Mid-2024 Update (Sabbatical Edition)

Hi friends!

In true Canadian fashion, we want to start by apologizing for the delay in getting this update to you. As you may have heard, there have been some big changes in our life and we're finally at the point where we can sit down and write about them. 

The biggest change is that we are no longer serving with Torchbearers Romania. As you might know, our time at PdF became increasingly difficult over the years, and although we maintained great relationships with our colleagues there, our relationship with the PdF leadership was strained by differences we weren't able to reconcile and differences that had a very negative effect on us as a family.

In the fall of 2023 we requested a 6-month Sabbatical  - we were experiencing burnout and felt God leading us to take some space. There are a lot of details we won't share publicly, but we weren't met with the support and understanding we were hoping for. We started our sabbatical on January 1, 2024 and we won't be returning to PdF after it's over.

We let our prayer support team and financial supporters know about this change many months ago, but we haven't felt ready to "go public" until now. The dust has settled, we are settled, and we want to let you in on what's up with us these days, and what's coming next.

What We've Been Up To in 2024

We moved off the PdF campus on New Years Day into a duplex in the town of Ghimbav, a suburb of Brasov. It was only by the hand of God that this house was available with short notice and we know it is a gift from Him. It's close to a grocery store, a gym and sports centre, and it's much closer to the kids' school and the city of Brasov where we spend a lot of our time, go to church, etc. It's the right size for our family, it's got a great backyard, and although Chrissie isn't in love with the small kitchen, she's making the best of it. We also have amazing neighbours on the other side of the duplex who have been so kind to us. Our kids play together outside almost every day and we've really been enjoying getting to know them. We are so grateful.

Moving day was pretty chaotic, but we're grateful for all our friends and many of our colleagues from PdF who helped us move. They even hoisted our wardrobes up to the second floor via the balcony, which was quite a feat!

After settling in to our new home, we took advantage of the winter season here and did as much skiing as we could at our local mountain Poiana Brasov, which was very therapeutic for all of us.

We've been connecting a lot more with our community and our local church. The girls have joined a kids' baseball team in Brasov, and they've been spending lots of time with friends from school and church.

Jerry has also joined the Brasov baseball team and he played in the Romanian National baseball tournament in May. He'll continue playing through the summer and into the fall for two more national tournaments. It's a great outreach opportunity and a wonderful way to get to know more local families.

Eden turned 10 this spring, so we celebrated her birthday in April with some of her friends from school.

And we also served with our friends Doug and Camelia and their church plant in Rasnov, Izvorul Vietii, at their Easter outreach event and Children's Day outreach event in Rasnov.

We've been leading worship at church on a regular basis, and Chrissie has started teaching the pre-teen/teenager Sunday School class at church which has been a fun challenge for her. 

The kids finished school in June and they have been enjoying the amazing summer weather we've been having. They both did SO well in their studies this year. We're so proud of them, and so grateful for how well they're integrating into their Romanian school, studying all their school subjects in the Romanian language, and getting excellent grades!

Chrissie also joined the Unity Choir this spring, a ministry in Brasov with the purpose of uniting all the evangelical churches in the Brasov area. She sang in the choir for their performance at a local concert hall in Brasov's old city centre on the 5th of July and it was an amazing night to bless the local pastors and church members in Brasov, and to share the gospel message. 

Reflections and What's Next

Having Jerry on sabbatical for the last 6 months has been a very healthy change for us all. He has been able to give his whole attention to our family and participate in our family in a way he couldn't when we were serving at PdF. It's been such a blessing to have the space to work on our physical, mental and spiritual health, and Jerry has also been taking time for his studies toward his Master's of Divinity program. 

Another blessing of this sabbatical season has been the ability to take time and reflect on our experiences here in Romania over the last 8 years. There have been many, many lessons learned both from our own mistakes and by experiencing the mistakes of others. We've gained wisdom and we've accumulated experience, and this time of reflection on all of that has been a great learning opportunity for us.

