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"FAITH, LOVE, AND JOY
IN THE BUSH"
by Rolland & Heidi Baker
Iris Ministries, Inc
www.irismin.org
www.irismin.com
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Intro by Steve Shultz:
 I'm
departing from our normal "type" of Elijah List posting for one day. There are few
more prophetic people in the Body than Rolland and Heidi Baker. The reason I say
this is that they don't just speak prophetically -- they live it.
They listen and obey -- such
that the dead are raised, the sick are healed, and the Love of God is extended in
supernatural ways -- ALL THE TIME.
It's in the Bible, by the way:
1 Corinthians 4:20 (NIV)
"For the kingdom of God is not a matter of talk but of
power."
I just thought I'd let you see
a bit of that KINGDOM POWER!
Enjoy!
Steve Shultz
THE ELIJAH LIST
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August 16, 2004
 Raised
From the Dead!
Francisco is smiling, seated comfortably on the platform in a coat and tie, obviously
very special for him. And this is a very special day -- Resurrection Sunday! It's
Easter in this poor township in South Africa, and today Francisco is getting married.
His bride is beside him in white. All his church friends are singing and dancing
before him in their Sunday best. The weather is beautiful. The music is spine-tingling.
These people know how to celebrate, even in poverty.
But this is no ordinary wedding. We leave room for the Holy Spirit, and we take
time to preach the Gospel with all our hearts. Guests come streaming to the altar
in tears and with joy, throwing themselves at the feet of the King. We have been
telling of His mercy and grace, and His unlimited resurrection power. And our prime
illustration is sitting on the platform. Franzie, as we call him, was resurrected
from the dead last September after being beaten to death by a gang that arrived
to disrupt one of our township conferences. One of the thugs was caught by the police,
but the church forgave him and refused to press charges. Not only was Franzie resurrected
and completely healed of his wounds in one day, but the teenage killer was saved
and reconciled to Franzie and the church.
Finally we move on to the wedding ceremony. Franzie and his bride exchange vows
and rings. I'm the wedding photographer too, and I capture on film the cutting of
the cake, the chicken dinner, and all Franzie's family and friends. His life has
been poor and hard, his faith strong, and his endurance unwavering. Now Jesus is
loving him richly and deeply with the desires of his heart, even after suffering
the worst Satan could do. This is Franzie's day, and we are so happy for him and
his brand new wife...
Franzie is a leading pastor among our hundreds of Iris Africa churches in South
Africa, all connected with us in Mozambique, Malawi, and other countries. He is
one of a cloud of witnesses that are fueling revival in our corner of Africa, another
testament to the presence and glory of God among us here on earth. Most who hear
this story will hardly be affected, but God has His people who will love Him to
the death, and know that His Kingdom is a pearl beyond price.
"Bush Conferences"
On June 4th, 2004, the dramatic granite peaks of Nampula Province loom out of the
distant haze one after another and glide by in our Cessna's picture window view
of the African wilderness. We clear ridges by hundreds of feet and bounce lightly
through turbulence caused by breezes deflected upward by hillsides. We examine the
details of the wild -- the evergreen trees at higher elevations, the erosion trails,
and the streaks and patterns of minerals painted by the creator across bare rock
faces. There are no highways and subdivisions in sight. We are far from power lines
and gas stations. This is Africa, where life has hardly changed in centuries for
those living in the scattered huts passing underneath, barely strung together by
narrow dirt footpaths through the lonely countryside.
We are headed for yet another of our "bush conferences," central gatherings of many
hundreds of our pastors from the far corners of a province, this time Nampula, Mozambique's
second largest by population. We were going to meet in the city of Nampula, the
provincial capital, but the government is staging a political campaign there, and
its people have taken every hotel room and rental vehicle available.
But most of our churches are out in the bush anyway, so we decided to move our conference
to the little town of Iapala, 75 miles to the west on the dirt road to Malawi. That
meant driving our own trucks down from Pemba and up from Maputo far to the south
so our staff could go ahead of us and begin preparations. We even bought a new 4WD
pickup truck for the occasion. Today Heidi, Jill Austin, and our preacher friend
Lesley Leighton are with me in our plane making the 35-minute hop from Nampula to
Iapala, a trip that is taking our mission team four or five hours on the ground.
