their life because our lives are just to do God's will and for His glory. To me, it's just a matter of trusting him for every day. BIRDSONG, ROOSTER CROWS By 7 o'clock, young mum Angel Benjamin's doing the shake-and-wake. It'll be breakfast soon, and there's plenty to do in the next half hour. Time to get up, Courage. Couragie, can you hear Mumma? 'We've got five kids now. Number six is on the way.' Josie? Waking-up time, darling. Pumpkin? 'And our oldest is 7. 'He's in grade two at school.' It's time to hop up now. And they all step down ` 7, 6, 5. (CHUCKLES) Hop up now. Yeah, so, five months pregnant with number six. There's no great debate over what they'll wear. It's pretty much the same every day. The kids know how girls and boys are supposed to look. TRANQUIL MUSIC Before breakfast, the kids have chores. And 4-year-old Courageous, who loves anything with a motor, is captain of the vacuum cleaner. TRANQUIL MUSIC Breakfast is a communal affair. It's when all 540 residents at Gloriavale get together to share porridge, prayer and general notices. Dove and the girls catch up with their families, and Angel and her husband, Josiah, plan the day. PA: Hands up all the middle children. Who's got the big smiles? After breakfast it's time to head home. Out first is Angel's husband, Josiah. He'll drop off their washing on the way to work, leaving Angel to get the kids sorted. Their eldest boy Japheth's got to school early and is playing with his mates, so there's just the four youngest to shepherd to class. Right, who's going to have a happy day today? KIDS: Me! Good. Having as many as 10 or even 11 kids is par for the course at Gloriavale. But outside the community, Angel's got used to the reactions of strangers. They'll often say to you, 'Is this your first baby?' You kind of hold your breath. Like, how do I tell someone this is my sixth baby? They're going to look at me weird and say, 'What age did she have her first?' Because, obviously, they're not thinking that you look as old as you are. # Hallelujah, hallelujah. # Good morning, Grandma. Good morning. Angel's mum teaches Ezra's class at the creche, so he's quite at home. Teaching is one of the few tertiary qualifications held by women at Gloriavale. TEACHER: # The saints go marching in. # Oh, when they crown # Him Lord of all... # The community provides its own education programme, from babyhood to high school, which complies with the NZ standard. Soldiers, halt! Today Angel's helping out in the kitchen. No one gets paid here, and everyone is expected to do their bit. Young mums all do some work, in and around the needs of their babies. Down in the aircraft hangar, her husband Josiah's been hard at it for a couple of hours, servicing planes in one of the community businesses. I'm studying to be an aircraft engineer. I'm doing my online study at the moment and also working in our aircraft maintenance hangar. SERENE MUSIC Since breakfast, the laundry team's moved on to all the stuff that doesn't need ironing. Every day they're doing more than a hundred times the washing loads going through your average family laundry, and add to that cloth nappies for dozens and dozens of babies. It's a mind-boggling workload. DOVE: Even when it's raining, we've still got to get the washing to the hostels, so we just dry it all and keep the dryers running. Integrity. Kindness, Courage. This is the sorting room, where we have all the small things that can just go in the boxes. When we see their names on the clothing. we know exactly where their box is and where to put their washing and what hostel to take it to. It's in Dove's nature to feel and give gratitude, and research into human well-being has found that gratitude is an important factor in how happy people feel, regardless of their status or income. Often when you're taking the washing home, the mum says, 'Oh, thank you so much,' and you know that everything you do is appreciated and you don't feel like it's a waste of time or a drudgery at all. Hello. Hi, Angel. Today Angel's having an important check-up with Sheryl, one of the community's own midwives. Today we're going to discuss our birth plan` your birth plan. With previous pregnancies, Angel's gone into labour too soon. Little Courageous was born 10 weeks premature and wasn't much longer than his dad's hand. They had hospital intervention to stop early labour with her other babies,... 