We feel compelled to explain that we left PdF on good terms with our colleagues. We enjoyed working alongside them for the last 8 years, and we're grateful that we're living close enough to maintain a good relationship with the families who have been our colleagues, neighbours, and friends for the last 8 years. Our kids have grown up together as we served side by side, and it's so great not having to say goodbye. We've even hosted some of our former PdF colleagues for meals at our new home and it's been so lovely to stay connected with them and for our kids to remain friends. 

One common challenge for cross-cultural missionaries is the concern with how well they're adapting to their host culture, (in our case, the Romanian culture). But one thing that's become super clear to us these last few months is how much we have come to love the Romanian culture. We feel very at home here, and now that we're living off campus and truly living in Romanian society, our love and appreciation for Romania and the Romanian culture and people has only grown. We are meeting new people here in Ghimbav and getting to know them and we are loving it. 

You might be wondering, "So, if you're on sabbatical then why did you stay in Romania instead of coming back to Canada?"

The main answer is that we believe this is where God wants us for now. Being a missionary family with school-age children presents unique challenges, and we believe one of our callings as parents is to prioritize our kids and give them as much stability in their life as possible. Allowing them to finish the school year well and minimizing the number of transitions they needed to make were big priorities and based on how well they've transitioned to our life in Ghimbav it's clear we made the right choice. 

Also, change is hard. The move away from PdF was jarring for us, and we didn't have a lot of time to wrap our minds around the change before it was on top of us. Keeping things as simple as possible has helped us immensely, and we're grateful God gave us the wisdom to see this. 

We're in a season of transition with a some "what ifs" and some unanswered questions. We're just pressing in to God and relying on Him to continue showing us what our next steps are. We are following Him one step at a time. 

You might also be asking, "So, what's next for you guys?"

We believe God is leading us to stay here in Romania for now. There have been so many opportunities presented to us for ministry here in Brasov, and Jerry has been sought out by several ministries who have asked for his help or for him to come on staff, thanks to the contacts we've made over the last 8 years. God has established our family here, allowed us to learn the language and culture, allowed our kids to adapt to and thrive in the Romanian culture and in Romanian school, and we've developed many deep relationships. We feel confident that Romania is where He wants us for now.

After lots of prayer and discussions about what's next, Jerry has accepted a position at our local church, Calvary Chapel Brasov (Casa de pe Stanca). His official title will be "Outreach Pastor" and he'll be working alongside pastor Nicu Hagiu to further the ministry of the church. Jerry's work will include evangelism, some preaching and teaching on Sunday mornings, worship leading, leading outreach events and community events, and working with youth. For the next season Jerry will work a little less than full time so he's able to spend time studying toward his Master's in Divinity, which will help him greatly in this new position.  

Pastor Nicu and Silvana Hagiu - Calvary Chapel Brasov

Chrissie will also continue serving at the church, teaching the pre-teen/teen Sunday School, helping with worship, and assisting Pastor Nicu's wife Silvana with the Women's Ministry. 

With the blessing of our advisory team, Jerry will continue his sabbatical through the summer so we can spend the summer months together as a family while the kids are off school for the summer holidays. We are very grateful to be able to do this, and we know it's a HUGE blessing for us as a family. We've been gifted a scholarship to attend a Christian family camp at Capernwray Hall in the UK (Capernwray Hall gives a limited number of free weeks of camp to families in full time Christian ministry in Europe) and we're really looking forward to having this experience as a family and growing spiritually together. We're actually already in the UK as we're hitting send on this newsletter, about to hop on a train to Capernwray in Carnforth, England. 

Thanks to RyanAir's cheap European flights, we have plans to do a bit more travelling - a few days in France where we'll celebrate Miriam's 12th birthday just after the camp in the UK, and a road trip in August to do some tent camping by the sea in Croatia like we did last summer, and to visit a ministry centre for missionaries on sabbatical that's located in Italy. Even though we've lived in Europe for the last 8 years we still have "pinch me" moments when we think about the fact that our simple summer road trips can include destinations like Tuscany.

