Passing on the Gift

Sunday, Oct 02 2011

Speakers: Senior High Mission Trip Participants

Scripture: Genesis 41:47-49, Matthew 22:34-40

(Jennifer Whetter) Introduction - About this time last year we started talking about where to go, what to do for our high school mission trip. After research and consideration of options we decided to participate in the Global Passport Program provided by Heifer International at the Heifer Ranch in Perryville, Arkansas.

We chose participation in the Heifer International program for several reasons. Wauwatosa Presbyterian and these teens have a long mission relationship with the organization. When they were younger the kids made cards to raise money to buy a water buffalo for a community in need through Heifer. 

Heifer International’s mission is one that our young adults appreciate - Heifer's mission is to work with communities to end hunger and poverty and care for the earth. By giving families a hand-up, not just a hand-out, they are empowered to turn lives of hunger and poverty into self-reliance and hope. With gifts of livestock and training, families improve their nutrition and generate income in sustainable ways. Animals are called "living loans" because in exchange for their livestock and training, families agree to give one of its animal's offspring to another family in need. It's called Passing on the Gift – a cornerstone of the mission that creates an ever-expanding network of hope and peace.

Heifer offers a variety of programs at the Ranch. We chose the Global Passport program based on its description - Global Passport participants internalize complex issues surrounding hunger and poverty by experiencing the circumstances that many of Heifer International’s project partners face each day. Participants will leave with an awareness of their role as a global citizen and with ideas on how to create change. This interactive educational simulation includes powerful and surprising situations that open the world beyond participants’ own borders.

 (Nora Whetter) Settling in - After a day of travel we checked into the Heifer Hilton, an open-air barn, had supper and met people from two other church groups – Arizona and Minnesota – who would be also participate in the program that week.  After breakfast the next morning we walked to a non-descript building to experience a simulation of going through Customs. We stood in lines waiting to talk to customs agents. There were language barriers, vague directions, misunderstood rules, odd questions. We gave up snacks, books, electronics so we would really be immersed in the program.  After an hour or so, going through customs made sense. We were going to different countries. We were divided into three countries, two groups per country - upper and lower class Mozambique, upper and lower class Tibet, upper and lower class Mississippi Delta.

We were shown out living arrangements. One of our groups from WPC were put into upper class Mozambique and stayed in a cement brick house with a table a couch and bunk beds, but no electricity. The other half of our group were sent to upper class Tibet and would have stayed in a yurt (a tent-like structure covered with felt made from yak wool) but it had blown down in a tornado earlier in the spring. A tent had been put up for that group.

We wore some piece of clothing that indicated which “country” we were from. The young men in Mozambique wore button up shirts due to the influence from the west. The women wore a piece of cloth tied around their body to be used in their daily routine. The young men from Tibet wore a straw hat similar in shape to the hats worn in Tibet and the women wore aprons that were used in their daily routine. 

 (Anne Bond) Issues of Distribution - John 6:1-13 - Feeding the Five Thousand

6After this Jesus went to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, also called the Sea of Tiberias.^{* 2}A large crowd kept following him, because they saw the signs that he was doing for the sick. ³Jesus went up the mountain and sat down there with his disciples. ⁴Now the Passover, the festival of the Jews, was near. ⁵When he looked up and saw a large crowd coming towards him, Jesus said to Philip, ‘Where are we to buy bread for these people to eat?’ ⁶He said this to test him, for he himself knew what he was going to do. ⁷Philip answered him, ‘Six months’ wages^* would not buy enough bread for each of them to get a little.’ ⁸One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to him, ⁹‘There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish. But what are they among so many people?’ ¹⁰Jesus said, ‘Make the people sit down.’ Now there was a great deal of grass in the place; so they^* sat down, about five thousand in all. ¹¹Then Jesus took the loaves, and when he had given thanks, he distributed them to those who were seated; so also the fish, as much as they wanted. ¹²When they were satisfied, he told his disciples, ‘Gather up the fragments left over, so that nothing may be lost.’ ¹³So they gathered them up, and from the fragments of the five barley loaves, left by those who had eaten, they filled twelve baskets.

