Health and moving forward

Piet’s health

Piet is doing much better than he has been over the past two months. Piet has been in the ER on 3 different occasions for bad panic attacks. He suffers from anxiety and it generally mimics a heart attack. Of course this has been very scary for all of us. He is on medication and will hopefully be starting therapy soon. It has really been a hard few months, but we trust the Lord that all of these things will slowly work themselves out with these measures. Piet is unfortunately not on a medical insurance at the moment, so these many doctor and hospital visits have been quite pricey. We are waiting to hear back from one of our supporters if they will be able to cover the monthly costs of insurance, so you can be praying for us in that way.

Leah’s health

I have also not being doing great health wise, but I have been feeling better the last few days. The good news is that one of the reasons for my not feeling well is that we are expecting our second child! We are so expectant and looking forward to December when Harmony will finally have a sibling to play with!

Ministry

We are ending our season with LXP in a matter of weeks! We cannot believe how fast two years have gone by. We are parting on good terms and are looking forward to a new season with the local church here in Butha-Buthe. We will continue teaching a weekly discipleship class one evening a week and will be doing business mentoring for people in the church and the community who wish to start up or continue to run small businesses. The church has tried this before but hasn’t had anyone to devote enough time and energy to nurture it. We also have plans to start a young adults gathering on Saturday nights as a way for the 20-somethings to connect with one another and gather in a relevant environment. We will discuss topics, watch teaching DVD’s, and worship together. 

We are really enjoying our growing relationship with the church as they are very outreach oriented which is rare for an African church.

That's about all for now!

Thank you for your prayers and support

Loving Africa

The Bakers

Summertime in the kingdom

Greetings from the kingdom.

Not much is new around here, but all is well!

We recently had our second graduation for the phase one and phase two computer class students. The students are a mix of young and older adults. Each phase is a three month course and gets progressively more complex with each new course. The goal of the computer classes is two-fold: skill training and discipleship. Two people gave their lives to the Lord this time around, which is great news! We encourage the class to meet in groups during the week to strength their faith. Please pray with us in this area. We are also seeing momentum in the village as more and more people are becoming interested in learning how to use a computer. It’s exciting that a new class of phase one students will be starting next week.

Wednesday is our community service day in the village. Because the local primary school has graciously allowed us to use their facilities for the computer classes, we wanted to give back. For the last few weeks we have been replacing any and all cracked or shattered windows at the school. The team and a few of the youth that are not currently in school are really enjoying serving others in the community. It is a great occasion to love on people not only with our words, but with our hands and feet as well.

We have recently accepted an opportunity at our local church to teach a discipleship and evangelism class. We will be using materials from the Crossroads course from the South African Theological Seminary. Although the pupils will not be getting credits, it will be a very helpful beginner’s theology course and will help them greatly in their ability to evangelize.

We would like to ask for your prayers for the nation of Lesotho. There has been political instability off and on over the past few months. The national elections are taking place this Friday and there are concerns that things could get out of hand if the people are unhappy about the outcome. South African police are all over our town as extra hands in case things get out of control here. Pray for God's peace and sovereignty over this nation.

Our family is doing well. Harmony is growing like a weed! She has been walking for about a month now and is extremely chatty. She is mommy’s little helper around the house as she enjoys sweeping, washing dishes, and making the bed! We are right at the age of teething and picky eating so there is never a dull moment with Harmony around. About two weeks ago, we enjoyed a quick overnight trip to the town of Clarens, right outside of Lesotho. There is a beautiful national park where we went on a hike and had a picnic.

We are so blessed to be in such an awesome season in our lives.

Thank you for your prayers, support, and most of all, your love for us.

Loving Africa,

The Bakers

Happy New Year!

The Bakers family has had a very wonderful Christmas season. We spent three weeks in South Africa with church friends as well as with Piet’s family whom we do not see very often. Harmony had a great first Christmas and was very spoiled by friends and family. We also had a small celebration with a few friends while in Johannesburg for her birthday and will celebrate this coming week with friends here. It’s hard to believe that a whole year has gone by. What an incredible year it has been in watching her become a little person.

