CHollywell - Who is Iris Ministries?

L-O-V-E - Its a small four-letter word that will cost you everything: laying down your life; passion and compassion; giving without expecting; feeling His very heartbeat and surrendering to His rhythm; following the Lamb wherever He goes - even to Mozambique. - Heidi Baker

IRIS MINISTRIES

Iris Ministries has an orphanage of just over 3,000 children as well as a school of missions in Pemba, Mozambique, Africa. Rolland and Heidi Baker, founders of Iris Ministries, were both ordained as ministers in 1985 after completing their BA and MA degrees at Southern California College and also both gaining doctorates in systematic theology in 1991. In 1995 the Bakers arrived in Mozambique, the poorest country in the world. They set up many childrens’ centers in Mozambique and surrounding countries, and have adopted over 5,000 children. The Bakers are now at the forefront of a massive outpouring of the Holy Spirit in Mozambique and Southeast Africa that has seen thousands come to Jesus, most in Muslim provinces. Through their work, the Lord has planted 7,000 churches and great miracles are a regular occurrence as a result of their obedience. They are also committed to the training of indigenous pastors through the school and serve their local and wider community in many different ways including medical care, education and food programs. For more information about Iris, please visit http://irismin.org/

January 19, 2008,

News from Heidi in Asia

Dear friends,

I pray that your holidays were filled

with joy celebrating Jesus’ birth. As

I think through the greatest gifts of our lives, we are most grateful for friendship and family in Him. Thank you so much for your prayers for Rolland. Jesus has faithfully been healing him.

The Lord spoke to me to still go on our Asia tour. We ministered in Singapore, Seoul, China, Hong Kong and Philippines with our good friends Che Ahn, Dennis Balcombe, Lesley-Anne Leighton, Shara and Norberto along with a wonderful team. It brings my heart such joy to watch my spiritual sons and daughters preach alongside me as we run together as carriers of His glory. I am slowly learning to rest. I want to see more of God's beautiful children released to soar. How it encouraged my heart to hear from Dennis that many of the orphans (now in heaven) whom Rolland’s grandfather raised in China still have a profound spiritual impact on China today.

We are trusting the Lord to release a generational blessing on our own Mozambican children. He caught the Chinese children up into His glory in "Visions Beyond the Veil." They saw the Lord in heaven and fell in love with Jesus. These children were either martyred or, if they survived the terrible persecution, they became pillars in the underground Chinese church. How I long for our sons and daughters to become the next generation of leaders in our nation of Mozambique. We desire to see even more of this outpouring in our nation.

My greatest desire is to live each moment in His glorious presence. Please pray that the Holy Spirit completely overshadows our ministry this year. We started off our Asia journey in Singapore where thousands gathered in an exposition center. Jesus’ glorious presence came. A woman crippled in a wheelchair got up and danced with King Jesus! Of course the best thing was the Holy Spirit in and among us. Many gave their lives away as full-time servant lovers of Jesus. There was a tremendous hunger among the people of Korea. God was so faithful to come with His manifest presence and fill the people with a greater measure of His glory. I loved being with God’s people in China. It was a lot of fun to be able to speak Cantonese again.

Please pray for us as our nation has been hit yet again with terrible flooding. We long to feed 100,000 people a day. Some times I feel like running away from all the suffering, or at least not looking at it for a while. Then I hear Jesus asking me to look into His face and believe again. There is always enough because He died. Jesus will multiply the fish and loaves in His hands to feed our nation in our time of need. Because He died, there is more than enough! I will return home from Asia to mobilize our teams to minister to the people affected by the floods. Thank you for standing with us. Our friends are treasures to us.

Much love in Jesus, Heidi

January 11, 2008,

Flooding in Mozambique by David (Mo) Morrison, Malawi

Dear Friends,

The challenges before us each day are always great – we keep looking to the Lord who faithfully carries us through – we give praise and glory to Jesus. Some days are really hard as it seems as though we only move from struggle to struggle. Humor helps to bring us a little relief. We have a saying among us here, "We don’t have problems in Malawi, only disasters!"

