Springtime Greetings from Kip and Nancy Robinson

Transcription

1 Springtime Greetings from Kip and Nancy Robinson From Sierra Leone to Virginia

2 Easter weekend we departed our beloved adopted country Sierra Leone for the last time heading home to Richmond, Virginia, amidst a flurry of confusion due to the tragedy in Brussels and a three day delay. Boarding separate planes, traveling without phone connection and full of questions we stepped out on faith. The gift in the move was to have three days of unplanned rest at a small hotel on the beach while waiting to go; time to take a deep breath after packing and closing our home with many mixed emotions. We have arrived safely and are adjusting to being back. Yes, we are back in Virginia enjoying being with family and friends again but missing our West African community where we made life long heart connections. Moving in a new direction, we ponder how three years went by so fast! Kip is officially retired and Nancy is awaiting confirmation on a new mission assignment, possibly working from home base. We are available NOW to visit churches, to preach or speak on mission, or provide an update and say thank you for your faithful support. If you would like us to come visit your church or group or just a 'let's get together' visit contact us at nrobinson@umcmission.org (Nancy) or crobinson@umcmission.org (Kip). We look forward to seeing you.

3 United Methodist Women and General Board of Global Ministries Missionaries Sierra Leone 2016 (Finda Quiwa, Beatrice Gbanga, Kip and Nancy Robinson, Elmira Sellu)

4 What happens with those individuals and churches who have been so faithful in supporting the mission of the United Methodist Church in general and us in particular while we served in West Africa? The immediate answer is rather simple...keep on supporting the mission of the UMC! Here are three suggestions: 1. Continue to be in a covenant relationship with Nancy in her new stateside missionary assignment, awaiting medical confirmation. 2. There are many missionaries serving all over the world doing all kinds of amazing work, usually in challenging circumstances. Take a look at the Global Ministries website ( Select a missionary and notify Global Ministries to change support from Nancy to a new (and grateful) missionary. 3. There are many projects in Sierra Leone and Africa that need attention...known as Advance Specials (see All the funds go to the intended project. Pick one of keen interest and continue an uninterrupted connection with mission in Africa! Nancy especially asks continued support for pastor training in Sierra Leone, Advance #0039A and designate clearly on the check that it is to be used for pastor/evangelist training.

5 Clearing the Compound Ready for Returning Moving is a challenge no matter where or who (see Abram's story in Genesis 12) but in the move is the promise of blessing and strength for the journey. In our case, we had the usual and customary duties (change of address, finish projects as best we can, clean the house) but we had some unusual tasks to perform: Find a home for the rabbits (one is finally pregnant but we won't get to see the new fur balls). Find homes for our large flock of chickens - no, we didn't eat them as planned, they were much too entertaining. Salt and Pepper the great great grandparents hatched a huge family. Trim back the bougainvillea and banana trees. Say goodbye to our reluctant guard dog "Sergeant Blue" who will not understand any of this at all. Fill the six large shipping barrels provided for packing (boxes are not easy to come by). Distribute books to pastors of anything theological while still seeking study Bibles with concordances. Assist with next steps on the path for Miss Magdaline (our cook) who will be doing catering from her home; Musa Sundai (our house helper) will continue to attend adult education classes and develop his skill doing masonry as he looks for construction work in Freetown; Christopher Leigh (our driver) who will use his taxi after it undergoes repairs and Umarr, Alhaji, Solomon and Solo (guards) who will be continuing on as guards or to new work and school (Solo purchased a motorbike and will provide taxi service in his village. Solomon is applying to be a school teacher when he successfully completes his West African Secondary Certification Examination (WASCE)). Thank you to all who have helped make their hopes and dreams a reality.

6 Most difficult of all, leave friends who guided, encouraged and served with us patiently, loving us unconditionally for three years in Sierra Leone. This easily was the biggest challenge of all. What We Learned in Three Years We are often asked about our work and how we experienced Christ in Sierra Leone, moments of grace. Here is some of what we learned: 1. The commitment of the United Methodist Church and the General Board of Global Ministries to effectively participate in God's mission worldwide and their support of missionaries is awesome. 2. The Sierra Leone Annual Conference staff face the possibility of no pay much more often than they should, yet are faithful in their continuing call to serve God in every way they can. 3. It's a great thing to have a mechanic make house calls to fix your motorcar or find that anywhere in the country where your car breaks down there is a homegrown mechanic, ones who can find used parts and do the work on your car! We have had a very trustworthy mission car to get us anywhere we needed to go, complete with a wonderfully conversant driver who listens to BBC news and is fluent in English, Spanish, Mende and Krio.

