The Baers ramp up Where are the Baers …?

As our service with the United World Mission ramps up, we’re finding fruitful opportunities while we’re still in the US. Lots of them, actually. In this issue, we’ll tell you mostly what David is up to. When you’ve had your fill of that, we’ll brief you on Karen’s doings in a soon-coming Baerly There … Our support level = 41% In our new work, I (David) will divide my time between the Biblical Seminary of Colombia, on the one hand, and leading the Theological Education Initiative, on the other. Although our critical focus for right now remains raising the remaining 59% of the financial support that will get us posted to Colombia (six months) and Connecticut (six months), my days are already filled with invigorating responsibilities on both of those fronts. Let me give you some examples. ONE: UWM leadership has given me free reign to design and develop the Theological Education Initiative (TEI). This initiative will deploy highly trained scholar-missionaries to places in the world where growing churches most need their highly specialized gifting. I’m having a blast as I work with a TEI colleague to build something that does not currently exist. I love the networking, the strategic relationship-building, and the easy access to influencers and door-opens that comes from twenty-five years in global theological education. Every week, I find myself in deep conversation with prospective scholar-missionaries who sense exactly this calling on their lives. These are amazing people. And they trust me! I feel as though life has prepared me to listen, to counsel, and to partner with such people via an ability to understand three things: their journey, the needs of churches and seminaries worldwide, and the missionary process. TWO: While I was at Overseas Council (OC), one of the most exciting projects we ever developed was called the Vital Sustainability Initiative (VSI). I’ve been asked to continue working with seminaries in Beirut and Medellín to assist them in fulfilling their respective missions as part of the ongoing work of the VSI. I’ll travel to Colombia and Lebanon in February as part of this important work, which is a collaborative initiative shared by Overseas Council and a great ministry called ScholarLeaders, International. As a bonus, one of the seminaries I get to work with in the VSI is our very own Biblical Seminary of Colombia. Got fresh flowers? Chances are, they were grown in the area around the Medellín airport in an area called Rionegro. Wanna’ know more? Read this. FUSBC Say what .. ? : Since acquiring university-level accreditation in the Colombian educational system, the 72-year-old Biblical Seminary of Colombia is known by its Spanish acronym: FUSBC. Say it this way: FOOZ-BAY-SAY   Sometimes, when you have a little space like this left over, all you can do is put in a picture of your dog. THREE: This gets really cool, so buckle up. One of my God-given passions is training emerging Christian leaders to read the Bible in the languages in which it was written. There’s just nothing like watching a young pastor or leader come alive to this level of intimacy with God’s Word. Well, the Biblical Seminary of Colombia recently struck a deal with a cutting-edge distance-education enterprise known as Bible Mesh. We’re translating into Spanish Bible Mesh’s excellent on-line instructional materials, which are developed for English speakers. As a result, we expand access to this amazing learning material to Spanish speakers around the world. Here’s the kicker: for doing this, Bible Mesh provides all graduates of ‘our’ Biblical Seminary of Colombia with life-long free access to these online classes. Wait, I’m not finished. In order to translate the online Hebrew instructional material, we need someone who’s fluent in English, Spanish, and biblical Hebrew. That’s me! And there aren’t many of us. ‘Makes a dude feel downlight useful. But, wait, there’s more. I get to work with a Colombian pastor who’s a graduate of FUSBC (if you read upstairs, you know what those letters mean now). Esteban (not his real name) is a native speaker of Spanish and is pretty darn good at English and biblical Hebrew. But he’s not yet strong enough in these languages to do this work by himself. So I mentor him into accurate engagement with the language of Scripture and into communication to online students that we hope will be second to none. I love to imagine the Spanish-speaking sons and daughters of our Lord who will be more ably shepherded because their pastores have had the very best preparation available. Is this cool, or what? I spend a day a week on Bible Mesh. FOUR: Colombia is a complex, fascinating country of 48 million people. There’s no place quite like it. I spend half a day each week reading through Colombia’s history, culture, politics, spirituality, etc. FIVE: As part of my ramp-up to writing a Spanish-language commentary on the Old Testament book of Isaiah, I’m reading Isaiah every month in Hebrew this year. This is a pump-priming exercise rather than full-contact research. But I’m having a great time blogging my thoughts as they come to me on Canter Bridge. If you have a strong stomach, check it out. A former student and colleague in Costa Rica is working with me to make the biblically reflective pieces on Canter Bridge available in Spanish. You can also catch up with our life as UWM missionaries on our Baerly There … website. SIX: Etc., etc., etc. Life feels pretty fluid right now. It’s a blessed, unsettling, hopeful interlude between the former chapter of ‘regular life’ (whatever regularmeans) and the next one. Will you help us get to Colombia so those people at the beginning of this email can relax?The Lord has prepared us for this next step, immersed us in vision for nurturing emerging Christian leaders and their families, and filled our tanks with the training and experience this vision requires. Maybe you haven’t thought of yourself as a financial partner that would help bring this vision to fruition. But you could be. Please pause and ask yourself—and your Maker—whether this has your name on it. Or your church’s or small group’s name. Let us know what you think. And thank you. Click here to join our financial support team. In other news: √ Karen has come through an unexpected health crisis with the support of our intercessors group (The Guardians) and some superb medical professionals in Indianapolis. She’s well, but there was a little peering over the cliff before we got things backed up to the clearing where the campfire burns.   √ In our next Baerly There …, we’ll get you caught upon what Karen’s up to. √ Selling our beautiful home in Indianapolis is taking longer than we’d hoped. This is an obstacle to taking our next steps. Please ask God to bring a great family who will buy this house and thrive in this space as we have. And soon! √ Karen and I will be in Costa Rica and Colombia on TEI and FUSBC work from January 19 through February 6. Please ask our Lord for ‘traveling mercies’, as that venerable old expression puts it. √ You’re the best. Thank you for caring. Unsubscribe when it’s time (This is not Hotel California.). Otherwise, just hang on! Until our home has sold, our mailing address remains: 124 West 64th Street Indianapolis, IN 46260 David’s contact details: 317-809-0483, david.baer@uwm.org Karen answers here: 317-997-8432, karen.baer@uwm.org United World Mission 205 Regency Executive Park Drive Suite 430 Charlotte, NC 28217 Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list