This photograph by Ann Gaal won honorable mention for best personality in last year's PhotoWild! competition.

Charles McGalliard, Huntersville’s IT exec-turned-missionary, survived a 150-mile hike through the Himalayas and high stakes games of hide-and-seek in Asian countries where governments don’t always have a high tolerance for Christian outreach during his initial foray into international soul-saving last year.

Now comes the hard part: raising enough money so he can keep doing it again and again.

McGalliard’s saga was chronicled last summer in The Herald. After losing his IT job with a national lender as part of the fallout from the sub-prime mortgage crisis, McGalliard decided to look for something new. He’d been feeling the missionary tug for several years and wound up making a connection with CSO Sports, which is based in Charlotte. The group attempts to further the Christian cause through the formation of sports clubs or teams. The idea is simple: bonds formed through sports lead to opportunities for witnessing and conversion. But in the parts of the world where McGalliard and CSO hope to operate, the CSO format is more than just useful. It’s essential. McGalliard says the current model in Asian and African countries, where Christians are often persecuted, is to fill a club or team half with known Christians and half with people of other faiths, or no organized faith at all. No efforts at evangelism are made until the Christians get to know the non-Christians well enough to know whether or not they might turn them in.

“It’s a pretty good safety device,” says McGalliard.

McGalliard’s role with CSO, after he’s fully trained, will be to mentor and train new CSO team leaders in Asia and Africa. The training won’t have much to do with sports. Which game or activity the groups are based around is left up to local organizers. McGalliard will be helping them understand the critical, interpersonal dynamics of the venture, and, of course, how it fits with Christian evangelism.

His work will mean two- and three-week trips out of the country throughout the year. He got off to a flying start last fall with a six-week trip that included some mission work that wasn’t part of his CSO charge.

The 51-year-old McGalliard found the experience exhilarating, but also humbling.

“There are a lot of very courageous people out there,” he says. “I do feel like this is very important, but you also realize how much more some others are doing.”

McGalliard has another trip coming up soon. In the meantime, he’s set to work on a task that, for him, is almost as daunting as sneaking into unfriendly countries and spreading the Christian message — asking people for money.

“I’m really not very good at it and I don’t really like it,” says McGalliard. “But it’s what needs to be done to make this work.”

CSO sets McGalliard’s salary, which he calls “generous,” but the figure is just a paper number. He’s responsible for raising the funds. He’s been meeting one on one with anyone he can find in an effort to line up sponsors. He’d be happy to speak to individuals or groups about CSO’s work and his exotic experiences.

Well, not happy, but willing.

“I’ll do what I need to do, “ he says.

To find out more, contact McGalliard at 704-962-2693 or visit the CSO Web site at www.CSOsports.org.

— Tucker Mitchell

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