Baby Wipe and Electrical Tape

Ministry Update

The last month has held some interesting events for the Crow family in our ministry. November found us making a trip to northern IN for two Baptist history conferences at two different churches. We were able to stay in my parents’ farmhouse while there, so we left the trailer in NC and just traveled in the truck. After two great conferences, we headed back down I-75 on our way back home. We had to take a circuitous route as it was because I-40 was closed at the time. Driving through the mountains on glorified cow trails makes a traveler grateful for the Interstate system.

The family was asleep as I drove south on I-75, when I noticed that the defrost was not blowing hot air and the engine temperature was rising higher than I had ever seen it before. Not even pulling the trailer did the engine get as hot as it was at that point, and we were empty. Clearly, there was a problem somewhere. Because of the detour, we had to get off I-75 in Corbin, KY, and continue on through the mountains from that point. We stopped at a service station and I popped the hood to find that the upper radiator hose had blown. Antifreeze covered the inside of the engine compartment and had even started to stain the front passenger quarter panel. Obviously, this hole in the hose was the reason for our lack of defrost and the high temperatures. Furthermore, driving in the mountains meant that the problem would have to be repaired rather than put off til a more convenient time. Had we had the trailer with us, there would have been no difficulty at all: foreseeing the possibility of this hose leaking, I had purchased a new one so as not to be stranded out west miles from help. Unfortunately, the trailer containing the part I needed as well as the tools to fix it were still several hours of driving away from where we were at the time.

I was able to borrow a tool to get part of the old hose off, at which time I discovered that no one in town had a replacement part for me. Neither the auto parts stores nor the dealer carried this hose. Improvisation would have to carry the day. Armed with no more tools than a baby wipe and electrical tape, I was able to repair the hose and drive all the way back to NC without incident. Not one time did the truck overheat! Praise the Lord.

We are home for a few weeks until after Christmas. Our time at home is spent working in our home church, enjoying the fellowship of different Christmas gettogethers and stocking up on deer meat for the next year.
The Sunday after Christmas we are out once again and will not return home for a few months. God is good to fill our schedule the way He has.

Thank you always for your prayers. As you pray, please pray that God would fill the open dates we have at this point. You can look at the first part of next year’s itinerary and see which dates need to be filled.

One final word. If you are a pastor and are reading this message, I probably lost your contact information due to a computer problem. I would be grateful if you could send me an e-mail (paul@paulcrow.org) containing your name, church name, church address, and telephone numbers. I am learning the adage that my pastor often repeats to us: To err is human; to really foul things up requires a computer.

Paul