Our Visa Situation

As Jerry's sabbatical progressed we became increasingly hesitant about our visa situation. Now that we're not serving with PdF anymore we needed to find a way to secure a visa to stay in Romania beyond September, when our current visas expire. We'll spare you the long story, but it was quite a difficult journey to get all the approvals and papers we needed to be able to file a visa application.

We're so grateful that God's hand was on our situation, and we should be able to go to the immigration police at the end of July to file our official application to extend our visas for another two years. 

One challenging thing is the financial cost of the visas - for our family of 4 the cost is almost 10,000 Romanian lei, which is about $2700 Canadian dollars. If you feel led to help us with this cost, we would be so grateful. 

Financial Update

Jerry's position at the church is unpaid - like many churches here, Calvary Chapel Brasov is not self-supporting and relies on donations from other churches and ministries in North America to cover the cost of the ministry. We're grateful to be able to contribute to the ministry and we're thankful to God and to all our financial supporters and our home church in Canada, Riverwood Church Community, for providing the financial support for Jerry's salary. 

With a change in ministry situation has also come some big changes behind the scenes with the Great Commission Foundation and how we raise support. We have not increased the amount of support we've raised in the last 8 years, and in fact the level of support currently raised for Jerry's salary is less than where we started 8 years ago. Our situation has changed - our housing costs have gone up from $0 (we lived in staff housing at PdF) to about $1200 CAD per month plus utilities, and the cost of living here in Romania has increased significantly in 8 years, as it has everywhere. 

In addition to the one-time cost of $2700 Canadian dollars for our visa, we're praying for an additional $1000 per month to cover ministry costs like office supplies, curriculum, and other ministry supplies, to go toward our housing, to go toward Jerry's education and training, and to allow Jerry to take a salary that's reasonable for his working hours and the cost of living here. This amount would also go toward the cost of travel back to Canada every 2-3 years to visit our home church Riverwood Church Community in Winnipeg, and reunite with family, friends, and supporters. By the way, we're hoping to travel back to Winnipeg in December for a furlough visit if we have the funds.

If you or anyone you know would like to partner with us in what God is doing here in Brasov, Romania, please feel free to reach out to Jerry (jerryabaker@hotmail.com) or Chrissie (chrissiebaker@hotmail.com), or make an online donation here (The Great Commission Foundation will be updating this page soon with our new ministry information). 

We appreciate you all so much, and although this last season has been a challenging one we know we aren't alone. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for your financial support, your prayer support, and your friendship!

Prayer Requests:

Thank you for partnering with us in prayer! Please pray...

1. And praise God for His provision for our family through the sabbatical, and for giving us clarity and wisdom for our nest steps.

2. And praise God for our health - physically, mentally, and spiritually. He is sustaining us and meeting our needs and we are giving Him the glory!

3. For financial provision for our visa costs.

4. For our kids to continue thriving and for God's will to be done in their lives; that they'd continue growing in their faith in Him.

5. For our visas to be approved quickly and for wisdom with how to proceed in this area in the future.

6. For the rest of our sabbatical to be restful and restorative, and for us to continue implementing new and healthy routines and practices in our family.

7. For safety and health during our summer travels, and that we would grow in our relationships with one another.

8. For Jerry's educational path to be effective and thorough so that he is fully equipped for the next ministry season ahead.

9. For our upcoming partnership with Calvary Chapel Brasov, for God to continue blessing our relationship with Nicu and Silvana and for God to bless the work of our hands as we serve there.

10. For Nicu and Silvana Hagiu as they lead Calvary Chapel Brasov, for wisdom and guidance, health and safety, and for God to further the ministry of Calvary Chapel in Brasov to reach those who don't know Jesus. 

Spring & Summer 2023 Update

 Hi friends!

We hope you enjoy this update letter where we'll share all about the 2023 Spring Mission Bible School, our summer season, and the first month of fall!

Ministry Update

We last updated you during the Spring Bible School this year. It was a great semester with 11 students, 3 of whom were from Winnipeg and Southern Manitoba! That was a nice surprise for us! Other students came from the Netherlands, Germany, Ukraine, Romania, the USA and Kenya.

