Baptist Church of McAdory paves way for gospel by donating 40 goats

We want you to buy a goat.”
   
That was Pastor Bill McCall’s challenge to his congregation. 
   
And strange as it may seem, as a result, residents of a small mountain village in Honduras received a delivery that they knew held the possibility of saving their lives. 
   
The Baptist Church of McAdory, Bessemer, in Bessemer Baptist Association was able to purchase 40 goats through the help of Samaritan’s Purse, a nondenominational evangelical organization that provides farm animals in countries around the world to help provide families with food and a source of income while building relationships that enable the gospel to be shared.
  
The church’s Woman on Mission group spearheaded the project as a tangible way of ministering to children in poverty-stricken countries.
   
“We saw it as a worthy cause to have a hands-on project,” McCall said. “This was a tangible way that we could be involved with missions … an economical way for us to minister to the needs of people.”
   
Most of the villagers in Honduras are subsistence farmers who lack healthy food and drink, so a gift of livestock prevents many children from suffering from malnutrition. The church’s original goal was to purchase 10 goats — a goal they quadrupled. Each goat costs approximately $70.
   
“Through our money, we give the Samaritan’s Purse the means to get into the village to be able to share the gospel,” said church member Susan Harrison.
   
Samaritan’s Purse provided a pregnant goat for each family, as well as four male goats for the community. 
   
Female goats produce almost a gallon of milk a day, enough for the children to drink with plenty left over to make dairy products to eat. With most goats producing two kids a year that can be sold, they also provide a means of income.
   
For more information, visit www.samaritanspurse.org.