Mover of Men and Mountains

I guess one of the only things that consistantly pulls me back to this blog is reading books. Other stuff happens too fast to write down, and books happen slow and then disappear. Better write them down.

Okay, the latest: R. G. LeTourneau's autobiography, Mover of Men and Mountains. Haven't heard of LeTourneau? Bummer. Ever heard of the bulldozer? Haha, that's right, the bulldozer. That's just one of the 300 patents that LeTourneau owns. This guy was NUTS.

Wait, I skipped a little too far ahead. Since LeTourneau is probably one of the most influencial and amazing people that you've never heard of, I'll try and give you the 1 blog post summary of the book:

Boy from the middle of nowhere drops out of school and becomes a mechanic. This is early 1900s, so there were only like three different kinds of cars for him to work on. Somehow he takes his welder from repairing cars to building things. Machines and earthmovers. Finds the Lord, too, supporting missionaries in China. Gets a little contracting business going. Then the general rhythm is this: he gets a bit contracting job to do, he falls way behind and has no idea how he's going to complete it, he starts praying harder, then he invents a new machine or earth mover or something and BANG! the Lord provides and he gets the job done. It's remarkable. Along the way he decided that his startup business would be a partnership--10% himself and 90% God. This was reflected all the way to the finances, where he created a charitable foundation to put 90% of the profits. Praise Jesus... ! He also had a Biblically-based magazine that he published and distributed to all the workers in his factories and job sites, with set aside prayer times.

I mentioned the bulldozer, that was probably his invention that is most easily recognized. Get this: the first design was the front pushing blade mounted on a MULE. That's right, a mule. It was hard to even place this book, imagining a world with motor-engines just beginning to break through the surface. Eventually, of course, he invented a diesel prime-mover that could push the blade instead of the four legged hooved animal.

The last part of LeTourneau's legacy that I gotta mention: towns in Liberia and Peru that are NAMED AFTER HIM when he came through with his earth movers and cleared out some jungle and improved the quality of living for the area. Now, the somewhat liberally minded part of me raises an eyebrow at sending a "jungle-smashing spiky steamroller" into the jungle to speed up deforestation, not to mention the cultural insensitivity to "colonize" that part of Peru, calling it Tourna-vista. His heart was in the right spot. LeTourneau University in Texas also bears his legacy, and a guy I know here at Iowa State is headed there next fall for school.

Thank you, Lord, for men like LeTourneau who whole-heartedly serve you from the marketplace and from the job site. Thank you for the mark he has left on the world and the way that you have used his life and his ministry to change so many lives. May you raise up more LeTourneau's in our day.