For the past year, Becki Day, a volunteer from Pennsylvania, has carved out a unique role for herself as shepherdess for Nazareth Village. Day’s inquisitive personality and love of animals bode well in transforming this unruly flock of sheep and goats into charmers for thousands of Village visitors who are captivated by the biblical images of sheep and shepherds.

Recently Hannah Byrd captured these highlights during an interview with Becki on the land, with her flock…

Becki Day, Shepherdess

Becki, what was your first impression when you took over the ‘flock’ at Nazareth Village?

Are you serious? I thought: there is NO WAY I can take care of these obnoxious animals! I learned very quickly that sheep are indeed stupid.

The Bible speaks many times of Jesus ‘leading’ us as our shepherd. What has been your experience with leading versus herding the sheep?

I must admit I’m more of a sheep ‘herder’ than ‘leader.’ My attempt to lead the sheep has been to no avail. I tried the food-in-hand method, even the food in my head scarf to attract them…but no enticement worked. They always run off in the wrong direction. Olive trees are a particular distraction. An extreme distraction! There were three things I was told when I arrived: Sheep are not allowed to eat olive trees, grape vines, or flowering plants. Needless to say, this is a working farm and it is a disaster trying to keep all the animals away from everything! In the beginning, I had no relationship with the animals, so of course they weren’t going to simply follow me.

Tell me about relationship with the sheep; how important is it to get the animals to do what you want them to?

I think it’s QUITE imperative! Initially, I was a foreigner among the flock. They had no reason to trust me. Slowly, over time, I found that their behavior improved as a result of my developing a routine with them. I fed them, took them to the same places each day, and back to the pen. But it still didn’t guarantee that they would listen. Some days they were really angelic and I thought I had this shepherding thing figured out…and then the next day everything would cut loose. I thought, ‘How is this possible? Didn’t we bond?’

A couple months ago I was away for two weeks. When I returned, I joined my friends for a tour of the Village rather than assuming my shepherdess role. The people in my tour group said, ‘Do you think they will come if you call them?’ So I went to the pen and started talking and the sheep immediately responded. A couple of the sheep who normally took no notice of me at all were the first to respond to my voice! I took this as an encouraging sign that the relationship was really developing nicely.

You spoke about individual sheep “personalities”; tell me about what you meant.

New-born lambs at Nazareth Village

When I got to the village, there were eight sheep and I had to differentiate between them, even though they all looked the same to me. The first one I could easily name was Majnuuni, which means ‘crazy,’ because she was always wandering away and doing bizarre things, which caused the rest of the flock to react negatively. I read a story once about a shepherd who had a flock, and among his flock was one beautiful ewe. She was perfect… except for the fact that she kept wandering off, and teaching her lambs to do the same. This would was endanger the flock. The shepherd finally had to sell the ewe in order to preserve the flock. I always thought it would make things better if Majnuuni were sold, and just recently she was. Now the difference in the flock is unbelievable. Suddenly, it is much more manageable.

Another interesting personality I notice is in a little lamb who thinks she is a goat! She often runs with the goats, and won’t allow me to touch her. She is not nearly as affectionate as the others. She will even stamp her hoof like a ram! Fascinatingly, she is the one who responded to my voice. I call her B.G. I have names for all the members of my flock.

Please give me some examples of the flock’s names.

Well, we have Chester the billy goat, and Jude, Judah, and Sampson. They are some of the newest additions. Eight baby goats were born, six are still alive. Two of the ewes had mastitis so we had to bottle-feed two baby goats. Since I was the one responsible for feeding them, these two little goats now see me as their mother…if I move out of their view, they start to bleat and cry. Their names are Tra and Ickeb and they recognize my voice and run to me. After watching the connection formed from such a young age by these little goats, I learned how important it is to develop those trust bonds. A sheep farmer who was volunteering for a week when they were born helped me choose names. He suggested that I use our two names spelled backwards: his name is Art and mine is Becki, so Tra and Ickeb they are!

From your new perspective, what is the most noticeable difference between sheep and goats?

The goats are much more independent and believe they are the bosses. They tend to be mean and will pick on any of the sheep, no matter the size. They don’t necessarily flock the way sheep do. Sheep definitely have a ‘herding’ instinct. Goats like to show off; at least, the billy goats do! But sheep seem humble and lowly in a way—very reliant on human leadership and intervention.

