SEATTLE, WA – Warning: This may be the strangest article ever to appear on Missions Box News. If the title, “CVM – Helping Hurting Animals,” hasn’t aroused your curiosity, read on.

“When animals are hurting, their owners are hurting also.”

Relationship

You know it’s true. An almost inexplicable bond develops in the relationship between an animal and its owner. The truth is self-evident in our relationships with our household pets. Some folks believe that our pets show us their love for us by their attachment to us.

We even talk to our animals like they are humans. (Dogs understand and obey. Cats understand but don’t care.) My uncle was a dairy farmer. He named them and talked to them. I still believe that if he called an individual cow’s name, she would leave the herd and follow him.

My uncle and I shared something in common in our relationships with our animals, whether they were dogs or cows. If our animals were hurting, we hurt too. They become a member of the family.

Dependency

Owning a cow or a dog is a dependent relationship. The animals depend on us for nourishment and care.

What we often don’t appreciate is that, in many developing nations, not only are a family’s animals dependent upon the family, the family is often dependent on the animals. In fact, this codependency is existential for both.

Animals like cattle, chickens, and goats are sources of income for families struggling in the throes of poverty. Milk and eggs provide a steady income that is able to substantially improve that family’s economic condition. The offspring of their animals can become a source of income as well, whether for expanding the herd to increase daily production or by selling the animal itself.

Preservation

The preservation of healthy animals is the responsibility of their owners.

If a family has three cows, but two of them contract a disease and die, the family has one-third of the income-producing herd they once had. This could push the entire family back to the edge of despair. The loss of the animals is an existential threat to the family.

What if?

The phrase “what if” is usually followed by some crazy idea that no one else has considered. But the question is worth asking and answering.

What if there were Christian veterinarians who were also willing to serve as missionaries who heal animals, teach native people how to care for their animals, and represent the Lord Jesus Christ as well?

It may sound like an odd idea, but it has already been proven to work. The Christian Veterinary Mission actively serves communities in Africa, South America, the Caribbean, and even in impoverished rural North America.

CVM deploys veterinarians, technicians, and students to live among and serve small subsistence farmers. By coming alongside poor farming families and communities, they are able to use their veterinary skills and resources to teach indigent farmers best practices in animal husbandry. They have the knowledge and resources to prevent or forestall tragedy befalling the farmers’ animals.

Pay close attention because this is what makes the spiritual impact of the Christian Veterinary Mission so successful. (You may have read this before.)

“When animals are hurting, their owners are hurting also.”

CVM veterinarians are able to help hurting animals and bring healing to hurting souls.

I like people who like my dog, but when she is sick, I love my veterinarian. I can’t even begin to imagine how much I would love the vet who saved my precious goat, chickens, or cow, especially if he brought healing for my hurting soul as well.

We all have roles to play in the great discipleship journey. It’s one thing to donate funds to provide animals for poor farming families. It is just as important to deploy qualified veterinary missionaries who also have an intimate relationship with our Lord.

I don’t know about you, but I rejoice in the work being done by the Christian Veterinary Mission.

If you want to learn more about CVM, be sure to visit their website. You’ll be glad you did.

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