We see the rough, narrow road they are on below, roughly paralleling train tracks
that also lead to Malawi. Small plots of maize lie near huts, providing barely enough
food for survival when there is rain. Water is usually a long walk away. A few goats
are the only livestock.
This is a quiet, remote, isolated
corner of the world hardly ever seen by Westerners. But Iapala is special to God,
for in this area He has chosen to raise the dead and fire a hunger for the living
Savior among a people who have been almost completely Moslem until recently. We
have come to encourage their faith in Jesus and pour even more fuel on the fire
of revival.
Ready for Revival!
The road to Iapala wanders away from our direct path, so I follow my GPS. Soon the
tiny community materializes in front of a massive rocky outcrop. A twenty-year-old
U.S. Defense Department map says there was a dirt runway here once, but our advance
team found nothing but tall grass over the head. Back in Nampula I got word by radiotelephone
that they hired twenty local men to machete a few hundreds yards of runway for us,
and soon we find the clearing they made. It doesn't look like much. I sink down
for a low pass to check out the surface. Thick clumps of high stubble are left all
over the "airstrip," and the ground looks very lumpy and uneven, strewn with rocks
and cut grass. But with our big tundra tires it's good enough. We come in to land.
Speed just right. Full flaps with enough power for a 500-ft/minute descent, flaring
well before the strip begins. We set down firmly, shaking to a stop just facing
the tall grass at the other end. We are safe, having arrived at the roughest airfield
I have encountered yet in the bush.
And we have a welcoming committee! Hundreds of villagers, young and old, mob our
plane. They are jumping and shouting, laughing and singing. Most have never seen
an airplane before. The Christians have come! The preachers have come! Let's have
a conference! We load our gear into our team's waiting truck, and with excited children
racing behind us, we head for our "conference grounds."
That's a story too. Moslems in town objected to our meetings, so to avoid offense
our church leaders found some land further away from the central market and workers
chopped tall grass again so we could put up a crude platform, pitch our tents, and
make room to lay straw mats for the people to sit on during meetings. Heidi, Jill,
and Lesley start making camp until the main team convoy arrives, and I set up our
generator and sound/video system. By sunset the team has arrived and put up their
tents, and we are ready for more revival!
Reaching the 'Ends of the
Earth'
Our pastors have come from hundreds of miles around. Our own trucks have pounded
over rough roads for days, gathering as many as possible. Others arrive on foot,
or by local transport -- dilapidated, overloaded, sagging trucks and vans, a familiar
sight in Africa. Wives and children come too, spreading their grass mats on the
weeds and dirt before the platform and setting down their meager bags of belongings.
Local Christians are eagerly waiting. Moslems filter in from town. Curious onlookers
circle around us. Soon it's dark, we have quite a crowd, and our first meeting in
Iapala begins.
That night we arrange for workers to hack more grass at the runway, starting at
dawn. I need another couple hundred yards to take off safely from the rough, soft
ground, even with a light load and fuel tanks only half-full. I head back to Nampula
to fly in Randy Clark and my daughter and niece, who have just flown up by commercial
jet from Maputo. On the return flight I circle the conference field to get attention,
showing Randy and the girls the crowd on the ground and our tents. Again we land
before a surging throng, even more excited after last night's meeting. Crystalyn
and Marissa plunge in among the children, laughing and singing with them. Randy
knows he has reached the ends of the earth...
God Shows Up, Again and
Again
And so we continue another of our many conferences among the rural poor of Africa
that we have been holding since 1998. We have had hundreds of them, and they have
been primary instruments of encouragement and growth, along with our Bible schools.
Each conference has its uniqueness. Local languages change -- Mozambique alone has
twenty-six. Some are large, involving the feeding of ten or twelve thousand people.
Others are smaller, including mainly key leaders. Some are at main bases with basic
facilities and electricity; others are in open fields where we need to dig toilets,
clear grass, and put up tents and plastic for protection from sun and rain.
We nearly always begin by showing
a video of the Jesus Film, and, more recently, Mel Gibson's The Passion.
We sing and dance Africa-style until we're ready to drop. We preach ourselves hoarse.
