Message of the Martlet

The martlet is a mythical bird used in heraldry that has no feet. Instead, it has tufts of feathers where feet should be. The martlet derived from the swift, as swifts have such small feet and legs, people early on believed they had none at all. Since these birds have no feet, they cannot land, thus symbolizing hard work and perseverance.

As Christians, we are commissioned with spreading a message. The message is that God loved us so much, even though we are messy sinners who reject him, that he sent his Son, Jesus, to die and pay our penalty price. This is not always an easy message to share. In our messy world, there are those who oppose us, those who persecute us, and those who upon hearing the message, continue to reject the loving King.

But we persevere.

It has been a journey for Caleb and I over the past year and few months as we've been growing closer together and striving toward a closer relationship with God. Since our marriage in May, 2009, we have moved from Moberly to Columbia so we would be able to invest more of our energies into our church, Karis Community Church. Karis has been a huge blessing to us, challenging us, growing us, encouraging us. From the first few times we attended back in February, they have encouraged us to get more involved. We immediately joined a community group (c-group), which has not only involved us in deeper fellowship, growth and community outreach, but it has also allowed Caleb to be challenged deeper in his desires to become a future leader and church planter. The leaders in our church have noticed this as well, and are eager and excited for Caleb to take on a two year internship to further his training beyond Central Christian College. Since Karis is a fairly young church plant (they have been rooted here in Columbia for five years), and has been so successful at sharing the gospel and reaching the city, we are excited to come under their wing and be trained as future church planters. Caleb will take up a handful of responsibilities. In the next couple of weeks our c-group will be multiplying and Caleb will be leading the new group. As they say, when they leader is ready, the multiplication happens. Along with this, he will be following around our pastor, Kevin Larson, and the elders, and doing some connecting work with Central Christian College, as many of the students attend (or scope out) Karis. We will continue doing our community outreach with the neighborhood children, seeking new ways to reach our city for Christ. We have been throwing a "Summer Nights" event bi-monthly, including games, crafts, food and fellowship, which has opened the door to relationships with the kids and their parents and will end our summer with a VBS for them. I'm excited for what God has in store for us through this internship.

We know that accepting these responsibilities and challenges will be....well....challenging, and maybe not always easy. But sometimes the narrow path is like that. And though we fly on without landing, we find rest in God's truth and love. He is our strength that keeps us sending this message. We're excited to have you with us on this quest and look forward to keeping you filled in on the activities of our lives.

Cheers,
Kelly and Caleb Bales