Missionaries' New Roles Bring Them Back to U.S. -- But Not for Long

After 25 years of focusing on their careers and raising their children, Ed and Linda Baker found another calling – putting their knowledge to use as missionaries in Latin America. Now, the two have been appointed co-directors of the Mission Society's Global Resources Team, but they still plan to spend about half their time traveling for mission work.

Ed, 60, worked as an engineer after receiving his master's degree from Georgia Tech in civil engineering with water resources. Linda, 61, was a database consultant. Their different lines of work led them to work with the Mission Society.

“We were working with a group in Decatur and we were asked to help with a drill rig that was donated,” Ed said. “From there we just followed the Lord's calling.”

He learned that an engineer could be a missionary, and the Bakers started doing short mission trips, but they wanted to do more. The Mission Society was one of Linda's consulting clients, and they decided it was the organization they wanted to get involved with.

They began full-time mission work in 2001. The first step was spending a year in Costa Rica, learning Spanish. While there, they helped other missionaries in the area with water and sanitation projects.

After that, they worked in Paraguay for seven years and Nicaragua for two years. Over their decade of mission work, they drilled about 30 wells and helped build a school, two churches and parsonages for pastors.

“Our primary focus was in sanitation...but while you're there, we invariably got involved in other things,” Ed said.

In Paraguay, they worked in a rural setting. The government had opened up land for homesteading, and the Bakers helped families make wells for water.

“There was a lot of poverty, but the people had land, so they could raise their crops and chickens and pigs,” Ed said.

Sometimes they encountered surprising cultural differences in their work. One time, the Bakers helped build a bigger school and put in modern bathrooms, but the kids had never used them before and didn't know how to.

“These children had never seen a bathroom before,” she said. “That's one thing North Americans assume, that people know how to use a toilet, and they don't. We think we're solving problems, and it is a sanitation problem, but they don't see a need for it at first.”

In addition to working with water and sanitation, they made small business loans of behalf of the Mission Society for people who needed money to buy seed or get a crop in. They made 40 or 50 loans, and all but one were paid back, Ed said.

The Bakers also helped by making medical runs. In Paraguay and Nicaragua, doctors' services are free, but people have to provide their own medicine and supplies.

“You want somebody to wear gloves, you better bring them,” Linda said. She and Ed helped drive people to the hospital and buy the medical supplies they needed.

Last month, they returned to live in the United States for the first time in 10 years. They both said the return has been “complicated.” Linda said she's still learning to use her new smartphone, and she sometimes feels overwhelmed by the number of choices, from brands of potato chips at the grocery store to internet service providers.

“Things are a lot easier here, but everything is so much more complicated,” Ed said. “It took us all month just to sort out housekeeping again.”

But they are ready to start their new jobs with the Mission Society. They have become the water and sanitation specialists for the Global Resource Team, which also includes specialists in health, agriculture, commerce and outreach to women. They will also serve as co-directors of the Global Resource Team.

The former director, Larry Williams, suggested the Bakers take his place when he was ready to retire.

“They felt the Lord was kind of leading them back to the United States, but they weren't sure of what role,” said Jim Ramsay, 51, the Mission Society's senior director of field ministry. “Once he mentioned their names, it was a no-brainer.”

The Bakers' new job will involve training and organizing missionaries, and taking their input and using it to make improvements. Although they're living in Lawrenceville now, they plan to spend about half of their time traveling nationally or internationally. They hope to start programs to teach English classes through churches.

“We've already got several projects lined up,” Linda said. “One is to go back to Paraguay.” The Bakers will visit wells they made and see how they're working.

Another missionary wants to start drilling wells in India. The Bakers will go on a fact-finding trip there and then help train drillers, which will probably take several years.

Although they're excited for their new projects, they know they will only be temporary – which is what they expect, Ed said. The Mission Society tried to make local people self-sufficient so the missionaries can move on.

“They encourage all us missionaries to work ourselves out of a job,” he said.

For more information, see www.themissionsociety.org, or Ed and Linda Baker's website, www.aguadevida.org.