Once again, impending flooding is upon us but more seriously to our neighboring country of Mozambique. This disaster has caught us all off guard. We knew it was possible but didn’t realize the severity of it so early in the rainy season. The media is just starting to report about it. I suppose delayed because of many other troubling headlines from around the world. The number of households affected by the floods has risen, with widespread destruction of homes and livestock, displacement of families and outbreaks of disease.

We made contact with one of our Iris pastors in the area of Mutarara, Mozambique (120 km south of us). He has confirmed about the destructive flood waters. Right now, people are fleeing to refugee camps and re-settlement areas from their submerged homes. The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reports that 5,000 people in Mutarara are trapped by the flood waters and are being rescued by boats and helicopter right now. The situation is sure to get worse as rains persist. World Vision field staff stationed in Mutarara confirm that the Zambezi River has been rising rapidly. The number of displaced people is growing as small islands scattered across the district become inundated. There are still 50,000 people being assisted in this area who were affected by last year’s flooding. Thousands of acres of potentially good crop harvest have been lost. In Malawi, up to 1,400 households have lost homes and livestock. Many people living on Nchalo and Ngabu islands have been affected. In Mozambique, up to 55,000 people have been affected by the flooding of the main river basins in the central region, according to authorities. The country is on red alert, the highest level of emergency warning.

Serious floods occur annually in January and February. The current adverse weather conditions are largely a result of the La Nina effect, and flooding could become very serious in Southern Africa during the latter part of the rainy season of mid-January to March.

We don’t know what the Lord will have us do but we’re getting prepared. We can’t just sit idle. There are too many suffering. I’m trying to get my visa processed for Mozambique so that I can travel there and make a personal assessment as soon as possible.

Please pray that the Lord will reveal His purposes for us, and His provisions for those affected. We are willing to do whatever He calls us to do. Pray too for the supernatural. Nothing is impossible for God! Believe with us in prayer that the destructive rains would stop and the flood waters will quickly recede.

Thanks for your prayers. With love, Mo.
PPePce in the Stor
December 7, 2007: Update from Heidi Baker

The Greatest Christmas Present of All

Here is a little bit of our news. I have been extremely blessed by your love and prayers for Rolland and me and for our Iris family. We are focusing on beautiful Jesus and trusting Him for His healing power to be manifested. Rolland is still very ill, but he is receiving lots of healing prayer and anointed help from medical doctors as well. We thank you all for your patience in the area of communication. We are not able to respond quickly to emails. Please know we appreciate your kindness.

I am thrilled to be home with all my friends and beautiful children in Pemba. My heart is filled with joy seeing the fruit in this movement God has birthed through His Holy Spirit. Our mission school is an absolute delight. I see the love of Jesus poured out all over this place. The student's hearts have become so abandoned and surrendered to God.

This past sizzling hot Sunday in Cabo Delgado, we worshipped in the dust and surrendered ourselves again as a movement to feed the poor bread from heaven and bread from the earth. It is time for greater multiplication. As we release the sons and daughters into their harvest of fruitfulness, we see greater glory. As pastor Supressa says, "the joy never ends". I was thrilled to be able to do some of my favorite things this week: Baptize the new Makua and Makonde believers in the ocean; bless the missions students to live in the Ezekiel 47 river of God; and have a huge holy chaos Christmas party with all our gorgeous children !!!!! What a tremendous gift for me to be able to come home. There were plenty of gifts, candy and pops for all. I thank God for all the amazing people who made it all possible. Swimming with the kids and aunties splashing around in our warm turquoise ocean, I felt the Father's heart. He smiled on us!

Thank you again for your generous support. Please don't stop praying. We need you. I will be going to America to spend time with Rolland and my family later this month.

