Exodus 12:1 -11 abridged
"Now the Lord spoke... '...On the 10th of this month every man shall take for himself a lamb...a lamb for a household. And if the household is too small for the lamb, let him and his neighbor next to his house take it... Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the 1st year...Now you shall keep it until the 14th day of the same month. Then the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it at twilight... then they shall eat the flesh on that night; roasted in fire, with unleavened bread and with bitter herbs they shall eat it. Do not eat it raw, nor boiled at all with water, but roasted in fire - it's head and it's entrails. You shall let none of it remain until morning, and what remains of it until morning you shall burn with fire... It is the Lord's Passover... and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgement: I am the Lord."
We are continually amused by the similarities we see as we read the New Testament and as we walk through the streets of Tenali. Our grasp and understanding of Biblical concepts are challenged and expanded daily. Personally I've been spending a lot of time reading the book of Matthew, grasping for how Christ interacted with the multitudes of people that followed him, desperate for a miracle or to hear him teach. The massive amounts of people and the constant attention has been difficult for me and I wonder how Christ remained loving and attentive when there was so much demand.
In reading his One Year Bible, on January 30th, John Brokenshire came across Exodus 2 and the description of the Passover. He was struck by the symbolism of the community we are living in. He was struck at how important a shepherd's job truly is. He was struck by the symbolism of Christ as the lamb led to slaughter. And he was excited at God's response to the people's obedience - that He would execute judgement over all the gods of Egypt.
In sharing this with the team, we began praying that God would execute judgement on all the gods of India. It has been a constant prayer that God would continue to draw our team closer together as family and continue to grant us unity and love. Somehow in all of that, we decided that on the 10th of this month we would purchase a lamb in it's first year, we would take special care of it until the 14th, and we would slaughter it and roast it together. It turns out a 1 year old lamb will feed about 50 people, so we are joining with Suresh's family, as well as with our India Residency members and a few Harvest India staff members. The 14th also happens to be Valentine's day.
Not totally sure of how we felt about getting to know our dinner, or participating in the slaughter, it has created some truly intimate conversations among our team. How do we handle decisions when the team is not in full agreement? Do we continue towards what a few feel convicted to participate in, and a few are uncomfortable with? At what point do decisions need to be unanimous? We've discussed morals, and comfort, boundaries and convictions. We have had to stop in the midst of plans and truly explore the reasons behind each of our feelings. What I initially thought a humorous experience (not thinking past visiting a field and picking a lamb), suddenly had deep and profound implications. The more I thought about it I realized that this might be a once in a lifetime experience, so I was in.
So conversations began with Suresh. "No! You're crazy man." was Suresh's response. "You will ruin relations with me and ROCKHARBOR. They will think I am teaching you bad theology." But as we explained our hearts behind the reasons, he agreed and began negotiations with a local shepherd.
John, Crystal, Taylor and I took the 30 minute trek, and arrived in a Hindu village that has not had much interaction with white people. They were not expecting us, so there were no crowds, flower garlands, or flying petals. It was amazing. We strolled down a dirt path, lined by small farms of water buffalo, goats and chickens. We came to an open field and met the farmer, who was not expecting white people. He introduced us to his flock and pointed out the sheep within their first year. We learned that shepherds live nomadic lives here. They are hired by land owners to come camp out, live off the land, and allow their sheep to graze and fertilize the area. We thought of Christ and his nomadic ministry. We chose the sheep that was without defect and were glad that he was a far cry from the cute, white, fluffy image we all had in our minds. We haggled with the shepherd as he tried to peg us with the "white tax", jacking his quoted price up 1,000 Ruppees (about $20). I stood firm and refused to go above the price he gave Suresh on the phone.
And so I introduce you to E. Billy Babu Brown Sheep. E stands for Exodus. Babu is the Telugu word for little boy. Billy, Brown & Sheep just made sense to our American minds.
We will celebrate all that God has done and will do this Monday, February 14th. While not everyone will participate in the preparation of our dinner, we are all very excited for our sheep kabobs (we aren't following to the letter of the Law as we are no longer under the laws of the Old Testament.) Our India friends will spice it up with Mutton Curry. Together we will worship, praise God, and pray for judgement on all the gods of India.