110/68. ...so Sheryl's monitoring her to check for any signs of trouble. The goods news is if she can hold on to this pregnancy for another month, the baby will be big enough to birth here at home. Wonderful. So you've done really well with not needing to go into hospital. If you go into labour prior to that, um, we will need to transfer into Greymouth. OK, I'll stay in bed till then. (LAUGHS) We don't mind if you do that. That's great. Whatever you need to do to keep that baby in, that'll be good. Just kidding. (CHUCKLES) I know. I know. This will be Angel's sixth baby in nine years, but her pregnancy issues haven't put her off having more children. Life is so temporal and short and if God wants to give me the children, well, then he'll give me the strength or make the ways, and it might not be easy, but maybe that's his plan for me, you know? UPBEAT MUSIC In late summer, Gloriavale's hostel number four is having a picnic and barbecue, and joining in is Angel and her young family. ANGEL: My husband's name's Josiah Benjamin. We've been married for nine years and, yeah, just can't get enough of one another. (GIGGLES) Angel was 20 when Cupid's arrow struck, and she got her unexpected proposal from the 19-year-old Josiah at the community's pool. I remember saying to him ` cos it seemed so unreal at the time ` I said, 'Can you pinch me?' (CHUCKLES) We don't touch when we're courting, so it was kind of an outrageous thing to say, (LAUGHS) 'Can you pinch me? I don't think this is real.' (LAUGHS) No, he was an awesome young fella and knew that he loved God, and I just never considered that he was the one for me. Thought he'd be for somebody else, cos he was pretty neat. It's almost dinner time. Half an hour. Can you wait? And the first night I'd ever had a conversation with him was that night he asked me to marry him. After a six-week courtship, they tied the knot. I'll love all the children God gives us and will never practice birth control at all. I come brand new off God's, the Creator's, assembly line. I'm not second-hand or used. < Not used! < Or recycled! CROWD LAUGHS I'll be yours alone. Today I give to you a gift that I have given no other man, something that I have kept especially for my husband. And I give it to you freely with my love. Just take me and make me yours. APPLAUSE Their wedding vows reflect the values held by this community ` virginity before marriage, submission of a wife to her husband, faithfulness and a commitment to accept every baby as a gift from God. And despite Angel's difficulties with her pregnancy, she has an unwavering faith that it'll all work out. I can't do anything to get pregnant. God gives me the baby when he wants me to have it. And that's what my husband and I believe. You know, when` when God wants us to have it, He'll give us one. My mum's part Maori. There's a little bit of colouring there. My husband's got fair hair, so we've got nice mixed children, between dark and light. 'Wonderful surprise.' Mummy! That's certainly not me forcing Angel to have children. She wants to have them, and I'm here to help. (LAUGHS) SERENE MUSIC BIRDSONG, ROOSTER CROWS Before the sun comes up, Dove and her team are already half an hour into a new shift. It's the cooking roster, and they're on deck well before breakfast, preparing the meals for the coming day. Well, basically I'm the team leader before breakfast. So I've got a range of girls under me from the older single girls, right down to about 12-year-olds. So we're preparing the food for the three meals we have today. I've got a girl making the porridge, someone starting the toast and the butter, and once I know that breakfast is running smoothly, we start on our veges and rice for fried rice for tea. I put them all on jobs that they can handle, then they come to me if they need help, and I just go round and check up on them, make sure that they know what they're doing, they're confident. So that's fine then, that it mashed up? Yeah. The 12-year-old girls will have a job to do before breakfast, one morning, say, or two mornings a week. It's not all the time. And the 11-year-olds will come too, maybe at about 7 o'clock, half an hour before breakfast, just to help with the toast and gradually getting involved, but then not working them too hard so that they're not too tired for school. Then gradually as they get older they'll help a bit longer and get up a little bit earlier so that by the time they're older, they can handle quite a lot. I always really looked forward to getting up for duty and helping, especially when I was young, because you're keen and you don't like bed that much