Promila And the Runaway Goats


 


India


 


Did you know that even goats can help people want to learn about Jesus.


 


 


“Promila (pro-MEE-lah), Father is coming,” Mother called.


“Come see what he has brought!”


Six-year-old Promila peeked out the door of the family’s tiny bamboo house.


Her eyes grew wide as she saw her father and the pastor bringing five little goats into the yard.  She was not sure whether the goats would bite her, so she stayed safely in the house, which is built on stilts.


It’s OK her mother said, come and help father put them into the pen he has made.”


Promila started down the ramp that led to the ground.  Soon she was helping her brother and sister chase the goats into the pen.  “The goats will stay with us over the Sabbath,” Father said.  “On Sunday the pastor will take them to their new owners in the village.  The goats are a gift…and will help the people in the village earn money.”


The children played with the goats until mother called them to come in.  It was almost sunset and time for worship.  As the sun slid behind the jungle trees, some villagers joined the family for worship.  Soon sounds of happy singing filled the little clearing in the jungle as the people welcomed the Sabbath.  Promila was glad that she and her family were Christians.  She loved to listen to the stories the pastor told them about Jesus.


Runaway Goats


 


Sabbath was a happy day.  The believers again gathered in Promila’s little house for Bible study, prayer, and worship.  After the afternoon meeting ended the children ran outside to visit the goats.  But the goat pen was empty.  Then the children saw a hole in the pen.


“Daddy! Daddy!  The goats are gone!”  Promila yelled as she ran up the ramp and into the house.  “The goats have run away!” She cried.


Everyone went outside to look for the goats.  They searched around the house and under the house, but the goats were not there, they searched behind the bushes and in the rice fields, but the goats were not there either.  Some of the men began looking in the jungle near Promila’s house, but the sun was setting and they had to stop.  It would soon be dark and the jungle is dangerous at night.


“We have to find the goats,” Promila cried.  “We can’t let the wild animals eat them!  Please, Daddy, we must look for them!”


“No,” Father said, “It is not safe for us in the jungle now either.”


Then the pastor made a suggestion.  “We can pray and ask God to protect the goats until we can find them in the morning.  Come, let’s kneel and ask God to send angels to keep the lost goats safe through the night.”


As the grown-ups prayed, Promila whispered her own prayer. ”Please, Jesus, You can do anything.  Please send angels to keep the goats safe.”


That night Promila could not sleep.  She lay on her mat thinking about the goats.  She imagined tigers stalking them.  But then she remembered that God’s angels were watching over the goats.  They would send the tigers away.  Finally promila slept.


 


Looking for the goats


 


Early the next morning, the pastor and Promila’s father set out on the jungle path toward the village they had passed through on Friday when they brought the goats to Promila’s home.  Just before they reached the village, they saw some men walking toward them with five little goats!


“These must be your goats,” one man said.  “They came running down the jungle path last night just before dark.  We are bringing them back to you.”


“Thank you so much!”  Promila’s father said.  “We asked Jesus to send angels to watch over our goats, and He sent you!”


People in the village soon heard about how God had protected the goats.  They began asking questions about the Christian’s powerful God.  And now many more people crowd into Promila’s home on Sabbath to learn more about Jesus and how they can become his followers too.


 


 


C. Aitawna


 


Charlotte Ishkanian


 


 

 


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