This blog update is a great big THANK YOU to all the individuals and churches that contributed to make our time at Link Care possible! We were able to complete the full six weeks that we were hoping to be able to do. Our time there fulfilled our hopes. It’s called the Restoration and Personal Growth Program. We had group classes (with other families who were attending), individual counseling sessions, marriage counseling time, and family counseling time (with all 5 of us). The classes included a trauma class, a “Shame-based vs. Grace-based Systems” class, a burnout class, Soul Speak morning devotions time, and a LIFO personality-based class. One subject built on the next, and we feel like we have a new framework from which to view many aspects of life and ministry. We forged some new relationships with some other missionaries and learned a great deal.

​We are beginning our church visits and speaking engagements, and we’re really exited to catch up face to face with so many family and friends during our time in the States. We should wrap up by the end of August, and head back to Thailand on or around Sept. 1st.

Also, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that we left for Asia in June of 2016, making this our ten-year anniversary of being on the field! It’s pretty amazing to think of everything that has happened, and all that God has done over this previous decade.

We are needing to replace some monthly financial support, so if you know of individuals, a church, or a group that would like to have us come speak, please respond with their contact info and I’ll reach out to them to arrange a time for us to speak before the end of August. The type of support we’re most in need of is monthly recurring donations, which allows us to plan and make commitments for things with confidence that we’ll be able to follow through without experiencing financial difficulties. Thanks in advance.

Blessings,
-Lance, for the Baker family

We are writing with some important updates about our upcoming trip to the States! Along with this is a major prayer request, which I’ll get into below. This summer (June, July, Aug) is our home assignment, and we intend to visit supporting churches and link up with as many supporters, friends and family as possible—we’re very much looking forward to seeing everybody! We will be in PA and Ohio for sure, with possibly some other travels mixed in. We also intend to visit the Simkovich Concussion Institute again in Wexford, PA; they marked a huge improvement for Ruth during our last trip, and since she has increasingly struggled with post concussion syndrome over the past couple months, we’re praying they’ll be able to help again.

​Prayer/financial need

We also want to share a one-time financial need that we have. Our mission in Chiang Mai is to encourage and support missionaries, and to help them stay on the field long term in various capacities. One of the things we encourage missionary families to do is be intentional about self care. Many families attend a debriefing retreat at the front or tail end of their furlough trips; we’ve been remiss in that we haven’t done one of those since 2020 when we transitioned to Thailand!

That in and of itself is one thing, but beyond just “normal” missionary debriefing, Ruth and I (and also our boys) have been through a number of traumas and stresses over the years that we really haven’t processed or grieved well over. Some are things that tend to come with the missionary life, like moving repeatedly, switching countries of service, homeschool difficulties, goodbyes, missing weddings and funerals, etc. But then there are unique things like the missionary training we did in 2014 which was as much a boot camp setting as it was training; isolation and team difficulties when we first landed in our original restricted-access country of service; relationship breakdown with our original sending church (which we ended up leaving) and having to start over again in 2019 with new sending/home church, support raising, etc; surgeries for our son that we had to fly to other countries for; Ruth’s head injury in 2024, etc. Another thing that has really impacted us recently is the death of some dreams we’ve had, like adoption. When you put it all together, we’ve come to realize we really need to do some emotion/soul care work, both for us and our kids.

As we’ve sought counsel with an older more experienced missionary mentor here, he has highly recommended Link Care in California to us. They specifically work with pastors and missionaries doing a four to eight week program for not just debriefing, but in-depth counseling for the entire family, including the kids. We reached out to them, and we feel solid about them being an answer to prayer, but we didn’t budget for this expense and we don’t have the funds for it. It’s expensive (over $10,000 when all is said and done including an on-site apartment, assessments, counseling, etc.). We’ve reached out to supporting churches first, and since we got a positive response, we’ve prayerfully decided to step out in faith and commit to going to the program.

We’ve been counseled that it would be best to add this onto the front end of our furlough trip, so we’ll be starting in late April—which is really soon! Based on the responses from churches and a couple individuals, we’re expecting we might receive enough funds to attend for four weeks, but our desire is to do six weeks, which is what they have recommended for us. So we’re writing here to make this need known, and see if perhaps you, our prayers partners, would feel led to help us with the remaining needed funds. If this is the path God has for us, we know He can provide. If we only have sufficient funds for four weeks, then we’ll go ahead and do that.

