December 28, 2009...10:56 am
MooJesus! at EverythingJesus! Ranch
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We picked this raw dairy out of a list of many (some closer to Austin) raw dairies simply because of its name: MooJesus!
But perhaps it was some sort of divine intervention, as 1/2 of Team TLSP ventured to Seguin, Texas for raw milk adventures and ended up finding kindred spirits.
Video footage forthcoming of the entire trip, but it started with a gaggle of giggly girls half-afraid MooJesus! was a cult (would I come back named MooLyssa?). As we bump-bump-bumped down a dirt road past the first set of EverythingJesus! gates with giant iron crosses and then past a second, matching, gate, we joked that the road to Heaven sure is bumpy. Then we were inside, and signs pointed us to MooJesus! Nervously we got out and went inside a small house.
Inside, we were excitedly greeted by Pastor Gina, who as the matriarch of a multiple-generation family must be older than she looks. She was bringing in fresh lettuce from the garden. Sheldon, her sweet son close to our ages, brought us price lists for ordering the dairy products, and said he'd start us on dinner. Grandma was around too. The whole family was joyful, light of spirit.
It was a wonderful thing to experience, the radiant, shiny, unadulterated happiness that emanates from people who are truly content.
Sheldon spent much time talking with us, but not before he brought us these:
Whey-to-go drinks made of fresh pineapple, ginger, and whey. AWESOME!
While we perused the products (do I want whey? what is whey? I want buttermilk. What do I use buttermilk for? How much milk are you getting?), Sheldon began to urge us to eat more butter. Sheldon, we argued, we love butter! We eat Paleo, so we're all about good fats. Naturally, this hurtled us into a nutrition conversation the likes of which few enjoy, but we simply ate (erm) up. Sheldon was well versed in Weston A. Price, handing us pamphlets, and also giving us book recommendations. We captured some of his opinions on film, but he got shy with the camera out.
He brought us bread and butter:
Easily my favorite part of the meal. The bread is of sprouted wheat, sprouted and ground right in their kitchen. The butter was rich, creamy, salty, sweet, light--in other words, amazing. The sprouted grain bread sent us off into a discussion about sprouted grains, what it does for your body, and if it's Paleo or not. Sheldon launched into a long metaphor about mechanics, overalls, and tuxedos: the grain is like a mechanic wearing a tuxedo with overalls over it to cover the tux while he does the dirty work. But when you take off the overalls, a beautiful tuxedo is revealed. His main point was this: "Make sure you get the overall off, you want that tuxedo on your plate."
Why yes, yes I do want a tuxedo on my plate.
A fresh salad with pomegranate balsamic dressing. Delish!
Gina brought us out dinner, a sprouted grain veggie patty served on a portabella mushroom cap with a side of ground beef and a dollop of avocado (for good fat).
Gotta love a place that serves ground beef as a side just because they want you to taste the happy cow. Pastor Gina says, "That's fresh meat. I could tell you the name of the cow... nah, that's too personal." The beef was good, but the sprouted grain patty was really good. Of course, by now we're totally stuffed because we've devoured whey drinks, yogurt (not pictured), bread, butter, and salad, but it was too good to listen to our bellies: we cleaned our plates. (Dinner: $20)
And then we waited while they prepared our orders. While we came for raw milk, I left with the milk, buttermilk (what DO I do with it?), whey, yogurt, butter, bread, sprouted grain flour, 5 pounds of ground beef, 2 pounds of brisket, and 1 1/2 pounds of tenderloin. And sans $154. But happy to be in with raw dairy for the next couple of weeks! My other team members ordered more meat, and a few other things--cheese, cream. Overall, we left with three GIANT boxes of loot.
As for our fears of being converted to EverythingJesus! religion? Completely unfounded. We prayed before dinner. Pastor Gina mentioned once, in all earnest excitement, that she thanks God for bringing us (three beautiful girls, thanks Pastor Gina!) to the ranch.
Pastor Gina told us a story about a group of underprivileged kids that came out to the ranch. She had all these educational activities planned but when she saw how excited they were just to be outside, she scrapped it all and just let them run around the ranch. Their supervisors were nervous, but Gina said they can't hurt themselves, let them enjoy the land and explore on their own.
At its base, Gina's actions are that of a generous parent, full of respect and trust for her children. But ultimately her actions are also a huge metaphor for religion, and I'd imagine the way she runs her church: bring the parishioners to (Moo)Jesus, and let them enjoy the land and explore on their own.
Bottom line: they won't try to convert you, they'll serve you an awesome meal, and you'll walk away with 14 pounds of beef you didn't know you needed, plus 3 gallons of milk products. Obviously a total win.
Insider tips:
1) Call Pastor Gina at (830)491-8557 to let her know you're coming.