7 4. Appreciation that water is a most precious commodity, never to be taken for granted. Thanks to the teens in our neighborhood and our guards we were assured of water most of the time. They laboriously collected it from the local tap carrying five gallon containers one after the other to fill up the reserve tank when the dry season hit once or twice a week for a fee. 5. A cook who can cook is a cook indeed; thank you Magdaline Tommy. 6. Malaria, death, typhoid, Ebola, parasites, sickness and medical emergencies are constant aspects of life that we have all tolerated as they happen often, if not to you then to others. 7. New clothes are no problem even without clothing stores; just call your tailor or ours, Mr. Karim (who makes house calls) and is creative and careful in his work, producing clothing of high quality using a manual treadle sewing machine. He is saving for a new machine with capability to do design and decorative stitching. 8. Electricity is a blessing taken much for granted in the US but intermittently available in Sierra Leone (...is it coming in the next hour or next week?). Long hours of quiet in the evening dark are good for the soul. 9. The incredible impact of the UMC in Sierra Leone in the areas of education, health care and discipleship is something that ALL United Methodists everywhere can be proud of. A Visit to South Africa We visited South Africa in February when the General Board of Global Ministries hosted a conference for all United Methodist missionaries serving in Africa. Besides Sierra Leone, countries represented were Liberia, Cameroon, Senegal, Cote D'Ivoire, Malawi, Democratic Republic of Congo, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, South Africa and Zambia. Missionaries from everywhere to everywhere shared experiences, frustrations, challenges and "victories" big and small, similar work crossing boundaries for God, empowering lives.

8 Working up to the last day February was spent up country as Nancy conducted pastor/evangelist training events in Kenema and Kono and participating in the ecumenical World Day of Prayer. Thank you to Warwick Memorial UMC in Virginia and churches in Susquehanna Conference for making pastor support and renewal a reality. Sierra Leone staff working with Nancy have made plans to continue this training. Kip handed over the reins of overseeing the work of the new clinic at Yonibana, promoting Rotifunk maintenance especially of the water and solar systems, and put together project management principles in place to leave for future projects. He will sorely miss being the conference engineer. He preached at our local church, Charles Davies Memorial UMC the last Sunday we were in country, Palm Sunday; he was hailed as a prophet and evangelist calling the church to more active mission and outreach. Annual conference at the end of March culminated our time. A major focus is the new United Methodist University to be built at Pa Loco in stages, starting with the theological school at Leicester Peake in October under the leadership ofthe newly appointed Dean of Students, Rev. A. A.Karimu.

9 This and That...a visit by Nancy's sister Peggy Griffin-Jackman and her husband Ron the last two weeks of February blessed our home and lives with family presence and helping us begin the emotional process of leaving friends and returning to the USA...our motorcar was left in better operating condition than when we bought it due to aggressive maintenance and brand new tires, although the air conditioner went out at the very end; may God bless the new family who bought the car from us...in the last two weeks of March as we packed to leave Miss Magdaline came down with debilitating malaria, Christopher recovered from a broken leg he got when a motorcycle ran into him on New Year's Eve crossing the street to go to church; he had his cast removed and could drive for us again...musa was put in the hospital with an extreme case of gastritis and stress disorder but everyone persevered and our time together ended with all in good health, just hot and sweaty in the heat and humidity...seventeen deacon stoles were made by local taylors from colorful cottons in the market and packed to share in Virginia...gas and diesel fuel stayed the same price as in early 2014 at almost $4 a gallon, opposite of the trend of lower prices worldwide...we miss buying fresh fruit and vegetables daily from the market, but not the hot pepper (life has its own spice)...we return home with hearts full of love, intertwined across the ocean.

10 Finally Our work during the last three years pales in comparison to those who labor with far greater obstacles than we ever encountered. We do miss our African home but as Bishop Yambasu reminded us, we are a part of God's mission. It was never about us...again and again we find ourselves marvelling at the life we were priveleged to experience in Sierra Leone.

11 May the peace and grace of Christ flow abundantly into and through all our lives as we continue the journey, missionaries from everywhere to everywhere ready to reach out prayerfully and serve where called. Stay tuned! Kip and Nancy Robinson (Kip) (Nancy) Advance # Rev. Nancy and Kip Robinson, 2413 Jewett Drive, Richmond, VA 23228