Fools and April and random news

April Fool’s Day is one of those random cultural nuances that Uganda has taken up with enthusiasm.  Over the years my kids have learned to be wary of the day, so they were well prepared when classmates told them to go see a certain teacher (a favorite way to cause embarrassment and confusion).  The national newspapers both carried front page stories of questionable taste making fun of international figures and their religions, stories which seemed almost credible until the last line.  Caleb is still not sure what was happening in one class where a teacher reprimanded the students for not rising when the teacher entered, a theoretically culturally prevalent form of respect that has not been enforced or even mentioned in his class all year.  A joke?  When the teacher told the laughing (?insolent or confused) class to stand for the third time, Caleb was the sole student to obey, which earned him much jeering from the students but then saved him from running a punishment lap around the track.  He would rather have run than have been singled out,  joke or not . . . So when the Pierces told me that their dog had killed a skunk in an epic night-time battle I was pretty skeptical this morning.  But sure enough there was a small dead mammal curled up in their grass:  a white-naped weasel, as it turns out, our first time to see one.  And when Caleb came in this evening and said Luke had cut his lip I also wondered if they were setting me up, but sadly it was true.  He went after a non-ideal pass to score a goal in soccer practice, and the keeper dove at his feet, missing the ball but knocking Luke onto his face.  We don’t think his nose is broken, but he’s pretty scraped and swollen and the blood was impressive.  At least his effort scored a goal . . The boys are practicing hard, because the Saturday loss was annulled when it was proven that three of the opposing players did not attend the school they were supposedly representing.  Probably the most encouraging part of the whole ordeal was that no missionaries were involved in this corruption-busting exercise, it was fully handled by a CSB staff member, who emerged exhausted.  When you consider that this young man possibly had to shame or cross his seniors, possibly even men to whom he is related, it is a remarkable testimony to change that he was willing to do it.  He’s already announced that he will not contest the final match this weekend, no matter what happens!

WHM chose April 1rst as a mission-wide day of prayer, with no April Fool’s joking at all.  Our team prayed through the day, a cross between a marathon and a relay, with individuals and small groups meeting hourly throughout the day 6 am to 6 pm, closing with all of us praying together as a team for each team of WHM missionaries around the world.  Our theme was Isaiah 25, a great picture of our generous God’s feast, of the veil being pushed aside so we see reality.