Yet Another "Quick" Update

A photo of the worship team I'm in leading worship in Korean and English for Aloha Day.

Sorry for the lack of blog posting.  Things have been busy...

Getting Settled in Paradise

Jess cleaning her office

We landed on Thursday in Honolulu and we could not have planned our time better...  

Hey Bakers... How were your flights? | And 2 travel tips.

Jess and I with her Mom and Step Dad Greg in Pittsburgh.

We landed on Thursday in Honolulu.  Jess' mom and step dad Greg took us to Pittsburgh Wednesday night before we flew out... 

Honolulu Color Run | The Happiest 5k In the World

Day 3 of 365  L-R Emily, Jonna, Jess, Celine, Joanna, Atticus, and me, and thats Judah hiding in the stroller.  Sorry I don't know anyone in the background.  

On Saturday Jess ran in the Honolulu Color Run...

365days Married Edition :)

1/365  

Some of you MIGHT remember when I took a self portrait almost every day for about a year and a half back in 2008-2009...

No Flow, Stream Of Consciousness

Akaka Falls, Big Island, Hawaii 2008

As you can see I haven't been writing that much lately.  I sat down to write a blog the other night and it just didn't flow.  

Done with the New Testament! [VIDEO]

A video by one of our brilliantly creative and talented students Aku Ylänne

Last night we celebrated the finish of the New Testament portion of our school...  

Computer is back after its 2nd repair and we have a friend visiting!

Me, Jess and Maureen!  

Just a quick update for everyone... 

May 2012 VIDEO Update from Hawaii

May 2012 VIDEO Update From Hawaii! from Jim and Jess Baker on Vimeo.

Here's May's VIDEO Update... 

Want to see what we ate for dinner last night? [VIDEO]

YWAM Honolulu Dinner Time from Jim and Jess Baker on Vimeo.

Here's a quick video showing you what we ate for dinner last night...  

Quick personal update | Sorry for no post on Friday

Mark Smith starting lecture at 10:30pm his time, 6:30pm our time.  He started his day at 3:30am his time to  fly to us.  

  

It is EASY to fall off the blogging wagon.  I apologize for no post on Friday.  Our schedule was PACKED last week.  Here is what we were up to...

Paradise and the least of these | What Homeless Outreach looks like in Waikiki

DTS students and two of the street kids gathering to pray for the Pastor and his family  | Waikiki Hawaii | Iphone 3gs

Part of my responsibilities here as staff for YWAM’s School of Biblical studies is to lead local outreaches.  This past Tuesday, I tagged along on the Discipleship Training School’s last outreach to Waikiki.  The students are headed overseas in the next couple of weeks...

2012 March General Update | Aloha! Greetings from Hawaii!

Honolulu Airport | March 11, 2012 | Iphone3gs and Instagram 

Aloha and greetings from Hawaii!  Here is a quick update... 

Hawaii 2012: the details YOU want to know.

Oahu - 2008 - taken with a canon sd870

So if you missed our announcement we're moving to Hawaii in 10 days to staff YWAM's School of Biblical Studies.  

Got questions?  Here's some answers for you... click continue to read more -->

2012 February General Update BIG NEWS

photo taken in kailua kona 2008 during my photography school

We're going back to HAWAII to staff YWAM's School of Biblical Studies! 


Getting out of debt 
In December of 2011, Jess and I paid off our last bit of debt.  A big reason we wanted to get out of debt was so that we could serve God more freely without the financial burden of large interest bearing payments.  We paid off over 30k (mostly school loans) in 2.5 years following the Dave Ramsey method and a lot of miraculous provision from God.

Asked to pray
The same week we made our last payment, we were approached by some leaders in YWAM, a volunteer missions organization that we have served with before.  We were asked to pray about the possibility of coming on staff with their school of biblical studies.

Decision
After a lot of thought and prayer, discussion with others and a retreat focused on making this decision we decided that God was indeed calling us to go.

We're going!
So we leave March 10th (Jess' birthday!) for Hawaii to staff the school of biblical studies and will return to the mainland in 2013!

More info
Here's more info on the school --> School of Biblical Studies  I will post again on Thursday giving a lot more detail on what this all entails, but I wanted to let you all in on the BIG NEWS!

Donate
YWAM is a volunteer missions organization and all staff members raise support to do what they do.  If you're interested in partnering with us financially, you can give using the paypal button below.  You will be giving to our ministry the BAKERS ministry which is a 501c3 to help us with our living expenses while in Hawaii.  (All donations ARE tax deductible)   If you are interested in partnering with us on a monthly basis please contact us jimjessbaker (at) gmail (dot) com and we can set you up using ACH.