Much love in Jesus,
Heidi

Iris Contact:
Ministerio Arco Iris

CP 275
Cabo Delgado
Pemba
Mozambique
Africa

US Support
Iris Ministries, Inc.
P.O. Box 493995
Redding, CA
96049-3995
http://www.irismin.org/
http://www.irismin.com/

Canadian Support
Iris Ministries Canada
3092 Shannon Crescent
Oakville, ON L6L 6B4
http://www.irismin.ca/

November 1, 2007: Heidi Baker

"To Finish Well"

This is a short update to thank you for your love, prayers and standing with us during our time of greatest need. As most of you know during these past three months, we have experienced fierce trials. Jesus has recently spoken to me about finishing well. I am fixing my eyes on Jesus. I am looking away to Him. I am coming forward with boldness to the throne of grace in my greatest time of need. Hebrews 4:1, "Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest, lest anyone fall according to the same example of disobedience."

In this time of reflecting, the Lord came to me and asked me, "If I had known ahead of time all that this calling would cost, would I still be willing to receive the call." And still my cry is yes. I have nowhere else to go. I have no one else to run to. Jesus is my life and He is altogether lovely. Through everything, it is still my joy to say that I gladly give my life for Him.

Yesterday, we had a surprise birthday party for Rolland. Dear friends flew in from other countries and all over the United States. We felt so loved and supported. Our Revival Alliance brothers and sisters, Bill and Beni Johnson, Che Ahn, Randy and Deanne Clark, Georgian and Winnie Banov were all there blessing us, cheering us on, lifting up our arms and fighting for us. Even John and Carol Arnott sent us a special birthday greeting on a DVD. Charles and Anne Stock spoke beautiful scriptures of life over Rolland and blessed him with Rolland's favorite chocolate cake. Mel Tari, the best man at our wedding and one of our closest friends helped lead the festivities. His wife Joyce spent months putting together an incredibly anointed and touching DVD of Rolland's life. We all cried. Crystalyn and Elisha both laid hands on their father and blessed him as his children. The party would not have been possible without the beautiful efforts and great love of Norberto, Will, Shara, Jinyoung, and Angela. Darrel and Marilyn carry such a mama and papa anointing. Betty, our Toronto friend, drove all night to be with us. It was a delight to have all of them with us. We want to thank everyone who was involved and all of you who have been praying for us. We are forever grateful.

It was my great joy to celebrate with Mozambican sons and Iris missionaries who flew in from the Sudan, France, and Mozambique. God is still speaking to me about releasing my sons and daughters to carry His heart for the lost and broken into the greatest darkness. I know even as we enter a season of rest, God will increase the movement by carrying it through the lives of many. I love watching these amazing young people from so many races, nations and backgrounds, run forward carrying the light of His glorious gospel. They are truly my heroes, my friends and my family. There are no words to express how grateful I am for the love and prayers of so many. We do not feel alone.

Our International Director Surprise Sithole also flew in to be with us from South Africa. He recently went back to the very village where our dear pastor, Ezekiel Sithole, was martyred for the gospel. They cut off his tongue and lips to silence him. They said our movement, Partners in Harvest/Iris Africa, would be silenced. Surprise went back into the village in love and humility releasing forgiveness to those who killed his cousin. Thousands gathered to hear him preach. And hundreds were saved. Please pray for Pastor Ezekiel Sithole's wife who is deeply troubled, very, very thin and left with many children to raise alone. “Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven" Matthew 5:11-12.

Truly, our friends have made us very rich.

Much love in Jesus,
Heidi Baker

Pemba, Mozambique

FLOODS OF REVIVAL

by Rolland & Heidi Baker

PHOTO GALLERY

Morrumbala, Saturday, 3 March 2007

Heidi and I have one more day in the flood zone before we fly our Cessna back to Pemba. So we are up early at the World Vision compound in Morrumbala, loading our Land Rovers and big trucks for a trip to more refugee camps. We would especially like to get to the flooded Shire River and paddle our way in dugout canoes to people stranded on isolated islands.

Our little convoy heads east on a dirt road through the pristine African bush. The mountains and skies are in their full glory, wild, clear and beautiful. Brilliant cumulus clouds perfectly accent the deep blue heavens overhead, hiding a dark fury that has been unleashed on this land for two months. Heavy rains and cyclones have pounded southeast Africa until now over 300,000 people in this area have been forced from their houses and have lost everything

A thousand feet above the flood plain, the countryside around Morrumbala is poor, but lush, green and relatively dry. We are racing and swerving over the rutted, winding road to make time. We raise clouds of dust, climb hills, dip into valleys, wave to children in villages, and press on to the infamous river.