Our ministry with LXP Lesotho has started up again and we are looking forward to what this year will bring. The normal things are on the agenda: door-to-door ministry, camps, Beat the Drum, abstinence club, and computer classes.

Playing Games During the Christmas Party

Before we left, we ended the LXP Lesotho year with the Christmas party. It was a time where everyone in village who we minister to in some capacity gathered together to share testimonies of how God has been working in their lives throughout the year. The members of the Bible studies, the computer class, and the youth all shared testimonies as well song or dance items. We didn’t personally count the number who attended, but I would guess between 250 and 300! What a turn out!

Our local church here in Butha-Buthe held an annual conference at the end of December. Piet arranged for a few of the Barn’s band members (from Johannesburg) to spend a few days with us and lead us in worship during the conference. It was a very nice time having friends with us as well as celebrating 40 years of ministry with the AFM church.

Praise Party at the Conference

The Barn Team

I know that we often ask everyone to pray for us, but this time we would like to pray for you. If you have any specific prayer requests we would love to trust God with you this year. One goal that we have for this year is to connect with you all deeper in 2015. If you are not our friends on Facebook, please find us Leah Bakers /Piet Bakers or email us leahv77@gmail.com /piet.bakers@hotmail.com .

We can’t express enough how much you all mean to us. Thank you for standing with us, supporting us, and loving us.

Loving Africa,

The Bakers

December 2014

Another year has flown by. We can’t believe Harmony will be turning one year old next month! It really doesn’t seem very long ago that we were in the hospital with her. She has grown and developed so much in one short year; we are so excited to see how the rest of her life unfolds.

Being December this means the calendar year as well as the ministry year is coming to a close.

A few weeks ago, we got to witness the preschool kids graduation. All of the preschools in the district gathered together and each class presented a performance item. Though everything was in Sotho, it was still quite enjoyable to watch the singing, dancing, poetry, and dramas.

The rest of our LXP Lesotho team along with several students are currently on an outreach trip into the mountains to a place called Ha Makopela for the second year in a row to evangelize to unreached peoples. Please be in prayer with us for the team as they reach the lost. They are trusting for salvation, healing, and a deepened faith of those who gave their lives to the Lord last year. They have been gone this week and will return on Monday.

Piet continues to visit a young man named Rethabile who has been struggling with a spiritual oppression. Each week that he and his Bible study guys visit this young man they see a brightening of his eyes. When they first visited him in his home, he was bound in chains and barely said a word, but today he smiles, talks, and is excited whenever the guys come to his home. We praise the Lord for the radical change in his life and trust that there is also an equally radical change happening in his heart.

Today (Friday) marks the last computer classes of the year. The 2^nd term students and new students will finish up their term at the beginning of next year. Although not everyone who is involved in the classes is 100% committed, we can see huge progress in those who are consistent and eager to learn.

The LXP Lesotho Christmas party will be held on the 20^th of December. It will be a fun time of gathering together, sharing stories of God working in our lives, playing games, and sharing a meal together. All of the youth, children, families and anyone else that we have worked with during the course of the year is invited to celebrate with us.

Our local church here, AFM, will be hosting a conference from the 18-21^st of December to commemorate 40 years as a body of believers. We are excited to have some of the band members from our sending church, The Barn, join us and bless us with their music.

Thank you once again for being part of our lives.

LXP Lesotho Thanksgiving with old and new friends

Loving Africa,

The Bakers

Back in the Kingdom

We are finally reunited as a family after three weeks apart. Piet came home to Lesotho at the end of September while Harmony and myself stayed in the US for an additional three weeks while waiting for my South African paperwork to get sorted out. So, alas! We are all home in Lesotho together!

The Rush/Bakers family in Oregon

Our time in the States was really wonderful. We are so thankful to everyone who hosted us during our time and to everyone who took even an hour or two to spend with us. Our time was jam packed and we were exhausted by the end of it! Who else can say they slept in 8 different beds in 5 weeks? ;) We were also SO blessed that we got to see so many family members. Unfortunately, we didn’t see everyone, but we were definitely able to make the most of it. Thanks to all! We love you!

