Shane and McKenzie Robison have lived and worked in Owensboro for more than 5 years. The young couple is about to head overseas as field pioneers for a new ministry initiated by the Owensboro-based nonprofit Emerge Global. Their motivating factor for the move is an unusually high number of refugees and asylum-seeking individuals living in the city of Birmingham, England.
Shane is a student pastor at Owensboro Christian Church and a freelance writer for The Owensboro Times. McKenzie was previously a speech-language pathologist at Highland Elementary, and more recently, a donut maker at Gramps Coffee & Donuts.
The new venture will be quite the change of scenery.
As the second-largest city in the United Kingdom, Birmingham is home to more than 185 nationalities among its 1.4 million people. And with more than 25% of that population having been born outside of the UK’s boundaries, many moving to the city are doing so due to being displaced from war-torn or politically charged countries of origin, Shane Robison said.
“Perhaps the most frustrating reality of this influx of people to Birmingham is the lack of resources displaced people receive in their new home,” he said. “Though a great base of aid-oriented institutions exist in the city, many refugees live on just over $8 a week, while yet lacking the freedom of employment to improve their financial situation.”
This, the Robisons said, is their call to action.
“We were initially approached with an offer to pioneer a new strategy of marketplace ministry in England about 2 years ago,” McKenzie said. “When we learned of the need to help acclimate displaced people to a new culture, we quickly jumped into the field pioneer roles. We feel like serving refugees in a new city is something that merges our heart for seeing others thrive along with our spirit of adventure. It’s a unique opportunity we’d probably always regret not doing, so we’ve decided that the time is now to give it a shot.”
The practical aspect of their work is something the Robisons are particularly focused on as they prepare to launch in mid-October.
“We believe that the gospel is both proclaiming the hope we have in Jesus, and also demonstrating the redemptive and transformative power Jesus has by improving the world around us today,” Shane said. “Marketplace strategies that focus on meeting people’s physical needs through the name of Jesus are particularly effective in accomplishing both the proclamation and demonstration of the gospel.”
In Birmingham, the Robisons will first participate in a 2-year residency program with an organization called The Oikos Collective, which will help them become equipped to run a business and to plant churches. As an output of the residency, they will be creating a new marketplace ministry strategy by opening up a cafe that helps employ refugees and also meets food insecurity needs.
“We’re not completely sure what the cafe will look like just yet,” McKenzie said. “We have been empowered with the idea of a shared cooking space by the local network of refugee workers and organizations though, and we’re in the beginning stages of putting together a business model around this idea. The goal would be to create a place that monetizes shared cooking space, cooking classes, and meal preparation strategies, while offering the same space free of charge to individuals who would like to cook meals for their families, but have no access to a kitchen of their own.”
Anyone interested in being part of the pioneering work of Shane and McKenzie can learn more on their website robison.epistle.org or email the Robisons at [email protected].
“There are opportunities to give, visit, and subscribe to monthly newsletter updates on our site,” Shane said. “We are so thankful for the outpouring of support we’ve received from Owensboro to prepare and sustain us, and we’re looking for more local businesses and individuals to join in making a global impact through our local connection.”
