About seven blocks away he could see
the roof of the Palacio de Santa Catalina,
where the governor lived. Street vendors
had set up small booths and tables along
both sides of the street, selling fancy
clothes, food, and tourist trinkets. He
paddled along a bit, then stopped to eat
the meal his father had purchased for
him. Tired, he pulled under a tree and
collapsed. Exhausted from the first day
in his new home. A homeless street boy
in Old San Juan.
SHOES AND BOOKS
In the morning a street vendor shared
some water and bread, directed him to
the toilets, and sent him on his way. He
pushed up and down the street all day,
stopping at almost every vendor, greeting
them, learning names, seeing if there was
anything he could do to earn a meal.
A cobbler caught his eye, a happy man
who was singing as he repaired soles and
polished leather. This is the happiest man on
the street, he thought, and moved in close.
“You want to polish?” The cobbler
had a kind voice, and El Nafito Feo
quickly accepted his offer. He polished
all afternoon, improving his skills with
each pair of shoes.
“I go home on the next bus,” the
cobbler said, “but you can sleep in my
spot if you'd like”
He learned the cobbler’s skills and his
songs. All of them. His favorite was a song
of hope, “Mas Alla Del Sol” “Far beyond
the sun,” he sang as he polished and
pounded and cut and became an excellent
cobbler. Almost as good as his teacher.
A wood-carver upgraded his board
and wheels, and another vendor gave
him a soft sleeping mat. The cobbler
took him to church, taught him about
God, and made sure he was baptized.
One day the cobbler did not arrive on
his usual bus. Instead, another vendor
came over to El Nafiito and handed him
the cobbler’s tools and a bag filled with
leather.
“Sorry, Nafiito, but the cobbler died
last night,” the man said. “Said I was to
give all his stuff to you. Told me that
you've become a very good cobbler and
that he’s proud to have you carry on his
work. Wanted you to have this box, also”
The box was filled with the cobbler’s
books: a well-read Bible, a copy of The
Desire of Ages, and a thick stack of paper-
back copies of the book Steps to Christ.
He already knew about these, because
the cobbler was always teaching him
about God and Jesus and Sabbath and
hope for the future. He especially knew
what to do with the copies of Steps to
Christ. Those were to go inside each pair
of carefully repaired and polished shoes,
just as the cobbler had taught him.
He worked in the cobbler’s spot for
more than 12 years, measuring, pound-
ing, cutting, buffering, singing, and
polishing for the finest feet in Puerto
Rico. Even the governor chose El Nafiito
Feo as his personal cobbler! Best of all,
customers always found a copy of Steps
to Christ, or a book of the Bible, tucked
away in their well-polished shoes.
One winter he caught a cough that
wouldn't go away. One doctor told him it
was pneumonia. Another told him it was
cancer. Both were right. The hospital bed
was the nicest he had ever slept in, and
Armando, the male nurse assigned to
him, was glad for El Nafiito’s Bible studies.
On the night he died, he asked the
doctor to be sure the nurse got his box.
“My Bible is in it,” he said. “And my last
copies of Steps to Christ. Armando will
need those”
Dick Duerksen. = | ,
Ives in Portland, Oregon, United States.
TOU 200 sToryloLer
Adventist
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