Visalia native’s agricultural missionary work helps people in Liberia, Sudan
Robin Denney, 30, shows a map of the world’s newest nation. / HILLARY S. MEEKS
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HILLARY S. MEEKS
hmeeks
Robin Denney, 30, is a Visalia native who came back Sunday to speak to St. Paul’s Episcopal Church about her mission work in South Sudan. HILLARY S. MEEKS
When Robin Denney was just a tiny tot, members of the St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Visalia didn’t know what the future had in store for her, and today they are inspired by what the 30-year-old has done with her life.
“Little did we know she would end up doing something so dramatic,” said church member Mary Lou Burbery. “I really admire her for her courage.”
The dramatic thing Denney did was to enter into a program through the national Episcopal Church that sent her as an agricultural missionary first to Liberia in 2006 for almost two years and then to war-torn Sudan for more than two years.
Denney was born in Visalia and grew up here, although her family moved away to the coast after her freshman year at Golden West High School. She went on to earn a degree in viticulture from the University of California, Davis, and then took a job in Sacramento. But something was missing in her life, something tugged at her heart, she said.
“I felt as though I was supposed to be out in the world doing something,” Denney said. “It was definitely a calling, but I didn’t understand what I could do.”
She considered the Peace Corps, but knew she would be constrained from mentioning her faith if she worked through a secular organization. That’s when she discovered the Episcopal Church’s mission program, which suited her perfectly because it reached out to those in other countries and incorporated her faith into the mission.
Her first undertaking as a missionary was to help establish the agricultural department at Cuttington University in Bong County, Liberia. The country
was in the midst of rebuilding after years of conflict had finally settled in 2005, and so the school was also being revived.
After her work was done there, Denney was sent to Juba in what is, as of July 9, the world’s newest nation, the Republic of South Sudan.
Denney treated the congregation of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church to a sermon Sunday, where she touched on her experiences in South Sudan. After the service, she presented a slide show chronicling her time there. The local church has always supported her missions, said Rev. Suzy Ward.
She is an amazing woman driven by her love for the Lord and her passion to help people.” Ward said. “One of her greatest gifts is her knowledge of agriculture, and she knows how important it is for countries around the world to have that knowledge.”
Denney’s mission in South Sudan was to establish an agricultural program there through the local diocese in Juba. When she arrived, the area was still a part of Sudan and was constantly in conflict with northern Sudan.
The northern and southern parts of what was Sudan had been lumped together by colonialism years ago, but were both very different areas in religion, culture and land, Denney said. This put them at odds with each other.
South Sudan has rich land and oil reserves while the northern region has fewer natural resources; this was part of the reason behind the conflict between the north and south in the first place, she said. The north is about 90 percent Muslim, while at least 50 percent of the south is Christian — either Catholic or Episcopal, Denney said.
Though the land in South Sudan is so rich that it’s considered tropical in some areas, 50 years of war between the north and south meant 50 years that agriculture was neglected and 50 years that agricultural knowledge wasn’t passed down to the next generations, she said. That’s where she stepped in to help.
While she was there, Denney was able to see South Sudan break free from the oppressive force of the north when 98 percent of people living there voted to separate from the main state and become their own country this year. While there are still areas in both South Sudan and Sudan where the people are being terrorized by rebels hired by the north, the hope and individual victories of those who live in South Sudan are out-shining the suffering, she said.
“I think when people hear about the conflict and struggles in Africa, they sort of immediately lump them together and think about it in that way without connecting them to people’s personal stories,” she said. “Besides the stories of tragedy, there’s also stories of great hope.”
Denney expects that in coming years places in Africa such as South Sudan will burgeon with economic development and become world players. She said she wants people in the United States to better understand these countries and what is happening there.
“We don’t learn that much about Africa in school and we don’t meet many people who have been to Africa,” she said. “It tends to become something easily stereotyped in our minds and we don’t realize that Africa is a tremendously diverse continent.”
Now that she’s back stateside, Denney is in Gonzalez, helping establish an Episcopal church in the town.
http://www.visaliatimesdelta.com/article/20110830/LIFESTYLE/108300301
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