Missions and Miracles: Interview with Heidi Baker
Editorial IntroductionRolland and Heidi Baker founded IRIS Global (then known as IRIS Ministries) in 1980, the year they were married, spending the next twelve years ministering in Asia, first by leading evangelistic dance and drama teams and then transitioning to work one by one with the poor and forgotten. In 1992, they moved to London to complete their PhD’s at King’s College, planting a church and ministering to the homeless of downtown London. In 1995, Rolland was offered a neglected orphanage in Maputo, Mozambique. Their ministry, now based in Pemba, Mozambique, has continued to expand to include feeding programs, well drilling, medical clinics, primary and secondary schools, Bible schools and vocational training, and planting thousands of churches in Mozambique and in more than 20 nations. Their book, There is Always Enough (Chosen, 2003), serves as a good introduction to their ministry.
Adapted from the December 13, 2010 letter from Rolland Baker. www.irismin.org/about
Pneuma Review: You and your husband, Rolland, have been involved in missions and ministry to the poor for many years. What countries have you served in and how did you end up in Mozambique?
Heidi Baker: When I was sixteen, I was powerfully saved, and I had a vision of Jesus. He called me to Asia, Africa and England to be a minister and missionary. From that day on, I became a missionary, and I saw God do miracles. We started seeing the demonized set free and drug addicts come off of drugs. Cancer was healed in California; in Hong Kong, many women who had been living in cages received the healing of their hearts. God would heal all kinds of physical ailments: heads backs, necks, livers, knees. People have given me X-rays of restored organs.
We started out in Indonesia and then went to Hong Kong. We served in Hawaii for a short time. Then we went back to Asia and eventually on to England to do our PhD program. In England we had a church among the homeless and street people, which is still going on today. After that, we were called to Mozambique.
In 1996, I received a prophecy from Randy Clark that I would witness the blind see and the deaf hear. After a year of praying, three women who all had my name (“Aida” in Portuguese), saw for the first time within days of each other. There has been great breakthrough for the deaf. Approximately 99% of the deaf in the Makua and Makonde tribe have been healed in the last few years.
PR: How do the miracles you have seen meet the needs and impact the community?
These are some of the least reached people in Southeast Africa, and we go out to meet them in their bush villages. Since the deaf started to hear, we planted more than 2000 churches. Entire villages have been hearing and receiving the Gospel. We have a church witness among almost every Makua and Makonde village.
Often, villages of another faith are resistant when we arrive. Sometimes they throw rocks at us, or jeer or show their disapproval, but when the deaf in their village hear, they drop their rocks.
In one community across the bay from Pemba, the people in the village have never had a school for their children. We first planted a church there, and then built a school for the children. Now when we visit, the children show us their books and are excited about what they’re learning.
Category: Pneuma Review, Spirit, Winter 2012
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