Gustavo’s Musings (#6 of 10)

(Oct 2004)

These three articles were written successively as little vignettes highlighting a community development
project in which I invested. The main characters are Joel Cañete and his family who are members of
the Lambaré Methodist Church in Paraguay. Joel and his brother Nathaniel approached me shortly
our arrival in Paraguay to ask if I would invest in a small coal selling business with them.
Essentially, the idea was to give them a cash infusion sufficient for them to purchase coal from a
central distributor. Afterward, they were to bring the coal home, break it up into smaller pieces, and
bag it for selling to the various small markets and convenience stores in the surrounding neighborhood.
This process was to generate a profit sufficient for the Cañete family to make a living.

The Coal Miners (Part 3 of 3)

Fade to Black

The last of the bags of coal had been loaded into my Land Cruiser and Joel and Jonathan
hopped aboard. Joel was sitting in the front seat. Today, I would be acting as both chauffer and coal
delivery driver, though if I had been driving a drape-covered Hertz and leading a funeral procession, it
would have more appropriately captured the mood among us.
As I fired up the engine, both Joel and Jonathan shot each other a glance of amazement.
“What’s the matter?” I said, “Haven’t you ever seen a car start before?”
They both laughed, and quipped, “Well…no, actually! At least not on the first try!”
More often than not they could be seen push-starting their little VW van / converted pickup
along the rocky roads of Lambaré, where they lived. “Out for a little work-out today, huh boys?” was
the common refrain from the townfolk. The Cañete brothers took the good-natured abuse in stride.
They had long gotten used to their transportation difficulties and to being the butt of the community’s
jokes.
That’s not to say they didn’t deserve some of the well-placed barbs. Their jalopy would have
never passed a legal inspection, not even in Paraguay where standards were far more lenient. It had
missing panels, panels with holes, panels of a different color or panels that were rusted. A plastic coke
bottle served as their gas tank and was kept in the bed of their pickup.
Come to think of it, whenever Joel had noted down “gas consumption” in his little accounting
notebook (See Coal Miners - Part 2), I always thought it curious that he only purchased about 2 liters
worth. Now I knew why!  The Cañete family had paid $170 for that fine piece of machinery and the
truth was that it probably wasn’t worth that much in scrap metal by now. On a much more serious note,
their ailing rattletrap was now responsible for their business blues.
We began our journey of discontent, stopping along at the various mom & pop convenience
stores within a two-mile radius of their home. “I see you’ve upgraded your delivery truck,” joked
many an owner. I half expected them to say, “Did you upgrade your coal as well? (See Coal Miners -
Part Two). Joel smiled patiently while he politely explained to each owner that the little VW racehorse
had now been put out to pasture. What he did not share with them was that this would be their last coal
run.
Where had I gone wrong? The business was running smoothly, the Cañete family was making a
decent living. True, it was hard and dirty work, but it was a living nonetheless. But alas, their one and
only means of delivering their coal had finally given way to age and disrepair. Who could be bothered
with routine maintenance (much less major repairs) on a vehicle, when they were living so far below
the poverty line? Their income was only sufficient for basic household necessities. And that was where
our master plan had finally given way to the forces of reality. Just like those rusty, multi-colored
panels on the VW truck, it was only a matter of time before both (the panels and the plan) cracked and
fell to pieces. Their truck was dead and would not be coming back to life anytime soon.
We finished our rounds in four arduous hours. Much to our dismay, another coal salesman had
been there just one day sooner. Thus, instead of selling 50, 100 or 200 bags at a time (we had about 500
to sell), we painstakingly sold 10, 20 or 30 at a time. Each sale brought us closer to the end of our
experimental enterprise. In one further slight, all of the proceeds from this trip now belonged to me, as
part of their debt pay-down.
Along the way, we rehashed our mistakes. Despite the finality of our voyage, we both
expressed genuine thanksgiving for the opportunity we gave to one another in this little venture. This
little setback would in no way impair the wonderful friendship that we had begun two years earlier. I
had always admired Joel and his family for their initiative, for their indefatigable cheeriness in spite of
difficult circumstances, and for their unwavering faith in the triune God. I wouldn’t have traded that
relationship or the inspiration it gave me for all the coal in the world.
As we were about to finish up our last leg, Joel began talking to me about the profitability of the
fruit business and about how no vehicle was needed to make it work. The irony of the conversation
bordered on the comical. But then again, this was precisely why I knew Joel and his family would be
OK in the long run. Their economic condition would never serve as an excuse to give up on life or to
give up on the Giver of Life. “Let’s just finish out one business,” I smiled grimly, “before we start
thinking of another.” We started heading back prematurely and a few unsold bags of coal still remained
in the back seat of my car. There remained the smudge of black dust on our hands reminding us that
though an opportunity had eluded our grasp, we had been in this venture together and our bonds of
friendship had now grown much deeper and stronger. That’s something not even the coal demon could
ever steal from us!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Gustavo Karakey was born in Durango, Mexico and grew up in Southern California. Currently,
he lives in Boston with his wife and three children.
From 2004-2008, he served as a missionary to Paraguay, South America teaching at the
Methodist Bible Institute just outside of Asunción.
In 2011, Gustavo and his family will be moving to Medellín, Colombia, where Gustavo will
serve as a professor of New Testament at the Biblical Seminary of Colombia (www.fusbc.edu.co).
Gustavo’s passion is to help develop pastors and leaders for the church in Colombia and Latin
America as well as to prepare missionaries from Colombia for the unfinished task of global missions.
*****
To learn more about this exciting ministry in Colombia visit: http://www.karakey.com

To sample or purchase a copy of Gustavo’s book “Making Sense of the Bible” which provides a
step-by-step method to better understand the Scriptures visit:
http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/22475