ASSIST News Service (ANS) - PO Box 609, Lake Forest, CA 92609-0609 USA
Visit our web site at: www.assistnews.net -- E-mail: assistnews@aol.com
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
Veteran Missionaries Return to US with New Roles
By Michael Ireland
Chief Correspondent, ASSIST News Service
NORCROSS, GA (ANS) -- Missionaries Ed and Linda Baker, who have spent more than ten years on the mission field, will soon transition from drilling water wells in Nicaragua to leading a global team of cross-cultural workers.
Missionaries Ed and Linda Baker
After more than a decade of foreign missionary service, the Bakers will co-direct The Mission Society's Global Resources Team, which provides specialists in various disciplines to help other Christian missionaries and national ministries worldwide. The Bakers will also serve as the water and sanitation specialists on the team.
According to The Mission Society (www.themissionsociety.org ),
during the Bakers' service abroad, they provided clean water through well-drilling as a support ministry to church planting. They completed more than 40 projects in Paraguay, Costa Rica, Honduras and Nicaragua involving wells, spring development, sanitation and water quality assessments.
"The Bakers' experience -- as both full-time missionaries as well as water and sanitation specialists -- uniquely qualifies them to lead the Global Resource Team," says Jim Ramsay, The Mission Society's senior director of field ministry.
"The team emphasizes the need for specialists to not only provide assistance in a particular area of expertise, but also to 'live incarnationally,' among the people, sensitive to the unique cultural and missiological issues being faced by the them," he said.
The Bakers say that their 10 years serving as missionaries in Paraguay and Nicaragua taught them "that .people are more open to receive the gospel from those who become involved with the daily challenges they face -- water and sanitation, agriculture, health, education, and many social issues. This is where The Global Resource Team can help missionaries and national ministries. Many of us see these problems but don't have the skills or tools to help solve them. The Global Resource Team can mobilize specialists to assist in many of these areas, some of whom have served as missionaries themselves."
The Mission Society explained in a news release that the Bakers returned from Nicaragua in December and will reside in Lawrenceville, GA. They will manage a team of ministries spanning the globe that includes specialists in agriculture, commerce, health, water and sanitation, and outreach to women. They fill the position formerly held by Larry Williams, of Trenton, GA, who served as Global Resources Team director the past 10 years.
Before becoming full-time missionaries with The Mission Society in 1999, Ed Baker served for 25 years as a civil engineer, specializing in water resources and sanitation. Linda Baker worked as a computer consultant. They have two daughters, Rhian and Kara, and two grandsons.
Founded in 1984 in the Wesleyan tradition, The Mission Society recruits, trains and sends Christian missionaries to minister around the world. At present, it has more than 200 missionaries in 38 countries.
The Mission Society develops diverse programs and ministries in accordance with its missionaries' unique callings and gifts, ranging from well-drilling and the arts to more traditional ministries such as teaching English and church planting.
Its church ministry department provides seminars, workshops, and mentoring for congregations in the United States and overseas, helping equip churches for strategic outreach in their own communities and throughout the world.
To learn more about the Bakers and their ministry, visit www.themissionsociety.org .
To schedule an interview with the Bakers or an executive from The Mission Society, contact Ty Mays at 770-256-8710 or tmays@inchristcommunications.com .
** Michael Ireland is Chief Correspondent for ANS. He is an international British freelance journalist who was formerly a reporter with a London (United Kingdom) newspaper and has been a frequent contributor to UCB UK, a British Christian radio station. While in the UK, Michael traveled to Canada and the United States, Albania,Yugoslavia, Holland, Germany,and Czechoslovakia. He has reported for ANS from Jamaica, Mexico, Nicaragua, Israel, Jordan, China,and Russia. Michael's volunteer involvement with ASSIST News Service is a sponsored ministry department -- 'Michael Ireland Media Missionary' (MIMM) -- of A.C.T. International of P.O.Box 1649, Brentwood, TN 37024-1649, at: Artists in Christian Testimony (A.C.T.) International where you can donate online to support his stated mission of 'Truth Through Christian Journalism.' If you have a news or feature story idea for Michael, please contact him at: ANS Chief Reporter
** You may republish this story with proper attribution.
Visit our web site at: www.assistnews.net -- E-mail: assistnews@aol.com
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
Veteran Missionaries Return to US with New Roles
By Michael Ireland
Chief Correspondent, ASSIST News Service
NORCROSS, GA (ANS) -- Missionaries Ed and Linda Baker, who have spent more than ten years on the mission field, will soon transition from drilling water wells in Nicaragua to leading a global team of cross-cultural workers.
