Another First

Yesterday we killed a pig - another first for me! I've been around right after they were killed - I've seen then shot when hunting - but don't think I've ever had the experience of participating in the death march!

This was a huge pig! It was about 115KG which tranlates to about 253 lbs!! Did I already say, this was a huge pig?!?! Richard had raised it and wanted to sell it before Christmas. However, the market for pigs has been way down and there was very little interest. Mike and I decided that since we are both from the south (he and Susan are from Mississippi) we just couldn't let good pork pass us by, so we pooled our money and bought ourselves a pig. Fortunately, we did think it through first. John (our New Zealand teammate) was a butcher back home. So he offered to come and slaughter it for us.

So, right after milking, John arrived with tools in hand. He rigged up a snout noose and after several humorous attempts (remember, this pig watched the last one be slaughtered), finally got it snagged around the snout. With a lot of squealing and "pig hollerin" we got him tied up to a post and with a quick stab he bled out and died within a few minutes. Now, before you give me any credit at all, John did all the "dirty" work. I was a simple bystander who had to hold the ropes, help drag the pig and divide up the meat. But it is amazing how much credit you seem to get when you are standing by with guts on your hands and blood on your boots.

I won't go into all the details of the process, but Jill and I do have a couple of great tenderloins and more pork roast then we know what to do with. Mike walked away with some tenderloins and some huge racks of ribs! Fotunately, I live just down the hill and will be able to smell them cooking so I'll know when to stop by for a quick visit! The rest we either sold to other missionaries or gave away to the different folks who helped us with the slaughter.

Oh.....almost forgot one of the reasons I was posting this....Dade, the ever brave son that he is, had quite the experience. Dara has been handling the deaths of animals around this farm quite well. She just stays inside. But Dade likes to be in the middle of everything and is quite fascinated with watching. I told him that he didn't have to be out there, but he wanted to.....until the pig got to hollerin' and it started bleeding out. Jill said he came in the house, holding back tears, but being brave. He stayed inside until it was hung and was being cut up. Never cried, just bit his lower lip and stood strong. My brave little guy!