Never Too Old
Retire at 65? Quit work at 80? Dr. Baker wasn't about to do either. At an age when most people are at least thinking of taking it easy, she began her missionary career. That was seventeen years ago. This summer she'll celebrate her 82nd birthday. And she's still going strong.
"Grand Central Station" is the way someone just described her small, humble home in the outskirts of Tokyo. Visitors get a warm welcome, and it it's mealtime, a "farmer's meal"! Very likely they will also get what they came for: a treatment, because Dr. Baker is a chiropractor.
One of fourteen children, Mrs. Baker was born and raised on a farm in Ontario, 8 miles from the Michigan border. One vivid childhood memory she has is of her mother sitting in a rocker, nursing a baby and reading the Bible out loud to the rest of the children. With such a big family "there was always a baby," she recalls. So there was also lots of Bible. This was to mold her life, but not to take root for many years.
After one year of nurses' training and a sting working on an Indian reservation, Mrs. Baker took chiropractic training in Iowa. She then set up business in Canada. During the depression it was a flourishing practice. But even then her main purpose was to help people. Some couldn't pay. One lady, whose money she always refused, later left a small amount to her in a Will.
"Because it was good business," Mrs. Baker went to church. But she got a better incentive when she came to know Jesus Christ as her own Savior during some special meetings. From then on she was not only healing bodies, but reaching hearts as well. Sorrow struck at this time as her husband, shell-shocked from World War I, died after less than 2 years of marriage.
When Dr. Baker began to talk of going overseas, it was only natural that people wouldn't understand. Why should she leave a big house, a comfortable practice, friends and family, to venture off to a strange land? And at her age! But the reason was quite simple: She heard the voice of God say to her, "Go."
After closing up shop and selling her modern equipment, Mrs. Baker went--to join her brother in Japan. She thought she was only going to teach the Bible, but word got around that she could help sore backs and aching legs and soon Japanese and foreigners began beating a path to her door. Though her equipment was left behind in Canada, she still had her large, sensitive hands, and a direct line to God, Who, she says, often tells her what's wrong and what to do.
Though she carefully treats everybody who comes, Dr. Baker is particularly partial to students from the nearby American Academy. From them she gets words of recognition and a clapping ovation at the annual sports' banquets. "They're my boys," she proudly declares. After getting banged up in basketball, wrestling or track, they head for Dr. Baker's. While she massages their twisted ligaments and puts their bones back in place, she talks to them of her best Friend, Jesus, and how practical life with Him is for every day. And she insists that they do listen to her, because, "I'm not the preacher and I'm not their parents!"
To Dr. Baker, Jesus Christ is alive. He's her constant Companion. Being with Him every day is her way of life.
"Grand Central Station" is the way someone just described her small, humble home in the outskirts of Tokyo. Visitors get a warm welcome, and it it's mealtime, a "farmer's meal"! Very likely they will also get what they came for: a treatment, because Dr. Baker is a chiropractor.
One of fourteen children, Mrs. Baker was born and raised on a farm in Ontario, 8 miles from the Michigan border. One vivid childhood memory she has is of her mother sitting in a rocker, nursing a baby and reading the Bible out loud to the rest of the children. With such a big family "there was always a baby," she recalls. So there was also lots of Bible. This was to mold her life, but not to take root for many years.
After one year of nurses' training and a sting working on an Indian reservation, Mrs. Baker took chiropractic training in Iowa. She then set up business in Canada. During the depression it was a flourishing practice. But even then her main purpose was to help people. Some couldn't pay. One lady, whose money she always refused, later left a small amount to her in a Will.
"Because it was good business," Mrs. Baker went to church. But she got a better incentive when she came to know Jesus Christ as her own Savior during some special meetings. From then on she was not only healing bodies, but reaching hearts as well. Sorrow struck at this time as her husband, shell-shocked from World War I, died after less than 2 years of marriage.
When Dr. Baker began to talk of going overseas, it was only natural that people wouldn't understand. Why should she leave a big house, a comfortable practice, friends and family, to venture off to a strange land? And at her age! But the reason was quite simple: She heard the voice of God say to her, "Go."
After closing up shop and selling her modern equipment, Mrs. Baker went--to join her brother in Japan. She thought she was only going to teach the Bible, but word got around that she could help sore backs and aching legs and soon Japanese and foreigners began beating a path to her door. Though her equipment was left behind in Canada, she still had her large, sensitive hands, and a direct line to God, Who, she says, often tells her what's wrong and what to do.
Though she carefully treats everybody who comes, Dr. Baker is particularly partial to students from the nearby American Academy. From them she gets words of recognition and a clapping ovation at the annual sports' banquets. "They're my boys," she proudly declares. After getting banged up in basketball, wrestling or track, they head for Dr. Baker's. While she massages their twisted ligaments and puts their bones back in place, she talks to them of her best Friend, Jesus, and how practical life with Him is for every day. And she insists that they do listen to her, because, "I'm not the preacher and I'm not their parents!"
To Dr. Baker, Jesus Christ is alive. He's her constant Companion. Being with Him every day is her way of life.
posted by Lila @ 12:35 PM
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