• Two Parts Make A Whole!
God used this unlikely couple to win the hearts of the 4000 children in India. What fun we had conducting over 30 programs together. However, all this fun could have been over in an instant. That was my first thought, “the trip is over.” I had been protecting my friend Barnacle from all the airline baggage handlers by making deliberate efforts to hand carry his case (with him in it, of course) on every flight. On the larger planes it was not a problem. However, as the in-country planes got smaller, it was more of a problem. Barnacle, despite his youthful appearance was made in 1972, and with his age has become quite fragile. You can imagine my shock when I woke up early to prepare for the day’s five speaking assignments, to find…
Barnacle’s body shell was completely broken in half, just above the belly button. Apparently, the evening before when I was hauling all my luggage down a steep ramp at the Chennai Airport, Barnacle’s case slide off the top of the luggage cart, and landed on the concrete with a slam. The next morning I discovered the damage in my hotel room. This was serious and I had no way to repair the damaged body shell. His head and shoulders were completely separated from the seat and the attached legs. There was no way to hold him together and move the levers on the head post. I would need three hands to work him. I was in trouble, I thought. The trip for Barnacle was over. I prayed. Then I thought I would contact Noah in the next hotel room. He told me of a master carpenter that he knew that might be available to help. It was still early, so we got a cup of coffee. Our rented vehicle came and we left for the carpenter’s business.
At first, the master carpenter was not there, but we explained how Barnacle needed to be fixed to the assistant. However, the master carpenter came in a half hour early, just as we thought we were leaving. We explained again how the repair had to be made, and one more time, just to be sure he got it. We went to eat at Noah’s folks place. Our first school meeting was at 10 am. However, the carpenter called about 9:50 a.m. to say that Barnacle was repaired. So we rushed over and sure enough, he was good as new, even better than before. We took a picture or two and prepared to pay the carpenter.
“How much do we owe you,” I asked through my interpreter Noah.
“80 Rupees,” was the reply.
“How much is that?” I asked Noah.
“About two dollars!” Noah calculated quickly.
“What? Are you sure? It is worth more to me than that,” I contested. “Surely, I should give him more, at least a tip!”
“No, he is charging you a day’s wage for an hours worth of work.” Noah explained. “Don’t give him anymore, He thinks he is charging you a lot.”
So we thanked him again, dressed Barnacle and left for our school assembly. We conducted five outreach programs that day, without any problem. I believe the Lord orchestrated the operation and Barnacle was “made whole” in India, without a doctor, well, a carpenter maybe, but no doctor.
It was a great day, it started out as a shocker, but it turned out wonderful. Barnacle was a big hit with the school children. We were both thankful. We are still talking about it. How Barnacle’s two parts were made whole!
Leave a Comment