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A Rhapsody on Heidi Baker, one of the most inspiring Christians alive!

By Anita Mathias

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Heidi Baker
 So I will be hearing Heidi Baker twice this month at River Camp in Gloucestershire and at Revival Alliance in Birmingham.
Heidi Baker is one of the most inspiring Christians I know, along with Dick Woodward, the quadriplegic Pastor Emeritus of our old church, Williamsburg Community Chapel, who, while confined to his bed, wrote and broadcast a survey of the Bible called the Mini Bible College, and is joyful, faith-filled and full of wisdom. People make “pilgrimages” to his bed.
Heidi Baker looks after 10,000 orphans in Mozambique, lives deep in the heart of God, attempts to live the Sermon on the Mount, and experiences miracles on a daily basis.
* * *
I love listening to her.  She is very American, very Californian, blonde, athletic, bouncy, vivacious. Entirely unself-conscious. When she prays, she doesn’t worry whether she looks too showy or devout, as I do. She just goes ahead and prays naturally, folded up on the floor in a foetal position, sometimes coming up with electrifying prayer or prophecy or an entire talk in that position of worship on the floor, holding a microphone. Yeah, a most unusual position for a preacher, but does she care?  
Heidi 53, looks gorgeous, dresses well, eye-catchingly and attractively, but simply and inexpensively (I bet), and radiates health and fitness. Ah, beauty is a gift from God, and he sometimes gives it to his special saints (I think of Beth Moore or Ann Voskamp) to significantly aid their ministries in our appearance-obsessed world.
Heidi, who is a few years older than me, is amazingly simple and joyful. She quotes her husband Rolland, “Heidi when I met you, you were five, and now you’ve become three.” I love that.  I am reminded of G.K. Chesterton’s bon mot, “Angels can fly because they take themselves lightly.” (Incidentally, my husband says I am about ten, so I sure have some growing younger to do!)
* * *
I find this disciple of Jesus very inspiring. My kids love her.
I am called to write, and live in a beautiful old rambling home with a beautiful old rambling garden (now looking a bit unkempt alas) in a country village just outside Oxford. Normally, I wouldn’t go out of my way to go to listen to someone who has adopted 10,000 children in Mozambique, because her life was too alien to mine (in a way that C.S. Lewis’s, for instance, is not).
But Heidi wears her amazing Christ-likeness lightly. She does not even think about it. She is focused on Jesus.
She reminds me of C. S. Lewis’s description of a humble person, “If you meet a really humble man, probably all you will think about him is that he seemed a cheerful, intelligent chap who took a real interest in what you said to him.  You might feel a little envious of anyone who seems to enjoy life so easily. And he will not be thinking about humility: he will not be thinking about himself at all.”
But, in fact, and this is why she has such a successful speaking ministry in the West, and why she is so inspiring, what makes Heidi Baker so special is not actually the work she does. I do not believe her joy comes from the 10,000 orphans. I believe it comes from her very close relationship to God, her surrender to him, the Yes she continually says. Listening to her talk of Jesus, it is immediately clear to me that I do not know Jesus as she does, and while that makes me cry with sadness, it also inspires me to get to know Him better.
Her love affair with Christ, her trust, her faith: These things are open to all of us, those called to write in Oxford and those called to turn Mozambique upside down. Prayer is the most equal opportunity thing there is.
* * *
Heidi lives in miracles as her native element. She was seriously dyslexic, but was healed, and eventually earned a PhD in Theology, and has written lovely, convicting books. Read There is Always Enough, and oh, you will be so inspired.
When she last came to the church I used to attend, she said that her husband Rolland Baker had cerebral malaria and suspected dementia. He could not dress himself, or cut his nails or look after himself. And a boy they had adopted, who had stolen from them, and continued relapsing into rascality, looked after him with utter devotion, protecting him, dressing him etc.
I cried as I left. I was too upset to speak. I felt like chiding God like St. Teresa of Avila, knocked off her donkey into the mud, late on a rainy night, once did, “Lord, if this is the way you treat your servants, it’s no wonder you have so few.”
I was angrier than Heidi was, but then maybe Heidi foreknew something I did not. Rolland Baker was completely cured of his “incurable” cerebral malaria and dementia in a remarkable retreat centre in Germany, called The Community Without Walls.
  
