Michael Baer has a broad variety of experience in both business and pastoral ministry. In the early 1970, s Baer was instrumental in starting a church plant on the University of Tennessee campus and launched Grace Community Church in Hilton Head, South Carolina. Baer left the formal pastorate in 1989 to pursue a calling in business. In this new role he has started a number of businesses including Summit Performance, Inc, The Jholdas Group, Third Path Initiative and the Elizabeth Leigh Inn (with his wife, Cindy). In addition to business in general, Baer was an early leader in the international Business as Mission movement. In 1994 he began leading teams of Christian business people to the newly independent Kyrgyz Republic in Central Asia. It became quickly apparent that business could become a major part of reaching the Muslim country for Christ and providing economic traction for the emerging evangelical church there. Since then, IMED/The Jholdas Project has grown into a multinational kingdom business incubator operating in over 25 countries; nearly 2000 businesses have been launched in the last 20 years, all with a kingdom focus. Today, Baer is a senior executive in the staffing business and responsible for cultural and people development in a $3 billion company. He is the author of several books and is a sought after speaker and coach to leaders. Baer and his wife live in the mountains of Western North Carolina where she operates one of the top bed and breakfast inns in the region. Baer is a graduate of the Evangelical Institute, Flagler College, and Dallas Theological Seminary. Additionally, Baer has studied at the University of Tennessee, the University of South Carolina, and Columbia International University.