I Bought a Goat

I bought a goat today. I bought it at church, of all places. Today was a fundraising Sunday at the little English-speaking chapel that is adjacent to the PIASS campus. There are only about 50 congregants, the majority of whom are students. The English service has only been in existence for about a year. Prior to that, the service was in French. As a “new” congregation, we are operating with the barest of essentials for worship leadership. We have an electronic keyboard, which is a blessing. It was donated. Then we use two tables, one as a communion table and one to hold the keyboard. We have a wooden bench behind the one table. One of the ladies of the congregation donated table runners in the correct colors for the liturgical seasons of the year. These are the paraments. It is bare, but functional.

About a month ago, the pastor announced that the elders (mostly students) wanted to raise funds to buy a real communion table and pulpit for the chapel. After much discussion, it was decided that we should proceed, even though the students do not have much money. One of the other lecturers at PIASS offered to head the fundraising activities. Today was the designated Sunday. Two of us gave money to help subsidize the project, so there was a reasonable amount that they congregation needed to raise. People were invited to bring items to be auctioned to raise the funds. So after the sermon, everyone went outside and gathered the items they had brought and danced them down the aisle to present them for the auction. Some brought money and contributed that. That was my plan. The items for auction included a floor mat, bananas, green peppers, tomatoes, homemade biscuits and a goat. We started the bidding on the goat, to get him out of the building quickly. No one bid. In an attempt to get things going, I opened the bid. I had not intentions of buying the goat. I just wanted to get things started.  The truth is that the goat was a generous gift by one of the lecturers who raises them, but the students couldn’t afford to bid. One of the other lecturers made a bid after mine and I breathed a sigh of relief. I thought I was off the hook. But every country does auctions differently, I found out. Here, someone can add to a bid, to help the original bidder get the item. They contribute the money in addition to the original bid and the item goes to the original bidder, when it is sold. So students who could not afford to bid on the goat added bits to my bid and to the other lecturer’s bid and the price when up. In the end, my bid, with the additions of several students’ was the top bid. I go the goat.

That was never my intention. It’s not that I didn’t have the money. I did, or I wouldn’t have bid in the first place. The issue was I didn’t want the goat. I don’t know how to keep a goat and I certainly don’t want to slaughter a goat. If I won’t kill a chicken, why would I kill a goat? Now the question was what to do with the goat? As I listened to the bidding on other items, and knowing the students’ financial constraints, I hit on an idea – give the goat to the students who had “helped” me bid to get it. So at the end of the auction, I announced my plan. It was met with silence. I wondered if I had made yet another mistake. But then the pastor translated my offer into Kinyarwanda and there was a great cheer and applause. The offer was received, once it was understood. On the way out of church, at the end of the service, each of the students came up to me to thank me. They were thrilled to have the goat. I was pleased to have contributed to the fundraiser and thrilled to NOT be taking the goat home with me. Everyone came away satisfied, and we raised enough money to finish the project. Praise God.