The students enjoyed getting to know one another and formed a tight-knit group. They had several weeks of lectures and also went on the Cultural Encounter week in the area around the village of Prod. Our whole family went on this week so Chrissie and Leanna Bird (one of the Canadian volunteers) could cook for the students and the Bible School team. We loved serving alongside the Bird family and we're thankful for the friendship we developed with them over their year here. We plan to visit them in Vancouver the next time we're there. 

Even the kids got involved with the cooking, along with some student volunteers. It was a nice week away for the students, and for us, staying in a remote village in a different part of Romania. 

Jerry also led the Mission Outreach week where the students went to the Calarasi area, both to serve at Darcey and Reinhard Neufeld's ministry Gateway to Hope in Rasa, and to Vali and Emilia's ministry in the village of Roseti. They also went to Mangalia on the Black Sea to work with a church there and serve with the local youth ministry with the Anderson family, American missionaries who live and work in Mangalia. 

The students led programs for children, served Ukrainian refugee families, did practical work projects, led youth Bible studies, evangelized on the streets with the local church, put together food hampers and delivered them to local families in the village of Roseti, and put on the Sunday church service in Mangalia. It was an action-packed week and a big highlight of the semester. 

As always, the students did lots of hiking, biking, and spending time in nature around PdF. They completed the Outdoor Team Challenge toward the end of the semester spending several days in the mountains.

In June we had a visit from Dom, our friend from Italy who we met during our Bible School days way back in 2002. Dom is a part of a ministry team in Italy who are exploring the possibility of a Torchbearers ministry in the north of Italy. It was fun to see him and re-connect. 

In June after Bible School ended we said goodbye to Krystal, the RA from both Fall and Spring Bible school. She had spent almost 2 years at PdF because she was a student in the previous fall and spring semesters and came back to serve the following year. We love Krystal and already miss her dearly!

We also said goodbye to the Bird family from Canada in June as they returned to Canada. We're so grateful for their faithful service at PdF over the last year and for how much they poured into the Bible School students during their time here.

After the end of Bible School we drove to Tauernhof in Austria to attend the Torchbearers International Delegates Conference. Jerry participated in the sessions with the delegates from all the other Torchbearers International Centres throughout the world. It was a great time of reconnecting with the larger Torchbearers community and meeting with the other Bible School principals from the other centres. 

After we returned from our vacation in July (more on that later!) Jerry jumped right into the Outdoor Challenge camp as a leader. He led mountain biking excursions for the participants and helped run the program as they went on an overnight hiking trip, went climbing and even completed an adventure race.

Jerry also worked in the ropes course for several days this summer and our kids had the chance to join in - one of the perks of being a staff kid at PdF!

Jerry spent the month of August preparing for the Fall Bible School, working on his book of John lecture series and the other stand-alone lectures and sermons for the fall season, and he began a Master's program in Biblical studies with Kairos University (connected to Sioux Falls Seminary in South Dakota, USA). The program is designed for missionaries and people in full time ministry so much of Jerry's ministry work here at PdF will work toward his degree. The outcomes and goals of the program are flexible, according to the ministry situation, and Jerry has 3 great advisors who he meets with regularly to help him with his studies: Jonathan Bird is his personal mentor, Greg Jenks from Italy is his vocational mentor, and Tanya and Paul Gericke are his educational mentors. He is very excited about this opportunity to study again and he's excited for everything he'll learn and how this will help him grow in his role as the Bible School Principal. 

Jerry also received a certificate of appreciation for his work in providing aid to war-affected Ukrainians. We are continuing to accept donations for Ukraine and are working with our Ukrainian friend Vova and a group from his church who are distributing food and supplies to hard-hid villages. 

At the end of August we said goodbye to Matt from Riverwood Church in Winnipeg who spent his summer here at PdF volunteering on the Summer Team. He spent most of the summer mowing a LOT of grass and taking care of the garbage at PdF, and we never heard him complain!

