Balto Tells All

This past Saturday Tracy and I had the privilege of sharing our calling with the missions board of Hope EFC in Roscoe. On the way we captured this view over the Rock River shortly before sunrise.

Our traveling gnome, Balto, asked if he could share what it's like being a missionary meeting a missions board. Since I am still pretty tired from our trip to MO, I was happy to oblige. Balto?

Well, I found it quite difficult to get up so early--I'm used to sleeping rather late. But, since my name's sake was an obliging fellow I decided to follow his lead. Despite the early hour that view from the side of the road was gorgeous. However, being a garden gnome I would've preferred the absence of nuclear power plants. You see the only plants that intrigue me . . .

Balto.

Yes?

You're rambling.

Oh, of course. Sorry. Back to our visit. The first person we met was Rob Griffith, the board chairman. What a welcoming man he is. And, what a heart for missions! Also, their missionary bulletin board was awesome. Did you know they also support the Baums, Happs, and Kautzmanns? Anyway, since I have quite an appetite I was particularly thrilled with the food cart Rob was wheeling into the room. It had a wonderful variety of fruits, juices, pastry . . .

Balto?

Oh, again, I apologize. The board consists of about ten people. It was hard for me to tell for sure since you put me on a coat rack with a terrible view.

Sorry.

I did hear some of their names though--Rob, Neal (spelled like your son's name, isn't it?), Nate, Sharon, Jean, Tom, Marshall, Mary Alice, Mark, and Steve. What a warm welcome we received. At least you and Tracy did. They hadn't a clue I was there. First, Rob read a verse from Romans, introduced the two of you and then prayed. At that point he turned it over to Tracy who then shared our call to Africa. Thankfully, the power point worked correctly. Five minutes before we were to start, the laptop and projector weren't synching. I could tell you were praying hard then.

That's true. God answered prayer!

Throughout the presentation some interesting questions were raised. I noticed Marshall asked some very poignent ones. He wanted to know in light of the HIV/AIDS epidemic what was ACTION doing. It gave a great opportunity to share about the C.R.O.S.S. project. I love that acrostic, but, what does it mean?

It stands for Churches Ready to Overcome Silence and Stigma. Tracy's role also will be one of serving as a liason between Zambian pastors and the C.R.O.S.S. ministry.

Oh, sehr gut. Uh, sorry, my German leaked out.

No need to be sorry.

Anyway, after about an hour and a half Rob then asked how they as a team could pray for us. This is where I got a little emotional.

I noticed. Do you want to share what prayer requests we gave?

Sure do. Prayer is needed for your children's continued adjustment to our leaving. I saw you get teary-eyed. You also asked that they pray for getting rid of 34 years worth of stuff. Really, you humans should live more simply like gnomes. And, of course, prayer for getting there in January of 2008. I don't know about you, but, I wish we could skip all this deputation stuff and just get there.

Uh, Balto. You're not going. Remember that Mom Singleton won you for picking out your name?

Oh. I got so excited, I forgot. Well, I can see why you get so energized about your ministry each time you share your calling. Have I forgotten anything?

No, I think you covered everything. Thanks for taking over for me.

My pleasure--when do we eat?