and you get enough sleep and you just` you feel like you wanna be grown up. I remember the first time that I was put on a job in the book,... So you've got the gluten free going OK? ...the team leader wrote my name down, and it's really exciting. The book holds not just the job rosters but also the menus and the recipes. I can write out these jobs, if you like. I'll get some more apples too. Charity's the house mother in charge of kitchens. There's a hierarchy at Gloriavale. The senior women are in advisory roles for girls like Dove as they rise through the ranks. Spaghetti bolognaise for lunch. Last time we had it we cooked 20 kilo of spaghetti. Had quite a bit left over. Do you think we should cut it down this time? Yeah, I think 18 kilos is plenty. OK. I've noticed that. Yeah. The kitchen team are happy to cater for people with health issues, providing gluten-free, dairy-free and sugar-free diets. However, vegetarianism isn't entertained. The focus is on community well-being, not individual choice. Yup. That will good now. RELAXED MUSIC We have learnt some things to help improve our health ` um, cutting down on sugar and using fats more than oils. A few things like this that we've found out to help with our health. Um, we'll change the menu sometimes, and we do make improvements in the menu when we find out new things. The kitchen's a big operation, and Dove often finds herself troubleshooting. Courtney said that there is no honey. OK. She said that Grandad Clem forgot to... OK. ...put the drum in the warmer and it's still frozen solid. OK. That's all right. We'll just use some apple juice concentrate instead. OK. So have a look in the cooler and see if you can find any buckets of apple juice, and I'll help you flavour it. Thank you. Good girl. After lunch, up in the sewing room, Angel's taken on the midwife's advice to rest up. I'm working at the sewing room at the moment, and we just finished doing pyjama and nightie run and we're moving on to working for the concert. This is the women's domain, manufacturing almost all the clothing the community needs. It's also somewhere to catch up and chat while knocking off a few running repairs. They were happy at the last concert? Yup. Purity Valor's the team leader, working on a flow chart to cope with all the elaborate costumes they'll need ready for the concert in eight weeks' time. Here we start writing how many days to go. Yeah. Like, 19, 18, 17. That's not making another. Because it keeps you working at where you're up to, whether you're going to make it or not. The pressure's on because there's still quite a few costumes to sew, plus other items for the concert they can't make themselves. So the team is off on a mission. ACTION MUSIC RELAXED MUSIC Jordan, Anne and Dove's sister Hope head to Christchurch to do a spot of shopping. Their head-to-toe matching outfits always draw some attention. I think it's great that we don't look like the world, that we look different. We all wear blue because it's economical to all make the same thing. But as far as a colour, there's nothing spiritual to the colour blue. What were you going to look for at Farmers? I wouldn't wear lots of things they wear, just because I don't think they look nice. They're all worried about the fashion or what it is, but they don't worry about looking nice very often, I don't think. (CHUCKLES) And I'd rather look nice. (CHUCKLES) Today we're looking for shoes for concert time. But we're also getting some quality things for the` for the couple that are getting married. So we might get them some really nice towels and linen. Or get them special underwear, something... That would be good. That would. That would be really good. Need about four of them for the houses. Yeah. So, if we've got a pasta-maker, why don't we make pasta with it? She has been making some. Has she? She's been making gluten-free. Gluten-free? Oh, good. I don't really like coming to Christchurch. It's not that I mind the people. It's just that it's not us. I'm happiest at home, but I'm happy also to do things that will serve my family, serve my brothers and sisters in the community. So I'm quite happy to come. It's pretty common for people to say, 'Oh, hello.' You know, 'You got a day away? Oh, that's so nice.' Why do they think I don't wanna be at home? (LAUGHS) You do, on the odd occasion, have somebody comes and asks us where we're from or who we are, what we're doing. I don't mind it. It's all right. I mean, anyone would ask, wouldn't they? (LAUGHS) RELAXED