Donor Stories

 

Robert Baldwin spent the first years of his life in places that had little access to the Gospel. He was born in Panama in 1915, while his father was working as an engineer on the Panama Canal. The family later moved to the Andes Mountains of Chile, then back to the United States, where his dad helped build oil refineries.

When Robert grew older, he studied engineering like his father, married, and started his career. In the late 1940s, he and his wife Marilyn were living in Eastern Pennsylvania, attending a small country church. Their pastor often preached on the Great Commission, and it's stuck with him ever since. "In those days we had itinerate missionaries in Presbytery all the time. My dear wife would say, 'Come and have dinner with us. Come and stay at our house.' So we got to know quite a few missionaries, and we got interested in a whole lot of things going on in the world."

In 1997, Robert established his first charitable gift annuity (CGA) with an organization he had gotten to know in Cleveland, Ohio.

"I was almost 90, and the rate for two in your 90s is about 9 percent, whereas the stocks and bonds I had were only 2, 3, or 4 percent. So I started looking at the agencies. The ones that were most interested in the Great Commission-those were the ones I thought were best to invest in... people like Wycliffe, or Missionary Aviation Fellowship, or The JESUS Film Project."

Since then Robert has transferred many of his stocks and bonds into nine CGAs. As a result he has translated these non-cash assets into increased income, a significant income-tax deduction, and Kingdom impact. He recently used appreciated stock to fund such a gift to Wycliffe.

After a lifetime of giving and investing in missions, Robert's legacy will continue to impact the two things he appreciates most about being a Christian-the Great Commission and love. "Jesus said love your neighbor as yourself, and He did this. Everything He did was love, and I think that is missions," Robert explained. "Mission agencies that emphasize the Great Commission-getting the Word out to the world, and offering it in such a way that love is apparent in everything you say and do...These are the things that are in my heart and soul."