HOW TO FEED YOUR LAMB (A Devotional)

Information in Bold is taken from information at www.wikihow.com/Bottle-Feed-a-Baby-Lamb

1. SEE A VET. The vet will be able to tell you exactly what the lamb needs in terms

of care and help you find the proper milk and colostrum replacers to feed your

lamb and assure she gets all the vitamins and minerals she needs.

Sunbeam Sponsor, you need to seek your V.E.T. (Victoriously Effective Teacher-

God) through prayer and Bible study. He is able to tell you exactly what your

lambs need in terms of care and will help you teach the milk of the Word to

feed your lambs. Using the Sunbeam curriculum to teach from will help your

little lambs to be spiritually nourished.

2. Obtain Colostrum Replacer. Colostrum is the first type of milk a ewe

produces after giving birth. It’s vital to the health and well-being of a lamb.

Sunbeam Sponsor, your little lambs will grow from those first lessons beginning

at age two. They need that “milk” of the Word which is vital to the health and

well-being of those little lambs.

Colostrum is important because it contains high levels of nutrients and also

protects against a variety of infectious agents. Lambs do not carry antibodies

at birth, so they need colostrum to help them develop antibodies and combat

potential infections.

Sunbeam Sponsors, feeding your little lambs the colostrum of God’s Word pre-

pares them for the realities of what sin can do to their lives. We are all born as

sinners and are facing the consequences of what sin brings—death. But adding

the colostrum of God’s Word to the diet will help the little lambs to desire the

antibody that will combat the fatal infection. (That antibody is salvation that

Jesus brings by the shedding of His blood on the cross.)

3. Buy lamb milk replacer. Your lamb will need milk replacer for roughly the first

13 weeks of life.

Sunbeam Sponsor, you can find milk supplements free at nationalsunbeams.org

for each level of their growth process: Sparks—birth-till 2; Flicker—age 2-3; Ray 1 &

2—ages 4-5; Beam 1—first grade; Beam 2—second grade; Beacon—third grade.

Make sure the milk replacer is specifically for lambs. Do not try to substitute

milk replacer with products for cows as these have different nutrients and

vitamins and will not keep a lamb healthy.

Sunbeam Sponsors, you do not have to worry about the content when using

the “milk” supplement of the Sunbeam curriculum. This material has been used

for many years with total success. If you choose to use additives be sure you

thoroughly analyze its content to be sure it is compatible with the true and original

“milk” or uncontaminated “meat” of God’s Word.

4. Prepare the bottle. A lamb should be fed with an 8-ounce baby bottle with a

rubber nipple.

Sunbeam Sponsor, your little lambs should be fed from a well prepared lesson,

saturated with prayer, sprinkled with excitement and presented with love.

5. Form a feeding schedule. Once you get past the initial 24-hour period, you

should set and follow a feeding schedule for your lamb.

Sunbeam Sponsor, your little lambs will thrive with a well-planned schedule.

They behave better when a routine is in place. A schedule is necessary not only

for the classroom time, but for your weekly schedule. A slight change in

routine, little by little, will also help keep your lambs from getting bored. Surprise

them periodically to keep class time from getting stale.

6. Hold the lamb’s head up, allowing her to stand, and let her feed.

Sunbeam Sponsor, your little lambs need to know that you love them. When they

see your familiar face each week, your faithfulness and they experience your

excitement, joy and love they will be a much better student. You may be their only

“constant” in their life. You may be the only one who is feeding them God’s Word.

You may be the only one that they can confide in. You may be the one who leads

them to the Lord’s saving grace. Take your position as Sunbeam Sponsor very

seriously. Your little lambs will learn from you that they need a Savior to take

them to their eternal home one day.

7. Add fresh water, hay, and grass after the first week. After a week of bottle

feeding with colostrum and then milk, your lamb should have some solid foods

in her diet.

Sunbeam Sponsor, since you have been faithfully feeding your little lambs from

the milk of God’s Word they should now be ready for some solid food. Each step

in the Sunbeam curriculum contains lessons that are age appropriate. Sometimes

you may want to teach a lesson in a fresh way. Instead of using flannelgraphs or

flip story boards, use videos or have someone act out the story. You could use

puppets or even have someone (an adult, a GMA or Galilean) to come and tell the

Bible story. Try recording your little lambs as they try to retell the story.

9. Increase the feeding amount every two weeks. You should increase the amount

of milk your lamb gets as she grows.

Sunbeam Sponsor, as you know, a child’s attention span increases as they get older.

Increase their study time with each step. Planning centers of learning with appropriate

time schedules helps not only with attention and learning, but it helps every

child who learns in different ways. (See chart) Your Sunbeams will be totally

different than someone else’s. Do what works best for you and your classes. Also,

if you do not have enough teachers for the steps your lambs are on, you may have

to combine them into one class. This will be another reason that “centers” would

work out for you.

9. Make sure your lamb is weaned of milk by 13 weeks.

Sunbeam Sponsor, when your little lambs have completed the Beacon step (third

grade) they should have been fed a healthy diet of the milk of the Word. They

are now ready to be introduced to a diet that will grow them to be “spiritually-fit”

pre-teens and teens in the GMA and Galilean programs.

10. Monitor a lamb after a meal to make sure she’s gotten enough to eat.

Sunbeam Sponsor, at the end of your lesson recap with fun games, questions,

or some kind of feedback to see if your little lambs digested any of what you

taught. Correct any miscommunication without making your lambs retreat

from learning. Make learning a fun experience.

11. Take measures to prevent hypothermia. Lambs are often bottle fed

because they’re orphaned or abandoned.

Sunbeam Sponsor, if you see your little lambs withdrawing from you or the other

classmates, there is usually a reason. Your little lamb may be sick, sad, upset,

scared, confused or hurt. If you can, try to find the cause. Some little lambs

just want attention. Give a little extra attention, if necessary, but not to the

extent of neglecting the other lambs. Some little lambs may have serious family

issues which may contribute to the child’s attention problems. Keep praying for

God’s presence to handle such situations. You may have to seek help on how

to handle certain little lambs.

12. Guard against pneumonia. Pneumonia is a common problem in lambs,

especially those that need to be bottle fed as they do not always get the

proper antibodies to fight off bacteria even with colostrum replacers.

Sunbeam Sponsors, you may have some little lambs who are very faithful in

their attendance. They are getting that needed “milk” to keep them as

nourished as possible at their age. But you may also have some lambs who

only come every once in a while. These little lambs may not be as spiritually

nourished as they need to be. So never neglect having a lesson time. They

probably are not getting any Biblical training any other place in their lives.

Make your lesson time a priority.