There were a lot of “I do’s” in Kupang, capital of East Nusa Tenggara province yesterday when three churches staged mass weddings for 186 Catholic couples. At Christ the King Cathedral Church in Bonipoi parish, 106 couples received the Sacrament of Matrimony simultaneously, while 53 couples at St. Joseph Church in Naikoten parish, and 27 couples in Assumption of Mary Church in Kotabaru parish also took their vows. Divine Word Father Sebastian Wajang, who led the Sacrament of Matrimony in Naikoten parish, asked the couples at his service to open their hearts to each other in dealing with disagreements. “Follow the example of the Holy Family of Nazareth,” he said. Mayor Daniel Adu, who also attended the Naikoten ceremony, said the mass weddings were a local government initiative to enable poor couples to tie the knot. The local government took care of all the expenses, the Protestant layman added. Newlyweds Agustinus and Imelda Kono said the mass wedding really helped poor people like them. “If we had to make all the preparations for our very own wedding, we would probably have needed about 2,000,000 rupiah [US$235], which is a lot of money to us,” said Sae, who makes a living selling tofu and tempeh (soybean cake) in a market. “It was nice of the government to care about us,” he added. Related Report: SEMARANG PARISH OFFERS MASS WEDDING FOR POOR COUPLES