He told me that the paint would cost 95 cordobas (about $5), but that he had only 40. He showed me the 40 cordobas. He was asking me for a loan. I told him that I had very little money. He said that if I gave him the money, he would bring me coconut milk every day until he had given me an amount of equal value. So I gave him 50 cordobas and told him I was looking forward to seeing the freshly painted cart.

Image Credit... Holly Wales

The next morning the coconut salesman did not show up, and once evening came, nobody had seen him all day. I just figured that I had lost about $2.50, and that I could learn some sort of lesson from it.

The following day, when the coconut salesman saw me, he immediately grabbed a coconut, hacked the top off, stuck a straw inside and handed it to me. I drank the milk and asked him why his cart was the same sorry green it was before. He told me that on the day I gave him the loan, a pickpocket stole all his money. I decided that whatever happened, the coconut salesman was making good on the deal we’d made.

The next morning the coconut salesman came again, gave me my coconut and told me he had a problem. I drank my coconut milk and told him I wasn’t surprised. He told me that one of his sons wanted a Bible but that he didn’t have the money. I told him that the managers of the hotel were Evangelical Christians and might be happy to give him one. He asked me if I would go in for him. I said sure, and went in and got him a Bible.

The next day the coconut salesman told me he had another problem. I told him I wasn’t surprised. He told me that his son was very happy with the Bible, but now his other son wanted one, too. He wanted me to go into the hotel and get a second Bible. I said: “I’m pretty sure there’s a passage somewhere in the Bible about the concept of sharing. Maybe they could read that together.” The coconut salesman listened to me, then went inside the hotel himself and got another Bible.