Sisters Abby and Eden Putterill are not your typical Ouachita students. In fact, many consider them to be quite out of the ordinary for various reasons, the first being that they were both born on January 24, 1997. You guessed it. Abby and Eden are not just sisters. They are identical twins, but their story does not end there. Abby and Eden also grew up on a game park in Zimbabwe, where encountering lions was just a part of a normal day.
“We live in a game park. We can just go into the bush whenever we want and just spend time in God’s creation, which is awesome,” Abby said.
On their multiple-acre game park, Abby and Eden live with their family and multitudes of animals, including wildebeests, giraffes, zebras, elephants, hyenas and, most impressively, lions. Longing for even more animals, the twins began to beg their parents for a pet that each of them could have.
“[After asking] our parents for a dog, they said, ‘No. It will chase the animals in the game park or the safari, or whatever.’ We asked our parents for a cat, and they said, ‘No, because it would eat the birds,’” Eden said.
After not getting any of these animals, the twins decided to ask for a pet lion. To their surprise, their parents said yes, but sadly, all of the male lions except for one on their game park were neutered. The lion that had not been neutered was old, and it was unlikely he would procreate. So, the twins did the only thing they knew to do: they prayed. After six months of vigorous praying, one of the lionesses in their park became pregnant.
“God answers prayers,” both twins said simultaneously.
After months of waiting, the lioness gave birth to a litter of cubs, but sadly she abandoned them. Thankfully for the cubs, Abby and Eden were there and able to raise them. So now, the game park has thirteen lions, which include two of the now almost grown cubs, or, as Abby and Eden like to call them, their “miracle lions.”
Not only did God work miracles for the twins when it came to their pet lions, but also when it came to the possibility of them attending Ouachita. Abby and Eden grew up in a Christian home and attended Chisipite Bible Baptist Church in Zimbabwe. That is how the twins ended up in Arkadelphia.
“Everyone in the church was like, ‘You must go to OBU. You must go to OBU.’ And the main reason why we’re here is because we prayed to be here. We really prayed [for] God [to] show us which college. And He gave us a direct sign that this is where we need to be. So, that is the main reason why we are here. God opened this door,” Eden said.
Even though the twins miss their home, they love living and studying at Ouachita.
“I love the fact that it’s a Godly campus. That really means a lot to me. And, I love the fact that it’s got such a personal touch. You know the professors are interested in your life. They really care about you. You can actually get to know people here, and the people here are just amazing,” Abby said.
The twins are also enjoying getting to live in America.
“[The people in America] really care about internationals, and they’re just friendly. I also just love the technology and the free stuff, and the food. It’s so new and exciting!” Eden said.
In addition, Abby and Eden love each other’s company. Being able to finish each other’s sentences and even being able to feel each other’s pain, Abby and Eden see both pros and cons to ‘twinship.’
“It’s really cool, because you’ve always got someone with you. But in other ways, people identify you just as being a twin. They don’t identify you as being an individual person,” Abby said.
The twins also enjoy using their similarities to play tricks on their friends.
“It’s fun playing pranks on people, like switching classes or going to swap with our roommates or something. That makes it fun,” Eden said.
The twins love life and exemplify that daily, and the most important part of their life is having a relationship with Jesus. At the age of five, after their dad had explained to them that they were sinners, Abby and Eden were saved in their garden.
“I remember just kneeling down in the garden, and I just remember this feeling. I don’t know quite how you describe it now—it was so long ago. But, I do remember that emphatically,” Eden said.
Outside of their love for Jesus, their family and animals are probably the most important part their lives. Their unique upbringing is reflected in the aspects of Zimbabwe that they miss most.
“I miss my parents. I miss all our animals, our lions, our lion, Judah.” Abby said.
“I miss waking up every morning to lions roaring. And I miss spending time with my family, and just the animals and the people as well. And just the wildness of it!” said Eden.
By: Ethan Dial, Staff Writer
