YOUR MINISTRY SUPPORT SYSTEM
About the Author
Al Baanna was born in 1944 on a small Minnesota farm, growing up in a Norwegian immigrant community without electricity, indoor plumbing, or telephone service. His early education took place in a one-room country school, followed by high school in a nearby town.
After several years of college, Al served four years in the military during the Vietnam War, where he faced the harsh realities of combat, including prolonged exposure to Agent Orange. Returning home, he earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Management and spent a decade in the corporate world, rising to Senior Vice President of an international company and General Manager of another.
However, in 1979, God used the preaching at an evangelical worship service to profoundly change Al’s life. Under deep conviction, he experienced the New Birth in Christ. The following year, he left his business career behind in response to God’s undeniable call to full-time Christian ministry.
Al’s journey of faith led him to pastoral ministry before embarking on a vision trip to Eastern Europe. There, he and his wife, Betty, joined an underground mission dedicated to training church leaders in the Soviet Union and communist Eastern Europe. His first assignment involved secretly smuggling two million seminary textbooks into these closed regions, ensuring underground church leaders had access to essential biblical training.
In 1989, Al was appointed administrator for this extensive training program across the Soviet Union. This led to his relocation to Latvia in 1991, just as the nation transitioned to independence. He played a pivotal role in launching open training programs for church leaders and church planters throughout the region.
Today, Al serves as President of Serving Workers for the Harvest (SWH), a mission organization headquartered in Buda, Texas. In this role, he provides vision, leadership, and strategic direction to advance the Gospel worldwide.
With a heart fully devoted to God’s calling, Al seeks to live out the words of Acts 20:24:
"But I do not account my life of any value, nor as precious to myself, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God."
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Email the Author: emmanuel@swharvest.org