Ben and Adela's visit

We so enjoyed having Nate's brother, Ben, and his fiancee, Adela, with us for 9 days. We were all sad to see them go!

We had fun introducing Adela to sugar cane. She loved it!

Easter Sunday morning

Mega Voices charging during class in Butagaya

A lost tooth and a found coin

Jude recently followed in his big brother's footsteps, losing his first tooth a bit early at the age of 4. He was mighty pleased. The morning after the big event, he found a coin under his pillow (500 shillings - about 25 cents) and proudly carried it around for most of the day. In the afternoon he was playing in this pile of lumber and dropped his coin. He searched and searched and searched for his lost coin but could not find it. We all took turns searching, to no avail. Later in the evening Nate and Jude decided to look one more time before going in to bed. Nate rolled over 3 of the logs, searching underneath, but nothing. Before he rolled over the 4th, Jude bowed his head and prayed simply, "God, please help me to find my coin." Nate rolled it over and looked but didn't see it. Jude looked down and said, "Oh, here it is!" He ran in the house to tell me his news, "God helped me find my coin!" He has since referred to that event several times as the time that God answered his prayer.

Rural Uganda

A boy and his chickens

Elijah decided that his chickens would enjoy tree-climbing with him, so he brought them up one by one and they sat together for about an hour. They are extremely tame chickens.

An Islamic wedding

Recently I (Rhoda) was invited to attend the wedding of one of our Muslim neighbors. It was fascinating to get such a close glimpse into their world. I rode with the bride and a few relatives and friends to the wedding, which had been delayed for a few hours by heavy rain. When we arrived at the home of her father where the wedding was to take place, the street was already jammed with vehicles, the yard was brimming with guests, and the music was blaring. The bride covered her head with a black veil before she stepped out of the vehicle and was met with shrill whistles and shouts as everyone celebrated her entrance. I was ushered with the bride and a few other women into a small room. Her father brought in burning incense, and then parades of women came through, congratulating her with hugs, kisses, and high-pitched shrieks. An hour passed. A signal was given and the women in the room got up and began to proceed out to the front yard. A tent was set up with a table in front piled high with mats and rugs. The women kicked off their shoes, rolled out the mats and rugs under the tent and sat down. By the time all of the women from the house and yard were seated, there were about 100 of us crowded together. I wondered where the men would sit and asked a friend seated next to me. She smiled and said the men were to stay inside the house, sitting and smoking together in a large room. The music was cranked as loud as possible, and several of the women got up and began to dance as we waited for the bride and groom to come out. The excitement and anticipation in the air was intense as we all craned our necks, watching the door for their entrance.

The bride's father and sisters sat by the door as they too waited for the grand entrance.

The bride & groom

When they finally emerged from the house, they were met with wild applause and whistling and shouting. The music and dancing cranked up another notch as the celebrating continued. Here is the bride (in black) and groom posing for pictures with friends.

The bride and groom sat on the couch in front, taking pictures and receiving congratulations, for about 30 minutes before they got up and walked back into the house. I found out later that they had signed papers and had their official "ceremony" inside the house before coming out together.