Ken & Gwen Baker have spent 40+ years engaged in mission work and adventures with God
By Susan Akyeampong |
Ken and Gwen Baker have retired after 43 years of faithful service with SIM — a life devoted to God, to their teammates, and to equipping others for ministry. They spent decades planting churches in West Africa, fostering intercultural ministry, and shaping mission training that continues to impact workers worldwide. As they step into a new season of life, their story serves as a powerful reminder of how God uses ordinary people, willing to follow his call, to build His church and transform lives.
Ken & Gwen Baker
They seemed like an unlikely pair - in their own words, one is an extrovert, the other not so much. Yet Ken and Gwen Baker fell in love in Liberia in 1982. Anchored in their desire to see people find freedom in Christ, they have spent much of their lives serving as mission workers, planting churches in West Africa and later supporting global missions from their home base in the United States. Their lives show us how God uses ordinary people, simply willing to be vessels, to write stories of hope and redemption, and advance his church.
Ken and Gwen's paths first crossed in their twenties during their time in Liberia. Ken had travelled to Liberia to deepen his understanding of church planting, while Gwen had come to join the Gbandi church planting team. They met at a Christmas gathering, and despite their initial differences, over time, formed a deep connection and fell in love.
The Baker family (1998)
As I sit across from them on this Zoom call, listening to them recount their stories and reflect on a rich life filled with countless experiences over 40 years, it’s clear how deeply their journey has been marked by faith. After an initial term in Liberia, they built a family during two terms in Côte d’Ivoire before spending their longest and most formative years in Niger. Through it all, there has been a surrender to God’s will, seeking to understand how he would use them, what he would teach them, and how he would reveal his faithfulness and love for his own people, among whom they felt called to serve.
Ken in Niger (2018)
At the very heart of God’s vision for his church, is a diverse and united body. Ken explains that when church planting in Niger, “we learned what it truly means to be the body of believers." Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 12:12, “Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ.” In this way, diversity is not just an incidental feature, it is by God’s design.
During their years in West Africa, the couple saw this truth come to life in profound ways. Gwen reflects on their experience when they first moved to their village and developed a church made up of people from three different ethnic groups in a predominantly Muslim community: "We saw that these people had nowhere else to go, so they had to learn to live together and be family in Christ. The only reason they were drawn together was Jesus. With the oppression they faced, and most emerging from Islam, they genuinely needed this deep interdependence."
As SIM International's Team Training & Development Lead, Ken spearheaded the creation of the now widely used Formación training programme. A practical tool designed to promote mutual learning and enhance ministry competency across SIM’s global teams. These training materials emphasise peer-to-peer learning, encouraging teams to share experiences and perspectives rooted in their unique cultural contexts. He also played a key role in developing Convinced!, a Bible study series on the SIM purpose and mission statements.
For us at SIM, the true strength of our training materials lies not only in the content but in the people who bring it to life. Using a module on Spiritual Warfare as an example, Gwen explains, “They’re the ones living in the country, gleaning from the local context, as well as bringing insights from their different cultures and countries. The value of this format comes from hearing and learning from each other."
Ken with Goure Church Council in Niger
The couple wants people to understand that mission work and sharing the gospel requires an intentional understanding of the cultural contexts in which they take place.
Reflecting on the challenges of building genuinely intercultural ministry, Ken adds, "people can be polite and curious, but often, they don't really believe they can learn anything from those who are not like them. It can be quite shallow."
His goal has been to help mission workers and mission support teams move beyond superficial interactions, cultivating genuine engagement with the diverse communities around them and build meaningful relationships that reflect the richness of the church as a global body.
As they look back on their years of ministry, now based in the US, Ken and Gwen have stepped back from their formal roles but not from their calling. Their ministry continues in quieter but no less impactful ways—through their local church, prayer, and cherished time with their seven grandchildren. They also plan to support initiatives like Faithful Witness, which seeks to bring the gospel to communities with little or no access to it.
Honorine, Gwen & JeanettePrayer:
- Thank God for Ken and Gwen Baker’s many years spreading the gospel, planting churches, and equipping mission workers. May their impact continue to bear fruit in the lives of those they have served.
- As they step into retirement, pray that God will guide them in this new chapter. May they continue to find joy and purpose in serving Jesus through local churches, prayer, and supporting mission work.
- Pray that the global church would embrace true unity in diversity. Ask God to help mission workers and believers learn from one another across cultures, building deep and meaningful relationships that reflect Christ's vision for the church.
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