If you feel led to give, our preferred avenue for funds is through our support organization—The Central Missionary Clearinghouse: https://cmcmissions.org/donate

Alternatively, go to our Support Us page (upper right) and there is a special link at the bottom for donations towards Link Care, and also on that page you can find the address to simply mail a check to Ruth’s brother if you’d rather go that route. Thank you in advance for praying for us about this, and for standing with us over the years.

In Christ,
-Lance, for the Baker family

Dear friends and prayer partners,

​We’re settled back into our Chiang Mai rhythm after our recent road trip south for the Southeast Asia Missionary Kid (SEA MK) camp. This has turned into one of the high points of the year for our kids, but also for us, and now the Inspire ladies as well.

Our family of five packed into the van with both of our homeschool helpers, Faith and Lily, for a solid 14 hours to Dolphin Bay Juniper Tree. The camp itself hosted 86 MK campers from families serving in at least 8 different countries. For four days they had games, worship, deep conversations, beach time, and perhaps most importantly, time spent with other kids who “get” the missionary life. It took a while, but our kids have really found their peer group.

Faith and Lily both served as girls’ cabin counselors (this was Faith’s 2nd year doing so). It’s awesome to see them not only supporting families through schooling, but stepping into these other types of roles as well.

This was officially Josiah’s final year as a camper—hard to believe our oldest is wrapping up that chapter. There were conversations about him possibly serving next year as an assistant to the director of outdoor games. We’d love your prayers for wisdom and direction as he considers how God might use his gifts in roles like that as he transitions into adulthood.

Ruth and I got to spend some time connecting with parents, and got to hear stories from families serving across multiple countries—some in very restricted places—and to share what God is doing through our ministry here in Chiang Mai. These face-to-face conversations reminded us why we relocated: to encourage, support, and come alongside those who carry heavy loads in hard places.

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Before we close, a quick but heartfelt thank you to so many of you who have been lifting Faith up in prayer after the heartbreaking loss she experienced earlier this year. Your intercession has made a real difference. And to those who reached out or contributed toward her grief/trauma counseling costs, your generosity has helped make professional support possible.

Looking ahead, our next practical issue is a short required visa run in early April. Thailand’s current visa terms mean we need to exit the country every six months, so we’re planning a quick trip—likely to Malaysia, since it’s convenient and reasonably priced. We haven’t booked flights yet, but we’d appreciate prayers for smooth travel and easy reentry.

Thank you again for walking this journey with us. Your prayers, encouragement, and financial support keep us going. We see God’s hand in every connection, every answered prayer, and every step forward.

He is faithful.
Lance and Ruth (and the boys)

I hope this message finds you well. We wanted to share an update about Faith, who is serving with us as a homeschool helper, and ask for your prayers at a particularly challenging time. Faith came from the States to join us in 2024, and she’s assisted three different missionary families with teaching and caring for their children during her time here. She has poured her heart into this ministry, and been a blessing to everyone she’s interacted with.

We just received news on Saturday of an unimaginable tragedy—Micah, a seventh-grade student she works with one on one—was at a beach town in southern Thailand with his father for a conference. While playing and building in the sand, Micah was buried when the sand collapsed, and tragically, he passed away. We are still awaiting details on a memorial service. This loss has been devastating for the family, and for Faith, who worked closely with him for this school year.

At the same time, the primary family she works with has also had a lot of struggles during Faith’s time here, and while it’s been rewarding, I know that has also taken a toll on her. She loves them greatly, and is now in her second year working with them.

The combination of these situations is more than she can be expected to bear without being greatly affected herself. To help her process this grief and trauma, Ruth and I are reaching out to The Well International, a Christian counseling center here in Chiang Mai that specializes in supporting cross-cultural workers. We plan to cover the costs for her to receive professional grief/trauma counseling, as she doesn’t have the personal resources for this right now.

If the Lord lays it on your heart to help us with these counseling expenses, we would be deeply grateful. Donations can be earmarked for this purpose through our mission board, the Central Missionary Clearinghouse (please note “For Faith’s Counseling” or contact us for specifics), or by sending a check directly to Ruth’s brother, Mark Pavkov.
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Above all, please join us in praying:
•  For Faith, that she would experience God’s deep comfort, peace, and healing in the midst of these traumas (2 Cor. 1:3-4).
•  For both families—peace, strength, and the Lord’s presence as they grieve and navigate life.
•  For Ruth and I, that we would be sensitive and supportive in caring for everyone involved.

