What the Bakers have been doing 

We can finally breathe! We feel like we have had a marathon swim and can only now put our feet on the bottom and rest.

We have had our fair share of challenges with the students this year, with a few making some rather unfortunate choices. However, life goes on. It has been a good school overall. Good speakers. Good relationships. Good students who are open and ready to change and align with what the Father speaks to them. We have seen an amazing influx of finances for the students and staff. Our fellowship here gave so much to us, some of the students have dug very very deep, whilst speakers have given, visitors too! They still require a lot, but they are all well on their way to getting what they need.

As for us, we can now rest and hopefully save a few pennies. Catch up with friends and write letters. Whilst this year the school has done well in terms of support, it has been a challenging year for us as a family so far in terms of finances. Mark has 2 weeks before he flies to Penang for a staff conference, joining some of our staff and one of the teams. After that we will have no further travelling except maybe a family trip to KL and Ayer Tawar if we can save enough! We are looking at getting a local credit card or a debit card, as the teams are using ours to book tickets and then we get surprise bills at the end of the month for large amounts. We have found one that you can only withdraw on if you put money in, which is the best, so we will look into that! The children continue to do well at school, Bethany got quite a few As in her last lot of tests, so we decided to reward her with a handphone she had been eyeing for her recent birthday. She had to contribute towards it as well, as we wouldn't have been able to afford the kind of phone she wanted. Unfortunately she will need to wait for credit! Ha! Ha!

A thought 

What's been happening..

Since we last wrote, and since successful completion of another DTS, we have continued to be busy. As we write, our staff are beginning a one-week break between two three-week seminars, which will be followed by a two week practical. In the meantime, we have been busy trying to catch up on paperwork, accounts, and communication, as well as setting up the next event, MAC at the end of the year and DTS next year. Watch this space...

DTS 2010 on the move! 

This year's DTS are now out and about!  Having spent 12 weeks in the classroom, and a very nice one it was too!, they are about mid-way through their outreach phase and we look forward to hearing more stories from them, especially when they return!

Bethany & David's Skribbels 

Click on our page to find out what we've been up to!! As of now, Bethany will take over Skribbels, Mummy will no longer be ghostwriting!

Thank you 

 
We often think about what we do and the things and people who make it possible, and we are so thankful to the Lord for you. Different ones of you have blessed us so much in so many ways, sometimes it's a word in season, at times it's just a message to let us know you're praying for us, some of you give so freely and generously to the work that we do, and also to our daily needs. We cannot begin to express the gratitude we feel for all of you, you are all truly God's blessings and a treasure to us. For those of you who communicate, can we just say that even though we are busy, we always appreciate your communications and do read them, even though sometimes it takes us an age to respond. We thank our Lord for you!

A radically different kind of leadership 

 
Luke 22:25-27
Leadership

From its central plaza the Romanian capital of Bucharest appears to be one of the richest and most magnificent cities in the world. Everything is built on a grand scale, calculated to impress even the most widely traveled visitor. But a closer look reveals a tragically different reality. Behind the facade of its grandiose public buildings are crumbling slums and crushing poverty.

Nicolae Ceausescu paid for this “movie-set” city by enslaving his own people and robbing them of their dignity. As Romania’s communist dictator, he ruled for decades, becoming progressively more obsessed with his own power and reputation. Eventually, his people overthrew his government and executed him. Ceausescu’s leadership style represents an extreme example of “the kings of the Gentiles” whom Jesus refers to in Luke 22:25.
Thankfully, most of the excesses of leadership that we see today aren’t so harsh. But all leaders are susceptible to the same human tendency to put pride, position and power before the good of the people they lead. Jesus observed this disposition in his disciples and countered it with strong correction. He taught them a radically different style of leadership, and, more important, he modeled it for them.

Although Jesus possessed awesome power, he didn’t use it to impress or lord it over anyone. He lived in quite the opposite spirit. Day after day, Jesus sacrificed his own comfort and desires to serve the people to whom he was sent. He wanted to show his disciples that leadership in God’s kingdom was all about servanthood, and not about power.

Yet after nearly three years of living with Jesus, the disciples still hadn’t fully absorbed this important principle. As they were eating their last meal together (John 13:1-17), Jesus humbled himself to stoop down and wash their feet. This act was dramatically inappropriate for the culture of the day. It embarrassed the disciplesčbut it helped Jesus finally get his message of servant leadership across to them. He concluded by saying, “Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.”
We also will be blessed if we do these things. Those of us who have leadership responsibilities now should be continually modeling our leadership after that of Jesus and other godly Biblical leaders. For those who are not leaders yet, the study of the principles of servant leadership could be part of God’s preparation in their lives.
When God does move us into places of leadership, we need to be constantly on guard against the sin of pride. There is something of the dictator in all of us, and it surfaces when we begin thinking of leadership in terms of position, power and recognition. Those who lead with this kind of spirit will soon stir up jealousy, division and all kinds of abuses.

By contrast, “Jesus-style” leadership is humble, loving and focused on the needs of others. When we follow God’s model, he makes us channels of his blessing to our families, friends and neighbors.