Emilie Ballard was born in Maryland and after nearly three years in the Army Nurses Corps during World War II, she entered Eastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Philadlephia. She did refugee work for a year and then went to the delta of the Irrawaddy River west of Rangoon in Burma. She was there for 16 years, teaching science, first aid and Bible in a 2-year nurses training course for village health workers. In 1962, the government took over in Burma, and shortly after, the missionaries were asked to leave. Emilie then worked in Thailand, mostly with the Kwai River Christian Mission. She was there for 21 years, developing a corps of Karen home mission workers, keeping mission accounts and setting up a program for mentally and physically challenged children. Emilie retired in 1990, but in April of that year, she returned to Thailand to prepare a set of language lessons for missionaries needing to learn the Sgaw Karen language. Emilie Ballard lives in California.