Heidi herself had a complete burnout, suffering from numerous tropical illnesses as well as chronic fatigue and returned to the States, where she was completely healed, physically and spiritually, at Toronto Catch the Fire Church (formerly the Airport Fellowship).
The one thing I do know about faith is that according to our faith it will be done to us (Matt 9:29). Heidi sees so many miracles because she believes she will.
* * *
But she has also long experience of dreams deferred. In a remarkable vision, she had heard God say that the blind would see through her prayers, but prayed over hundreds of blind people before one saw!!
I’ve heard her talk—a long rambling story which took about an hour– about her dream to reach an isolated unreached people group in Mozambique which took twenty years and involved raising money to get a boat, getting a boat which vital parts stolen or rusted, raising money again, finding people to fix the boat, but she finally does reach them, and they accept Jesus.
Sometimes God gives us glimmerings of our destiny to cheer us on and up, and in the long years of waiting for it to be fulfilled, our character forms and is toughened.
And that is as much part of the story as the longed-for conclusion which, in our naivete, we had imagined was the entire story!!

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Comments

  1. Anita Mathias says

    August 7, 2012 at 5:03 pm

    Thanks much, Joanna, LA, Ursula and Les. I hope to write more about some of the speakers in the Revival Alliance Conference, which has some wise, and inspiring speakers. Am really looking forward to it!

  2. Les Norman says

    August 7, 2012 at 10:09 am

    We listened to Heidi Baker when she was the main speaker at Grapevine, Lincoln some years ago post 'Toronto.' She is an extraordinary woman in every way, she left us enthralled with Jesus and her vision.

  3. Anita Mathias says

    August 7, 2012 at 10:07 am

    Ursula, google River Camp or Revival Alliance or click the hyperlinks in my first paragraph. The second event will be amazing, with many inspiring speakers!!

  4. Ursula says

    August 7, 2012 at 9:45 am

    I love Heidi…and she's in the UK? How – OH HOW do I get to see her this month?

  5. LA says

    August 7, 2012 at 8:20 am

    I loved the “Heidi sees so many miracles because she believes she will”. Some people have the ability to see the positive in everything and see blessings where other's see misery. Amen to folks like that!!

  6. Joanna says

    August 7, 2012 at 7:45 am

    'Prayer is the most equal opportunity thing there is.' I love this!!

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anita.mathias

Writer, Blogger, Reader, Mum. Christian. Instaing Oxford, travel, gardens and healthy meals. Oxford English alum. Writing memoir. Lives in Oxford, UK