MUSIC Thank you. After a few random selfies, the women return to Gloriavale to discover there's a buzz in the air. In the kitchen, word's got round that some marriage proposals are to be expected. This is news of particular interest to Dove and her friend Jemima. As single girls, they're naturally on high alert. Us older girls are sort of, 'Oh, well it might be` might be me, it might not.' Yeah, in a bit of a state where you're a bit unsure what life's gonna do. Today women have more choice, more control over money and a lot more 1 Um, I actually didn't think I was going to be getting married until about three hours before he walked in the door. Um, I was told that that night I needed to be prepared to be asked to be married. So, 'Wow, OK.' Mummy and Daddy told me to go home. So I was feeling pretty overwhelmed by it all. It's not surprising that Dove is nervous and excited. # Up from the grave He arose... # Children and young people at Gloriavale put absolute trust in the community leaders. When she was baptised at the age of 6, Dove gave her life to God and committed herself to doing His will. # ...and he lives forever with his saints to reign. # I want to be a Christian. Jesus died for me. And I'm going to serve Him all my life. Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Praise the Lord. Afraid to see him no longer, sweetie. You are free from the clutches of the devil. You're one of Jesus's born free. # Hallelujah... # As a Christian, she believes every aspect of her life is guided by God. So if she's chosen for marriage, Dove will see it as proof that it's all part of God's master plan. I heard footsteps on the porch. SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC (KNOCKS) Then I heard a young man's voice and my mum and dad talking. Then they came into my room and they just hugged me and said, 'We're really happy.' RELAXED MUSIC I went in and he was standing there with the flowers, and he looked pretty nervous. He passed me the flowers and he said, 'These are for you.' (LAUGHS) And I went, 'Oh, thank you.' And he, 'Yeah, I've been praying and I believe that the Lord wants me to marry you.' It was God's will that I could just say yes straight away. Dove's fiance is Watchful Stedfast. At just 17, he's five years her junior and training to be a builder. He's a quiet, hard-working young fellow. And like Dove, he's the grandchild of one of the community's founding fathers. Yeah, really like her. I think she's done a good job to prepare herself for marriage. She's willing to submit to me, which I feel is very important for a marriage to last. RELAXED MUSIC Watchful's first job as an engaged man is to announce the news to the community. I've got an announcement. Um, I've been thinking about it and praying, and the Lord's blessed me with a girl and her name's Dove. APPLAUSE It's been a big morning at the community. Celebrations for the Stedfast and Love families, and Noah Hopeful's really stoked too. Well, my daughter Jemima's getting married. I'm really looking forward to that. And it's going to be double wedding. She's going to be getting married, one of her best friends, Dove. And, uh, we're really looking forward to those. It's a special time for` for everybody. Jemima spends part of her day in the office doing the accounts. She uses a computer but like most young people here she doesn't have free access to the internet. Any news from the world beyond the community is controlled by the leaders. Dove and Watchful are one of six young couples who'll get married soon in double weddings. With a courting period lasting only six weeks, they're taking every opportunity to learn more about each other and their future in-laws. They talked a lot about what things they've learnt about rearing children, what things they feel they need to learn. Every night Watchful comes home and he's just` tells me, 'My respect for her grows more and more each day.' Really, it's a beautiful thing for a mother to see. Watchful, can you help me make my crane? Yeah, OK. Watchful is one of 10 children ` seven girls and three boys. As the third eldest, he knows a lot already about little kids and is looking forward to being a father himself. DOVE: Some things were a surprise, like, a really nice surprise. You turn it. That one? Yeah. I could tell that he was really good helping his family. Put this on. I didn't realise how much he had actually thought about raising children and caring. TRANQUIL MUSIC Marrying a guy who'll be a good husband and father