To say that my life has been inextricably linked with the Elangos for the last twenty years, is not too much of a stretch.

I mean, can you imagine having five different WhatsApp groups with just one person and a family of four?

Or remembering almost every mobile phone that the four of them have owned in the past fifteen years or so?

Thanks to my Appa forging a strong relationship with them, it was just super-easy for me to glide in and build on the existing foundation of “Herbert Annan”.

But today, is not a story of the four Elangos. Today, I want to tell you about the Jesus they worship, and the two who started it all.

I believe that a person can be great, even when not perfect - as we all are, if they submit to Christ.

The more we submit to Christ, the more we rock this world.

To tell you the story of Elango Annan and Joan Miss, would be to tell you the story of not just how they said ‘Yes’ to each other - but of how they said ‘Yes’ to the Creator, and how they continue to do so.

(It’s their wedding anniversary, so why not?!)
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Generosity. Sacrificially.

It’s easy to give when you have a lot. I’ve seen the two of them give, even when they ‘can’t’. Even when it would affect them. Even to people that should be despicable because of how those people treat them in return.

Duty. Christ-led.

The only - yes, only - reason I started visiting my parents regularly a few months ago is because I saw Elango Annan making the trip to Uvaari regularly. If you really know the man, you’ll know how difficult travel is, for him. Yet, he looked at it as a Christ-given duty. And Joan Miss, for her part, vocally and actionably believes that the in-laws have to be treated as ‘better than her own’.

Childlike-ness. In their fifties.

Several of us still struggle to understand what Jesus actually meant when he said we must be like children, to enter the kingdom of heaven. With Joan Miss and Elango Annan, I’ve seen them maintain a childlike sense of awe and curiosity - yes, even today - when they testify to what God does in their lives, when they approach various expects of this divine marital trinity that they’ve set up with Jesus.

Celebrating. Each other.

Elango Annan is still in love with Joan Miss. He honours her in so many ways. Makes a big deal of everything, her. Cute pet names. Patient accommodation. Complete freedom to be her full self. And for her part, Joan Miss responds in kind. She falls for him. Every day. Starry-eyed adoration. He is the love language she chooses to speak in their marriage.
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So do they not have fights? Of course they do.

Do they not have troubled moments? Of course they do.

Do they not falter, on this narrow path that leads to eternal life? Of course they do.

What makes them different, you might ask?

The entire marriage is built on a submission to Jesus model.

Women tend to be wary of the word ‘submission’ when it comes to marriage. Joan Miss famously said once: “It comes easy to me to submit to Elango Annan, cos I have learned submission to Christ.”

Men tend to find it difficult to give of themselves to their wives. Elango Annan, though, repeatedly hits the line of sacrifice: with his time, with his money, with his talents, and his efforts.

I personally believe that every good thing that their union has given rise to, stems from these core biblical principles - a marriage of sacrifice and submission.

Along the way, they have built a home on this, and like the tree in Daniel’s vision, creatures of all kinds come from near and far to be in the shelter of this home.

When I see their marriage, I see Jesus at work in marriage.

When I see Elango Annan and Joan Miss, I see Jesus perfectly at work in two imperfect humans.

Happy anniversary, Annan and Miss. Looking forward to seeing your lives unravelling more of Jesus’ truths in the days to come.