Selling Your Cow  PRO

Daniel Overdorf: One of my older sisters and her husband served for 12 years as missionaries to Haiti. Among various other ministries, such as church plants, a school and feeding programs, they discipled a few young men who today lead various churches and ministries.

One participant in this was a shy young man named Miltador. Miltador showed a heart to obey even the most radical instructions of the Bible. Like most Haitians, Miltador lived in poverty. He did have one possession that many Haitians did not. Miltador owned a cow--a feat that may not sound all that impressive to us, but one that would give Miltador's family an opportunity for ongoing nourishment from the cow's milk and ongoing income breeding the cow and selling its calves.

Miltador came into possession of the cow after several years of work. A local farmer hired Miltador, then just a boy, to take care of a calf. Each morning and evening Miltador retrieved the calf from the neighboring farm, found a place for it to graze, then returned it to its home. Miltador cared for the calf, with no pay, until it had grown and could be bred. When the farmer finally bred the cow, the farmer gave Miltador a calf--his only payment for years of work.

As this discipleship group, including Miltador, studied through the NT, they came upon 1 John 3:16-18. Paul, the man who led the study, struggled with whether to teach the passage. American Christians need this message; we typically think of Haitians as the ones who need help. Because the passage was in the Bible and because even the poor need to recognize the need to help others, he taught this passage.

The next week, when Miltador arrived at discipleship group meeting, Paul casually asked about his cow--was it healthy? Miltador hung his head, "I don't...