This is the October article in our 2026 series on women in international ministry.
See Mary Lederleitner's profile for similar articles.
Nydia Garcia Schmidt’s life has taken some intriguing turns, yet she traces the importance of being faithful with what is before her as one of the most important and essential principles for becoming the person and international leader she is today.
Migrant roots
Nydia’s mother and father are from Mexico.
Nydia’s mother and father are from Mexico. Before they met, her dad was a migrant worker. She explained, “At that time people went to the U.S. for six months to work, and they came back to Mexico for six months and built their homes, got married, had children, etc. It was all legal. You could work and come back.”
After doing this for a while her father wanted a higher paying job. As the oldest of seven brothers, he decided to move to Chicago and work for a railway company. Her mother was a teacher, and whenever she became pregnant and was preparing to give birth, she went back to Mexico. That is where Nydia and all of her siblings were born.
Over time her uncles came north and worked for the railway company too, and for the first ten years of her life in Chicago Nydia’s extended family got together on Sundays. The men played baseball, the ladies visited, and the kids ran around and played together.
When Nydia began first grade, she didn’t know English but over time learning the language became natural. She was proud of being part of the readers club and some of her best school memories were having the chance to work in the library. She said, “I felt so grown up.”
Her mother missed her relatives though, and she moved the children back to Mexico near her family. Books that Nydia’s school librarian gave her to take back to Mexico helped her to continue learning English.
Faith embedded in life
Serving God was the best thing a person could ever do.
Nydia’s Mom was Catholic and very thirsty for answers. She would go to Mass three times a day, and she would tell Nydia about how serving God was the best thing a person could ever do. As a young girl Nydia learned about eternity, that we were just passing through, and investing in eternity was most valuable.
Over time they transitioned to a different church, and Nydia attended Bible School for two years. Most people needed to be 18 years old to attend, but they let Nydia come when she was 15. There were 40 bunk beds in each room, and Nydia deeply enjoyed being with people who were focusing on studying the Bible and fellowshipping together.
Afterwards she earned her GED (a test to earn the equivalent of a High School Diploma). She got a job and moved with her mother to Dallas to be near her older brothers who were now working there.
Nydia had been spending a lot of time with her brother who was a year older than her, but he was suddenly killed in a car accident. She had often baked him pies to take to work, and they made him happy.
"I want to make the most of my time with people now."
I want to make the most of my time with people now.She explained with tears in her eyes, “He really liked those pies. I’m so glad I made those for him.” She said, “When he died so suddenly, I had no regrets because we had wonderful times together. It influenced why I want to make the most of my time with people now.”
Living in the present
The theme of living in the present and responding to opportunities before us each day continued arising in her story. When talking about going to Bible School at such a young age Nydia said, “I never thought the rules and discipline were difficult. I loved the community aspect of it".
"I try to live in the moment and be faithful."
"I live in the present. I wasn’t worried about what I would do in life. I wanted to be faithful in the present. In a lot of ways that’s a life principle of mine. I try to live in the moment and be faithful. I do enjoy planning, but I want to be fully present and enjoying what is before me.”
After losing her brother when she was 18 years old, Nydia, her younger sister, and her mother moved from Dallas back to Mexico. She said, “At that time when you lose someone so close to you, first they are there and then they are not. Explaining that only makes sense because of eternity."
"I was trying to find purpose in it. Because he was in eternity it made me think of eternity again. I think God used that to bring me back into considering ministry.”
At that time there were often advertisements for Rio Grande Bible College on the radio, and Nydia decided to continue her theological studies there. She said, “I never had in mind a long-term plan. I just thought this is where I am. I am enjoying it, and how can I help.”
Faithful in different ways
Her status became “accompanying spouse.”
While she was a student at Bible College, she met her husband, Jim Schmidt. They decided to become missionaries in Asia where his parents had once served. When Nydia and Jim were accepted as missionaries, her status became “accompanying spouse.”
For Nydia, “That really was my role. It was Jim’s profession as an accountant that caused us to be able to serve there. Before I was a mom, I was a receptionist. But now we had three boys, so I watched the kids and took care of things at home and volunteered occasionally at the international school teaching Spanish. This continued for quite a while.”
However, in the nation where they were serving, at one point everyone lost their visas and were told they only had 10 days to leave the country. Their family returned to the Dallas area, without a plan or understanding about what they should do next. It was at that time when Nydia decided to stop by and visit a person she had met before they went overseas.
That person ended up becoming her new boss. He offered her a job first as Personnel Director. They were looking at new contextualized ways of sending Latinos and Latinas into mission and the position enabled her to use her creativity and innovate.
The first female Area Director for the Wycliffe Global Alliance.
Nydia was faithful with “what was before her,” and she then was given the position as Associate Area Director. She was faithful with that role and then became the first female Area Director for the Wycliffe Global Alliance. In that position, for nine years, she led their work in North, Central and South America.
Parenting faithfully while leading
As Nydia’s professional path continued to expand, her husband remained supportive and together they raised their three boys. She laughs that it wasn’t until the boys had grown that they began to realize she had worked as an executive leader. As they grew, she was focused on being a supportive Mom and that's how they saw her.
“I didn’t want them to feel like they were not my priority.”
She said, “I didn’t want them to feel like they were not my priority.” As soon as they left for school, the computer came out, video conference meetings were held, strategy was developed, etc. Then right before they came home, she put all of that away, and she was there to hear how their day was and help support whatever they needed.
The only time they seemed to grasp that she was doing something other than primarily being a mother was when she was working on a master’s degree. Saturdays were the best time to do that reading and writing, so on Saturday mornings they all understood they needed to be quiet so she could do her homework and assignments.
Her youngest son who is now completing a PhD in Physics mentions this often. She didn’t realize it was something he was watching, and this inspired him to pursue his advanced degree.
Generosity and thought leadership
Over time Nydia developed a growing passion for helping others to be faithful with what was before them. She frequently encountered people who thought there were not many resources in Latin America available for ministries and missions, but she knew that was not the case.
The Biblical basis for generosity.
She did her master’s research and then a PhD studying the issues around generosity, and now she regularly speaks and consults with people and organizations about the Biblical basis for generosity.
She smiled as she told the story about a woman she met recently. After teaching a group, this woman realized she was not being a good steward with the large bonuses she was receiving from her company. She wanted to start investing that in Kingdom work.
Nydia eagerly desires that others be faithful with what they have and what is before them because she realizes the impact this will have both now and for eternity.
Mary Lederleitner has a MA in Intercultural Studies from Wheaton College and a PhD in Educational Studies from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School (TEDS). She has taught as an Adjunct Professor in the graduate programs at both institutions, and currently in the D.Min. Program at TEDS. Mary served for twenty years in a variety of global leadership roles with Wycliffe Global Alliance and SIL Global. She has authored books including Women in God’s Mission: Accepting the Invitation to Serve and Lead which won a book-of-the-year award from Christianity Today in the Missions / Global Church Category. Mary now serves as Associate Professor and Director of the Women’s Institute at William Carey International University.
William Carey International University (WCIU) seeks to provide innovative distance education to enhance the effectiveness of scholar-practitioners as they serve with others to develop transformational solutions to the roots of human problems around the world.
