Beginning Again

I have exciting news to share with you. I have signed up with the Episcopal Church to be a missionary again. I have a possible mission placement, doing agriculture work in Sudan. I leave on Sunday for a two-week trip to Sudan to discuss and interview for the placement, and to get a feel for the goals, challenges, and working conditions. The position is based in Juba, which is the capitol of Southern Sudan, working for the Episcopal Church of Sudan (ECS), which is a province in the Anglican Communion. The ECS has more than 4 million members, which is almost double the number of people we have in the Episcopal Church USA. I will be assisting the church to develop agricultural programs. It is a very challenging job, as Sudan has many different climates: desert, grasslands, mountains, forests, and the largest swamp in the world. Sudan is the largest country in Africa (the size of the US east of the Mississippi river), and is bordered by Egypt, the Red Sea, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Central African Republic, Chad, and Libya.

Sudan has been in and out of conflict since it's independence from Britain in 1956. The peace agreement currently in place was signed in 2005 between the north and the south (the Darfur region in the west is still in the grips of conflict). The peace agreement gives the southerners the ability to vote in 2011 to become their own country. I have heard that this is an exciting time for Southern Sudan, after so many years of conflict to be working toward the birth of their own nation. However, the obstacles they are struggling with are huge: insufficient food production, water, medical care, schools, infrastructure, as well as societal issues like: racism, slavery, and dealing with extreme poverty, trauma, and tragedy. I have heard that 7 out of 10 women in Sudan are widows. As the peace holds, refugees are returning to Sudan, and with them increased need, especially for assistance starting up farming.

I am passionate about sustainable, subsistence farming. If you can help people to become self sufficient, with sustainable techniques (like mulching and composting), you help them to insulate themselves from fluctuations in the world food market. Steady food supply, and the ability to provide for their children gives people hope, and promotes peace.

After I return from this trip to Sudan, at the beginning of November, I will begin my preparations to leave for a year, which includes fundraising, and additional training in semi-arid agriculture and tropical livestock production. I am planning to begin my next assignment February of 2009.

Once again, I am beginning a journey, and inviting you to join me on it! Without your prayers and financial support, my work would not be possible. After I return from my trip to Sudan in November, I will post on my blog (www.robin-mission.blogspot.com) information about my experience, photos, a video, and a proposed budget for the year. If you feel called to financially support my work in Sudan, you can make a tax-deductible donation using the instructions at the end of this email.

I have participated in several exciting mission projects this spring and summer, including: short term youth mission trips to Nevada and Honduras, a trip to El Salvador, working for the Mission Personnel Office, presenting a workshop on tropical agriculture at the Everyone Everywhere mission conference, and writing a handbook on tropical agriculture for the Mission Personnel Office. You can read about all this on my blog http://robin-mission.blogspot.com My letters from Liberia are still posted on my blog with pictures, and I also have a final report, and financial report from Liberia posted.

In such uncertain financial times, fears are plaguing our country, and one reaction people have is to focus inward, on their own lives. But I think that in such times, our need to touch the rest of the world is even greater. My work is equally about helping those I go to serve, and about changing the lives and perspectives of those who send me through a shared experience. We have much to learn from those who have survived great loss, and from those who live in poverty. Jesus calls us to reach out, with what we have, and with our very lives. To touch others, to love, to serve, and to be transformed. This is the path I believe I am being called to, I hope you will join me! But even more than that, I hope you will find in your daily lives, the Love of God, drawing you ever outward into the world around you.

Blog Welcome Page

Welcome to my Blog!
(Updated for 2019)


This Blog:

This blog is primarily an archive of my previous work as a missionary. Since returning the the US, I have used it to post information relating to my continued work with agriculture and faith. You can browse old posts by date, using the archive. General and background information, videos, and files are posted as links in the blue right hand sidebar.


Current Work:
I am a priest serving as Associate for Christian Formation at St. Cross, Hermosa Beach

Past Work:

Church Planting, CA:

I was the lay leader of Trinity Episcopal Church Gonzales, California 2011-2014. Trinity Church Gonzales was a cross-cultural, emerging church community.

