Description
Saint Missionary Baptist Church — Miami, Florida
Pastor Willie Baker was the pastor of the Saint Missionary Baptist Church in Miami, Florida.
This chapter of my life is difficult to explain because, at the time, I did not understand what was happening to me.
I had been married four times. Although those marriages did not work out, I loved all of my wives.
My ex-wife, Kassandra, and I were living in Miami, Florida. One night, we were lying in bed when I looked at the digital clock on our dresser.
It was 3:33 a.m.
At that time in my life, I considered myself an atheist. I did not believe in God. I was only attending church because my ex-wife attended.
Then something happened that I could not explain.
I heard a voice speaking to me in my mind.
It told me to get up, pick up my Bible, and open it.
It was dark.
I got up and did what I was told.
Then I was instructed to go into my closet.
But my closet was packed with clothes, so I couldn’t understand why I was being told to go there.
Then the voice directed me to the bathroom.
I went into the bathroom.
In my mind, I kept hearing:
“Psalms, chapter one, verse one.”
I opened the Bible in the dark.
Then I turned on the light.
When I looked down at the Bible, I was exactly where I had been instructed to go:
Psalm 1:1.
I was stunned.
Something changed inside of me.
I began prophesying throughout my house.
I thought I was going to die.
I felt as though I had to tell everyone who would listen what I believed the Spirit of God was telling me.
My wife.
My sons.
My daughters.
My community.
My church.
My church became a witness to what was happening to me.
“Your Voice Changed”
The following Sunday, after my ex-wife had called people and told them that something was wrong with me because I had been prophesying, I went to church.
But I was different.
I felt that I had received authority from above.
Everyone seemed to recognize that something had changed in me—everyone except me.
Then, while I was standing near the water fountain in the back of the church, Ms. Peggy Brooks, the youngest daughter in her family at the time, looked at me and said:
“Mr. Jones, your voice changed.”
Those words opened my eyes.
At that moment, I felt as though I had been physically and mentally born again.
I will always be grateful to that young woman for helping me recognize what I could not yet see for myself.
I believe God had given her a special gift.
The Warning
During this time, I believed the Spirit had given me a warning concerning the church and Pastor Baker.
I believed the message was that Pastor Baker had three years to get his “house” in order.
I did not believe this meant the physical house where he lived or paid taxes. I understood it as a spiritual warning.
Eventually, Pastor Baker called me into his office.
He told me that if the Spirit of God had come, it would have come through him because he was the head of the church.
After that conversation, he put me out of the church.
The very next day, Pastor Baker went into the hospital with jaundice.
The Hospital Visit
At the time, I was working for an electrical company out of Deerfield Beach, Florida.
My brother Kenny Gardner and I were preparing to travel to Tampa International Airport to work on a fiber-optic project.
Before I left, I felt strongly that I needed to go to the hospital and visit Pastor Baker.
So I went.
Pastor Baker’s wife was there when we arrived.
When we entered the room, Pastor Baker opened his eyes and then closed them again.
We prayed together.
We sang together.
And before I left, I forgave him.
Then I walked out of that hospital room.
I had done what I believed I was supposed to do.
Two weeks later, I received a phone call.
It was my ex-wife.
She was crying.
She told me:
“Pastor Baker has died.”
I was devastated.
Pastor Baker had accepted me at a difficult time in my life. Even though I had been through prison and made many mistakes, he had allowed me into his church and accepted me.
For that, I will always be grateful.
My Reflection
May Pastor Willie Baker rest in peace.
When I look back on this experience, I remember the warning I believed I had received—that he had three years to get his house in order.
I also remember that he rejected what I believed was the Spirit of God speaking through me and removed me from the church.
I cannot claim to know exactly why Pastor Baker died when he did.
What I can share is what I experienced, what I believed I was told, and how I interpreted what happened afterward.
This story is part of my testimony.
It taught me that sometimes we encounter things we cannot explain. It taught me to listen, to forgive, and to recognize that we do not always understand the purpose of something while we are living through it.
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