If good Christians can be said to walk the walk, then it’s fair to say that Toby — the head of an unusual Christian ministry — trots the trot.

Toby is a 10-year-old, sorrel-and-white paint stallion, owned by Jim and Sharon Borgeson, of rural Douglas County.

For the past four years, Toby (official name: Thirsty Peppy) has provided the horsepower for a ministry, run by the Borgesons, that has distributed about $34,000 to their church and people in need.

Toby, an honorary member of the Borgesons’ congregation, First Church of the Nazarene, 1470 N. 1000 Road, has his own post office box and his own checking account (no kidding — it’s in his name) at a Baldwin-area bank.

Toby’s ministry is different than most. Apart from the fact that it’s run by a horse, the ministry also primarily relies upon a uniquely creative method of fund raising.

Toby’s stud fees.

The Borgesons, longtime horse enthusiasts, charge $550 each time Toby is bred to a mare. The man who handles the breeding gets $150, and the remaining $400 goes into Toby’s ministry.

The Borgesons estimate that Toby has sired about 20 foals so far.

The ministry’s funding has been augmented by contributions from members of First Church of the Nazarene and others who support its efforts. Jim’s dad, a retired Nazarene preacher in Texas, donated three mares to the ministry, which Jim then sold to raise $6,000. The ministry’s goal is to support church projects, and, more importantly, to reach out and help as many people in the community as possible.

Jim Borgeson donates the stud fees of Toby to First Church of the Nazarene, which uses the money to buy Wal-Mart gift cards for people in need. Borgeson combs Toby Jan. 7 in his stall in rural Douglas County.

“Just going to church isn’t enough. That’s not what Jesus taught. He met people’s needs, too,” says Jim, 57, a chiropractor with offices in Baldwin and Overland Park.

“We’re just trying to put the teachings of Jesus into action.”

Gifts to strangers

The Borgesons — with Toby’s help, of course — have been busy giving away lots of money.

In its first two years, the ministry donated $10,000 to remodel their church’s parsonage, as well as another $10,000 toward building a new, illuminated sign for the church.

“Toby is an honorary member of our congregation. His giving level is probably higher than most,” says the Rev. Donald Dunn, the church’s senior pastor.

Toby licks icicles dangling from his stall.

“My wife, Janice, kissed Toby on the lips (to thank him for the remodel).”

For the past year and a half, Toby’s ministry has been involved in a much broader effort to help people.

The Borgesons have recruited 32 volunteers from their church to serve as specially trained “agents,” who prayerfully select people to receive a surprise gesture: $100 gift cards from Wal-Mart.

Each gift card comes inside an envelope, along with a letter explaining who it’s from.

“Greetings, the enclosed gift card is real. Don’t throw it away! The gift card is for $100. It is yours with no strings attached. You may use the gift card at Wal-Mart until the $100 is used up. It is a gift, so it never has to be repaid,” the letter reads.

“The gift is privately funded by Toby, a paint horse stallion, who uses his earnings to help others. The person giving you the gift is a volunteer, whose mission is to deliver the gift.”

Toby, a stallion whose stud fees are donated to his owner's church, gazes toward Jim and Sharon Borgeson on their farm west of Baldwin.

The volunteers may pick anyone whom they sense has a need and could really use the gift — anyone from a complete stranger (say, a customer at Wal-Mart) to a favorite waitress or coffee shop barista.

So far, Toby’s ministry has given away gift cards to 70 people — worth a total of $7,000.

Perfect timing

Agents — those who have volunteered to give out the gift cards — get together once a month at Jim’s church with him and the Rev. Dan Steele, pastor of commissioning at First Church of the Nazarene.

They refresh their training on how to let God (and their own intuition) guide them in selecting gift card recipients, as well as how to approach people and give them the cards in a sensitive way.

“It’s not as easy as you think to give away $100. You have to put a lot of thought into it,” Jim says.

Recipients don’t have to respond to the gifts, but the letter that accompanies each gift card welcomes them to send any comments to Dunn at his church, or to write directly to Toby at his Baldwin post office box.

Some of them have.

Joyce DeShazo, a Lawrence woman who received a gift card from an agent last July, sent a thank-you note to Toby’s post box.

DeShazo, 45, was given a gift card while she was shopping at Wal-Mart, 3300 Iowa, with her mother and 15-year-old daughter.

It was the first time DeShazo had left the house since having major back surgery two weeks earlier, and she was using a wheelchair to get around.

“All of a sudden this lady walked up and said, ‘I’ve been looking for somebody, and God told me it was you.’ Then she started talking about this horse, and I thought, ‘This is weird,'” DeShazo recalls.

She read the letter that came with the gift card, quickly discovering it was a real gift — not a joke or a scam.

“All three of us almost started crying. We just couldn’t believe that this could happen. My daughter said, ‘We found God at Wal-Mart,'” DeShazo says.

The agent’s sense of timing — and choice of a recipient — was perfect.

DeShazo was able to use the card to purchase medical supplies that she otherwise couldn’t afford to buy.

“I needed special bandages that cost a lot and didn’t hurt my skin. It was a lot of things I needed right at that time that insurance didn’t pay for,” she says. “Then I got this gift card, and it was like a miracle. It really helped out.”