Meet Linda & Ed Baker:

We are two of the most honored people in God's creation - we are able to travel to exciting new places, meet new people and share God's word.  After several years of going on short-term mission trips to Honduras and the Dominican Republic, we decided to go "full time".  In 1999 we quit our "regular" jobs and applied to become missionaries under the care and guidance of the The Mission Society.  We are currently in our 2nd 5 year term in Paraguay, South America.  We are assigned to the Methodist Church of Paraguay (Comunidad Evangelica Metodista del Paraguay) and work under the direction of the Bishop of the church, Pastor Pablo Mora.

What is our ministry?

Ed is a Civil Engineer and has worked for 25 years in the field of sanitation and water resources.  Linda, after raising our two wonderful daughters (Rhian and Kara) finished her degree in Management and has worked as a computer consultant, with a special love for training adults.  God has gifted us with these skills and experiences so that we can work in developing areas in the fields of water, sanitation and hygiene.  Our ministry includes drilling water wells in remote villages, water development and treatment projects, and sanitation/hygiene training programs as well as computer training and assistance.  We coordinate with Lifewater International, a group of Christian water professionals serving the Lord in countries all over the world. 

Since arriving here in Paraguay in January of 2002, we have served in a wide range of functions.  While waiting for the arrival of our drilling equipment, we hosted work teams from churches in the US, worked with the mobile medical clinic, provided a wide range of computer advice and assisted in the layout and design of our church camp.  With the arrival of the drilling equipment, we have been very busy drilling wells, constructing sanitation facilities and working with the churches where we drilled.  In June of 2003 we were given two more tasks - Ed was assigned responsibility to coordinate and oversee the 9 Methodist churches in the San Pedro district, as District Superintendent, and Linda was asked to serve as the Women's Federation (similar the the United Methodist Women in the US) coordinator in this region.  So - we are keeping very busy and are always amazed at the way the Lord has decided to use us to His glory.

Tell us more about the Paraguayan Methodist Church-

The Methodist Church of Paraguay started more than 17 years ago as a result of seeds planted in the hearts of Pastor Mora and Dr. Norival Trindade, a Methodist layman in Londrina, Brazil.  Pastor Mora is a native Paraguayan who was serving in Brazil when he was introduced to Dr. Trindade, in a meeting that was "heavenly ordained".  Through prayer and faithful commitment to His call, the Paraguayan Methodist Church was born in 1985.  Through the hard work of these committed men and their families, the support of the Mission Society for United Methodists and a number of Methodist churches who have provided years of faithful support, the Paraguayan Methodist Church has grown to over 30 congregations.  We have a team of 17 missionaries serving from Brazil, Europe and the United States, and now support our own missionary couple to the Chaco region of Paraguay to reach the Toba Indians.

Please pray for us and our ministry.  With your prayers and the grace of God we will stay in His will and accomplish His goals!

You can contact us at edlindabaker@yahoo.com, or our snail mail address is:

Ed & Linda Baker

Aeropuerto Silvio Petirossi

Casilla N^o 17067

Asuncion,  Paraguay

SOUTH AMERICA

If you are sending anything larger than an envelope, please address it to only Ed.  These packages we have to pick up with our passport at the airport post office.  If both names appear on the package, then we both have to be there with our passports.  Also - anything bigger than a shoe box has to go through a separate customs agent, so please let us know that it is coming.

How do we make a donation?

If you would like to make a donation to our ministry, you can do so through the website of The Mission Society - this site allows donations by credit cards or electronic fund as well as providing a easily printed form to allow mail-in donations.