Robin's Missions

1. An Invitation
2. My support letter

-------------Invitation--------------
"Art washes from the soul the dust of everyday life."

What?
An art show featuring Robin Oas
(and friends) to raise support for Robin’s return to Sudan.
The evening will include a musical theatre performance by Erica Maier

When?
Friday July 6th, 2007-----7 p.m.

Where?
Fa Lu Hutson's Residence
4124 Happy Valley Rd., Lafayette, CA

Suggested $10 donation *
*includes a raffle ticket for prizes such as show tickets, voice lessons, and more!

------------Support Letter--------------------------


Greetings friends,

I just wanted to thank you all for all your love, prayers, and support while I was in Sudan. God is doing amazing things and I feel fortunate to be a part of what's going on in there. It was amazing, stretching, wonderful, trying, adventurous, and uplifting to put it simply. As I sit in my home I marvel at electricity instead of oil lamps; the lack of AK-47s strapped to peoples backs, and food with flavor. As much as I am enjoying the comforts of home, I miss my mud hut and the friends I've made there.

I feel like I was standing at a whole table of different opportunities in Sudan, and I just had to reach out and try different ones. In general, daily life is like stepping back in time: oil lamps, pumping your own water for bathing and drinking, washing clothes in a bucket, cooking over a fire, …basically just living like locals. It was amazing to gain understanding of what it is to really live in the third world. I was also able to use my art to add some sparkle to a clinic and an orphanage. I painted butterflies and flowers for the girls and stars and soccer balls for the boys. When the boys entered their room they gasped, grinned, and asked, "Where are our flowers?" It melted my heart. Other days were spent in the field working side by side with the locals harvesting crops while listening to the chatter in Arabic. I can now say, "I see the giant lizard" in Arabic; one of the many 'useful' things the locals taught me sitting under the mango trees holding a hot yam and cup of tea. Or try teaching Sudanese children to cut snowflakes for Christmas; they now have a firm grasp of how to cut them but no concept of snow! I had many opportunities to teach in Sudan which is a lesson in flexibility. Imagine my surprise when I walked into a youth pastor's conference prepared to speak for an hour and they handed me the schedule which turned out to be me for 6 straight hours! You begin to pray and rely solely on God. It turned out to be a marvelous day!

One of the many highlights during my time was teaching for the Evangelical Presbyterian Church's (EPC) pastor's wives conference. They came in nervous and shy but by the end of the week they seemed transformed into confident women. Since the country has been in civil war for over 50 years they haven't had the chance to learn some of the basic Bible stories that we've grown up on—like Noah's ark! We not only taught them about the women in the Bible but also walked along side them with a practical skill: soap making. These women would walk up to 20 miles with a basket of produce on their heads to exchange it for one bar of washing soap! Hopefully, through the program that Christian Women's Empowerment Program (CWEP) has put together, they'll begin their own soap making business in their villages to help make life a little easier. The women were hungry for the teaching and skills we had for them. By Saturday they asked to go into the villages on outreach. The team I tagged along with was standing in the back of the EPC truck beating the drum and singing LOUDLY! People were coming out from alleys, shops, and huts to see what was happening-- Oh, you could just FEEL the joy of the Lord-- and people who were scowling couldn't help but smile. Our team introduced 5 people to Jesus and another team introduced 4 (including a soldier who was taking opium 12 times a day to forget the atrocities he'd committed).


I'll be heading back to Africa around the 10th of August. For the first part of the journey I'll be heading to Kenya with Megan, an ER nurse, to help a 10 year old Sudanese orphan named Isaac get reconstructive surgery. He was very badly burned as a toddler. We will be staying with him while he recovers and accompanying him by bus back to Sudan. Please watch my friend Vernon interview Isaac at www.sudanskids.blogspot.com. Once I reach Sudan, I hope to be working hand in hand with the Christian Women's Empowerment Program at EPC in Yei. I'm excited to partner with all the different projects they're doing, especially their widows ministry and pastor's wives ministry. These ministries help them with their knowledge of faith and practical living skills. I'm also hoping to use my art to benefit the community. There are many opportunities above and beyond what I can even imagine right now-- and I'm thrilled to be a part of all that's going on!

Thank you for all your support!
Many Blessings,
Robin