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T H E K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S
November, 1936
• M r. Le Tourneau leads you into his office to tell you what the Lord has done for him and his business (which he says is the Lord’s business), and what He can do for you and for your employees. A U nique U ndertaking You are forced to admit (at least to yourself), that the sight of that banner has given you something of a jolt. It is such an extraordinary thing to see in a big industrial plant. You have always held that business and religion do not mix, that a man may be a Christian without parading the fact. Le Tourneau reads your thoughts, and when he speaks, you know he is not criticising you, not boasting. I t is the utter genuineness of the man and of his method that wins your heart. “You never heard of a factory’s being dedicated to the Lord, did you ?” he laughs. “No, not until I heard of yours,” you reply. “I want you to tell me how you did it, and why.” He runs through the facts quickly: The addition (600 x 160 feet) was to be ready for occupancy by the end of the summer. Before it was used as a workroom, as it is now, a section of the new unit was supplied with benches to accommodate at least 3,000 people. To pastors in Peoria and vicinity, letters of invitation were sent, announcing dedicatory services to be held at the plant from August 30 to September 4, 1936, and urging Christian people to co operate in an intensive evangelistic effort being put forth in a unique environment. Fifty thousand copies of the shop paper with announcement of the meetings were dis tributed from door to door and to workmen in other plants. The townspeople and hundreds of outsiders came. The shop employees came also—although they were in no way pressed to attend. Three remarkable meetings were held on the opening Sunday, at one of which, in a prayer of dedication, the factory was consecrated to God. From Monday to Friday, evangelistic meetings were held each evening at 7 :30. An evangelist from Omaha was the chief speaker. Mr. Le Tourneau and others took part. One night, called to the platform by Mr. Le Tourneau without previous notice, twenty or more employees gave their testimonies, tributes to God’s power. The room rang with the music of the Shop Men’s Chorus—a group of thirty or forty workmen, with a few of their Christian friends, organized and trained by one of their number, who is a graduate of the Bible Institute of Los Angeles. This choir director, with three other Biola men, all Le Tourneau employees, compose the King’s Messengers’ Quartette, which sang repeatedly to the great delight of the listeners. For a week, work ceased in the shop every evening at 7:15, and was not resumed until 9:30 or later. The night crew, thus released, attended the meetings in a body. If any employee was disinterested, he might spend the time in the shop as he chose; he was paid as though he had been working. “Now you know the ‘how’ of the story,” Mr. Le Tour neau concludes. “The ‘why’ may be stated very simply. This business belongs to God because I belong to Him and I want Him to have it. That being the case, every one of my employees has a right to expect me to give him an opportunity to accept as Saviour the One who, I say, has done everything for me. The week of special meetings gave that opportunity—and about fifty of my men and visitors indicated their acceptance of the Lord Jesus Christ as Saviour. The frequent noonday gospel meetings in the plant furnish other occasions for practical evangelism, and we plan before long to have two a week, at noon and at midnight. Eventually we hope to have shop meetings' noon and night five days a week.”
L e T ourneau ’ s B usiness S uccess What can you say? Here is a man with a vision—one that unmistakably is being honored of God. You find it a bit difficult to say anything, because you have never given much thought to matters of this kind. You decide to talk about something of which you have more intimate knowledge, and you begin by stating a fact that no one disputes: “You have enjoyed phenomenal suc cess, M r. Le Tourneau.” You are thinking of his 150 agencies in the United States and of the nearly 200 abroad; of the fact that England has Le Tourneau units working on all types of public works, reservoirs, playgrounds, sea wall, housing projects, aircraft factory sites, and airports; that France has built fourteen airports using Le Tourneau machinery; and that in Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, Trinidad, Belgium, Russia, Italy, Iraq, Cape Province, Dutch East Indies, Kenya Colony, and the Hawaiian Islands, Le Tourneau equipment is constantly in use. You have not forgotten that contractors are using products of this Peoria plant on the Golden Gate Bridge north approach in Marin County, on Bonneville Dam, Grand Coulee Dam, Trans- Florida Ship Canal, All American Canal, the Chingford Reservoir in England, the Kut Barrage in Iraq, and on hundreds of other earth-moving projects. You are think ing that most men to have achieved anything near such success as this would have required a lifetime in which to do it. You ask, “How long have you been manufacturing earth-moving equipment, Mr. Le Tourneau?” “Sixteen years,” he replies. “Began in 1920 when I was doing a bit of farm leveling. Not satisfied with the capac ity of the available equipment for moving dirt, I began with cutting torch and welding torch to revamp the machin ery in order to haul more dirt in less time. Through various stages, the 12-yard Carryall Scraper of today was developed.” “And the Le Tourneau Carryall has practically revolu tionized the work of grading, excavating and leveling!” you remark. • G iving G od the G lory “Yes, the Lord has prospered the plan,” Mr. Le Tour neau answers, and you know by the way he utters the words that here is a man who definitely chooses to put God first, in life and in business, not because of any ma terial benefit he might reap from the relationship, but be cause he loves God with his whole heart and believes He is worthy to be honored and fully trusted. While you are making your own appraisal of the man, he surprises you by quoting from the Bible. “You know the verse, ‘Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.’ I believe that,” he says. “The ‘all things’ that you see in this plant—the evidence of progress that you very generously call phenomenab—have come as gifts from God Himself, not earned, mind you, or merited, or any thing like that. But one day in Portland, Oregon, when I was sixteen years of age, I took Jesus Christ to be my Saviour. By His grace I have determined in more recent years to put Him first in everything. God has blessed me, not because of that determination, but because He is God — my Father through faith in Jesus Christ.” He seems very much in earnest as he continues, “One matter must be kept clearly in mind. The preaching of the gospel in this plant is not used as a wedge for entrance into the favor of the Almighty. I t is not a clever scheme -for the increasing of efficiency and the doubling of output. The gospel is preached solely for the purpose of honoring
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