But suddenly we encounter a camp we didn't expect. It is huge. We can't just drive by, so we pull off the road and stop, surrounded by a desperate crowd. They find out who we are, and they are thrilled. Many of them are already in our churches, and so we start singing and worshiping even as we discuss the situation with their leaders.

These people haven't eaten in weeks. The rising waters forced them from their houses along the river plain, and they slogged on foot through muddy swamps until they reached high ground and gathered in huge camps. When they arrived they had nothing but the ragged clothes on their backs. The people literally sat on the ground in pouring rain, thunder and lightning with no shelter, food, or visible hope. Children were sick, crying and screaming. Some ran naked like animals. The desperate tried to eat nasty roots and worms out of the ground. Skin and eye infections, intestinal disorders, malaria and an array of other health problems began to spread.

After some days the people began building primitive little huts out of nearby sticks and grass, and now there is a sea of these huts for the six thousand refugees in this one camp (see photos!). But still the people sit and sleep on the dirt with absolutely nothing -- no flashlights, toilets, CD players, sleeping bags, cots, Coleman lanterns, tea kettles, bug spray, fans, water bottles or hot dogs. They just wait -- tired, hot, dirty, hungry and sick. Our visiting doctor, Koos Le Roux from near Cape Town, begins to treat cases, and says he's never seen such a needy medical situation.

While some of us discuss food logistics, we preach too, and pray for the sick. Terry Inman and Rodney Hogue, pastors from the San Francisco Bay Area, flew immediately here to help us minister, and they passionately pour their hearts out with Heidi and me. No one resists the Gospel. Everyone is eagerly listening to every word, responding to every call, wanting prayer for everything. Many already know Jesus, as we have probably several thousand churches in this one province, but now they understand all the more how much they need Him.

We brought tons of rice, beans, blankets, plastic tarp and other supplies, but not enough for the whole camp at once. Organizers are afraid if we feed only part of the camp, there will be rioting and bloodshed. But no other supplies have come to this camp yet, and we just can't take the food away. We are assured other organizations will bring additional food immediately.

Meanwhile, in the hot sun and under trees all around, Jesus is saving and healing. Four deaf people hear this morning. Our own Mozambican pastors are praying throughout the crowd. We always have good news, we tell the people. Jesus knows your suffering. Through all of this we will seek Him more, and He will reveal Himself more than we ever thought He would.

We have to go, but will be back with much more. We only made it to the edge of the actual flood waters, and never got to an island, but Jesus knew what we had to do.

Two days later in Pemba
Three hours' flight to the north, we are preparing more teams to drive south and help in the relief effort. The poor of our own church in Pemba pour their hearts out in generosity, some giving up months of salaries and their humble but most valuable possessions. As our first sketchy reports get out, churches and friends are responding from around the world. As a relief organization, Iris Ministries is just a little child with a lunch to give, but we are so pleased to give it and see what Jesus can do.

We learn that there are more than thirteen refugee camps near Morrumbala along the Shire River, which flows into the Zambezi from Malawi. Many more camps of refugees have formed along the Zambezi and other rivers that have also flooded. These camps are remote and very difficult to access by road, and some can only be reached by helicopter. Two thousand people a day are pouring into them.

We were persuaded by disaster relief personnel that we should take complete care of one camp of nearly three thousand, instead of trying to help many camps in some smaller way, dividing and confusing the work of different aid agencies. However, we have received news that no further food and supplies were delivered by anyone else to the camp we last visited, and that in fact many other camps are not expected to receive any aid at all from anyone unless Iris can respond. Now we are being told that many thousands of lives are dependent on Iris supplying the necessary relief and filling the aid vacuum in the months to come.

In the big picture, 100,000 acres of crops have been destroyed at the height of the growing season, and this follows last year's major crop failure due to severe drought. And still this is only the beginning of March, and weather forecasters are warning of more flooding until the rainy season is over.

