Last Sunday we saw something that we had never seen before. During the service, Pastor Jerome Wamala was installed as the pastor of Kampala Lutheran Church. Afterwards, there was a special offering to raise money for land the church is hoping to purchase in the future. We would also be enjoying a meal together afterwards. However, between the offering and the meal a chicken was brought to the front of the church. It had been donated by a man who wanted to contribute to the special offering and had no money, but did have this chicken. It was announced that the chicken would be auctioned off "American" style, with the money going to the offering. I have to admit, it took Shauen and I the longest time to figure out this American auction. Instead of someone bidding, $1, then someone else $2 and so forth with the highest bidder taking the chicken, someone would bid an amount of money, afterwards someone else would bid an amount of money, sometimes a higher or lower amount than the first bid. This went on and on, with people placing the amount of money they bid in the offering basket. We finally figured out that it wasn't the amount you bid that would get you the chicken, but that whoever the last bidder was, even for 500 shillings ($0.50), would get the chicken. I must say, it was an ingenius was of doing things. If only one person bought the chicken, it probably would have gone for around $10-$20. This way, everyone in the congregation was throwing in amounts ranging from $0.50-$10. As long as no one bid after you, you could get a chicken for as low at $0.50! In the end, the total amount collected was over $100 and the last bidder gave the chicken to Jacent Wamala, the wife of Pastor Wamala, our newly installed pastor. Lots of fun was had by all, especially the Americans trying to figure out the rules of this "American" auction!  -Krista