Tuk-tuk Motorized Tricycle

Jesus needed a donkey. A brand new one. And instead of buying one, he just borrowed one (Luke 19:30-34).

Recently I bought a vehicle that reminds me of a donkey, and I bought it not because I needed it, but because I think the Lord needs it, and because I think it can be fairly useful for the work that a friend and I are doing for Him in Colombia's border town with Venezuela known as Puerto Carreño.

My brand new vehicle

...Essentially it's like a motorized tricycle, and its main function is to pick up passengers as if it were a taxi, and take those passengers wherever they need to go.

And so why does the Lord need a motorized tricycle? ...Well, mainly because it provides a steady income for my friend Harry who's the one driving it (and who is the number one guy helping me start a church in Puerto Carreño); but also because it helps in taking us wherever we need to go and share the gospel, and likewise, it helps us in getting to know passengers.

Chauffeur Harry

...I basically used all my savings to buy the contraption, and, as I'll be traveling to Scotland here in a few days, I told Harry to use the 'mototaxi' and make some money in the process, and share the gospel to everyone he can until the end of December. Then, in January I'll be back so that we can both either keep planting a church in Puerto Carreño, or another solid Christian friend can join him in that effort, as I keep consolidating the church that God has entrusted me with in Cucuta (Colombia's largest border city with Venezuela).

...In both places there are lots of immigrants, Colombian locals, and indigenous people who all need to hear the gospel, and Harry and I are definitely getting after it - no pussyfooting allowed.

And by the way - one of the main places where I've gotten to share the gospel on various occasions is in a cashew plant, where I have a good relationship with the owners who let me share from the Scriptures while the cashew employees plug away at their work, taking the cashews out of their shell, and then scraping away the coating of the kernel as they meditate on God's Word... It's a pretty sweet set-up actually, and I've even become a frequent consumer of the delicious product they sell ...I mean who doesn't like cashews?

Sharing the gospel at the Cashew plant

...Anyway, if you could pray for my friends from this cashew business - that they would believe the gospel - as well as for my friend Harry and his 'mototaxi' business and his own spiritual walk with God, I would really appreciate it.

The last day that Harry and I were hanging out after I had shared a gospel message at the cashew plant and I was driving my tuk-tuk to the airport - I told Harry that the vehicle sort of reminded me of a modern day donkey. I told Harry that as he would be using the thing to transport people around for the next month or so - to always do it with the same excellence and care that he would as if he was transporting Jesus himself.

And so far, it seems like his customers have been very well pleased.

-Sam