Christina Mihai, the Bible School Registrar and Assistant, quit her job at PdF this August to move back to Bucharest with her family. This rocked our world a little bit and has shifted Jerry's workload again. The PdF leadership has decided to move many of Christina's duties around to other staff and a volunteer staff member rather than hiring a replacement. It's a complicated situation, one which we're still working through and not exactly in agreement with, and we're trusting God to provide so tasks from Christina's workload don't get put back on Jerry and so that the Bible School students and the program itself are well supported.

Eli, a Romanian Bible School student from 2021, joined the PdF staff this year and she has taken over part of Christina's job as the Bible School Registrar. Eli will be working with Jerry and registering students for both Spring and Fall Bible School as well as Ascent, the adventure Bible School that runs in the summer. Eli is great and we're glad to have her back at PdF on staff. She also works in some other outdoor adventure programs, with the Ascent Bible School, supervises the volunteers at PdF, and has administrative duties in the Reception office. She's a very busy lady! Please pray for her as she settles into her new roles here at PdF and works alongside Jerry. 

As fall has arrived we're so thankful for the new Bible School team members who are serving together with Jerry for this semester. Hannes from Germany and Lucia from the Netherlands are  the RAs, and Ana, a volunteer from Romania, is serving part time with the Bible School to fulfil the Bible School Assistant duties in Christina's absence.

L-R: Hannes, Ana and Lucia

Jerry had the privilege of baptizing Ana in the lake this summer, which was a blessed time! We're very grateful she's here to serve this year at PdF and will be involved with the Bible School. 

The Fall Bible School semester began a few weeks ago and we're excited to have 16 full time students plus a few taste-and-see students joining us. During this Fall Bible School our family is leading a K-Group Bible Study (the K stands for Koinonia, which means fellowship or communion), we'll host family group, Jerry will lead the program, he'll teach one week of lectures on the book of John, and he'll lead the Mission Outreach week to another part of Romania. Chrissie will lead one of the girls' prayer and share groups each week, mentor a few of the female students, and teach some Christian Living lectures on the topics of Biblical Womanhood and Decision Making. 

We're praying that the Fall Bible School semester will continue to go well with these students and we're excited to see how God will work in their lives through the rest of the program. It's a privilege to be a part of their spiritual journey and to disciple them during their time at PdF. 

One last ministry-related note: PdF is very short on volunteers at the moment and we're asking people to pray for more volunteers to come to work on the housekeeping and kitchen teams, and for a volunteer to fill the family care position. North Americans can volunteer here for 3 months without needing a Visa, but it's possible to get a one-year Visa for a longer-term volunteer. If you know anyone who's looking for a short-term serving opportunity overseas, please contact us (jerry.baker@pdf.ro).

Family Update

Because of the awesome Bible School team this spring, the Spring Mission Bible School semester was the easiest on our family so far. Jerry was able to be home with Chrissie and the kids several evenings every week and because the team was so capable, he was able to delegate many tasks that in the past have taken him away from home in the evenings and on weekends.

Chrissie and the girls also attended the Cultural Encounter week with the Bible School in the Sighisoara area since the Cultural Encounter fell on the same week as the girls' Easter break from school. It was a nice time of fellowship for our family with the Bible School team and the students.

We also celebrated Eden's 9th birthday in April with friends at the local trampoline park.

One of the big challenges for our family this year has been searching for a new car. We've driven our 2008 Peugeot 307SW for the last 7 years and it has been a HUGE blessing from the Lord. But as cars do, it started to become unreliable and we found ourselves putting a lot of work and money into it every few months. Since we live so far from the city and do a lot of driving to get the kids to and from school every day, a reliable vehicle is a necessity.

Our car search seemed hopeless for awhile, as vehicle prices in Romania have climbed significantly since we first moved here 7 years ago, but God provided the perfect car at a very good price at the right time.

We are SO thankful for the blessing of our new car - a Dacia Jogger. It's exactly what our family needs and it's very reliable. 

The girls finished off the school year well, both achieving extremely high marks on their Cambridge English exams in May. We're so thankful for how well our kids are integrating into their school, making friends, and excelling in their classes, speaking Romanian fluently at school, and working so hard to keep up with their peers. 