Missionaries Ed and Linda Baker
After more than a decade of foreign missionary service, the Bakers will co-direct The Mission Society's Global Resources Team, which provides specialists in various disciplines to help other Christian missionaries and national ministries worldwide. The Bakers will also serve as the water and sanitation specialists on the team.
According to The Mission Society (www.themissionsociety.org ),
during the Bakers' service abroad, they provided clean water through well-drilling as a support ministry to church planting. They completed more than 40 projects in Paraguay, Costa Rica, Honduras and Nicaragua involving wells, spring development, sanitation and water quality assessments.
"The Bakers' experience -- as both full-time missionaries as well as water and sanitation specialists -- uniquely qualifies them to lead the Global Resource Team," says Jim Ramsay, The Mission Society's senior director of field ministry.
"The team emphasizes the need for specialists to not only provide assistance in a particular area of expertise, but also to 'live incarnationally,' among the people, sensitive to the unique cultural and missiological issues being faced by the them," he said.
The Bakers say that their 10 years serving as missionaries in Paraguay and Nicaragua taught them "that .people are more open to receive the gospel from those who become involved with the daily challenges they face -- water and sanitation, agriculture, health, education, and many social issues. This is where The Global Resource Team can help missionaries and national ministries. Many of us see these problems but don't have the skills or tools to help solve them. The Global Resource Team can mobilize specialists to assist in many of these areas, some of whom have served as missionaries themselves."
The Mission Society explained in a news release that the Bakers returned from Nicaragua in December and will reside in Lawrenceville, GA. They will manage a team of ministries spanning the globe that includes specialists in agriculture, commerce, health, water and sanitation, and outreach to women. They fill the position formerly held by Larry Williams, of Trenton, GA, who served as Global Resources Team director the past 10 years.
Before becoming full-time missionaries with The Mission Society in 1999, Ed Baker served for 25 years as a civil engineer, specializing in water resources and sanitation. Linda Baker worked as a computer consultant. They have two daughters, Rhian and Kara, and two grandsons.
Founded in 1984 in the Wesleyan tradition, The Mission Society recruits, trains and sends Christian missionaries to minister around the world. At present, it has more than 200 missionaries in 38 countries.
The Mission Society develops diverse programs and ministries in accordance with its missionaries' unique callings and gifts, ranging from well-drilling and the arts to more traditional ministries such as teaching English and church planting.
Its church ministry department provides seminars, workshops, and mentoring for congregations in the United States and overseas, helping equip churches for strategic outreach in their own communities and throughout the world.
To learn more about the Bakers and their ministry, visit www.themissionsociety.org .
To schedule an interview with the Bakers or an executive from The Mission Society, contact Ty Mays at 770-256-8710 or tmays@inchristcommunications.com .
** Michael Ireland is Chief Correspondent for ANS. He is an international British freelance journalist who was formerly a reporter with a London (United Kingdom) newspaper and has been a frequent contributor to UCB UK, a British Christian radio station. While in the UK, Michael traveled to Canada and the United States, Albania,Yugoslavia, Holland, Germany,and Czechoslovakia. He has reported for ANS from Jamaica, Mexico, Nicaragua, Israel, Jordan, China,and Russia. Michael's volunteer involvement with ASSIST News Service is a sponsored ministry department -- 'Michael Ireland Media Missionary' (MIMM) -- of A.C.T. International of P.O.Box 1649, Brentwood, TN 37024-1649, at: Artists in Christian Testimony (A.C.T.) International where you can donate online to support his stated mission of 'Truth Through Christian Journalism.' If you have a news or feature story idea for Michael, please contact him at: ANS Chief Reporter
** You may republish this story with proper attribution.
