sheep for lunch

Note:  the sheep in this story are not the ones being purchased for the families at Yezelalem Minch

Mussie has kept pretty quiet about our trip to Ethiopia.  He has only once said he was excited to go.  But last night before bed he says to me,

Mussie:  “Mama, I can’t wait to go to Ethiopia!”

Mom:  (because he has not said much about this trip,  I’m excited to hear what he has to say)  “You can’t?  What are you looking forward to?”

Mussie:  “Shooting the sheep.”

Mom:  “Shooting the sheep!?!  What sheep?”

Mussie:  “Nathan says we’re gonna shoot sheep and feed it to the kids.”

Mom: “Well no, we’re not shooting the sheep, we’re buying sheep and someone else is going to butcher the sheep, cook it, and then we get to feed it to the kids.”

Mussie:  “Butcher?  What does that mean?”

Mom:  “That means someone uses a knife to cut the sheep into meat just like Daddy brings his deer to someone to have cut up into meat for us.”

Mussie:  “So we don’t get to shoot the sheep?”

Mom:  “Nope.”

Mussie:  “Do we get to eat the sheep?”

Mom:  “Probably not, but we get to serve it to the kids for lunch.”

Mussie:  “Oh.”

Mussie is talking about the sheep we'll be purchasing on our way to visiting the children in Korah.  We’ll be picking up 3 or 4 sheep to feed about 90 children at the center where we’ll be dropping off the medical supplies.  The woman in charge says the kids love when families or teams come with sheep for lunch.  She says it’s a big treat for them because they don’t get to eat meat often.  It’s gonna be a big treat for Nathan, too!  He can’t wait to lasso those sheep, tie them up to the roof of our van, and surprise the kids at the center with them.  This trip is sounding better and better to Nathan everyday!  After telling the kids we'll be buying sheep to feed the kids for lunch, Nate's eyes got big and his face lit up!  "Awesome!!"  he says .  Oh, Nathan will be in heaven!! (Nathan does know that we are not shooting the sheep, that they are going to be butchered instead.  I think!)