We pray for the sick. Our meetings vary according to the gifts of our speakers and
visiting short-term missionaries. Some are amazing musicians. Others are great teachers.
Some come with powerful gifts of healing and prophecy. Most are humble, ordinary
Christians with great hearts of love and sensitivity who will do anything to help.
In our climate of revival in southeast Africa, nearly all who hear the Gospel respond
to Jesus and want more of Him. There is no point to an "altar call" when the entire
listening crowd wants salvation and the Holy Spirit! Often the people are noisy
and jammed tightly together. Children press in around the platform, missing nothing.
Usually the nights are hot, mosquitoes are buzzing, and all of us are dirty and
dripping with perspiration. It is such a challenge to keep the electricity on and
the sound system working. And in all the stress and chaos, God shows up, again and
again.
Deaf and Blind are Healed!
Recently at an outreach among Moslems near Pemba, an invitation to salvation was
given and hundreds responded. Georgian Banov was playing his intensely exciting
violin music, and the crowd was electric. Then, as she often does, Heidi called
deaf people forward for prayer. She took one little boy in her arms, a twelve-year-old
deaf-mute since birth, and just kept hugging and praying for him. After awhile his
ears were opened, and he began to respond to Heidi, saying simple words like "Mama"
and "Jesus." Someone ran to get his parents, who had already gone to bed. They came
out, and tears ran down their faces when they saw what Jesus had done. "My boy!
My boy! He hasn't spoken since he was born!" the father cried in Makua. Both parents
were saved then and there. The people all knew the boy, and they were jumping and
shouting with wonder and approval.
Then a young man brought out his ninety-year-old
blind grandmother for prayer. The Holy Spirit began to work, and she could see light
-- and then forms, and then she said she could see everything clearly. "You're a
white lady!" she cried when Heidi came into focus! The people erupted with life-giving
joy again. We held this outreach right in front of one of our simple thatch churches,
a new church plant, so we could introduce everyone immediately to a pastor and church
family. And so the revival spreads, one person, one miracle, one act of love at
a time. The Moslems cannot resist the true and living God when they see His power
shown through such love.
"Thank You! We Didn't Know the Love
of God, and You Came!"
Back in Iapala, we finish our three
days with our provincial and district pastors and leaders, church people and local
villagers. Once again the Holy Spirit comes and touches the lonely, lost, sick,
and discouraged. How incredible that God Himself would pay attention to this remote,
dusty little town. How amazing that all these foreigners would come so far and live
in tents in the dirt to bring the love of God to people they have never met. On
the last day, our Mozambican pastors lay hands on Randy and pour out their appreciation
to God for him and all the missionaries who came to Africa with the Good News. Crying
with love and gratitude, Pastor Tanuekue and his wife and brother, a family that
has raised many from the dead in the name of Jesus, tell us, "Thank you! Thank you!
We didn't know! We didn't know the love of God, and you came! You obeyed and came
to us! Thank you!"
In the afternoon we fly out of our homemade airport with rich memories, heading
back over mountains, rivers, and plains to relative "civilization." And then we
continue on to more locations, week after week, month after month, energized supernaturally
to spearhead the Spirit's work more than a thousand miles up and down Africa's southeastern
coast. All our lives we have prayed to see and experience an "open heaven," and
now it is coming upon us. A refreshing, pure, and powerful Niagara Falls of God's
grace is being poured out on the extremely poor in all their hardship and suffering.
The hungry will be filled, and the hungry of Africa are running to Jesus for life
and love. In their humble faith they are tasting His mercy and joy, and becoming
more than conquerors in spite of all opposition.
He Is Not Tired...He Is
Not Overwhelmed by Our Desperate Circumstances...
May Jesus pour out His Spirit among us all the more as we take increasing pleasure
in Him and press forward to what lies ahead. He is not tired; He is not depressed;
He is not overwhelmed by our desperate circumstances. He loves to respond to those
who are happy with Him, who delight in Him, and who come to Him for everything.
Let's draw closer to Him and love Him even more. He always proves Himself to be
better than we think!
We feel very loved by Jesus through all of you who know us, support us, and pray
for us so fervently. It is always beautiful to watch how He works through His Body
to take care of so many. More power and glory on all of you whose hearts are conquered
by the King!
On we go in Jesus!