Now that we are back in the kingdom, it’s time to get back into ministry and finish up for the year. We are thankful to the LXP Lesotho team for keeping a computer lab open for our computer students to carry on practicing while we were away. We are excited to have a new group of computer students that have started this past week! They range from age 18 all the way up some in their 50’s. A few months ago, we had money donated specifically for computer skills classes. While we were in the States, we were able to purchase two second-hand computers! We are now able to comfortably accommodate 14 students in our classes. Thank you anonymous donor!!!!

Computer Class

Piet and the rest of the team had a camp at the beginning of October with the theme of “Fighting the Good Fight.” They focused on personal growth, how to fight the good fight of faith, and how to run away from the temptations that get in the way. There was an amazing time of prayer and worship seeking the Lord for wisdom and boldness to withstand these challenges. It sounds like it was a really awesome camp! Many of the youth say they learned a lot as the message was very direct and challenged their thinking.

While in America we experienced kids going back to school and starting a new year. However, in the Southern Hemisphere the school year runs with the calendar year. This means that the students here are busy with their exams and are closing up

the year. LXP Lesotho will, too, be wrapping up the year soon and preparing for holiday season. This will include an outreach to the mountains to minister to people who have never (or rarely) heard about Jesus and a Christmas party to celebrate Christ and the ways he has worked in our lives throughout the year.

The Bakers family is blessed to call each of you friends!

Thank you for your support and encouragement. We certainly couldn’t do it without you!

Loving Africa,

The Bakers

July 2014

Hello there!

Waiting for camp to start!

Sotho praise and worship

Our Beat the Drum camp, which ran from 14-18 July, was a great success! As we were preparing for the camp we really didn’t know what to expect because we had never worked with many of them before and they had never really been exposed to the kind of mentorship and encouragement we were extending to them. We almost anticipated them to break the camp rules and stir up mischief. However, this was definitely not the case! Although we didn’t have the amount of students we had originally hoped for, we truly believed that those who came were the right students. The high schoolers were very receptive to the message of abstinence and excited to make the commitment. There were even a number of students that received Christ for the first time. There were a few opportunities during the camp for the students to confess their hurts and even forgive those who had hurt them. We saw a lot of freedom! We really enjoyed working with the team from LXP South Africa as well as the

team from Michigan. We were sad to see them go at the end of the week! The intimacy and “small-ness” of the camp made it easier for the students to connect with us and open up to us.

"Special Ladies" Meeting

If you are interested in learning more about Beat the Drum, you can find the movie entitled “Beat the Drum” on Netflix in the US and in most video rental stores in South Africa. The curriculum we use is adapted from the movie and is used to teach African youth and young adults. The main themes focus on abstinence, values, HIV/AIDS, preventative measures, and speaking the truth. It really is a powerful tool to address issues that are happening in most African villages. The curriculum has a great paradigm shift for instilling godly values in the students.

After Beat the Drum camp, we were blessed with some time off. This enabled us to have some much needed rest as well as a little birthday getaway for me!

The computer classes took a 4 week break for Beat the Drum, but they are up and running again. They are nearing the end of their course and will graduate August 16^th! Also, we are very excited to say that we received a gracious donation and will soon be purchasing more computers for the class! This will enable us to extend the course to more who are willing and anxious to learn.

Worship

Annnnd! The countdown to our trip to the US has begun! In just 2 weeks we will begin our journey! We start in Chicago before we head to the west coast to visit our sending churches, friends, and family. If you are in the California Bay Area, we will be at Discovery Church on September 7^th and if you are in the Redding, California area, we will be visiting The Stirring on September 14^th. Let us know if you want to meet up!

An opportunity to know their HIV status

Love,
Piet, Leah, and Harmony

Walk the Talk

We are always amazed by the Father’s love over us even though we have experienced it over and over again; He is just a surprising Dad. As you all probably know by now, we have been busy with planting simple churches, running the pre-school ministry, Saturday youth program and over Easter

weekend we had camp for four days and the theme was “Walk the Talk.” We also have a new opportunity to grow the computer classes that we had started last year. A primary school opened up their school for us to run the computer classes for community as well as their grade 7 students. We are very excited! Also, we were very blessed last week as a few friends from our church in Johannesburg were able to come and spend time with us here to see our ministry in action.

