Boys' Brigade

What comes to mind when you think about the Boys' Brigade? Smart young men learning how to serve God and other people?
Perhaps.
Until the last couple of days my experience of the Nigerian Boys' Brigade had been a tuneless trumpeter giving a 6am wake up call every Saturday. This Tuesday they upped the ante with a 5am wake up followed by band practice at 6am. Obviously the practice wasn't enough as at 10:30pm that night they started again with loud drums and trumpets, continuing with gusto until midnight.
I would be among the first to admit that extra practice, especially for the trumpeters, would not go amiss but to me, starting at 12am Wednesday night is not the time to do it. Being woken by the massed drums and brass after a hot and busy day surviving life in Nigeria is not encouraging. The boys bang and blow drums and trumpets with far more enthusiasm than talent. Every so often they'd pause for a couple of minutes, giving rise to a faint hope that perhaps the torture would stop and I'd be able to get some sleep before another busy day, but no. The noise continued until 3 o'clock in the morning.  This is the Boys' Brigade camp leaders giving their charges their money's worth. Who needs sleep? I've been warned it'll be as bad, if not worse, tonight. To me one of the major points of Christianity is loving others, considering their needs above your own, thinking of them. Sadly the Boys' Brigade of Nigeria doesn't seem to agree but then sleep is overrated.