is important to Dove. She's got a close relationship with her own dad, Selwyn, and as an unmarried daughter, she's still in submission to him. However, when she gets hitched to Watchful, she'll be handing the decision-making over to him. We like to keep fit. I really love doing things with my dad, like going for bike rides and going for long runs around our property. It's really nice, especially late nights, the sun setting. Some of the other single girls do it too. TRANQUIL MUSIC Jemima often goes with her dad for a run outside somewhere, and, yeah, we sometimes pass on our runs and say hi, you know. Jemima and Noah cover the distance of a half marathon around the lake most weeks, and none of that involves Lycra or high-tech running shoes. Stop here? Jammies. Doing things with your kids outdoors and in is considered an essential part of parenting in this community. You folding yours up? Yeah. 'Order is actually a good thing for children to learn. 'Daddy's always telling the children, '"Mummy can't do this on her own. There's lots of us here now. '"And we need all of us to pitch in and help."' 'So all he kids have their own drawer. They've got little boxes and things all worked out. 'But Mum has to be on her toes organising it and be teaching the children as they're growing up.' Angel is still a bit nervous about her baby coming too early, but with only two weeks to go before she can safely have it at home, she's hoping they might just make it. Before the wedding, Dove and Watchful go on dates, always accompanied by a chaperone. It's a chance to get to know each other a bit better before the big day. We decided that we wouldn't touch each other or anything like that while we're courting. So whenever we're together, we make sure we don't get ourselves into positions that we would do something that we would regret. And the fact that I am pure is a gift too that I'm giving him. Another thing to discuss is their future in the community, and they both have strong feelings on that topic. Watchful and I have talked, and I believe that if anyone wants to leave, it's because they aren't submitted and they haven't fully surrendered themselves to God. We have it strongly between us that if one of us did leave, the other wouldn't. And I know that even if he did leave, I would never leave. SERENE MUSIC The other important chat before the wedding happens between mothers and daughters and fathers and sons about the facts of life. 'The sexual union is just part of the fulfilment of that greater love.' And so with Dove, I'd say, 'Honey, how ya feeling? Anything you wanna know?' And we would have some deeper conversations about the practicality of her getting married, um, especially coming together for the first time, so she felt at peace and at ease, and, yeah, it was all smooth. Thank you, Lord. Thank you, Lord. A view days later, the rest of the community is in the weekly prayer meeting. But Josiah and Angel aren't here, because she's in early labour. We have to go into Greymouth to see if they can stop it. She's five weeks early. So we need to stop it, cos it's too early for the baby. Obstetrician is expecting you. They've called Sheryl, their midwife, and together they've decided to seek hospital help, which might mean being airlifted to Christchurch for some specialist care. If they can't stop Angel's early labour, the baby will be too premature to birth safely here at home. 1 TRANQUIL MUSIC With only a fortnight to go before the start of the wedding season, the six engaged couples and their friends are out for some hijinks. It's a bit of grubby fun, but this is as far from a stag party as you'll ever get. Well, they've gotta swim down in there. There's a whole lot of little containers. One's got a clue in, and the rest have got keys. PLAYFUL MUSIC I'm not getting in there with those animals. Watchful's not worried about a few dozen eels, but Jemima's man, Hopeful, is not so keen. The eels are guarding that one. Go on, Watchful. I've got mine. Go on, straight there. PLAYFUL MUSIC First in, first served. I'll keep all the other keys you gave me. (LAUGHS) Dove's 22 and Watchful's only 17, but just like Angel and Josiah, having a slightly older bride is quite common in pairings at Gloriavale. I always knew that I'd marry someone younger than me. So I said to him about being older than him, he said, 'How much older than me are you?' And I` Oh, you know, we worked it out. And he, 'Oh, that's not that bad.' He said, 'Age doesn't mean anything.' And we just know