October Newsletter

One less here. One more there. “Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His faithful servants.” Psalm 117:15 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Brother June Gentry 8/8/1947-9/17/2021 “God is in control.” We heard that many times over the years from Bro. June. No credit is given to him as the author, but he quoted it to remind us of the truth of the statement. No matter what is going on in your life-God IS in control. Ten days from diagnosis to death, that is how it happened. We met June and Nancy Gentry 48 years ago. The Nacogdoches Daily Sentinel is the place. Martin worked in the mailroom. He was surrounded by Bro. June and Phil Metzinger. Both men were very zealous for the Lord. They quizzed Martin about his relationship with the Lord. They encouraged him to find a church home. They invited us to attend Fredonia Hill Baptist Church. And the journey of our missionary lives began, God leading the way and always in control. Through the years people have asked who is the “owner of GODTEL Ministries?” and “how did we (the Bakers) get involved”? Our answer to the first is “it’s God’s ministry.” The answer to the second is “we heard the call and obeyed”. We are still here and will be until the Lord wills differently. Bro. June asked us to pray about becoming a part of GODTEL Ministries. We prayed and God lead us into His work. March 1977 Martin, our 7 month old son, Paul, and I moved into the old Redland Hotel in downtown Nacogdoches. Two college students, David and Roland, were already living at the mission. June and I worked “inside” while Martin, Nancy, David and Roland worked “outside”. This was our main source of income before the Christian community started supporting us. Volunteers came and spent many hours putting up fireproof sheetrock, dusting, sweeping, vacuuming, loading trash in our pick-up to take to the dump. Some days were busy, others were busy, busy and more busy. I did the cooking and washing and took care of Paul. June was cleaning and fixing rooms and bathrooms. We joked that he was hugging toilets but not for the same reason he did before Jesus came into his life. Martin and I took “a leave of absence”. We bought a house and moved out of GODTEL. Events happened and we moved to far west Texas. We moved to Martin’s hometown and the oil field. We were, also, closer to my parents, making the drive to El Paso much shorter. The distance did not end our relationship with the Gentrys or GODTEL. Martin was still on the Board of Directors. Nancy and I talked on the phone frequently. Our phone bill testified to this. During one of these calls, Nancy said the Lufkin mission needed new directors. I mentioned that to Martin and he called Bro. June and discussed the issue. Martin made a trip to Lufkin. June, Nancy and Martin had discussions and questions. When Martin came home we talked about it at length. We gathered our children (all 2 of them) and asked them to pray with us. Well, Martin and I did. We decided not to tell each other our answer until we both had heard from the Lord. I bet you can guess what our answer was. You’re right-YES! We returned to east Texas. This time we would be in Lufkin and not Nacogdoches. For two years we lived in the back half of the women’s dorm before the house was built. Our two children attended and graduated from Lufkin public schools. Our children grew up and moved out. Years later, Martin’s mom moved in with us. And that pretty much brings you up to date. Or as Paul Harvey used to say, “and now you know the rest of the story.” God is good and God is in control. Our Wednesday dinners with the Gentrys will be missed. We will miss him. Thank you, June, for asking us to share this adventure with you.