A missionary farmer!

A cattle farmer whom I met this week fascinated me with his story and insights.

The first photo is of the oldest cow he has, which he got when he was planning to retire from his work fifteen years ago. He got her as a calf and she had given him seven generations of calves. The second picture is of the five years old cow, again a calf from the first cow. 

He has a name for each of the ten cows he has. 

Now that he has retired, he spends most of the day with his cows. He milks them on his own and takes the milk to the milk society twice in a day. 

What fascinated me about his story is his meticulousness in caring for them. He has a doctor visiting him once in three months to examine each of his cows and to give him feed back about their health. 

He makes the cows listen to music while he milks them. 

He feeds them on his own and talks to them while doing so. He allowed me to stroke one of them and it did move away. His explanation was that his cows are familiar with his touch. He has two people helping him now to look after them as he is in his late seventies. 

He needed this extra income because he needed to care for this wife who needs renal dialysis there times a week. He contemplated renal transplant for her when she had renal failure ten years ago, but he could not afford the initial cost. He gets the dialysis subsidised through a government funding programme. HIs only son has been alcohol dependent and is not therefore not involved in the family affairs. 

He had tears in his eyes while talking about his story. But his affection for his wife and interest to take care of the cows stood out in the conversation.  

He lives in a village and leads a quiet life. 

He asked me at the end of this conversation, 'Do you read the Bible'! Before I could answer him he told me that he reads the sermon on the mount at least once week to remind himself of the way Jesus of Nazareth called us to live. He even quoted me a verse from the sermon on the mount, 'Do not  be anxious for anything...'!

A farmer who lives in difficult circumstances, but is a good news bearer!

I felt at the end of the conversation that I was in a solemn conversation with someone, who lives by the experience of nearness of God in his life!

Is he not a missionary farmer!

M.C.Mathew (text and photo)