February 2001

Dear Friends,

We hope and pray this letter finds you well.  We would like to thank you for your continued prayers and support.  The letters, e-mails and conversations have been a blessing to us as we look forward to the months ahead.  Thank you for sharing life with us.

A few weeks ago we found out that we have been accepted to language school in July.  Many of you have been praying for this, and we want to give you the opportunity to celebrate with us.  Most of our plans were hinging on our acceptance.

Tomorrow morning we leave for a weekend of skiing in West Virginia, which should be a good opportunity to build on relationships with our youth.  We can’t help but think how much our lives are going to change in the coming months.  Today while I was at the store, the girl behind the counter said, “Aren’t you the youth pastor at that church?”  Soon we will go from being known around town to being strangers in a foreign land.  What does that mean for the Bakers?

People continue to ask why we would want to move to another county and work with the poor.  Our answers have varied, but our overall response has been because we are following what we believe to be God’s heart.  We can’t help thinking of the children living on the streets of Lima, Peru and La Paz, Bolivia that we met this past summer.  Most of them are trying to survive the cold, not play in it.  Why is their world so different from ours and the youth we now work with?  Is this God’s plan of justice for the world?

The reality of our move hit when someone mentioned that there are millions of children around the world who have not even been prayed for by name.  Every week I have the awesome privilege of praying with youth and interceding on their behalf.  But what about those who have no one in their life to pray for them?  Does the Father hear their cries?

We continue to thank God for intricately weaving His heart into ours.  His presence seems more real and His Word more practical.  It has been almost a year since we decided to pursue missions with Word Made Flesh.  His faithfulness in our lives has been more that we have ever known.  Thank you for sharing this part of our lives with us and for joining us in our journey.  May God reveal Himself to you in ways you never thought possible, and may you also find Him faithful.

Seeking His Heart,

Andy and Andrea