At the end of June we packed up the car and headed for Austria to attend the Torchbearer's International Delegates Conference. Since Tauernhof was hosting the conference this year, we asked for Chrissie and the kids to come along - we have many friends in the Schladming area and we couldn't pass up an opportunity to go to one of our favourite places in the world and see some of our favourite people! 

We made a quick stopover in Budapest on our way to Austria - it's a city our kids love to explore (we do too!).

We stayed at Tauernhof for the duration of the conference and while Jerry attended sessions, Chrissie and the girls hung out with friends, went for walks, and went swimming at the local outdoor pool. 

Tauernhof's brand new lecture hall was the venue for the conference and it was a privilege to be a part of the first event held there! Jerry served on the worship team during the conference.

We went on a small hike as a group up near the Dachstein. Below is a photo of us with Ebbe, Elke and Florin, all from PdF.

It was such a meaningful time connecting and re-connecting with other Torchbearers' staff and spending time with David and Deborah Hines and their family (David is the Bible School Principal at Tauernhof). We wish we lived closer to them!

After the conference we stayed up in the village of Ramsau at our friend Hans Peter Plut's farm which was a fun and unique experience. It was so good to reconnect with him and stay in his 300+ year old farm house where we have so many memories from our time in Austria in 2002-2003. We really enjoyed our time together there because it was quiet and slow - the perfect break from our busy life.

  

We also had the chance to say hi to the Green Stove while at HP's place, of course. If you've ever heard Jerry's Green Stove song, you'll know what we're talking about ;)

During our last few days in Austria we spent time with our friends Joel and Tanja Cooke and their kids. Jerry even put on a little singalong concert for the local 3rd grade class in their backyard.

We spent a very hot day at the icy cold Enns River with our friends, riding the current down the river, cold-plunging, and having a bonfire. 

After our time in Austria we hopped back in the car and drove down to Croatia through Italy and Slovenia. We had booked a campsite in Croatia and enjoyed 9 absolutely beautiful days by the Adriatic Sea. Camping in a tent for 9 days in +30-something temperatures was a challenge, but spending our days in the sea kept us cool and an icy cold shower before bed helped us to sleep well...most nights at least! We loved almost every minute of it and it was the most relaxed we've felt in years. 

After our camping trip we drove back to Romania through Serbia so we could pay a visit to the Luibrand family (American missionaries working in Serbia). Their son William was a Fall Bible School student in 2022 and we got to know him well. We also met his parents and siblings when they came to take him home at the end of Bible School. We stayed with their family for one night on our way home and they introduced us to their city of Novi Sad in northern Serbia. 

Miriam celebrated her 11th birthday at the end of July with a sleepover party with her friends from school and a lake party with our PdF friends. 

The month of August was busy with work around the house, gardening and working in the yard, playing with friends outside, and a visit from Chrissie's mom! Chrissie and the girls got to spend 2 weeks with Grandma, introducing her to all their favourite Romanian foods and activities, and it was an absolutely lovely time together.

Over the last few months we've been settling in at a new church, Calvary Chapel Brasov. It's a small bilingual church with Romanian and English translation, and the girls really enjoy the Sunday School class with some other kids their age. We lead worship once or twice per month at church and we're looking forward to bringing some of the Bible School students to church with us this fall. 

The girls returned to school at the beginning of September and they're very glad to be back at school. We're thankful for their positive attitudes toward school and we're all glad to be getting back into a routine after a busy summer. 

School is still a big challenge for the girls, especially for Miriam, mainly because of the language. As the content they're learning at school becomes more complicated the language also becomes more complicated and difficult for them. Miriam has entered the 5th class, which is the first year of middle school here. The educational program is intense for 11-year-olds and some of the math she's learning is part of the Canadian Grade 9 Curriculum! 

We'd appreciate prayer for their schooling and for Chrissie as she navigates advocating for their needs at school in the Romanian culture and school system that's very different from the Canadian school system. 

The girls continue to play tennis one day per week after school - they're getting pretty good and really enjoying learning to play. It's a popular sport here for kids and we're glad they have an opportunity to learn a sport since children's sports activities aren't as prevalent here as in Canada.