that the Lord made us for each other. TRANQUIL MUSIC When Dove agreed to take the plunge and marry Watchful, this probably wasn't what she was expecting. RELAXED MUSIC (SCREAMS) LAUGHTER Oh, we'll all be trying to dunk our husbands, I'd say. (LAUGHS) CROWD: Oh! Lois said to me, 'I just really wanted to get Caleb wet, so I tried really hard.' Oh, maybe I didn't try so hard, cos I didn't want to get Watchful wet. CROWD CHEERS TRANQUIL MUSIC APPLAUSE With barely time for the six couples to get dried, they're welcomed by family and friends to a special reception. It's completely organised by the young people, who cater a three-course meal, with the 12-year-olds performing as waiters. The whole setting for the event, including the home-made chandeliers, has been made by the friends of the six brides and grooms. UPBEAT MUSIC By the end of the week, signs of Angel's early labour have stopped and they head back home from Christchurch. Everyone respects our wishes in wanting to come home and because everything went so well, we were able to get home within a week and just took it a bit easy until I was in a safe` safe zone to birth at home. Yes. So, we have Lois, Esther, Tabitha... Dove Love's ready to try on her wedding dress. It's pink, and that's no accident. I know that out in the world on girls' wedding days they have a lot of white to show purity. Normally, they're not virgins. But I don't need that to show my purity. Yeah, it's really special. SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC At 2.30am, Angel goes into labour, so Josiah calls the midwife to the birthing suite. At 38 weeks into pregnancy, the baby's big enough to have here at Gloriavale. And by breakfast, they've got a lovely surprise to share with the kids. (GIGGLES) Excuse me, everyone. The little boy here's got something to say. My mum had a baby boy. APPLAUSE It was more complicated than the other births, but we trusted in the Lord and He saw us through. And we're very grateful that we can have home births. We just thank you all for your support, your prayers, and we're praising God and thanking Him. APPLAUSE Have you seen the baby? It looks like that. It was great. Started contractions at 2.30, and by 4.40 she'd had the baby, so it was really quick. And she had a water birth, so it's made it really easy. It really did. CALM MUSIC Today it's last day of single life. I'm looking forward to getting married. Suppose there is a bit of nervousness there. Some of those nerves are calmed by a little chat with Dove after dinner, but that's still under supervision by her folks. Well, tonight is the last night that Dove's single. But we will just be getting ready for the wedding tomorrow, really. And that means all hands on deck. OK, now, all your table needs to go away. Sheryl has swapped hats from midwife to manager and enjoys a rare moment where she tells the blokes what to do. Then we need to move Noah's table over. Turning the dining room into a reception lounge for a double wedding tomorrow is going to need everyone's help and a late night. Our whole row's going to come over. GOSPEL HYMN PLAYS There's a mountain of food to prepare and rehearsals to sort. Music's changing, so come in. That's it. That's it. And don't` don't go far. Cos remember, you're ahead of time. Watchful's mum, Rejoice, has a dance number to run through. Come in a bit earlier with that timing. OK, good girls. Off you go. The stage is set, and tomorrow life for Dove and Jemima will never be the same again. SERENE MUSIC BIRDSONG 1 On her wedding day, Dove is a remarkably calm bride. DOVE: Not sure exactly what trials or blessings are going to be in the future, but we are confident that we will doing God's will. GENTLE MUSIC This is the longest 200m any girl will walk at Gloriavale. She's about to marry Watchful Stedfast, a boy she admits she hardly knows but whom she'll be in submission to. There's no divorce in this community, so the commitment she makes today will last her a lifetime. WATCHFUL: I'm a bit uncertain, I suppose. It's not every day that you get married. Beautiful. I'll give her a cuddle after ya. (WHISPERS) WHISPERS: Thanks, Mum. Love you, Mum. Hopeful and Jemima are the other couple that are getting married at the same time as Watchful and I. Watchful and Hopeful are builders and they work together and they're good friends too, so it's really nice. Yeah, we're just waiting for everyone to get settled down, and then we'll move on up. And when everyone's ready, we'll walk in. Oh