Thank you for your faithful partnership in prayer and support. It means more than we can express, especially in seasons like this.

In His grace,
 -Lance, for the Baker family

Dear friends and family,
​
As 2025 draws to a close, we’re taking a moment to reflect on God’s faithfulness through another year here in Chiang Mai, Thailand. It’s been a year of challenges, growth, celebration, and ministry. We’re so grateful for your prayers and support that sustain us on this journey.

Visas and Other Adventures 
The year started with some uncertainty on the visa front. In March, our attempt to switch to a new DTV visa in Malaysia was denied, which was disheartening after weeks away from home. But God opened doors. By April, we traveled to Taiwan, reapplied for the same visa type, and praise the Lord—this time all five of us were approved. We celebrated Easter in Taipei and reconnected with some old missionary friends from our previous country of service!

This year we also experienced the ground shaking—literally—when a 7.7 earthquake struck nearby in Myanmar. Our house shook, some items fell, and we have some new cracks in the walls, but we’re safe. It was a reminder to pray for those in harder-hit areas, especially amid Myanmar’s ongoing social & government struggles.

Family News
Big news for our family: Josiah turned 18 and graduated high school in May! He’s taking a gap year here in Chiang Mai, interning with two ministries, helped start a Bible study across town, and is on the leadership team of our church’s youth group. One of his internships focuses on connecting mission organizations across continents and training new missionaries; the other involves learning a bit about Bible translation work using tools like coding and AI tools. Josiah is learning a ton, growing in his skills and in his faith, and doing really well.

​Ruth continues to navigate sporadic vertigo, most likely as a consequence of her head injury a couple years ago. Some days are tougher than others—please pray for her continued recovery. 

Our younger boys enjoyed the annual Southeast Asia MK (Missionary Kid) camp early in the year, strengthening connections with peers who share that unique “third culture” experience. The monthly Zoom follow-up meetings have been a blessing too.

Ministry and Community
Our year involved walking alongside friends facing hardships—scams, marriage struggles, health diagnoses, burnout, and organizational conflicts. It’s been a privilege to offer support, counsel, and prayer during these potentially life-altering seasons.

We’re thrilled with how the Inspire Homeschool Helper Program is growing! Faith returned for her second year, bringing experience and stability, and Lily joined in September, hitting the ground running—getting her motorcycle license, rental home, and quick integration into church life. Both are thriving—splitting time between families, acting like big sisters to the kids, and freeing up the parents for ministry. They’ve become super connected in the community, pursuing additional activities and ministries beyond homeschool duties. It is (surprisingly enough) exactly what we envisioned: blessing missionary families while seeing these young women pursue growth, adventure, and a front-row seat to God’s global work.

If you or someone you know might be interested in serving next year, check out www.lanceandruth.com/inspire.html.

I recently accepted a spot on the Leadership Team at the international church we’re members of across town. We’ve been greatly blessed to be there, and worshiping with people hailing from more than 20 different home countries and denominational backgrounds has expanded our vision of God’s work throughout the world. His global Church is vaster and more varied than what we ever could’ve known if we hadn’t followed this strange life path called missions.

We hosted a wonderful Thanksgiving gathering at our home last month with about 20 missionaries—lots of food, laughter, and fellowship. And just recently, we led the music portion of the Christmas program at the Juniper Tree Christian guesthouse here in Chiang Mai, which we’ve done almost every year for the past five years. 

As we head into 2026, we’re praying for continued health improvement, deeper relationships, and open doors for ministry. We are planning to make a trip to the States this summer, I hope we can connect in person with everybody then. Thank you for partnering with us—your encouragement means the world to us.

Merry Christmas, and blessings in the New Year!
-Lance, for the Baker family

This rainy season just keeps going! I know most of you reading this are experiencing fall time, but here it is monsoon season with the danger of flooding always looming (or at least it feels like it’s looming after last year when there was a terrible flood at this time of year). It’s a pleasant season in that it rains for an hour or two most days, thus cooling down the overall temperature, but it does tend to create problems with mold and mildew, which can destroy your shoes, furniture, books, clothing, etc.

