We made our way to lunch after spending time at the sewing center and thought to ourselves, “Wow! Today was the best day!” We had shared with women who had never heard the Gospel, did henna, and got to dress up as Indian brides. Then we boldly spoke truth into darkness at the prophetess’ house. We were full of the Spirit and overflowing with joy from the Lord as we made our way to lunch.
Little did we know that the Lord still had lots of work for us to do with the rest of the day. As we rounded a corner along the mountain road, I ecstatically squealed “BABY GOATS!!!!!” We had stumbled upon a herd of goats making their way along the road. This has happened before but this time was special because it was a bunch of mama goats with the cutest little baby goats you could ever lay eyes on. I realize most people would respond with, “Wahoo….you saw some goats haha.” But I seriously love love love animals. Not only do i LOVE all things fluffy, but I also used to raise goats when I was younger, so they have special place in my heart.
As we get closer to the herd of goats, I absolutely cannot contain myself. I just keep squealing in excitement. My reaction was definitely beyond ridiculous. Our friend DJ finds my reaction so amusing that he has our driver stop the car so we can take pictures. At first I try to regain composure and politley decline, since we are stopped in the middle of the road. But then the shepherd brings a baby goat to our window and I lose it. I jump out of the car like it’s on fire and run over to all the fluffy little baby goats. Each of us girls grabs our own baby goat and we take a couple pictures. In my mind, we have now topped all previous best days and have fulfilled the absolute BEST DAY EVER! But then it gets better again…
My over the top excitement for these little baby goats, must have pleased the shepherd, because after taking the pictures, DJ walks over to us and says,” And now we will share with him.” Say what?! Now we get to share the Gospel?! Praise the Lord!! I show the man my hand with the henna design and DJ quickly runs through the story of the bleeding woman. The man responds to the story and says that he believes! We thank him for listening and for allowing us to take pictures, and we head back to the car. As we are glance back at the goats, we notice that a woman has also noticed the crazy white girls freaking out about baby goats. She is talking to the shepherd, and I imagine she asked what in the world were those girls doing?! We continue to watch, and the shepherd is pointing to his hand retelling the story of the bleeding woman!!
How great is our God?! He knew me before I was in my mother’s womb, and he gave me a child-like (and borderline irrational) love for all of His creation. He knew that I would absolutely freak out about fluffy baby goats, and He used it to further His Kingdom! Had we traveled on the road at any other time, we would not have seen the shepherd and his goats. Had the boys been with us, we probably wouldn’t have stopped. But God is sovereign over our time, where we are, and my over-the-top love of all things fluffy.
Praise the Lord for guiding us along that road and for using something so silly to allow two more people to hear about Jesus who may have never heard. Offer up prayers of thanksgiving that our God is good, and is giving us so many opportunities to be a part of the work here in India. I hope this story was fun and encouraging and reminder that God uses everythning for his glory, even goats.
Much Love,
Tam
E3 Global Teams 