The Romanian peasant was on his knees, frantically gathering the half-rotten apples strewn all over the mountain road. In the pitch darkness, our rickety little car had plowed into his cart, throwing him off and somersaulting his two horses. As a cold rain and snow fell on this surreal midnight scene, I had never felt less in control. I asked myself, “What in the world am I doing here?” At age 12, I had accepted Christ. The preacher in the big tent at the summer Bible Camp helped me to understand that I was a sinner and needed to receive God’s forgiveness through Jesus Christ. I went forward to make my decision public. After college, I started working for an agricultural company. I loved traveling around to the little towns and having coffee and breakfast with our local growers. It didn’t even seem like work to me. As I moved up in the company, however, things began to change. My responsibilities continued to increase and so did the pressure. At age 44, I was named president of this company of over 2,000 employees. Under my leadership, the company tripled in size and value. I was in control and at the pinnacle of my career. Everything was perfect. I should have been happy. But inside I was dying. Things erupted after a very emotional, stressful board meeting. A snowstorm cancelled my flight out of Minneapolis and stranded me in a hotel room. I couldn’t sleep. I spent the night in prayer and talked by phone with my wife and pastor. By morning it was clear that I needed to let go and leave the company. At age 52 I was burned out… but open to God’s leading. Yet, could I continue to provide for my family financially? Colleagues thought I was crazy to leave this company we had built. Other companies called regularly, asking me to run their operations. But there was no peace about these offers, and I sensed God had other exciting plans for my future. My wife and I started sharing our faith, telling others how Christ had worked in our lives. We were even invited by a missionary to help bring the message of the gospel to Romania. At first I resisted, but eventually I came to understand that this, too, was God’s leading, so off we went to this former Soviet bloc country and an experience that would change my life forever. I felt less in control than ever in that strange place. But somehow the Lord used my business experience to help start a movement of spreading the gospel and planting churches which continues on to this day. Building a $100 million company couldn’t begin to compare to the thrill of seeing God continue to build his kingdom in the formerly communist world. I was out of control, and now the Lord was in the driver’s seat. As a result of this movement, millions all over Eastern Europe and Russia hear the gospel every year. And thousands respond by gratefully accepting the greatest story ever told - the very same good news I heard as a 12 year-old in that big tent at summer Bible Camp. “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose.” Jim Elliot