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BY AMY SARAH LEWIS

Last year, I began adopting rescue horses. Most people do not know that more than 10,000 horses a year, many young, healthy and sound, are exported en masse from this country to slaughterhouses in Mexico and Canada where they are killed for their horsemeat, considered a delicacy in European and Asian nations. I didn't know much about rescue horses at first.

All that I knew was that I had wanted a horse in the worst way ever since childhood. After raising two daughters alone, and in spite of a demanding pastoral vocation, I began searching for my horse immediately after my daughters graduated from high school and college last spring.

The first horse I adopted is named Willie. I found him through the Acres of Hope Farm website. After Willie came "Tee," and then my third horse, a black Paso Fino named Fancy.

I have to admit that I was initially quite nervous about taking on the care of three horses. Living on a pastor's salary, having a mortgage, student loans for one daughter and massive hospital bills for another made this newest venture with equines seem almost foolhardy. How could we afford three horses when we could barely make our bills?

I took the matter to the Lord in prayer. "Lord, you have brought me this ministry with rescue horses," I said. "Help make it happen."

What God has provided for us is nothing less than miraculous. The owner of a laundromat gave me two horse blankets that someone left behind in a dryer that were exactly the right size. I came home one night to find three barely-used saddles sitting on my front porch, the gift of an interested neighbor. Out of the blue, a church member gave me $50 for feed. My father has taken upon himself working extra hours with his law firm to help fund the large cost of caring for three horses. I have had multiple offers of help with the many responsibilities and chores that are part of horse care.

I've shared a lot of my equine adventures with folks at my church, and even have mentioned some of my worries as they have arisen. "If God brought you to it, God will bring you through it," said Jeff Weese, one of our newest church members.

As I continue my journey as a "steward" of three beautiful horses and as God has continued to provide for my ministry with such a lovely part of God's creation, I have learned that nothing could be more true.

The Rev. Amy Sarah Lewis is pastor of Good Shepherd UMC in Baltimore.