The missionary ministry of Heidi and Rolland Baker is widely known and their stories of miracles throughout Mozambique are legendary. In this book, the Bakers take the readers on a journey into the heart of the mission as they narrate their own story with their own words. The book is divided into four parts: passion, suffering, challenges, and the supernatural sustenance of the Holy Spirit. Overall, it is a delightful read that is amply illustrated by photos and testimonies.

Heidi Baker’s voice narrates most of the book as she tells her story to the reader, as if sitting in the comfort of a warm home. There is a repetitive (and convicting) theme that appears throughout the book: “if I don’t … then who will” (page 10 and many others). If I don’t go, if I don’t do, if I don’t speak, if I don’t help… then who will? Her point being, she is being compelled to go by the Holy Spirit because the need is so very great. This urgent calling is similar to the calling of Mother Teresa, who’s life calling reflects on the teaching of Jesus in Matthew 25:40, “Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.”

While the book is a testimony of the goodness and grace of God, it is also a report to current supporters and an appeal to potential supporters. Nevertheless, it is pleasing and heartwarming to read about the way God is moving in Mozambique.

Reviewed by John Miller

Publisher’s page: http://bakerpublishinggroup.com/books/learning-to-love/343201

Rolland Baker, along with his wife, Heidi, have served on the mission field for the last 35 years, most of their time has been spent in Mozambique, Africa. Many people within the Pentecostal and Charismatic Movements are familiar with the ministry of the Bakers. Their ministry is known for its testimonies of miraculous provisions, healings, and miracles, things that most Christians would like to see in their churches and ministries. However, what may be less known are the challenges and difficulties they have faced. In the preface of the book, Elisha Baker, Rolland and Heidi’s son, chronicles a number of these less than desirable experiences. His list includes imprisonment, deportation, being falsely accused, being robbed, being beaten, numerous death threats, and some severe health challenges. This list of challenges reminds me of the apostle Paul’s list in 2 Corinthians 11:23-29. In the midst of all of these trials the Baker’s ministry has flourished.

In this book Rolland Baker writes about the five core values that have preserved and prospered Iris Global. The five core values are: Find God, Depend on Miracles, Go to the Least, Suffer for Him if Necessary, and Rejoice in the Lord.

In the introduction of the book the author gives the reader a brief look at the five core values. After this he devotes a full chapter to each, providing a more extensive look at each one. These five chapters contain some simple, yet profound, insights.

PneumaReview.com speaks with Rolland Baker about Iris Global and his new book, Keeping the Fire.

Rolland and Heidi Baker

PneumaReview.com: Many people know about the work that you and Heidi are doing in Mozambique but Iris Global has leaders in over 30 nations. What are some of the other nations that Iris works in?

PneumaReview.com: In your new book, Keeping the Fire, you write about the five core values of Iris Global, please tell our readers what they are.

Keeping the Fire: Discovering the Heart of True Revival from Chosen (October 2016).

Baker: Our first core value is that we believe there is no limit to the extent of which we can know God and experience him. Jesus is not just the destination to some place, he is the destination. All the mysteries of life are hidden in him for us to discover as we seek Him with all our heart, mind, and soul. Not only can we find God, but also we depend on Him completely. This is our second core value. We do not put confidence in the flesh – either in people or plans. Our confidence is in Jesus, and all fruitfulness flows from intimacy with him. Our third core value is to look for revival and begin ministries, not always but as a general rule, at the bottom and not the top. This means going to the least, to the poor and the unwanted. It means going to the people most Churches don’t want to have anything to do with; the people others have given up on and thrown away. We go to the most hurting, the most broken, and the forgotten of the world as vessels of the kind of love the world has never seen. This leads to our fourth value, the willingness to suffer, if necessary, for the sake of the Gospel. The Bible tells us that we will share Jesus’ glory to the extent and in the proportion we share his suffering. Some people might teach that he suffered so that we won’t have to. But we in Iris don’t feel that way. We feel that he suffered so that he could save us from our sins and give us a heart like he has so that we can live the way He lived among evil opposition. We are not about to tell people that if you get into tough stuff that you’re doing something wrong. In fact, in this world we are told we will face evil opposition, but we also realize that trials and tribulations produce a character in us that proves to the glory of God. It was for the joy set before him that Jesus endured the cross. Therefore, our last value is deeply important, and that is the joy of the Lord. In His Presence is fullness of joy, and with Paul we testify that in all our troubles our joy knows no bounds. It is our strength and energy, without which we die. People tell me all the time places of persecution and difficulty are not places to experience joy. We are told that we need to get serious and focus on problems. But, it was the persecuted Christians in China that taught me that joy is the energy of the Holy Spirit. It’s the joy given by the Holy Spirit that kept Christians from losing hope in prison, solitary confinement, and torture in China. If they needed it, and if Jesus needed it to go through the Cross, then we must need it too! It’s for the joy set before us that we are willing to do the stuff. Without joy, life is meaningless. Love without joy is a killer. The perfection of Heaven, and of the gospel is that perfect love which results in joy and that’s the whole outcome of everything!