Giving and Goats

In all this I have given you an example that by such work we must support the weak, remembering the words of the Lord Jesus, for he himself said, “It is more blessed to give than to receive.” - Acts 20:35

A few Sundays ago, at a church service in one of the villages, Sue and I became the proud owners of our very own goat! While for Sue, having been raised up on a farm, this was not her first time to own goats, it was definitely the first time for either of us to get one on the way out of church.

Here in rural Tanzania, in the worship services of pastoralist peoples (like the Maasai) there is one particularly striking difference from what we have been accustomed to in the States. Here in Tanzania, just like in America, it is very natural for the people to bring their offerings in the form of their common currency. The thing is that the common currency for many happens to be chickens and goats and cows.

For these people who do business among themselves each day by trading with chickens and sheep and goats, why not bring this “currency” (as strange or humorous as it may seem to us when a cow comes down the center aisle)? And they do bring them up to the altar-- not as a sacrifice of atonement as in ancient times, but as an offering of thanksgiving to God. In fact, chickens and goats and sometimes even cows are quite generous offerings which can support a lot of good work among the people.

After the offering is blessed and dedicated to God and worship is concluded, this is when the congregation gathers outside the Church for the auction (which is how Sue and I came to have our goat). This, if you follow the steps of this process, is a fascinating way for these communal-minded people to give an offering to God, not as individuals, but as a community and in community.

First, somebody brings a goat to worship as an offering. Then, after worship at the auction, somebody else buys the animal from the Church (and not just at market value, we noticed). Here, the people have a jubilant time as the bidding ensues. Songs are sung in celebration as the offering gets larger and larger. People circle around the bidding members, singing and fanning them (lest they get too hot in the sun). Finally, after the bid is closed at an agreeable price, the one who won the bid commonly donates the animal again, this time to someone else at the auction (often times items will go to someone who has need, but also apparently visitors are targeted to be recipients of gracious generosity).

And so this is how we came to have our little goat; a goat which we, in turn, gave to the family of the pastor of the village, who certainly has made good use of the animal by feeding his family and/or the people of his village with it.

From the life that God gave to the people in the form of livestock, the people bless God in return, and then are blessed again. Wow, what a marvelous and striking image for offering? May we all inherit such a joy in giving what God has first given us so that our blessings may multiply in such a way!