Over the years, I’ve enjoyed Len Lear's stories in the Chestnut Hill Local. He is a big part of its being such a good neighborhood paper. Last week, I especially enjoyed reading his article about Heifer International (“A long career later, this interview still stands out,” Sept. 12).
I grew up in Indiana in the Church of the Brethren, and I knew Dan West (founder of Heifer International). As a boy, I was very familiar with The Heifer Project, as it was then known. The Church of the Brethren is one of the traditional peace (pacifist) churches along with the Friends and the …
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Over the years, I’ve enjoyed Len Lear's stories in the Chestnut Hill Local. He is a big part of its being such a good neighborhood paper. Last week, I especially enjoyed reading his article about Heifer International (“A long career later, this interview still stands out,” Sept. 12).
I grew up in Indiana in the Church of the Brethren, and I knew Dan West (founder of Heifer International). As a boy, I was very familiar with The Heifer Project, as it was then known. The Church of the Brethren is one of the traditional peace (pacifist) churches along with the Friends and the Mennonites.
The Heifer Project was an outgrowth of the calling to service that those traditions preach. Dan West was a tall, dignified, white-haired older gentleman, an elder statesman of the denomination. The article brought back fond childhood memories of contributing coins to send cows, sheep or chickens overseas and of older boys and farm dads volunteering to be “cowboys” on a Heifer shipment.
As you mentioned, the animals were given homes with the idea that a firstborn would be passed on to someone else. Also, part of the ethic was that only excellent animals would be sent. The recipients not only got an animal but a very good animal, probably a finer specimen than they ever imagined owning. Thank you for the story.
Rudy Sprinkle
Mt. Airy
