A Goat Named Peter

I need to tell you about a goat named Peter.

While we were on outreach in Ethiopia, the village elders gave us a goat. Our team excitedly welcomed the goat into their community, almost as if we had adopted a puppy from an animal shelter. Naturally, they named him Peter.

Unfortunately, Peter was on the dinner menu the very next day.

Before you start feeling too sorry for Peter, there was actually a very good reason for this. The village elders hadn't given our team a goat so we could have a pet. They had given them a goat as a gift of honor.

Our team had come to their village as missionaries, bringing the gospel. Missionaries had been coming to their community over the years, and the villagers had seen the impact of the Good News in their lives, families, and community. This goat was their way of saying, "Thank you. We want to honor you."

And suddenly, Peter meant a lot more than just a goat.

What Is the Gospel Worth?

In this part of Ethiopia, a single goat is worth roughly two to four weeks' income for a family. I don't know about you, but it's been a long time since I gave someone nearly a month's income because I wanted to honor them.

That's a significant gift.

And it made me wonder: What is the gospel worth?

For these villagers, the gospel was valuable enough that they wanted to give something significant to honor the people who had helped bring it to them. But sometimes I wonder if those of us who have heard the gospel our entire lives have forgotten just how valuable it is.

We can become so familiar with it that we forget how incredible it is. The God who created us loves us. Jesus came to save us. We can know Him, be forgiven, be transformed, and become part of what He is doing in the world.

That's Good News. Really good news.
And there are still people around the world who have never had the opportunity to hear it.

The Gospel Changes Things

The villagers weren't just grateful that someone had visited their community. They were grateful because something had changed.

The gospel changes people, families, and communities. When people encounter Jesus, He doesn't just give them something interesting to believe. He begins transforming their lives.

And that's one of the reasons I believe missions matters so much.

People don't need us to bring them our culture, our opinions, or our version of a better life. They need the opportunity to hear about Jesus, and there are still people who haven't had that opportunity.

Who Will Tell Them?

Romans 10 asks a question that has stuck with Christians for generations: "How can they believe in Him of whom they have not heard?"

Someone has to go. Someone has to tell them.

But here's the thing: the people who go aren't doing it alone. Some people go, while others send those who go. Some people cross oceans, while others pray for the people crossing them. Some people preach the gospel in a village, while others give so that those people can get there.

Some people meet the communities being transformed by Jesus. Others may never see the transformation firsthand, but they helped make it possible.

That's the beauty of being part of the body of Christ. We don't all have to do the same thing to be part of what God is doing.

Peter Is Also Your Gift

And that's why I think Peter is more than just a funny story about a missionary team accidentally adopting their dinner.

In a way, Peter is also a gift from those villagers to you. Your prayers, generosity, and support help make it possible for missionaries to go to places where people have never heard the gospel.

You may never meet those villagers. You may never visit that village. You may never know every story of what God is doing there. But you can still be part of it.

Because the gospel is worth sharing, worth praying for, worth giving for, worth crossing oceans for, and worth giving our lives to.

So maybe the question isn't simply: What is the gospel worth?

Maybe the better question is: What is it worth to you?

Thank you for investing in the nations. Thank you for praying, thank you for giving, and thank you for helping make stories like Peter's possible.

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*No goats pictured on this page are the real Peter. RIP Peter 🐐