"Now the Lord spoke... '...On the 10th of this month every man shall take for himself a lamb...a lamb for a household. And if the household is too small for the lamb, let him and his neighbor next to his house take it... Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the 1st year...Now you shall keep it until the 14th day of the same month. Then the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it at twilight... then they shall eat the flesh on that night; roasted in fire, with unleavened bread and with bitter herbs they shall eat it. Do not eat it raw, nor boiled at all with water, but roasted in fire - it's head and it's entrails. You shall let none of it remain until morning, and what remains of it until morning you shall burn with fire... It is the Lord's Passover... and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgement: I am the Lord."
We are continually amused by the similarities we see as we read the New Testament and as we walk through the streets of Tenali. Our grasp and understanding of Biblical concepts are challenged and expanded daily. Personally I've been spending a lot of time reading the book of Matthew, grasping for how Christ interacted with the multitudes of people that followed him, desperate for a miracle or to hear him teach. The massive amounts of people and the constant attention has been difficult for me and I wonder how Christ remained loving and attentive when there was so much demand.
In reading his One Year Bible, on January 30th, John Brokenshire came across Exodus 2 and the description of the Passover. He was struck by the symbolism of the community we are living in. He was struck at how important a shepherd's job truly is. He was struck by the symbolism of Christ as the lamb led to slaughter. And he was excited at God's response to the people's obedience - that He would execute judgement over all the gods of Egypt.
In sharing this with the team, we began praying that God would execute judgement on all the gods of India. It has been a constant prayer that God would continue to draw our team closer together as family and continue to grant us unity and love. Somehow in all of that, we decided that on the 10th of this month we would purchase a lamb in it's first year, we would take special care of it until the 14th, and we would slaughter it and roast it together. It turns out a 1 year old lamb will feed about 50 people, so we are joining with Suresh's family, as well as with our India Residency members and a few Harvest India staff members. The 14th also happens to be Valentine's day.
Not totally sure of how we felt about getting to know our dinner, or participating in the slaughter, it has created some truly intimate conversations among our team. How do we handle decisions when the team is not in full agreement? Do we continue towards what a few feel convicted to participate in, and a few are uncomfortable with? At what point do decisions need to be unanimous? We've discussed morals, and comfort, boundaries and convictions. We have had to stop in the midst of plans and truly explore the reasons behind each of our feelings. What I initially thought a humorous experience (not thinking past visiting a field and picking a lamb), suddenly had deep and profound implications. The more I thought about it I realized that this might be a once in a lifetime experience, so I was in.
So conversations began with Suresh. "No! You're crazy man." was Suresh's response. "You will ruin relations with me and ROCKHARBOR. They will think I am teaching you bad theology." But as we explained our hearts behind the reasons, he agreed and began negotiations with a local shepherd.
John, Crystal, Taylor and I took the 30 minute trek, and arrived in a Hindu village that has not had much interaction with white people. They were not expecting us, so there were no crowds, flower garlands, or flying petals. It was amazing. We strolled down a dirt path, lined by small farms of water buffalo, goats and chickens. We came to an open field and met the farmer, who was not expecting white people. He introduced us to his flock and pointed out the sheep within their first year. We learned that shepherds live nomadic lives here. They are hired by land owners to come camp out, live off the land, and allow their sheep to graze and fertilize the area. We thought of Christ and his nomadic ministry. We chose the sheep that was without defect and were glad that he was a far cry from the cute, white, fluffy image we all had in our minds. We haggled with the shepherd as he tried to peg us with the "white tax", jacking his quoted price up 1,000 Ruppees (about $20). I stood firm and refused to go above the price he gave Suresh on the phone.
And so I introduce you to E. Billy Babu Brown Sheep. E stands for Exodus. Babu is the Telugu word for little boy. Billy, Brown & Sheep just made sense to our American minds.
We will celebrate all that God has done and will do this Monday, February 14th. While not everyone will participate in the preparation of our dinner, we are all very excited for our sheep kabobs (we aren't following to the letter of the Law as we are no longer under the laws of the Old Testament.) Our India friends will spice it up with Mutton Curry. Together we will worship, praise God, and pray for judgement on all the gods of India.
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| The Shepherd and the papa ram |
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| E. Billy Babu hanging out while our money was counted |
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| Taylor and RamRaj getting cozy in the van with E. Billy Babu |
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