Press

Lakeville Journal 

Nov 28, 2018 

WEST CORNWALL — For donkeys, the Christmas holidays are the season to shine, as they take a starring role in pageants and nativities around the world. 

It would be an understatement to say that during the rest of the year donkeys don’t get much respect. In China especially, they are slaughtered for their skin, which is melted down into a gelatin and used in cosmetics and medicines. 

“They have wiped out most of their own donkey population, so now there is a huge black market for donkey skins,” said Joseph Rose, who with his wife, Heidi, is co-executive director at Trinity Retreat Center. The 55-acre West Cornwall facility, which reopened in 2016 after being closed for five years, is a mission property of Trinity Church Wall Street. 

For Rose, the donkey is more than just a beast of burden or a source of youthful skin. 

“Donkeys represent compassion,” as well as stewardship, faith, integrity, social justice and inclusiveness, Rose said. “These are our retreat center’s core values.” 

Protecting the flock 

In the autumn of 2016, working with a rescue group, the Roses sought to purchase a pair of donkeys to guard the center’s flock of chickens from predators. 

“We had a lot of chickens that started disappearing, especially the roosters, who were taken in the night,” said Rose, a former journalist who is pursuing a Master of Divinity at Yale. 

A local farmer suggested they get a donkey. 

“We thought he was joking. So I did a Google search of the words ‘donkey’ and ‘fox,’ and the first picture that popped up was of a donkey with a fox in its mouth,” Rose said. 

He also learned on the internet that donkeys, like elephants and rhinos, are becoming endangered as they are slaughtered for their skins. 

A Trinity Retreat Center guest spends time at its sanctuary for rescued donkeys. 

The love that grew 

“We initially decided to rescue two donkeys,” Rose said.For a few hundred dollars apiece, a rescue organization brought two of the animals, Marge and Maggie, up north from Louisiana. The exchange was made in the parking lot of the New Hartford Home Depot, recalled Rose. 

In the process, he learned that two additional donkeys had also made the trip to Connecticut and were supposed to have gone to new homes, but the deal fell through. They were headed back to auction, and possibly the slaughterhouse. 

“One was a sad-eyed Ethiopian donkey with a thick fringe of bangs, and the other was a frightened, emaciated Jerusalem donkey with a broken, crooked ear. Being the bleeding-heart animal lovers that we are,” said Rose, Francine and Fern became the third and fourth Trinity donkeys. “They arrived scared and showed signs of abuse, and for about a month didn’t want much to do with us.” 

But before long the animals began to flourish and to bond with their new keepers, as well as with visitors to the retreat center. 

Before long, Rose said, “we began to notice that two of the donkeys were getting fatter than the other donkeys. A few months later, Marge, thought to be the oldest of the group at about 4 years old, gave birth to Lisa, and Fern gave birth to Buster. And then there were six. 

Young visitors at Trinity Retreat Center spend time with “Buster” the donkey. 

The Bible speaks of donkeys 

Rose explained that in addition to the donkeys’ prowess at warding off predators, there is a deeper significance to having them become an integral component of Trinity Retreat Center, a place of prayer and reflection. 

There are numerous Biblical references to the humble donkey, said Rose. 

For starters, every donkey has the symbol of a cross in the fur on its back. 

“And in the Bible, donkeys are one of only two animals to speak,” he said, referring to a serpent in Genesis and Balaam’s donkey in Numbers, Chapter 22. Also, Jesus chose a donkey to ride into the city of Jerusalem, and counted the donkey as equal to every other living being. It is also widely believed that Mary entered Bethlehem on the back of a donkey. 

Animals play an important part in the symbolism of Christmas. 

“During our Christmas Eve retreat, after dinner, we all come out to visit the donkeys because of the role they played in Jesus’ life,” said Rose. It’s a celebration of the Christ Child’s birth, he said, “but with all donkeys and chickens.” 

In the coming months, and well into the future, the Trinity donkeys will be honored guests at special services at Trinity. They will play important roles in the annual Christmas pageant, as well as in the spring during Palm Sunday celebrations. 

“Donkeys are plain, humble creatures,” said Rose. “There is nothing fancy or glorious about them. But they are good servants to humans. They do their job without vanity or ego.”