They know my voice

A friend of ours had gotten a new job, a perfect job that he was enjoying more than any job he'd had since coming to the city 20 years ago. The city had brought two reindeer down from the north for a festival and at the end of the festival they didn't want to pay the cost of sending them back, but instead of slaughtering them Sergei had convinced the city authorities to let him care for the animals and give sled rides to visitors to the Holiday Park.

In Krasnoyarsk the Holiday Park is on an island in the middle of the city's large river. No cars are allowed on the island. It was the perfect home for a pair of misplaced reindeer.

We went down to Holiday Island to catch up with Sergei and meet his charges. Sergei met us near the entrance and I asked him "Where are the reindeer?" I couldn't see a pen anywhere.

Sergei raised his two mittened hands to cup his mouth and shouted out "Mot! Mot, mot, mot!" and again, "Mot! Mot, mot, mot!"

At a distance far enough away that I couldn't see them till they moved, two reindeer heads popped up from grazing.

And without hesitation they came running.

Sergei and I were at the time working on translating the "Reindeer Bible Stories" into Evenki. This was a set of Bible stories with a shepherding theme. His favourite was the story of the Lost Reindeer. That one meant something to him, knowing how valuable he was to Jesus, even though he had spent years lost and far from the shepherd.

But, out of the whole experience the image that still sticks with me is those reindeer's response to Sergei's call. They heard him, they knew his voice. They came willingly and urgently. Not out of fear but relationship. Sergei barely noticed this because to him it was so natural that it barely deserved a comment.

John 10:27 My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.

At a distance far enough away that I couldn't see them till they moved, two reindeer heads popped up from grazing.