Young Couple Breaks Stereotypes To Get Married
Staff Writer | Monday January 11, 2021 16:24
The bridegroom at the time was aged 23 while the bride was 19. Fast forward to 2021, another young couple has decided to get into holy matrimony.
The latest to marry are a young man who has his own church in Selibe-Phikwe, Soul Defence Force Ministries, Prophet Manaka Mashoma (21) and his teen partner. Manaka recently tied the knot to his 18-year-old high school sweetheart, Monica Melato (nee).
The young man from Lerala told The Monitor that he met Monica while studying at Moeng College in 2018.
“I was doing my form five, and by then Monica was doing form four,” he explained.
Manaka said apart from the fact that he knows that Monica is the one he wants to spend his life with, they wanted to be exemplary to young people and show them that they can make it in life, if they have a vision.
“We decided to marry each other at an early age because we want to grow together, We married each other without anything so that we can build our lives together,” Manaka said.
Manaka said he was aware that many people may question their decision to marry at a young age, and perhaps be tempted to dismiss it as playful.
The young prophet, however, said he was fulfilled because he has lived up to God’s principle of getting married.
He said while getting married at an early might be suprising to many, it is a phenomenon that is quite common in his family.
“When someone wants something in life, regardless of age they make sure that they accomplish it,” he confidently said.
He said parents from either side did not give them hard time, because both of them grew up as responsible children who matured quickly.
Manaka said he grew up struggling and that taught him to be responsible at a young age, hence his parents felt confident that he is mature enough to get married.
Batswana have this believe that for someone to tie the knot they should have played around first. However, the young prophet said he does not subscribe to this notion, as he believes one can share their love with their wife in marriage.
He added that one does not need to have dated a couple of man or in the case of women a couple of men to get married.
Manaka explained that men and women should change their mentality about playing around with different partners before settling down, and instead focus on their life partners and do all the fun activities with that one individual, who they had chosen as a wife or husband.
He said he is mindful that there are challenges in marriages, but said the challenges are not age bound as divorce statistics in the country show that it cuts across different age groups.