Christmas Eve

We are just kind of hanging out today, waiting for the 11 p.m. Christmas Eve service at Fraser Cathedral. The cooks in our compound are roasting a whole cow for the Christmas feast. We aren't sure how we feel about that...

Dan, Joe, and Emily taught homiletics this morning. I caught them on film doing an awesome job. I was especially impressed by how many and how thoughtful the questions from the ordinands were. Tammy and I spent some time under the mango tree chatting with Gordon about other Moru friends. Jeffreys, the diocesan secretary from the 2003 and 2004 trips, is now working in Kampala for ITAM (we think that's the acronym and that it stands for "it takes a miracle"). Martin, the HIV/AIDS coordinator who shepherded our 2003 trip, died last year and is buried in Mundri.

Then we sat with Bishop Bullen for a while and arranged for Moru lessons with Morris, the archdeacon of Lui archdeaconry and one of the Bible translators. We talked a bit about what he wants us to do on the next trip to Lui, but he still wants to talk with the Lui leadership about that. In the process, he mentioned that there may be some upgrading to the local schools soon, which could result in students from outside coming to Lui.

Totally changing the subject, Christina is really an awesome cook. Last night we had a dish made from eggplant and peanut butter that was quite amazing. That's the third, each very different, dish we've had from eggplant, and even our non-eggplant-lovers have loved her eggplant. Last night we also had fried chicken. But, in the food department, an equally surprising thing has been that we've found what amounts to doughnuts in the market, and we've started eating them as an appetizer every evening. Last night we rolled them in sugar because we know that lard is most nutritious when chemically bound to sucrose. We are also systematically scouring the market for chocolate, which has eluded us so far. The market, for those of you who've been to Lui, is vastly expanded. You can buy lots of plastic stuff, clothing, all kinds of food, and other things we haven't yet discovered, I'm sure. The market now extends down the road to Mundri, too.

This morning Dan brought out Christmas cards from home that warmed our hearts and almost made us cry. Thank you, Anne!

We are at a place now that some of you will probably recognize from your own experience of this type of mission: We have settled into a daily routine and are pretty comfortable with washing, eating, and so forth. Dan's plan for daily reflection and compline is serving us well -- we are getting what we need psychically and spiritually, and we have coalesced as a team. Nancy came with books of carols and brought them out a couple of days ago, which has added a much needed dimension -- it's hard to always be listening to others singing and never get to sing ourselves. As far as what we're doing missionwise, we have moments of sheer joy and fulfillment, when we see immediate fruits of our time here and feel our relationships deepening, and others when we can't get past the scripted greetings and formalities and feel that we never will. We see great hope among the Moru people as women rise from illiteracy, and great sorrow as mothers lose their babies in utero or motorcycle accidents rip legs to shred. It's a great time and place to be singing "O Come, O Come, Emmanuel" because at the end of the day, the only thing I'm sure of is that God is with us.

P.S. Since yesterday with the Mothers' Union, when I felt a bit frustrated by the lack of depth in the conversation between us and the Moru women, the women have started addressing me in Arabic. So I am hopeful that, rather than being a disappointment, that meeting will end up being the genesis of some real, unmediated conversations. Inshallah.