I thought I’d share this interesting bit of Indiana History I came across while reading Howard Peckham’s “Indiana: A History.” He was discussing Indiana’s religious landscape and the fact that Indiana’s churches weren’t, by and large, a liberalizing force in the state.
Yet if it has seemed that Indiana churches were self-absorbed and isolationist, that was not a true picture, either. A few sects have been conspicuous leaders in international outreach.
. . .
The Church of the Brethren sponsored relief work in Spain after that country’s civil war. It was a Brethren agent, Dan West of Goshen, who conceived of the Heifer Project in 1944, aimed at reestablishing herds in war-ravaged countries. He collected donated livestock, raised money for shipping them to a port, and asked the recipient country to pay the final shipping charges. The first offspring of a donated animal had to be given to another family, but after that all of the new-born animals might be kept by the original recipient. Cows, bulls, goats, sheep, hogs, and rabbits have been exported. In 1952, the project sent three planes, each loaded with 72,000 eggs, directly from Indiana to Korea to revive the poultry-and-egg industry. Today, more than half the chickens in Korea are of Hoosier descent. Don’t speak to Koreans about Hoosiers being self-centered isolationists.
(Emphasis and any typos are mine.)
It’s good to read about decent Hoosier chickens and their descents…
You might be joking, but I enthusiastically agree!
Ah, I get it. “Decent/descent” typo fixed.
An interesting article in today’s NY Times Magazine which mentions the Heifer Project. It seems that our familiar Holsteins are crowding out native African species, which although better adapted to the environment, don’t produce as much milk.
Of course now they’re finding out that the Holsteins impact the environment much more – want more milk = need more grass.
http://tinyurl.com/2umogl
St. Paul’s Lutheran Church has worked with the heifer project for years.