man. (LAUGHS) (LAUGHS) UPBEAT MUSIC APPLAUSE All 540 residents are here for a service that will take about three or four hours. It's a solemn occasion, but in this community there's always some lighter moments. Dove and Jemima, these two sisters are so beautiful, they need to be married. Not beautiful in their body, though I'm not saying they're ugly,... LAUGHTER ...but beautiful in their spirit. So where could two sisters like this find husbands? Where could it be? Well, in the church of God. My darling daughter Dove, our life here on this earth is fulfil God's plan and purpose for us. Now today you're fulfilling His plan as you become a wife and a helpmate for Watchful. But there is an expectation that a man can have on this Earth, and that is he will get a wife. WHISPERS: I love you. So, Hopeful, I now commit into your hands my faithful daughter Jemima. Um, just` Just one warning, Hopeful. Um, you don't know what you've got into. (CHUCKLES) She is quite full of adventure and fun. Amen. But I think you'll have a very happy marriage. Hopeful and Jemima, you come forth now, and you make your promises. Darling, I know God has joined us together... The couples write their own vows, and after Jemima and Hopeful exchange theirs, it's Dove and Watchful's turn. Well, darling, Christ and His church will always come first in our marriage. And my love for you will only last while your love for Christ is stronger. But I will love you and the children that God blesses us with and that His wisdom will be on us. It is with my whole heart that I give myself to you today and I say that I delight to do thy will. HYMNAL MUSIC PLAYS # Your loved one is blessed # because of your virtue. # You are fair. # There's no sport in you. # You are fair. # You will be good to him # and not evil. # For the days of your life, # you will be good to him. # You are fair. # I'll give you a cuddle too. God has given something wonderful to the human female, above the animals. He's given her a seal. He's given her a seal, a guarantee. And that guarantee and that seal was to be given to her husband. He was the one to open it. And that was what marriage is about. God joined them together; let not man put them asunder. And they will come back to us from that time as man and wife before the Lord. In the meantime, we will be getting ready to celebrate that when they come back. APPLAUSE, CHEERING When the couples return from consummating their marriages, it's time for feasting and a spot of fun. SERENE MUSIC Family and friends have sorted dances and songs to keep the crowd fully entertained. SERENE MUSIC UPBEAT MUSIC Statistically, Dove's chances of having a long and happy marriage to Watchful are much better than the average for a NZ bride. That's just one of the many things she shows gratitude for. I'm just so grateful to all of you for your love, to the girls that worked so hard and to everyone for their care. You may believe, as Dove does, that God has a hand in her fate... Thank you, Lord. Praise you, dear Lord. Bless you, dear Lord. Love you, Lord. ...or perhaps that the whole community is a rather grand example of social engineering. Either way, even without the many freedoms and options that most Kiwi women have come to expect, Dove does have choices ` to be happy or not. And she chooses to love the life she's got. To end the evening, the couple sing to each other. Dove has composed and written her own song especially for Watchful. # My love, # I found # before God had his church today, # that I will # love you. # I'll trust you and I'll obey. # For you are my lord, # I'll serve you as my king. # And through the years, we'll prove # the joy that true love brings. # I'm so blessed, # words can't describe my faithfulness # for all God's done. # His perfect will that you're the one. # Because our God is real, # He listens to our prayers. # Though trials come our way, # I'll never need to fear. # But I'll trust my care in him and I'll pray # only to be what you want me to be, # only to say the words you want me to speak. # Only to do # whatever will draw me closer to you every day. # I'm so blessed, words can't describe my thankfulness. # The role God's done, # His perfect will # that you're the one. # Because our God is real, # He listens to our prayers. # I am so amazed # when I see how much he cares, # that he blessed our life so wonderfully. # Yes, I know our love was meant to be, # God's plan for you and me. # Captions were made possible with funding from NZ On Air. Copyright Able 2016