MerodHhHerald
4"
Campus News
September 5, 2001
Senior works as missionary in Asheville
Senior Cortney Robinson worked with children in Asheville, NC,
teaching Bible stories and building relationships at day camp.
Photo Courtesey of Cortney Robcnson
Lindsey Wray
Staff Wrti«r
For most of us, when we
think of doing missionary
work, we think of far off places
such as Africa and India.
But how about Asheville,
NC?
This past summer, Cortney
Robinson, a senior Teaching
Fellow, worked as a summer
missionary through Buncombe
Baptist Association in Ase-
hville, NC.
Through this position she
took part in local missions with
children where she conducted a
choir camp, lead devolions and
a youth group, took children to
camp and spoke at various
meetings and churches about
the work she was doing.
However, her main job was
to teiKh groups of children at
camps in Asheville city parks.
Robinson taught in three out
of five available camp loca
tions. Each week she worked
with anywhere from 20 to 100
children who stayed at the
camp from 10:30 a.m. until
5:30 p.m.
Robinson and a team of
other workers worked from
10:30 a.m. until 12 p.m. each
day, giving out snacks, doing
craft projects and sharing Bible
stories on the life of Jesus
Christ with the children.
According to Robinson, the
knowledge the children had
about Jesus was either non
existent or, “they thought that
he was like superman,” she
said. This surprised Robinson,
who coming into the job,
assumed that most children had
heard of Jesus.
The first day on the job,
Robinson went to a camp
called Shiloh where the chil
dren “began to warm up to the
team and share personal infor
mation.”
It was the personal informa
tion that was one of the most
difficult parts of Robinson’s
job, but also the part that
helped her grow closer to the
children in her camp.
“One little girl named ‘Tink’
told me that she was (he child
care provider for her two, one-
-year-old sisters from S;30 p.m.
until 12 a.m.,” said Rc^inson.
“‘Tink’ was only six years
old.”
“Many of the kids told us
about having to sleep on the
floor in the back of their hous
es because the bullets came
through their bedroom win
dows at night,” said Robinson.
Because many of the chil
dren were also mal
nourished, Robinson’s
team tried to bring as
much food as possible
each day.
Atlanta Bread
Company supplied
them with enough
food to feed the chil
dren all week at
Robinson’s camp as
well as those who
came to the local site
for Meals on Wheels.
“One child had
never seen an apple
before, and [she]
asked me to take the
wrapper off of it for
her. She meant the
peel. She thought it
was candy because it
was so sweet,” said
Robinson.
“I have had lots of
experience with chil
dren in schools already, but
nothing could have prepared
me for what I saw this sum
mer,” said Robinson.
Reflecting on her experi
ence, Robinson says she feels a
stronger bond with the children
in Asheville. As a Teaching
Fellow who will have her own
classroom in a few months,
Robinson knows that her time
working with the children
through the camps has broad
ened her perspective.
“] always had heard that you
can be a missionary anywhere.
I don’t think I realized that
until now,” said Robinson.
Robinson said that at first
she less than enthusiastic about
working in Asheville for the
summer.
But-in retrospect, Robinson
says that once the friendships
began the children learned to
love her, and she began to love
them. And that is a life experi
ence she encountered in what
seemed the most unlikely
place.
As for Robinson next sum
mer?
“I’m going back again,”she
said.
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