I think now I understand more of the qualities that Jesus values, namely humility and obedience. If you work with sheep long enough, they will follow you. Goats don’t seem to feel that need! Sheep also have the humility factor and lack the pecking order that goats possess. Sheep also lack a sense of independence. We must learn to be dependent on God the way sheep are so dependent on their shepherd. The goats would probably be all right without me, but the sheep wouldn’t be. They have no defense mechanism. Their sense of survival reflects that of safety in numbers, which in the end would still not save them from an attack. They have no way to fight off predators.

Have you witnessed any particularly remarkable moments while shepherding that have made an impression on you personally?

One thing that I noticed, that I thought was the sweetest thing, happened during a presentation for visiting school children. One of the village staff took a ewe and lamb and put them in a pen. But he happened to take a random lamb and random ewe. Once the ewe realized she was with the wrong baby, she started to cry out for her lamb. Her baby lamb was bleating too, but because they had been separated, they couldn’t hear each other. The ewe was running around looking for her baby, then all the other ewes began running behind her while she looked for it, until the mother and her little lamb were finally reunited.

As I watched I thought, Wow, that is such a clear picture of how the Body of Christ should be: a support system for each other in times of need!

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Nazarene actor, Loutof Nwesrey, preparing
for the role of a father.

Along with being one of the Galilee region’s popular tourist attractions, Nazareth Village provides another extremely useful tool for the modern world: it serves as a place for film crews wishing to build accurate first century representations that will translate across the medium of television. The Village has proven to be an excellent site and backdrop for filming and reproduction, with staff experienced in providing a broad spectrum of production services. (See the media section of www.nazarethvillage.com.). It is increasingly being sought out as a site location by renowned international television and movie crews. Nazareth Village staff are often requested to double as actors in the productions. Currently the major project on the table is The Nazareth Jesus Knew television series. The ultimate purpose of this program will be to recreate the lifestyle and culture that shaped the teachings of Jesus and convey this to the modern viewer. This program will be a true learning experience that will enhance the viewers understanding of scripture with a focus on the parables. The first group of programs consists of ten thirty minute shows each aimed at a different first century life lesson that ties in with a Biblical theme.

The lowering of the paralytic man to see Jesus

The Miracle of Nazareth International Foundation (MNIF), along with Berg Productions, is currently in the process of raising funds for this project which will feature singer/actor Pat Boone and Gary Bayer as co-hosts. MNIF, a 501(3) c tax deductible organization in the USA, funds capital ventures for the Village. Berg Productions has been producing faith-based programming for television for over 30 years and specializes in filming abroad, particularly in Israel. They have won numerous awards for excellence in production, writing and cinematography. Shooting at the Village was done in late July and early August. The Nazareth Jesus Knew is scheduled to air late in the fourth quarter 2008. This is a great opportunity to share with the world the many insights we have learned at Nazareth Village and to help the viewer have a deeper understanding of God’s Word. If you can help in our efforts to get this important television series into broad distribution, please contact Shirley Roth, Executive Director, at info@nazarethvillage.com.

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On June 5, 2008 the Nazareth Village threshing floor was momentarily transformed from a simple place of straw and stubble into a covenant site for two people. Taking his inspiration from the pages of the book of Ruth, Jacques Nel asked his beloved on the threshing floor to be his wife. The bride-to-be, Chanelle Fiford, blushing with surprise and excitement, readily consented. Just as Boaz took the historic Ruth under his prayer shawl, so Jacques took Chanelle under a prayer shawl to be united before God in a prophetic way. The event was witnessed by their family and friends, who gathered to bless them and pray for them. The ring Jacques presented to Chanelle was inscribed with a verse from Song of Solomon 3:4, "I found him whom my heart loves."

Chanelle Fiford and Jacques Nel

Both Jacques and Chanelle are natives of South Africa and currently live in Jerusalem. Jacques assists his father in guiding tour groups from South Africa around the Land of Israel and teaches them about the Hebrew roots of the Christian faith. They have become friends of the Village as they bring all of their tour groups to experience first-century life. Chanelle came to Israel as a volunteer working with youth with disabilities. More recently she began assisting Jacques’ family with making arrangements for the tour groups. Both Jacques and Chanelle are looking forward to continuing to be involved in this tour ministry as long as they sense this is God’s will for their lives.

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For more information on volunteering, or about the Nazareth Village
co-publishing project with the Bible Society in Israel, write to the
Executive Director, Shirley Roth, at shirley@nazarethvillage.com.

Donations in support of these Village ministries are always welcomed.
For stories and photographs about the Nazareth Village ministry,
visit our website at www.nazarethvillage.com.