Images from walks around Oxford. #beauty #oxford # Images from walks around Oxford. #beauty #oxford #walking #tranquility #naturephotography #nature
So we had a lovely holiday in the Southwest. And h So we had a lovely holiday in the Southwest. And here we are at one of the world’s most famous and easily recognisable sites.
#stonehenge #travel #england #prehistoric England #family #druids
And I’ve blogged https://anitamathias.com/2020/09/13/on-not-wasting-a-desert-experience/
So, after Paul the Apostle's lightning bolt encounter with the Risen Christ on the road to Damascus, he went into the desert, he tells us...
And there, he received revelation, visions, and had divine encounters. The same Judean desert, where Jesus fasted for forty days before starting his active ministry. Where Moses encountered God. Where David turned from a shepherd to a leader and a King, and more, a man after God’s own heart.  Where Elijah in the throes of a nervous breakdown hears God in a gentle whisper. 
England, where I live, like most of the world is going through a desert experience of continuing partial lockdowns. Covid-19 spreads through human contact and social life, and so we must refrain from those great pleasures. We are invited to the desert, a harsh place where pruning can occur, and spiritual fruitfulness.
A plague like this has not been known for a hundred years... John Piper, after his cancer diagnosis, exhorted people, “Don’t Waste Your Cancer”—since this was the experience God permitted you to have, and He can bring gold from it. Pandemics and plagues are permitted (though not willed or desired) by a Sovereign God, and he can bring life-change out of them. 
Let us not waste this unwanted, unchosen pandemic, this opportunity for silence, solitude and reflection. Let’s not squander on endless Zoom calls—or on the internet, which, if not used wisely, will only raise anxiety levels. Let’s instead accept the invitation to increased silence and reflection
Let's use the extra free time that many of us have long coveted and which has now been given us by Covid-19 restrictions to seek the face of God. To seek revelation. To pray. 
And to work on those projects of our hearts which have been smothered by noise, busyness, and the tumult of people and parties. To nurture the fragile dreams still alive in our hearts. The long-deferred duty or vocation
So, we are about eight weeks into lockdown, and I So, we are about eight weeks into lockdown, and I have totally sunk into the rhythm of it, and have got quiet, very quiet, the quietest spell of time I have had as an adult.
I like it. I will find going back to the sometimes frenetic merry-go-round of my old life rather hard. Well, I doubt I will go back to it. I will prune some activities, and generally live more intentionally and mindfully.
I have started blocking internet of my phone and laptop for longer periods of time, and that has brought a lot of internal quiet and peace.
Some of the things I have enjoyed during lockdown have been my daily long walks, and gardening. Well, and reading and working on a longer piece of work.
Here are some images from my walks.
And if you missed it, a blog about maintaining peace in the middle of the storm of a global pandemic
https://anitamathias.com/2020/05/04/a-mind-of-life-and-peace/  #walking #contemplating #beauty #oxford #pandemic
A few walks in Oxford in the time of quarantine. A few walks in Oxford in the time of quarantine.  We can maintain a mind of life and peace during this period of lockdown by being mindful of our minds, and regulating them through meditation; being mindful of our bodies and keeping them happy by exercise and yoga; and being mindful of our emotions in this uncertain time, and trusting God who remains in charge. A new blog on maintaining a mind of life and peace during lockdown https://anitamathias.com/2020/05/04/a-mind-of-life-and-peace/
In the days when one could still travel, i.e. Janu In the days when one could still travel, i.e. January 2020, which seems like another life, all four of us spent 10 days in Malta. I unplugged, and logged off social media, so here are some belated iphone photos of a day in Valetta.
Today, of course, there’s a lockdown, and the country’s leader is in intensive care.
When the world is too much with us, and the news stresses us, moving one’s body, as in yoga or walking, calms the mind. I am doing some Yoga with Adriene, and again seeing the similarities between the practice of Yoga and the practice of following Christ.
https://anitamathias.com/2020/04/06/on-yoga-and-following-jesus/
#valleta #valletamalta #travel #travelgram #uncagedbird
Images from some recent walks in Oxford. I am copi Images from some recent walks in Oxford.
I am coping with lockdown by really, really enjoying my daily 4 mile walk. By savouring the peace of wild things. By trusting that God will bring good out of this. With a bit of yoga, and weights. And by working a fair amount in my garden. And reading.
How are you doing?
#oxford #oxfordinlockdown #lockdown #walk #lockdownwalks #peace #beauty #happiness #joy #thepeaceofwildthings
Images of walks in Oxford in this time of social d Images of walks in Oxford in this time of social distancing. The first two are my own garden.  And I’ve https://anitamathias.com/2020/03/28/silver-and-gold-linings-in-the-storm-clouds-of-coronavirus/ #corona #socialdistancing #silverlinings #silence #solitude #peace
Trust: A Message of Christmas He came to earth in Trust: A Message of Christmas  He came to earth in a  splash of energy
And gentleness and humility.
That homeless baby in the barn
Would be the lynchpin on which history would ever after turn
Who would have thought it?
But perhaps those attuned to God’s way of surprises would not be surprised.
He was already at the centre of all things, connecting all things. * * *
Augustus Caesar issued a decree which brought him to Bethlehem,
The oppressions of colonialism and conquest brought the Messiah exactly where he was meant to be, the place prophesied eight hundred years before his birth by the Prophet Micah.
And he was already redeeming all things. The shame of unwed motherhood; the powerlessness of poverty.
He was born among animals in a barn, animals enjoying the sweetness of life, animals he created, animals precious to him.
For he created all things, and in him all things hold together
Including stars in the sky, of which a new one heralded his birth
Drawing astronomers to him.
And drawing him to the attention of an angry King
As angelic song drew shepherds to him.
An Emperor, a King, scholars, shepherds, angels, animals, stars, an unwed mother
All things in heaven and earth connected
By a homeless baby
The still point on which the world still turns. The powerful centre. The only true power.
The One who makes connections. * * *
And there is no end to the wisdom, the crystal glints of the Message that birth brings.
To me, today, it says, “Fear not, trust me, I will make a way.” The baby lay gentle in the barn
And God arranges for new stars, angelic song, wise visitors with needed finances for his sustenance in the swiftly-coming exile, shepherds to underline the anointing and reassure his parents. “Trust me in your dilemmas,” the baby still says, “I will make a way. I will show it to you.” Happy Christmas everyone.  https://anitamathias.com/2019/12/24/trust-a-message-of-christmas/ #christmas #gemalderieberlin #trust #godwillmakeaway
Look, I’ve designed a journal. It’s an omnibus Look, I’ve designed a journal. It’s an omnibus Gratitude journal, habit tracker, food and exercise journal, bullet journal, with time sheets, goal sheets and a Planner. Everything you’d like to track.  Here’s a post about it with ISBNs https://anitamathias.com/2019/12/23/life-changing-journalling/. Check it out. I hope you and your kids like it!
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