​Anyway, I know it’s hard to discern at this point, but this is, in fact, a blog post about the young folks who are here serving in our Inspire Program. We are able to bless four local missionary families for the 2025/26 school year! Two young ladies, named Faith and Lily, have committed to spending the year here and they are each working with children in two different homeschooling families who are in need of some support. They work five days/week and I divided their schedule so their time is split between the families based on the families’ needs. A few of the kids grapple with neurodivergent learning struggles, one family is working through marriage struggles, and one family has six kids and could use help by virtue of that fact alone! The parents are now able to devote more time to ministry, and the kids have a new schooling environment, as well as a new type of social interaction (i.e. it’s like gaining not just a school tutor, but also a new big sister or aunt who can speak into their lives).

All in all, this program is doing exactly what we had anticipated/intended it to do when we set it up! (When does that ever work out, eh?)

This is Faith’s second year with us, so she’s already set up with her life in Thailand, and she’s been able to answer questions and be a resource for Lily as well. Lily has hit the ground running (she arrived in Sept.). She has moved out of our guest room, is living in her new rental house, plugged in at church and Bible studies, started working with her primary family, and just got her motorcycle drivers license and a Honda motorcycle that she’s renting by the month during her time here.

Both young ladies have a heart for Jesus, and we anticipate they will serve well. We make it our goal to give them support and encouragement throughout the year – the goal being that they have a great experience of growth, adventure, and seeing first hand how varied and interesting God’s multi-cultural Kingdom on earth is during their time here.

If you know someone who may be interested in serving in our Inspire program, or if you yourself are interested, feel free to pass along the link below, which has a good overview and description of what to expect for the year.

www.lanceandruth.com/inspire.html

-Lance, for the Baker family

Faith with our boys, and Lily with Ruth

We’d like to give an update about what we’ve been up to for the past two months here since we’ve returned with our new visas. Big news for our family – Josiah turned 18 in May and has graduated high school! He is going to take a gap year here in Chiang Mai, and will most likely go on to further education in the 2026/27 school year. During his gap year, he’ll be doing mentorships under two men (with two different organizations), both of whom have been in life long ministry. One is focused on connecting multiple mission organizations from Latin America, North America, and Asia to facilitate each other’s efforts, as well as set up a training initiative here in Chiang Mai that will act as a mid-stream training point for newly deployed missionaries. The other is focused on Bible/Christian teaching translation work, and includes the use of coding and AI in those efforts. We’re really excited for him!

​Meanwhile, Ruth and I have spent a lot of time walking alongside individuals and families around us who have been struggling greatly recently. Not sure why these things all happened at once, but such is life on the field I guess. We’re thankful we haven’t had any overt stress/trauma ourselves during this time, which has allowed us to be a support for these folks. Without getting unnecessarily specific, I’ll give an overview of some of the situations:

• A Thai friend recently fell prey to a Facebook-based scam that convinced her to transfer a large amount of borrowed money, and she’s now dealing with a huge debt problem that will take many years to pay off. I took her to the police station to file a report, but they aren’t any help with actually recovering the money. I’ve been meeting with her since then to help her draw up a workable budget and a debt repayment plan. 
• A missionary family who have been good friends to us over the years are dealing with sin, confessions, and pain within their marriage, and are currently separated. Our aim is to be a source of solidarity for them during this incredibly difficult time. 
• A family at church recently got a diagnosis of type-1 diabetes for their child. Such a difficult time for them as they deal with many doctor’s visits, and difficult decisions to make. 
• A missionary family in a more remote province are experiencing burnout, and working through major changes in their ministry direction. 
• A life-long missionary we’ve worked with over the past five years has experienced a major schism with his sending org, to the degree that arbitrators and lawyers are involved. 

​All these things are potentially mission career-ending problems to face. The knee-jerk reaction quite often is to immediately pull these folks home to their passport country, and while that is sometimes what ultimately needs to happen, that can also add to the trauma and cause further damage to the individual/family. We’ve seen that decisions about leaving the field permanently should often only be done after allowing some significant time for healing, recovery, and seeking counsel from leadership and peers. Please pray for these folks, many of whom are good friends of ours!

​In other news, we have our first “second termer” homeschool helper – Faith has decided to stay and serve for another year here! She’ll continue on with the current family she serves, and will also start with a second homeschooling family a couple days per week at the beginning of the next school year. She’ll be joined by a young lady named Lily, from Wisconsin, who plans to arrive in September for the 2025/26 school year. We’re really excited to see the Inspire program progress, even as Ruth and I engage in other ministries simultaneously.

