The other night I was late coming home from a meeting with Luis our neighbor. Late being 12:30 at night. Our wives were waiting for us as we came in like teens sneaking in after breaking curfew. They wouldn't have worried had we gone anywhere else, but we had gone to meet with a fellow here on the island that is a bit exceptional. We have been working on a project to upgrade the road here that runs from Luis' mission foundation behind our house to the clinic at the bottom of the hill. Due to the poor conditions of the existing road we could eliminate a lot of work if we had a bulldozer to roughly define it so we can put a permanent finish like concrete on it.
There are not any kind of machines like this in the village, but a very wealthy guy near Playa Mamon is building a tourist destination. By wealthy I mean they have the area heavily guarded with dogs and men with automatic machine guns. Luis had talked to the head construction engineer, and we had a meeting with him before about the use of the bulldozer. When we entered the first time, we waited at the gate with the armed escort, after he called the engineer we were met at the door and he asked us if we study the Bible. Odd question, but considering he knew we worked with religious organizations I guess it is to be expected. We replied yes, and he asked if we knew a lot, and I answered it depends on who you ask. I asked why, do have a question, and he said he has lots of questions. We proceeded to a cabana and talked about various aspects of Christianity in general. After about an hour or so we ended the conversation and he concluded with he will ask the owner to be sure we could use the bulldozer when we needed it.
I must say this is the first experience of conversing over spiritual matters meanwhile being interrupted by the guy with a machine gun who had questions for the engineer concerning work details. The reason for the amount of security is due primarily to the owners amount of wealth, I can't imagine living with that kind of fear that would require that kind of protection. The fellows with the guns aren't young clean cut military men, these guys look like they are experienced. It is hard to describe what that looks like, but you know what I mean. The owner doesn't have an entirely good reputation about the source of income either.
So on our second meeting when we went at 6:30 pm and didn't return till 12:30, the ladies here at the house had their imagination help them with the possibilities of what could have happened. There were no problems, the engineer had more questions, and it took more time to answer them. Sometimes when a man is lost he doesn't like to ask directions, this fellow may have the same problem. He knows a lot about the bible, but after asking the questions, he really doesn't want an answer. He has an answer that isn't satisfactory, but really can't receive a new solution either. As a result we have the use of the bulldozer to repair the road; our wives are happy again, as long as that never happens again. The Lord still has work to do on the engineer with all the questions.
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| Courtesy of Geoff Gentry |
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