Rolland Baker
www.irismin.org
www.irismin.com
rollandbaker@earthlink.net
Heidi Baker:
"God is So Mighty!!!!!!"
 The
Lord has spoken to me about the Makua people. I will be spending much more time
in Pemba, teaching in Bible College, doing outreaches, and learning Makua. I have
just canceled six weeks of speaking trips this year so I can pray and concentrate
on slowly reaching the Makua people. It is very difficult to leave our children's
center at Zimpeto in the south near Maputo. However, Rolland and I have been slowly
transitioning for a year. My heart is so broken for the people of the north. Please
pray for a true transformation to take place. I am believing for this tribe to be
reached by the love of Jesus.
I want to share my thoughts on the last few days. I love what God is doing here.
Yes, there are trials and hardships and warfare. We have not had water for the last
five days in our house. Electricity is always off and on. Some pastors are angry
and want to be offered jobs. Witch doctors try to put spells on us. The new floods
wiped out the septic tank at the center. We still battle with character development
in the pastors and children. And there are so many needs it makes our heads spin.
And yet, God is so mighty!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! He fills us with His glorious Holy
Spirit and brings the lost into His precious saving grace.
Pemba: 80 Pastors Graduate,
and 12 More People are Saved!
Today was an awesome day. It was graduation
day in Pemba. You could feel the excitement in the air. We worshiped and heard the
pastors prophesy and share the dreams and visions God gave them. I preached with
all that Jesus has put within me from the book of Timothy. Then it was time for
the ceremony to begin. No cap and gowns. Instead there were ragged shirts and worn
out flip-flops. We met in our unfinished building on the dirt floor. The breeze
blew refreshingly through our open sanctuary. Pastor Jose had a vision of doves
flying in with flowers in their beaks. They were bringing the joy of the Lord. Another
pastor had a vision of a very deep well, with fresh water full of many fish. Another
saw a brilliant white cloud filling our building. Another saw a great multitude
bowing before the Lord crying out in worship.
The Holy Spirit fell in a tremendous way upon our humble pastors. You could see
the presence of God touch each one. This is the real thing! Twenty-two months ago
we had fifteen converts in this province. Today another eighty pastors graduate.
At the end of the graduation we had a call for salvation and twelve more were saved!!
Free to Be Children
It was now time for baptism. The church sang and danced down to the crystal clear,
perfectly warm Indian ocean. I had a blast swimming with all our children. There
is something so miraculous about previously sad and abused orphans splashing around
laughing and showing me all their tricks in the ocean. They are free to be children
again. I believe Father God enjoyed this time as well. We then baptized fifty new
Christians, including twelve of our new children.
The day was not even over. I had several hours to spend in the Holy Place with my
best friend Jesus before going on outreach. Over two thousand people showed up.
We showed the Jesus Film and again I preached my heart out. Hundreds were
saved. We have just started working with this community and will start a church
there this month. It was the girls' night at our house. We all piled into the Land
Rover and drove home with all our beautiful girls singing at the top of their voices
praise songs to the one we love with all of our lives. They are still laughing with
His awesome joy. See why I love this place?
A little time has gone by since I wrote this. We have been ministering in Malawi,
and God has poured out His glorious Holy Spirit in the middle of Bangula. The blind
saw, the deaf heard, and many more were miraculously healed. Around a thousand people
responded to the calls for salvation. We found out that beans were multiplied as
well!!!!!! Please pray for the church leaders and missionaries.
Thank you for caring about us and being so kind to remember the poor. They are indeed
rich in faith. I pray you live inside the gloriously loving heart of Jesus and run
out to give his love away.
Be blessed!
--Heidi
Rolland and Heidi Baker, Directors
Iris Ministries, Inc.
Mozambique
www.irismin.org
www.irismin.com
rollandbaker@earthlink.net
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"What
God has done through the anointing of His Spirit in the lives of Rolland and Heidi
Baker is truly miraculous. I know of no other work so pure and so motivated by the
compassionate heart of God. This is not only the story of how God would take fourteen
people and one church and grow it in five years to more than six thousand churches;
it the story of how God would prepare His chosen instruments for the powerful faith-based
ministry that is presently shaking twelve countries in southern Africa."
-Randy Clark, Global Awakening
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