At the moment, the Zambezi River has subsided, but is still past the flood stage. The discharge of water from the Cahora Bassa dam on the river has been reduced to one-third of the 8,000 cubic meters per second that it was releasing at one point when it was in danger of structural failure. When Heidi and I arrived in our plane several weeks after the initial emergency, the flood waters had receded some, but the land left behind was still soggy, swampy and unusable.

Following the Good Shepherd's example, we have always tried to set a pattern of going to most remote and forgotten areas we can, and now in this crisis the result is that our people are looking to God and to us for help that is not forthcoming from other directions. A wave of humanity in Mozambique is again left without any hope but Jesus. And again we are in a position to participate in the building of the Kingdom in the most unlikely places, and to see another level of revival that we could not have predicted or imagined. We don't know yet all that God will do in this country among our Mozambican people, but He surprises us every day. Reports of miracles are flowing in from the camps. Four blind people saw and two deaf people heard today. Our pastors and visitors are being filled with new energy. The gifts of the Spirit are being stirred up. More revival than ever is brewing. The word is getting out, and the church is coming together. May we see His glory in the faces of the redeemed in the Zambezi Valley. As one eleven-year-old in America prophesied, "I have to tell you what the Lord told me. He said that the rains will cease, but the flood has just begun. Mozambique is a community cup, and all who drink from there will be saved!"

Logistics

We thank with all our hearts everyone who has responded so far, including churches and ministries who have already taken amazing offerings. May Jesus multiply all that you give in an unprecedented way, and return to you vastly more than you anticipate!

As always, donations can be sent to our U.S. support address, P.O. Box 493995, Redding, CA 96049-3995, USA, or to our offices in Canada and the U.K. as listed at the end of this newsletter. Additional inquiries concerning involvement with our relief effort can be sent by email to Mary Chico at <info@irismin.org>, or you can telephone her at our Redding office, 1-530-255-2048 (cell: 1-530-921-0253).

In Mozambique you will be directed to our coordinator,
Angela Olson, at <angela@irismin.org>, tel: +258-82-552-2944, or
Teisa Miller at <pemba@irismin.org>, tel: +258-82-916-9280. Their assistant

Janiko is at +258-82-420-2825.
If necessary regarding transportation and other details they will refer you to
Betty Johnson at <betty@irismin.org>, tel: +258-82-886-4700.

In the Morrumbala area of Zambezia Province our relief coordinator is Herbert Barbutti at <missionaryherb@hotmail.com>, tel: +258-82-708-7885, and our Mozambican staff member Carlos at +258-82-025-8650.

South of the Zambezi our relief coordinator is Claudia Bernhardt in Dondo near Beira, at <claudi_in_the_nations@yahoo.de>, tel: +258-82-595-9157.

All inquiries regarding shipments to Mozambique can be directed to

Gordon Haggerty at <gordon@irismin.org>, tel: +258-82-568-4183.

May you all be hugely encouraged by the power, wisdom, love and joy of the Lord!

In Jesus, Rolland

From Heidi:

Thank you for praying for us during this difficult time of flooding and cyclones. We are feeding many thousands of people each day in various camps in Caia and Zambezia. We are also rebuilding churches in Cabo Delgado that were washed away in the floods.

I just finished interviews with several journalists from the Mozambique national radio station. As I shared with them about the needs and our desire to help, they were visibly touched. Please pray the Lord will use these interviews in mighty ways!

We are overwhelmed with gratitude for people who have been helping us "for such a time as this." The Lord spoke to me from John 6 that Iris Ministries is an example of the boy with his bread and fish. We have handed Jesus our lunch and He is multiplying it for the multitudes. Tens of thousands of people have given their hearts to Jesus in these last weeks! The deaf have heard, the blind have seen and the poor have heard the Good News. I don't think I have ever seen such suffering and hunger as I encountered in the camps in Zambezia. We thank God every day for your love and concern for the poor.

Please pray for the favor we need with the government of Mozambique as we are having a difficult time receiving the containers duty free. We have just received a phone call today telling us that we passed the first phase of approval from the government's emergency coordination commission, and we are awaiting the national director's approval now.

Much love in Jesus,

Heidi Baker