If you have questions or comments let us know! Have you been to Hawaii?  Tell us about it in the comments!

jim baker

08.10.10 - PAINTING

taken at a Darrell Hill painting seminar in Hawaii

After 6 months of trying to choose paint colors for the apartment, we pulled the trigger and went and bought paint. (For the living room at least) Luckily there was a lady there at Lowes also buying paint that gave us some tips. I had no clue there was so many choices. Different paint finishes, different types of paints, different types of tools to apply the paint.

We ended up buying foam rollers which are much smaller than your typical roller but everyone said they were quite nice. Jess and I had never seen them before, I think they are intended to use on doors and cabinets, we'll let you know how it goes. We also got a rolling edger since we have a lot of molding in our house and Melissa Stanton said we should get one. She's pretty much the local expert on painting right now since they just bought a house and a redoing it all.

We had a small trim edger in our hands but the lady that worked there said that she had one and threw it away and recommended us a small brush. We got a corner brush too. It was really nice to get real help in a store.

We bought Valspar Hi-def paint. It's a paint that you don't have to use a primer with. We also bought matte finish, because the lady that was there buying paint asked us if we had a lot of flaws in our walls. We answered with an emphatic yes. She said glossy paints show the walls flaws more. So we bought the flat matte.

Here's a pic of how things are looking before the paint

We'll keep you updated
JIM baker

07.21.10 - the rest of the trip

Ashlynn Mary Koenig - 1 month

So we left Memphis and headed straight to Atlanta to visit Jess' sister, her husband and their brand new baby girl! This was Aunt Jess' second time seeing her brand new niece but my first. She's ADORABLE!

Then we headed over to Hilton Head to visit my parents. My sister Jeannie was also visiting with her daughter, we grabbed lunchand hit the road to Ft Lauderdale FL. We listened to a time share presentation so that we could get our "free cruise" and boarded the boat to the Bahamas with my parents.

our cruise ship was called the "Bahamas Celebration"

We went on a snorkel tour in the Bahamas and Jess took this EPIC pic with the G11 and the wp-dc34 underwater casing. I was trying my best not to drown. I wish I still had the snorkel I bought in Hawaii, it actually WORKED. It started storming just as we left the dock in our boat, and by the time we got out to the reef it cleared up but the water was still choppy. My mask was leaking so I was just having a hard time doing anything. I handed the camera to Jess and she got some great pics.

The cruise was fine, being in Grand Bahama for such a short period of time was strange. I would have liked to see a bit more of the island before we had to get on the boat.

After we docked back in Ft Lauderdale, we drove back to Hilton Head. Then I headed to my oldest sister Jennifer's house in Candler, NC. There I got to spend some time with my sister and my 2 neices and nephew.

Sammie, Scott and Eryka

my oldest sister Jennifer.

So all in all 2 weeks, 4000+/- miles through 13 states, 2 countries, using 2 cars, and a ship. And great times with family and friends.

JIM baker

07.08.10 - memphis

Me, Jess, Krista, Jeanette, and Mark

Settlers of Catan!!

Jeanette and Mark with the shirt we got for the baby on the way.

It's our last night in Memphis and we've had a great time. We're staying in Krista's home. Krista was in our School of Biblical Studies in Kona. You can check out her blog here.

Mark is another YWAM friend of mine that was in my DTS in Nashville. He and his wife Jeanette are living here in Memphis for a couple of more weeks before moving back to Louisville. They are expecting in December. You can check out their blog here.

I found Settlers of Catan at the Barnes and Noble. Matt and Lisa Stanton turned us onto this awesome board game. Mark came over this morning before work to play a game. We've played six games in the two days we've had it. I had to go out and buy the expansion pack today so that six people could play instead of four.

Next stop Atlanta.

JIM baker

2010.06.27 - Happy Birthday Jess' mom

Jess and her mom Kathy Anstrom

This past weekend we went to Ohio for a short visit. The only thing that Jess' mom wanted for her birthday from us was a picture of her and Jess. She wanted a copy and she wants one to go on my desk at work. We went and celebrated early with a dinner at olive garden as well. Happy Birthday Kathy!

JIM baker

06.20.2010 - meet my newest niece :) Ashlynn!!!

Ashlynn Mary Koenig

Born June 2nd at 5:52PM.

7lbs 5oz and 19-3/4"

Shelli, Justin and Ashlynn

Jess spent the first week of June in Atlanta with her sister Shelli. She took the canon g11 and snapped some pics of her baby niece. So here's Ashlynn's first blog debut!

JIM baker