-Lance, for the Baker family

We have great news – our new Thailand visas are approved! After meeting with our language school about the possibility of getting an education visa, and exploring some other options, we just didn’t feel comfortable or excited about moving forward with any of them, so we made the decision to simply try again for the same type of visa we applied for last time. It was necessary to go to a new Thai Embassy (therefore, in a different country) to do this, so we chose Taiwan, which is where I’m writing from now.

I traveled here last week by myself first because if I got denied, then there was no reason for Ruth and the boys to make the trip. The Embassy first requested additional documentation, and then eventually also requested I come in for an in-person interview with an Embassy Officer earlier this week. Then on Wednesday, I woke up to the news of my visa approval, so Ruth and the boys packed feverishly and arrived the following evening. We had their applications in on Friday, and this morning (Saturday) we’re officially able to share the news that they all four are approved as well! 

We spent the day today reconnecting with a missionary family who lived near us in our previous country of service, which was really great because we haven’t crossed paths with them in five years! Tomorrow morning we’ll attend Easter Sunday service at the Taipei International Church. Our reservations here are booked through Wednesday, and we’ll be flying home to Chiang Mai that day. Can’t wait!

Thanks again for praying with/for us as we navigated this situation.
In Christ,
​-Lance, for the Baker family
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You may have seen in the news that there have been earthquakes in this part of the world, and some people have asked if we’re Ok, so I’m just sending a quick update to let you all know that we’re safe and sound. 

The larger earthquake near us was just across the border in Myanmar, which was a 7.7 on the scale. We were home at the time, and it shook our house, and we all went running out into the yard, as did our neighbors! You couldn’t see anything moving (because everything was moving in unison), but none of us could walk straight – it was a really weird experience. We did then notice hanging plants were swinging wildly though. Some items inside fell over, we have a door that’s pulled apart where the wood meets the concrete, and there was a pre-existing crack in another concrete wall that is now larger. Then a smaller one hit Bangkok south of us, which we didn’t really feel, but brought a building down there.

Anyway, there are many people in Myanmar and Bangkok that we can all pray for. Especially Myanmar because they are in the middle of a drawn out civil war situation, so relief workers can’t move freely through the country. 

Apparently there was an aftershock this morning again in Bangkok which led to many buildings being evacuated, but I haven’t heard of any additional damage from that yet. 

Stay safe,
 -Lance, for the Baker family 

So, the one-year visa solution we were approved for last year drew to a close at the beginning of March, and we decided to switch to a newly created class of visa called DTV. You have to exit the country to do so, so we packed up and headed to Penang, Malaysia where we know others have had some success with approvals (and because it’s easy to get to and cheap cost of living). It takes two to three weeks to complete the applications, first for me, then my family as dependents under my visa. So we booked an AirBnB, took homeschool materials, and set up camp for a while there. After submitting the application, they asked me for additional documentation, and then sent me a list of additional questions I needed to answer (which is unusual, so we were starting to get concerned). Then finally, we were told we were denied the visa, due to the nature of some of our work not fitting within the scope of that class of visa. Really disheartening!

​So we’ve really had to press in to Jesus, work through our disappointment, and pray about what He wants us to do and how we should proceed. Tomorrow morning I have a meeting with our Language school to get details on what it would look like if we got an Education Visa through the school. We’re examining other options, but right now that seems to be the best case scenario. Please pray for us as we make these big decisions!

In other news, right before we took this trip was the annual SEA MK camp (South East Asia Missionary Kid camp) at the Juniper Tree Dolphin Bay down south. It struck me this year how much this group of 86 kids ARE the peer group of our boys. Living in Thailand will never make our boys “Thai,” but living in Thailand does make them different in many intangible ways than their friends and family back in the States. Missionary kids really do exist in a “third culture” that is neither their home country nor their host country. This culture builds their world view, shapes their experiences, and gives them a perspective that is unique. And that makes them not really “fit in” much of anywhere, and can lead to loneliness and feeling isolated. And even though the kids at the camp came from 6 different host countries, they all share this unique “third culture” in common. The details of their daily lives differ, but their perspective and culture are somewhat consistent across the board – it was SUCH a blessing for the boys, and for us as well. Now they’ll have a follow up Zoom call each month to talk, share, and do a Bible study together throughout the upcoming year.

Anyway, since this camp occurred right before last year’s visas expired, we combined the trips, and we’ve been away from home now for a solid month! It was both exhausting and exciting, had failures and successes – it was good to go, and even better to be back. We’ll send an email or blog update about our visa situation as it unfolds.

Thanks for your prayers,
 – Lance, for the Baker family