As we continue to go house-to-house visiting people in their homes we come across open homes with open hearts and closed homes with closed doors. Some people are really curious to know about Christ. The common question I (Piet) get in the village always has something to do with ancestral worship. People always say God and ancestors are partners in their lives. Just two days ago I met with one of the guys I play soccer with in the village, he was curious know about my work here in Lesotho. I saw a perfect opportunity to introduce Christ to him, but I answered his question about my work. He then turned and asked me, “Does the work you’re doing require someone to be a born again believer?” I replied, “Yes!”
“Now I see a problem,” he said to me. “I am not part of any religion; all roads lead to the same place in my view.”

This is a perfect example of our daily lives as we introduce Christ to the people here. The truth that it is hard, but even if one person opens his/her heart to JESUS it makes my day. Sometimes I spend my entire day, or even weeks, without leading anyone to Christ.

We have gained momentum in one of our simple church gatherings which is truly good news! It is difficult to get people to commit as they work hard for their survival. Sometimes people won’t show up for an appointment or if you go to their house, no one is there. I used to struggle with that and often I would get frustrated. But the

Lord reminded me that I am here to serve these people and I need to try and fit into their schedule. We are still working developing the simple church model in the village. The ladies are continuing to meet after the ladies retreat in small groups based on their areas. There is one powerful move in the Nkoeng village and we are privileged to be part of it!

Last year we started a computer skills training class with a few boys from the village. The training took place in our house when we lived in the village. The dream and the vision of the computer class is to reach out and provide practical skills for the young adults in our village. We have been praying for bigger venue for the computer skills training and the Lord has answered our prayer. The local primary school has opened up their school hall for us to use and they have also asked us if we will consider equipping the grade 7 students. God is opening doors and ministry opportunities beyond what we even dreamed and we are excited! The computer classes will re-launch this week.

We then are left with a few practicalities to consider and pray through. The school doesn’t have electricity but we have asked a lady next to the school if she can allow us to use her power and will be pay for the usage. Our biggest challenge is that we will need more laptops, extension cords and a good projector as we will be teaching during the day and our current projector is not in great shape. We want to ask if you feel led to invest in this initiative or to help train in the classes please get in contact with us.

We are grateful to our friends and family at The Barn as they have recently donated another three laptops for our training classes! Above all else we are truly thankful to you all for standing with us in prayer and investing in the kingdom.

Do you talk the talk? Or walk the walk? Or do you actually walk the talk? These are just a few of the

questions that we explored at our April camp over the Easter weekend.

“Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.” Galatians 5:25. The theme verse for the camp requires everyone to participate with the Spirit if they claim to have the Spirit within them.

How can we make our actions match the words that we say? The kids were challenged over the weekend to live out their faith all the time. It’s easy to be a Christian “on paper” or even say all the right things, but it’s quite another to put it into practice and truly “walk” in it.

Together we explored The talk, The walk, being Devoted to Christ, and seeing if What you see is really what you get. There was one illustration that I’m sure a few of the kids will not quickly forget. On the table were two bottles of soda; one Coke and one Sprite, or at least that’s what they said they were. They were asked to taste both. If the label says it is Sprite, then it should be Sprite, right? Wrong! The bottle proudly stated that it was Sprite, however there was vinegar inside. Are other people, and especially the Lord, going to be disappointed by what is really in our hearts?

A goal of the bi-annual camps is to get out into the community for outreach. In their teams, the kids went into the local community and shared some of the lessons and truths that they had been learning. What a great way to truly walk the talk!

The pre-school ministry continues to flourish as we seek to teach kids the Word of God on Fridays. As a team, we are doing a great job in making sure that we support the teachers as much as we can. Leah has started working with the teachers in training them to form a lesson plan and a daily schedule for the kids.  The objective is that Leah will help the teachers to plan and teach with relevancy.  We are excited to see what God is going to do in the pre-school and especially in the teachers.

Last week with the visitation of our home church in Johannesburg, were we able to create a playground for the pre-school children in 3 days! The team worked hard to clear land and create something exciting for the kids. The team even had the chance to pray over the teachers.

Now each time the children play outside, they will remember the blessings of the Lord.

Truly Loving Africa,

The Bakers