A House and A Home

Ok!! For the blog I’ve been waiting to write for quite some time now! I feel like I’ve been a bit vague about what’s been going on in our lives lately. So here it goes…

First of all, LIFE IS AWESOME, GOD IS FAITHFUL, and WE ARE AT PEACE! There were so many months where we just felt like we were struggling to get through a day because things were just so challenging and difficult. But it feels like life has turned upside down and we are back on track.

October is such an exciting month for us and we are only a matter of days away. Piet and I have now officially moved from Africa Ablaze and are working under our local church, The Barn. Our contract formally starts Oct 1, but we

 have already begun (this week and next week) in order to get two weeks off next month.  We LOVE what we are doing. Basically, we are helping to create and facilitate a gap year program called “Year of Your Life” ran by the church.  Here is a brief description:

The “Year of Your Life” is a gap year programme aimed at young people who are interested in giving a year of their lives to discover who they are in Christ and to make an impact in their communities. The goal of YOYL is to equip young people for practical service. It will give them a solid Christian foundation to be applied throughout their lives whether in full-time ministry or in the work place.

Year of Your Life is a year of service filled with skills development, foundational theological training, and equipping through practical ministry and outreach.

Piet and I will be leaders of the program as we go into schools, put on community events, and go on short-term mission trips.

My (Leah) parents arrive in South Africa on October 1. Piet and I had planned to visit America in October, but unfortunately the visa didn’t work out this time around. So, my parents made a decision to come and see us instead. We are thrilled they are coming. We’ll be traveling with them and it will be a great time of relaxing and family fellowship.

In one of my recent blogs, I spoke about how we have been trying to raise money to pay rent for a new place since we are no longer staying at Africa Ablaze. God has truly blown us away. We didn’t expect to be so completely blessed. We are now getting a salary from the church that we really didn’t expect and all of our supporters have just been so wonderful. When we put our need out there, we got an overwhelming response from those that love us. Someone said to me recently that she is so glad that we are well taken care of because she hates it when people say, “We are poor because we are missionaries.” Who came up with that rule?? God blesses those that faithfully serve Him. Now, of course this doesn’t mean we are rich, but we don’t have to worry about not having enough gas in our car or bread on our table. After all… do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? ²⁶ Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Matthew 6:25-26

But I still haven’t gotten to the best part yet! We have just purchased our first home!! Again, God has blessed us so abundantly. I never thought we would be able to afford to have a mortgage, but God has proven over and over that He is SO interested in our lives and SO interested in our ministry. Almost all of the paperwork has gone through and we will move in October 1! We cannot wait to be in our own place.

What is left, but to give Glory to the One whom it is due.

Piet and I are happy. We are constantly learning each other, learning together, and growing together.

Thank you so much for your faithfulness in our lives, thank you for your prayers, and for your financial gifts. We are overwhelmed with love from our friends, our families, and our Heavenly Father.

Blessings, peace, and Love

The Bakers