I am laughing so hard, I am not sure I can write this darling story of the “gift of cows.”Just use your imagination as you read this journal and I will try to describe it so you realize the full impact of how hard it is to give a gift in India. Remember, it is over 90 degrees in the Nagpur area now.
Dr. Suresh is writing this with a few of my added descriptions.
“It has taken me several weeks to find suitable cows to give as gifts, but today, after vaccinating two cows, I delivered them to Kishor. Initially, I decided to give a cow to two different people, but after prayer and thinking professionally I decided to give both cows to one person only. As a cow in India has at least 6 months dry period (not giving milk). It would be hard for a person to not have any income and just spend money on cow’s feeding during this dry period.
Kishor came to me for Self-Reliant Village Leadership Training in 2007. He was different than the others, a very hard worker, very spiritual and was filled with the vision to do something for himself and for his community. He has 2 brothers, a father, mother and grandmother in his family. It is really hard for them to take care of such a big family with only his father’s very low-income. Kishor decided to do an Agri-related business so he wouldn’t have to go outside the village to take care of his family.
Kishor has a dream to start his own Dairy business. So to encourage this young fellow and his village I decided to give both cows to him so that he can have income for the whole year. He lives in a village called Wagh. Wagh means Tiger. The gift of these two cows will fulfill his vision and provide him a good steady income throughout the year.
This village is in the midst of a vast jungle. The rutted, dirt roads are through dense jungle, hills, and large ups and downs. Wagh has a history of about 150 years and most of the village people belong to a special religion called “Mahanubhao.” They are pure vegetarian, and untouched with the Gospel. So far no church, or organization is caring about them. This is the first time I have ever seen women cutting their hair for the sake of their god. Kishor’s grandmother was totally without hair. I really praise Jesus for the opportunity through this noble help to reach this religious and poor village. Kishor has started a strong relationship with the village young people sharing what he learned in our Self-Reliant training and Starting Point about Jesus.
Delivering the cows was great fun, but hard work. I rented a small mini-truck for the job. It took one hour to load the cows into this small vehicle with no ramp. A twist of the tail works wonders in making a cow jump.
While going to Wagh, on the hilly road we had to unload one cow and trot it to the top of the hill. The truck would then chug to the top of the hill and we would reload the cow. NOT ONCE BUT TWICE. I guess I rented to small a mini-truck. But finally we reached safely to Kishor’s home. Then they had a spiritual cleaning program by grandma and I just watch it without any interference.
The small brother of Kishor went in the fields and brought a big bundle of grass on his head. It was a real thrill to watch everybody in that family and their joy.
I am very happy to have been able to give such a wonderful and very developmental gift to this family. In the coming days, as I check on the cows, I am sure we can build a strong Christian relationship in this village. After the mandatory cup of tea I returned to Nagpur, (A much easier journey)
I would like to take this opportunity to thank all those behind this great exploring evangelical help. May God bless you and make you a channel for help to thousands and thousands of hopeless Indian people.”
