Learning from a carpenter

Putting our gifts and talents to work in mission

By Glenn Harty
September/October 2010

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When I was 10 years old, our family moved into a new, unfinished house. Shortly after, my Uncle Alex, my mother’s brother, came to live with us. My father worked out of town and my brother had left home to work, leaving me with my two older sisters and our mother. Needless to say I was thrilled to have another man in the house.

Uncle Alex was a sports enthusiast, which suited me just fine. He was most willing to play goalie while I shot tennis balls at the garage, and to be catcher when I practiced my pitching. We spent many memorable moments together, memories that have lasted a lifetime.

One of my uncle’s talents was that of a finish carpenter, so his arrival and our unfinished house were a good combination. He was always building something—closets, cupboards, a porch, a garage, and on and on. He also built into our day a time of rest: at 10 o’clock each morning for coffee and at three in the afternoon for tea. My mother liked to bake and he liked to eat, another good combination.

Anne & Glenn Harty with children at the Camillian Social Center in Chiang Rai that provides schooling to ill tribe children, including children with disabilities. The Centre utilizes some of the mobility and exercise aids that Glenn has made. Anne teaches as well as assists with physio and occupational therapy.

Each day after school I was eager to get home to see what my uncle was building. He had utmost patience with me while I observed what he was doing and I asked as many questions as possible. He was the giver of many trade secrets. I especially remember one Saturday in December, our house was chilly early in the mornings and although I wanted to get up and start the day, my desire to stay in a warm bed was greater, until I heard someone stoking the fire.

We had a small workshop in our basement and that is where my uncle kept most of his tools—all hand tools I might add, no power tools for him at that time, except for an old table saw outside. This room also housed a small pot belly stove. It was from that stove that I heard the sound of a grate rattling and paper rustling. Soon the house would be warm and I could get out of bed to see what Uncle Alex was building.

I found him focused on his work and he would not tell me what he was making other than to say, “You will see soon enough!” As the morning progressed I kept peaking in on him to get a clue on the project. At one stage he was fastening some tin to the edge of two long pieces of wood.

It had snowed overnight and I was looking forward to going outside to play, but my curiosity about what was being made in the workshop won out. It turned out to be a sleigh and we were about to go outside and try it out, and not only that, we would take a saw and an axe and choose a Christmas tree on the same trip.

It was partly to do with my uncle’s talent as a carpenter that I became interested in woodworking, never as a career, but I have always enjoyed building things and doing home remodeling. I am using that talent now to build a variety of mobility aids for the special needs children we work with here in Northern Thailand. My Uncle Alex’s talents and skills have traveled around the world with me and he is once again guiding my hands as I journey in mission.

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