Sometimes the Check Is the Easy Part

By Partner Alan Carlton, Barnabas Sacramento Co-Founder & Board Chair

When Baolerhu Ligden first invited my wife, Diane, and me to Mongolia, I had what I thought was a pretty reasonable response.

Why don't we just write a check?

Alan sharing his story at ou August 2026 meeting

We've been longtime supporters of Baolerhu and the Asia Leadership Development Network. But Mongolia is a long way from Sacramento. Fifteen hours in the air, airfare, hotels, a week and a half away from home. When the invitation came again last winter, I finally told Baolerhu, "This is going to be an expensive trip. Why don't we save the airfare and hotel and just give you the money? You can use it however you want."

It seemed like good stewardship.

Baolerhu had another idea.

He wanted me there.

Why Mongolia?

Baolerhu grew up in Mongolia as part of what was then an unreached people group. He became one of the first Christians in the country after the fall of communism and has since devoted much of his life to developing the next generation of Mongolian leaders.

Today, Mongolia's Christian church is only about 35 years old. That means there isn't an older generation of Christian leaders who can look back on decades of integrating faith with business, leadership, entrepreneurship, and generosity.

That's part of the reason Baolerhu founded the Asia Leadership Development Network. ALDN works with entrepreneurs, pastors, community leaders, business leaders, and other culture-makers who aren't simply interested in building churches. They want to help shape the future of Mongolia.

And Baolerhu believed that what I had learned through decades in business might be useful to them.

I've known him for about nine years, and I've learned something about him: when he really leans into something, I need to listen.

So I said yes.

Eight Thousand Miles to Say One Thing

Baolerhu asked me to participate in a fireside chat at ALDN's summit in Ulaanbaatar. About 250 entrepreneurs attended, and my topic was biblical generosity. I talked about generosity as a reflection of God's heart. I shared that generosity isn't expressed only through money, but through our time, talents, and treasure. Nothing revolutionary. Certainly nothing most Barnabas partners haven't heard before.

But that evening, a Mongolian woman approached me. She was an English teacher and had served as a missionary alongside her husband for many years. She told me that while listening to the conversation, she had experienced a tremendous sense of release. She had spent her life serving others, but something clicked as she listened. Her life of service was itself an expression of biblical generosity. She didn't need a large financial gift to qualify as generous. The life she and her husband had already been living was a reflection of God's generous heart. She described it as life-changing.

I stood there listening to her and thought, You've got to be kidding me. As I heard more of her story, I realized I was talking to one of the most generous people I'd ever met. And somehow God had taken me from Shingle Springs, California, sent me 8,000 miles around the world, and used me to tell this woman something she desperately needed to hear:

The life you're already living is generous.

That was the moment I thought, Okay, Lord. I think I understand why I needed to come.

Getting Close Changes Things

That wasn't the only moment. I spent time with the ALDN staff, people faithfully serving Christ as a tiny minority within their culture. We ate together. We prayed together. We shared stories. I had opportunities to listen to young leaders, ask questions, and share some of what decades of business successes, mistakes, relationships, and leadership had taught me.

On Sunday morning, I worshiped alongside Mongolian Christians in a language I couldn't understand, yet there was absolutely no question about whom we were worshiping. And almost every night, I went to bed thinking, Lord, thank you for kicking me out of Sacramento and getting me here. This is exactly where I'm supposed to be. It changed the way I think about the ministries we encounter through The Barnabas Group.

We get to see people doing extraordinary Kingdom work all the time. It's easy to hear a presentation, be impressed by the work, support it financially, and then move on. But what if we got closer? Get to know the executive director. Take them to dinner. Invite them into your home. Learn about their team. Ask about their challenges. Pray for them, and tell them you're praying for them.

Then ask God a simple question: How might You want me to step closer?

For me, the answer happened to be Mongolia. For someone else, it might be Nepal. Or it might be West Sacramento. The distance isn't the point. The point is that when God creates an opportunity, we lean in and ask Him where we can say yes.

I went to Mongolia thinking about the cost. The airfare, the hotel, the time away, and whether it wouldn't be more efficient simply to write another check.

I came home thinking about the return.

And the return wasn't only what I was able to give.

It was what God did in me because I was willing to get close.

About The Author: Alan Carlton

Alan Carlton previously served as the Co-Managing partner of the Sacramento Chapter of The Barnabas Group and is now a Board member. By way of background, Alan is a Shingle Springs native and, until a few years ago, the founder and CEO of Carlton Engineering, a 70-person civil engineering firm serving the Northern California Area for 35 years. Carlton Engineering was acquired by an international firm in 2015, and Alan stayed on full-time for three years to help with the integration and sales teams.

He now works part-time in the engineering space, provides management team coaching, heads up men’s ministry in his church, and manages the family real estate portfolio. He is also a musician and, with his wife, serves on the worship team at their church. Alan is also a graduate of The Master’s Program.

Diane is a massage therapist in her home-based business, in leadership at Bible Study Fellowship, and a devoted wife, mother, and grandmother.

Alan and his wife Diane live in Shingle Springs and get to be an active part of the lives of their three children and 7 grandchildren. They enjoy traveling and entertaining together, along with individual interests in woodworking and gardening.