South Sudan:

I was a missionary of The Episcopal Church, USA assigned as an agriculture consultant with the Episcopal Church of Sudan from October 2008 - April 2011.

• A good overview of my work is my "Mid-year Reflections" which describes life in Sudan and my work. Also see "Q&A with 7th Graders". 
• Read about the conflicts that have been plaguing south Sudan, and the Archbishops call for support in "Hope and Fear" and "A song of the Saints of God" 
• Some articles about Hope, and God moving in this place: Fruit of Hope, Abundance or Move
• I posted reflections each day of Holy Week in 2010, during the lead up to the Elections: Easter, Saturday, Good Friday, Thurs, Wed, Tues, Mon. 
• I was in Sudan for the 2011 Referendum, in which Southerners voted to secede. Please note that in articles predating the formation of the country South Sudan (July 2011), I refer to South Sudan as either "Sudan" or "southern Sudan" 

Liberia:
I was in Liberia, as a member of the Young Adult Service Corps (the young adult mission program of The Episcopal Church), from September 2006- August 2007. While in Liberia I worked at Cuttington University (an Episcopal institution), where I taught agriculture and worked on developing agriculture programs, and worked on agriculture and development projects with some of the local communities. I recommend the following entries:


Overview:
Under “Mission Reports” in the blue right-hand sidebar, see:
“Liberia Report Summary” for a paragraph overview of what I did in Liberia.
“Growing in Liberia- Final Repot” for a detailed report of the context, work, and projects from my time in Liberia. (I also have a pdf version which includs my letters, and photos, which I can email you if you are interested).

Letters:
Beginning reflections of my work: Hand me downs and Blessings
My struggle with finding God in the destruction and poverty around me: Where is God?
A reflection on mission work, and overview of my work: Mission
After my return, text of a sermon, talking about global poverty, crisis of faith, etc:U2charist Sermon

Videos:
I have two videos, the first is Sudan the second is Liberia, in the sidebar.


Sermons:
I have sermons posted, in audio form. Go to “Sermons” in the blue right hand side bar for links to all my available sermons.
Or click here to hear one: December 3, 2008 Visalia

Sermon- St. Paul's Cambria

I preached at St. Paul's, Cambria on September 28, 2008
Click here to see the readings

Exodus 17:1-7 Philippians 2:1-13 Matthew 21:23-32

Sermon- St. Martin, Davis

I preached at the Episcopal Church of St. Martin, in Davis California on September 7, 2008
Click here to see the Readings for the day

Exodus 12:1-14 Romans 13:8-14 Matthew 18:15-20

Sermon- St. John's San Bernardino

I preached at St. John's, San Bernardino on August 10, 2008.
Click here for the Readings

Genesis 37:1-4, 12-28 Romans 10:5-15 Matthew 14:22-33

Working in New York

It has been an exciting two months! I got to work for the Mission Personnel Office of the Episcopal Church, helping them prepare for and put on the two-week orientation course for new missionaries.

It was exciting to commute into Grand Central Station every morning, navigating the teeming crowds. I loved noticing the way the Chrysler Building makes a shadow on the mirrored surface of the UN building in the early mornings of spring, as I walked to 815 Second Ave, the Episcopal Church Center. I got to walk in Central Park, explore Time Square, and visit the Metropolitan Museum. But most enjoyable of all, was staying with my friends the Copley’s, being welcomed into their home and family, learning how to rock climb and kayak, going to church, discussing mission work, and on one occasion, attempting to help with math homework.

Working at the Church Center was challenging and interesting. I loved the team spirit of the Mission Personnel Office, and the chance to get to know David, Douglas, Yanick, Michelle, and Rebecca a little better. Getting to see all the work that goes on behind the scenes made me even more appreciative of all that they do for the missionaries in the field! We are in good hands.