One big stressor on our family in the fall and winter is sickness. Whether it's the world post-covid or just having kids in school, we seem to pick up colds and other viruses at the worst times. Last fall we struggled with so many viruses that made the Fall Bible School season so difficult for Chrissie. Please pray for our health this fall and winter - we've already been hit with two colds since the beginning of September and although they've thankfully been mild, they've still disrupted our lives and ministry, and kept the kids home from school for several days. 

Financial and Prayer Needs

We want to say again how grateful we are to those of you who regularly pray for us and the ministry here at PdF, for those of you who give financially every month to pay Jerry's salary, and for those of you who make one-time donations to help cover ministry and travel costs for our family. We appreciate your prayers and financial support so much, and we want to say a big THANK YOU for partnering with us in what God is doing here at PdF through the Bible School and in the lives of the students and through the camps and in the lives of the participants. 

We mentioned in our last update that we've been struggling financially this year. Jerry continues to receive between 50-60% of what his salary should be (according to PdF's policy) and it's becoming a big struggle for us as a family. This week he'll receive only 30% of his bi-weekly salary.

In the last few months we've had to purchase a new vehicle, our dryer has stopped working and needs to be replaced, and our dishwasher also stopped working. We're SO thankful God provided for our dishwasher to be fixed (which was a highlight of Chrissie's summer!), but we've been without a dryer for about 10 months. With cold weather on its way, we're praying that God will provide the funds to purchase a new dryer as drying our laundry outside will become more difficult as winter approaches. 

Jerry has also begun a part-time Master's program in Biblical Studies designed for missionaries and full time ministry workers. His work with the Bible School will go toward his schooling and coursework, which is amazing, and he's very excited to be studying to increase his knowledge of the Bible and his ability to teach it - this is a HUGE part of his job! We need to raise an additional $450 in support per month to cover the cost of Jerry's studies and we are stepping out in faith and praying that God will provide for this need.

In addition to these expenses and our regular living expenses, we're supposed to be travelling back to Canada to visit family, our Riverwood church family, and our friends and supporters in the summer of 2024. Right now we can't see how this will be possible, unless we're able to raise about $12,000 to cover our travel costs.

We are asking God to provide in the following areas and we'd love it if you'd pray along with us:

1.) $800 per month in monthly support so Jerry can begin taking a full salary

2.) $750 for a new dryer

3.) $450 per month to pay for Jerry's Biblical studies

4.) $12,000 for our travel expenses back to Canada in 2024

If you believe God is calling you to partner with us financially, please check out the link(s) below:

For Canadian donors - click here for more information or to donate

For American donors - click here for more information or to donate

For International donors - please contact Jerry for more information on how to donate (jerry.baker@pdf.ro)

Praise & Prayer Requests

1. Praise God for an amazing Spring Mission Bible School semester and a great beginning to the Fall Bible School Semester.
2. Praise God for 16 students in this Fall Bible School Semester! We're so grateful for each and every one of them!
3. Praise God for a restful summer and for meeting our needs every step of the way!
4. Praise God for the opportunity for Jerry to begin studying again and for providing the perfect educational program for his unique ministry situation.
5. Praise God for bringing Ana Acomanaoi to PdF as a volunteer to serve as the part-time Bible School assistant this year.
6. Pray for our health this fall and winter season, for our bodies to remain healthy and strong, and for God to protect us from colds, flus and other viruses so we can serve consistently and faithfully.
7. Pray for financial provision - that God would provide in the areas of financial need in our lives. He knows what we need and we are trusting Him to provide.
8. Pray for our relationships with the staff and leadership here at PdF, that there would be harmony and unity and understanding.
9. Pray for our kids - for their safety and protection, for their schooling, for their relationships with friends, and for their spiritual growth - that they'd trust Jesus with their life and choose His ways daily.
10. Pray for our marriage - for us to make time to spend together and grow in our relationship with one another.
11. Pray for God to send more volunteers to PdF to serve in the housekeeping and kitchen teams, and for the Family Care position.