Feeding the 5000 was a resource distribution problem that Jesus handled very well. We learned about these types of problems in a number of ways. A couple of the lessons left strong impressions.

On our first full day food for lunch was distributed to each group according to their relative wealth in the world. We went into a building one group at a time to pick up our provisions. By the time the last group went in there was very little left for their lunch. It really showed us that there is enough food for everyone but some of us take more than we need.

We also participated in an exercise that pointed out how misinformed we are about the global distribution of population in comparison to resources. We were told to stand on a big world map in the countries that we thought were the most densely populated.  We took off our shoes and left them where we thought the most people were. Then the Heifer staff corrected our misconceptions and we piled the shoes in the proper places. The next step was to put play money in the areas with the most resources or wealth. Once again, we were wrong. Once the play money was properly distributed we learned that resources are often very limited in areas with the most population.

Both of these experiences helped us to really understand the problems of resource distribution and to appreciate the Heifer program of helping people to be self-supporting.  

(Eric Deutsch) Simple Life

Some of the most lasting impressions came from simply living as though we were in a less developed area of the world. In Tibet we milked our goat, Clover, twice a day and cared for her needs. In Mozambique we fed our rabbit and kept their cages clean. We also had projects to do to earn “money” to buy our lunch. In Tibet we worked on building a chicken tractor which is a portable chicken coop that allows for better land management. The chickens are moved so they don’t over-graze and area and so their droppings are spread around to fertilize. In Mozambique we tended the garden which also provided some of our food.  

One of the most important experiences was getting and preparing our own food. One day we used the money we earned to purchase food for lunch in the open market. Another day traded our own food for other food in the market to make a filling, balanced meal. In both cases we learned about the impact of scarcity on hunger and nutrition. We also learned to eat things that normally we don’t particularly like. We were hungry! And, we prepared every meal ourselves in the way that people in Tibet and Mozambique do. Preparation took about an hour for each meal. We developed a great appreciation for the effort it takes in some part of the world to just have a meal, especially compared to our filled refrigerators, stores and restaurants.

One of our best experiences with food came late in the week when we made cheese ourselves with the milk we had taken from our goat, Clover. Some of us had never had this kind of cheese but we all really liked it and were proud of our participation in the process. 

(Katie Wilson) Passing on the Gift

Micah 6:8 - He has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?

By the end of the week we had experienced frustration and fun, humility and strength, ignorance and enlightenment. As we were anticipating the end of the program – air conditioning, snacks, comfortable beds – we had another important experience to round out our education – Passing on the Gift.

Heifer’s recipients agree to share one or more of their animals’ offspring, and also the training they receive, with others in need in what Heifer calls Passing on the Gift. This unique development tool multiplies the benefit of the original gift and allows recipients to become donors. Heifer partners are also taught to prevent overgrazing, collect manure for organic fertilizer, plant trees and manage resources for long-term success.

In the Tibet group, we were told that the lands for our herds were dwindling. The capital of Tibet, Lhasa, was encroaching so we had to get smart about land management to avoid problems of over-grazing. We applied to Heifer International for help and they suggested that we start managing our herds with movable electric fences. The fences are flexible and easy to setup, and they run on big solar batteries. The electric current of the fence is not constant, it pulsates, so animals are not harmed by the shock. The goats, Jett and Clover seemed to have figured it out; they would rather not touch it. Our passing on the gift action was to teach lower Tibet how to setup a fence. Teaching land management practices is listed among the “passing on the gift” activities. We learned that we could improve our herding practices and that we could be good neighbors to other Tibetans who were dealing with the same sort of problems. It made the group feel proud that they could be the teachers and pass on something of importance to another group. 

The Mozambique group made bricks to support rabbit cages and gave a rabbit to the lower Mozambique in a more traditional passing on the gift ceremony. It was a good feeling to be part of even a simulated experience of passing on the gift. It must be a great experience in when it happens in a real-world Heifer project.

(Denise Fried) Closing - We learned a lot about the issues of hunger, resource distribution and development in our week at the Heifer Ranch. We also had a great time. I’m very proud of these kids. They handled themselves and the challenges of the program very nicely. They’ll be in the Gathering Space after worship to answer questions about their time at the Ranch and about Heifer International. Thank you.