You just never know what life skills are going to come in handy for Kingdom work!  

Here you see missionary Pieter Kalkman sending a text message on his cell phone.  As I talked to Pieter in Prague this week, I learned that texting is a vital ministry skill for the Kalkmans!

Pieter and Nora Kalkman live in Central Europe, in the beautiful city of Prague, Czech Republic.  The central location is important, for the Kalkmans serve the more than fifty members of the European Baptist Federation.  Those members are spread across over forty countries.  Nora and Pieter’s travels have taken them from the sands of Egypt to the ice of the Norwegian Arctic, and from the Atlantic coast of Spain to the deserts of Central Asia.

The Kalkmans find they can often accomplish more on their ministry travels by driving than by flying, since it gives them more opportunities to fit in last-minute additions to the schedule.  They also find that various international communications issues can often mean that the details of a particular visit may need to be getting worked out even as they are driving toward toward the partners.  With most of their partner church leaders, Pieter and Nora have discovered that sending text messages to their partners’ mobile phones is usually the cheapest and fastest way to communicate, especially as they fine tune arrangements on the road.

So, the next time you see a young person’s fingers flying over the keypad of a cell phone, just think:  he or she may actually be in training for missionary service!!