Heidi Baker arrived at the Toronto Airport Vineyard in January 1996 exhausted, burnt out, and ready to quit. She and her husband Rolland had been missionaries in Mozambique for years, working in crushing poverty with almost nothing to show for it. She came to the conference hoping for rest. She got far more than that.
Arriving Empty
Baker later described herself as completely spent. The work in Mozambique had been brutal. They were feeding a handful of children, running a small operation with no resources, and she was physically and emotionally drained. She did not come to Toronto looking for a dramatic experience. She came because she had nothing left.
During a worship service, something broke open. Baker fell to the floor and stayed there. For days. She described an encounter so overwhelming that she could not stand, could not speak, and at times could barely breathe. She said she saw a vision of Jesus and heard him say, "There will always be enough."
A Complete Recalibration
When Baker returned to Mozambique, everything accelerated. Within a few years, Iris Global — the ministry she and Rolland led — grew from caring for a few dozen children to thousands. Churches multiplied from a handful to over ten thousand. The growth was explosive and has been extensively documented.
Baker has always traced the turning point back to that worship service in Toronto. Not to the sermon, not to the conference programme, but to the moment during worship when she encountered something she could not manufacture or explain. She calls it the most defining moment of her life.
Worship as the Doorway
What happened to Heidi Baker in that room was not performance-driven. There was no spotlight on her. She was an unknown missionary lying on the floor while others continued to sing. But the encounter during worship reoriented her entire life and ministry.
What This Means for You
Sometimes the breakthrough does not come from trying harder. It comes from stopping — letting go of the striving, entering a room where people are worshipping, and letting yourself be undone. Baker did not go to Toronto with a strategy. She went empty. And worship filled what effort could not.