Guest Writer-Dale Robar. I have always been somewhat nonchalant about and even bored with the idea of missions and missionary work. That is, until God got a hold of me and sent me to the Mission field for three short term Mission trips. Let me tell you about just one of those trips.
Beginning the Journey!
It all started in 2005. You see I am a Gideon (we give out Bibles in all kinds of places, to all kinds of people – if you’ve ever stayed in a motel room you probably have seen our Bibles). Anyway a fellow Gideon tracked me down one day while I was digging a grave. Yes, I dig graves too. I was in the grave and up walks my friend and out of the blue asks if I would ever like to go on a missions trip – I said rather hesitantly “yes, but I imagine it would cost a lot of money ” He replied oh I think there would be some money available – why don’t you give Dick Chapin, a call? Mr. Chapin was the inventor of Drip Irrigation in America and it seems he was planning a trip to Malawi, Africa, one of the poorest countries in the world. So I called him up and he said “oh no, there’s no money for that. So I said ok and didn’t think much more about it. Well a little later, Mr. Chapin visited with me some more on the phone and later still, had Doug Carlson call me and tell me about a missions trip to Malawi he had taken . As I thought on these things, I told my wife Susan maybe the Lord wants me to go on this trip. So I decided if I could go for only $1,000 of my own money, I would go. Well before long the phone rang and it was Mr. Chapin. he said “Dale if you could come up with about $1,000 we could take care of the rest”. I immediately said well, looks like I ‘m going.
God Provides!
God loves Missions, He even provided the $1,000. On this trip I saw him work on every front. I met a security guard, called Mission, at the place we stayed at and we immediately became close friends. We would sit around a fire at night an talk about the Lord . I was able to find some marshmellows and introduce him to the joy of roasted marsh mellows. I gave him my address and when my trip was over it was with joy and sorrow that we said good bye. Joy to have shared the experience and sorrow to have to leave.
Going back to Malawi
Well the story doesn’t end there. After returning home I received a letter from someone named Enalah, who said he knows Mission and asked me to come to Malawi and bring Bibles. They were needed for a house church. At first I thought ” who said I was going to Malawi ? But like I said, God loves Missions. Pretty quick, Mr. Chapin, reached out to me asking if I would be willing to go back to Malawi, this time by myself and put in a drip irrigation garden for a local orphanage and do follow up contacts that Mr. Chapin and I had made the previous year? I of course said yes this time planning to bring Bibles in their native language “Chechewa”. But as I thought on it the thought came to me how is this” ole country white boy” going to find this Enalah, who I have never met, and get the Bibles to the “warm heart of Africa “? Well I’ll just ask Mission, when I get there.
Looking for “Missions”!
One of the first things I did upon my arrival was to ask where Mission was “he doesn’t work here anymore” where does he live “we don’t know ” I thought, well I have Enalah’s letter and it has a return address, I’ll just get my interpeter “CK” to take me there. So one day, we knock on the door and a lady says Enalah doesn’t live here, he is staying at a school. So “CK” takes me to the school. We check and the school worker says they don’t know Enalah – now what do I do? I thought well the Chechewa Bibles are in my rented car, I will leave them there and see what the Lord does. I thought I could give them to “CK” , he it turns out, is a Pastor, but I didn’t feel peace about that, so I just left them in the car for now.
Finding “Missions”!
Well, as the days went by, I worked on the drip irrigation project, did follow up contacts and witnessed where I could, all the while wishing I could find my old friend Mission. My interpreter, like most of the adults in Malawi can speak a few words of broken English. One day riding with him I spoke out loud “I wish I could find Mission” and “CK ” spoke up and said ” I know Mission and I can take you to him – we will have to Hop the Mountain ” PTL , let’s go ! So I think it was the next day, we took off on a long journey into the bush and over the mountain on a cow path of a “road”. We found his house and was told he was in a nearby village buying salt. We drove to where we could see him, I got out and crouched down to surprise him as he had no idea I was coming. I started to call his name softly, Mission , Mission . He walked over and I jumped up, He grabbed me and started hugging me with much joy. We went back to his house , a very small, very poor home. We stooped to go in, no electricity, almost no furnishings , only two rooms. We sat at a small table. I pulled out the letter from Enalah and told Mission “I got this letter from Enalah who says there is a house church and they need Bibles, wondering who is Enalah ? Mission answered Enalah is my son and this is the house church . Oh the joy that flooded my soul when I thought how the Bibles were in the trunk of my car outside the house church that God had led me right too !
Oh how God loves Missions !
Short Bio of Dale Paul Robar from Chapin Website Where he serves on the Board.
Paul is a retired Sergeant Station Commander with the New York State Police and is currently the Town Justice for the Town of Colton in New York. He has an Associate of Applied Science degree from the State University of New York Environmental Science and Forestry Program at The Ranger School Campus in Wanakena, New York. Paul has served Chapin Living Waters on three separate short-term mission trips to Malawi, Africa. He taught several classes on Drip Irrigation in Malawi and has also represented Chapin Living Waters with numerous Food Security related organizations. Paul has a strong desire to see Drip Irrigation made available to every place that cannot grow vegetables due to the scarcity of water.
Gideons Dale has volunteered with the Gideons in Malawi and other parts of the world.
Personal reflections of my time with Dale
Personal reflection of my time with Dale!
I first first met Dale and worked with him in Kansas City in 2004 where Dick Chapin sent us to represent Chapin Living Waters at a Food Security Conference.
Spent quite a bit of time with Dale setting up the Chapin Living Waters display and getting to know him.
Dale made a presentation to the main session of the conference.
Dale’s Bio
Paul is a retired Sergeant Station Commander with the New York State Police and is currently the Town Justice for the Town of Colton in New York. He has an Associate of Applied Science degree from the State University of New York Environmental Science and Forestry Program at The Ranger School Campus in Wanakena, New York. Paul has served Chapin Living Waters on three separate short-term mission trips to Malawi, Africa. He taught several classes on Drip Irrigation in Malawi and has also represented Chapin Living Waters with numerous Food Security related organizations. Paul has a strong desire to see Drip Irrigation made available to every place that cannot grow vegetables due to the scarcity of water.
Dale made a presentation to the whole conference
Spent time telling attendees about the organization and Drip Irrigation and how it reduces Drought, Poverty and Starvation around the world..
Dale has a keen sense of Vision and Mission!
Mission and Vision(Opens in a new browser tab)
In conclusion, if you found anything of encouragement in your walk with the LORD in this post, please prayerfully consider sharing it with your , friends, colleagues and family with “sharing buttons” below!
Blessings
Richard and Dale
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