The Mission Orientation I attended in 2006 was a life-changing event for me. Everything was covered, from the theology of mission in the Episcopal Church, to what medical supplies to bring with you. But most important was the community of support that developed amongst the missionaries. So I was very excited to be involved in another Mission Orientation. Getting to watch and participate in that community building was wonderful. It is an exhausting, action packed two weeks, with lectures, skits, games, enactments, worship, bible study, celebration, and pilgrimage. Each one of the new missionaries brings their own passion, skills, and desire to serve. I can’t wait to get their updates, and hear about all of their transforming experiences. You can learn more about them, and see their blogs by going to: www.episcopalchurch.org/missionworks

As part of the Mission Orientation, we took the group to the “Everyone Everywhere” mission conference in Baltimore (which will be held every three years). There were more than 400 people there, involved in mission work all over the world. It was great to get new perspectives, and make connections. I got to present a workshop on tropical agriculture, and handed out nearly 100 copies of the handbook on tropical agriculture, which I wrote for missionaries (if you’d like an electronic copy of this handbook, just email me, I will try to also post it on this blog).

I returned to California just in time for my mom’s ordination, and my god daughter’s baptism. It has been an eventful two months!

Hope

Hope is such an illusive thing. When I think of the terrible weight of suffering in the world, when I think of the world wide shortage of food, when I think of all the obstacles that Liberia has to overcome just to maintain it’s fragile peace, when I think of the horror that is war anywhere and it’s aftermath… hope seems so feeble and far away. And yet the presence of hope is our only hope!

Since returning from Liberia I have felt the weight of these things pressing down on my very soul. It is only in recognizing and feeling this profound sadness for the world, that I am able to also experience the profound joy of finding hope alive in the midst of all this.

This summer hope has come to me in many forms, and I want to share some of that hope with you. I have been on two different short-term mission projects with youth and young adults through the Sierra Service Project. One trip was our diocesan youth mission trip to Nevada for a week, where we worked and lived on the Walker River Piute Reservation, repairing houses, and learning something about community, service, and spiritual journeying. As the week progressed, I worried that the youth were somehow missing the experience by being caught up in their caffeine cravings and boredom and heat exhaustion. Finally on the last day I realized that the experience had happened without me doing anything to push it. That community and spiritual growth and commitment to service happened in the midst of caffeine cravings and boredom and heat exhaustion. So many times I feel like I have to move the Spirit, I forget that all I have to do is show up and look. The Spirit was there, in all of it, and that gave me hope!

I just got back from my second mission trip this summer. I went to Honduras for two weeks with a group of young adults. We built (most of) two brick houses for impoverished families in Danli. The days were long, and the work felt back breaking. It is difficult to see hope when you have sore muscles and are surrounded by insatiable need. But I saw hope in the young people in our group. They are very much members of their popular culture and times, and yet they also were willing to sacrifice, to sleep on the floor, to go without running water, to work harder than they had ever worked, and to commit their remaining energy to building relationships with local people and learning about the struggle that is life in Honduras today.

I have found hope in other places this summer too. In Tegucigalpa our group visited an organization that takes in street children. We spent a couple hours there, and it seemed to me that hope was singing out of every wall, every bouncing ball, every footstep, every laugh. The door of this facility struck me as a sacred gate: its very existence gives me hope for the world. There is a door in Tegucigalpa, and any young person who approaches it day or night, will find it open, and behind it is a world of hope, sanctuary, and love. They will find there the Love of God, incarnate, and if they choose they will be transformed by it.

I have found that the reflections Bishop Mary has written to our diocese about her time at Lambeth Conference are full of hope, hope for our diocese, hope for the Anglican Communion, and hope for humanity as we struggle to live in a global community, a global communion, bringing our different truths to the same table.

There is a door in Tegucigalpa, there is a table in Canterbury Cathedral, there are young people stepping out in service, and there is you and me. Flawed as we are, we show up, we come to the door, we come to the table, we step out of our comfort zones, and the Spirit will do the rest.

Peace and Hope,
Robin
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Bishop Mary’s Reflections: http://www.stlukesatascadero.org/bishop.htm

Casa Alianza (A home for street children in Tegucigalpa, New York, LA, Canada, and Guatamala): http://www.casa-alianza.org/en/news.php

Sierra Service Project (youth mission trips to Native American Reservations, urban LA, and Honduras): http://www.sierraserviceproject.org/