2) Order your goodies ahead by calling or emailing using their grocery list.
3) It's about an hour and a half away. Enjoy a leisurely dinner. Plan accordingly.
MooJesus! at EverythingJesus! Ranch
12061 FM 466
Seguin, TX 78155
The Gazette-Enterprise
November 6, 2008
Education, nutrition and
religion meet
Beyond the Steeple: Ranch
uses work to help teach core values
by
Tucker Stephenson
Working Hard SEGUIN
— In the Bible, one of
Jesus’ most famous miracles occurred when he turned water into wine.
It’s no surprise that this and other examples of his work have
been emulated by the founders of the Everything Jesus Ranch, who are using
old-fashioned hard work to turn the fruits of their labor into education and
opportunity.
“We’re a Christian church, but we’re a Christian church that’s
not the typical sort of, ‘this is the church, this is the steeple,’” Genesis
Christian Church Director and Pastor Gina Tillman-Young said. “What we try to
do is, through ministry, address all of the aspects that are involved in whole
and healthy  and
happy lives, first for children and then for the families of children.”
You see, the
ranch is home to the Genesis Christian Academy, a free-tuition school with a
current enrollment of 18 students. But that’s not the only structure built on
the 100-acre property, nor is it the most surprising.
Within the borders of
the Everything Jesus Ranch also stands a licensed hand-milking dairy, which
produces raw milk that is sold to fund the small school’s educational
programs.“One of the first things we did when we got here was get cows and
start learning about dairy farming,” Tillman-Young said. “I knew only from
reading that raw milk was very, very good
for you, and at that point in time, it was all theoretical because I’m
lactose-intolerant and I didn’t even care for the taste of milk.”
That was until Tillman-Young began to drink raw milk, which is
milk that has not been pasteurized or homogenized, but rather strained through
a micron filter — a process that is done three times at the ranch before being
sold. After Tillman-Young began to drink the beverage, she began to lose weight
and also found that her severe joint pains simply vanished.
“I was having problems with what looked like early onset
arthritis, wake up in the morning and can’t stand up straight, that kind of
thing,” Tillman-Young said. “And as I started drinking milk, I just started
losing weight and the other thing I found was that the joint problems just went
away.”
Other things like skin problems and complexion — those types
of things, just cleared up. So my experience supports all of the research and
the anecdotes about raw milk.”
Tillman-Young isn’t the only one learning about the benefits
of raw milk, however. The students at Genesis Christian Academy are hands-on
participants in the milking process and have also learned more about the
animals along the way. It’s all part of what
Tillman-Young refers to as the practical application of faith.
“Our kids take a course, and we say this jokingly because we
really just sort of expose them to the dairy and barn life, but we call it ‘Cow
101,’” Tillman-Young said. “So they go down to the barn and they know about the
anatomy and physiology of the cow and they’re learning how to milk and they
understand a lot about sanitation, so it’s all integrated and the learning that
they do in the classroom now has a purpose and sort of a final objective.”
In addition to the sale of the raw milk, which does have a
noticeably cleaner taste, the ranch also offers certified naturally grown
produce and has recently added pasture-fed meats to the list of items sold at
its country store.
Think of it as a much smaller, yet more authentic version of
Whole Foods.
“The selling of the products is recent,” Tillman-Young said.
“We were only licensed, I think it was the end of July. What we did is we used
ourselves as guinea pigs first, we sort of perfected the process of milking, we
went ahead and built the barn, we helped ourselves to understand what all the
sanitary considerations were, in terms of being able to create a product that
we could present to the public and know that it was going to be really clean
and healthy for them.
“It was only after we were licensed that we were able to tell
people, ‘Here we are.’”
The best part of the store’s credo is Tillman-Young’s belief
that healthy, organic foods shouldn’t just be available to the elite. And all
of that ties back into the academy’s teachings, which are centered around a
Christian-based lifestyle.
“It was actually part of our church’s wellness ministry
because now the raw milk attracts people, and people come in on Saturday, which
is really our biggest store day,” Tillman-Young said. “People come in and they
start to pray and they exchange with each other health problems they’re having
or successes they’ve had through natural kinds of processes and so on and we
usually have a table full of samples there with milk and other types of
products.”
Because of the economy’s recent slump, this little country
store is now the main source of funding for the Genesis Christian Academy.
Fortunately, there are quite a few volunteers who ensure that the ranch keeps
running as it should. After all, everyone there is working towards a common
goal.
“We’re in a partnership here, and our partnership has to do
with the mutual interest in two things — God and the children,” Tillman-Young
said.
Visit www.moojesus.com for more information about
the store, school and dairy, including an informative video made by some of the
students. The Everything Jesus Ranch is located at 12061 FM 466 and can be
reached at (830) 379-9700.
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