Lana Robyne

I am a compassionate, creative, mission-oriented United Methodist with over 25 years of experience as an ordained elder. I have served a wide variety of appointments from small rural to larger city churches, university churches and campus ministries, and serving on district and conferences commitees. My real passion is engaging in and leading mission and ministry work in other countries. While currently serving a thriving local church in the US, I feel most called, prepared, and determined to return to working with the United Methodist Church in the Democratic Republic of Congo. I have been visiting and engaging in missions with Congolese friends since 2006. I applied to GBGM in 2019 and was offered a position at Katanga University, but it was rescinded by the bishop there. So, I was thrilled to be invited to work with another church-related NGO under Bishop Mande for two years, even in the middle of the pandemic with no salary. Now that we are on the other side of the 2020/2024 General Conference, I am excited and prepared to return to the Congo or another similar mission field. I am ready to embrace new ministry challenges in Congo with just as much dedication and enthusiasm, hopefully with GBGM.

Pastoral skills include:

• Directing, pastoring, managing property, and fundraising a $200k+ budget for a successful, growing campus ministry for 18 years.
• Designing worship services to grow and deepen the spiritual life of congregations with diverse styles of worship and music, prayer, engaging teachings, and interactive preaching.
• Teaching Bible, theology, church history, and African history to college-level classes, seminary students, and churches.
• Offering compassionate pastoral care, prayer, and trauma/grief counseling.
• Officiating funerals, weddings, and baptisms.
• Teaching, counseling, and supporting victims of gender-based violence.
• Disaster response and crisis management.
• Mentoring and empowering young adult leaders in campus ministry and youth and lay leaders in local churches.
• Networking and collaborating with other religious and civic leaders.
• Fostering awareness and understanding of historical and ongoing social justice issues and working for effective, lasting changes.
• Bridge-building and peace-making through patient listening, collaborative problem-solving skills, willingness to learn and adapt to new conditions.
• Creating rapport with people of all nations, races, economics, education levels, religions, denominations, and genders.

In addition to my pastoral skills above, I have specialized skills and training for international mission work which includes:

• Experience working with bishops, district superintendents, cabinet members, conference committees, churches, UWF/Kipendano, lay leaders, chaplains, pastors, NGOs, and university educators while serving in the Tanganyika Conference, North Katanga Conference, and Zimbabwe.
• 30 years of organizing and leading mission trips increasingly based on post-colonial missiology. Another campus colleague and I developed a model called "encounter" trips that are relational, educational about history and cultural sensitivity, mutually problem-solving, and community-building with local missions, churches, and friends.
• Ability to live and adapt easily to living and travel conditions in other countries for long periods (the longest was two years).
• Experience teaching classes at Africa University in Zimbabwe, as well as social studies and religion to all grades at TESOL in the DRC.
• Completed third master's degree in history with a focus on church and missions in Africa.
• Ability to speak and understand a decent amount of Swahili and French, and determination to learn more. I speak German well and also know some Czech, Spanish, and Arabic.

• 2024-present IGRC Conference Board of Higher Education
• 2023-present Agape Community Outreach Ministries (ACOM Inc.) Board
• 2022-present IGRCConference Board for Camping and Retreats Ministries
• 2022-present Christmas Day Inc. Board
• 2022-present District Committee on Ordained Ministry for North District
• 2022-present University of Illinois Wesley Foundation Board of Trustees
• 2012-2013 Head of Diversity Task Force for Purdue and University Religious Leaders
• 2009-2012 President of the Purdue University Religious Leaders
• 2007-2009 Secretary for Purdue University Religious Leaders
• 20015-2020 Indiana Conference Reconciling Ministry Network Coordinating Team
• 2018-2020 East District Operational Team (Indiana Conference)
• 2016-present Friendly Planet Missiology Inc. Board of Directors (Indiana-North Katanga Conf.)
• 2006-2020 Northern Indiana Conference Africa University Committee /Friends of Africa University Task Force for Indiana Conference
• 2002-2020 Purdue University Religious Leaders
• 2000-2002 Indiana Conference Board of Higher Education
• 2000-2002 Illinois Great Rivers Conference Board of Higher Education and Ministry
• 1999-2002 IGRC COSROW
• 1999-2000 Christian Theological Seminary Board of Trustees/Student President

• 2021-2022: Teaching Social Studies to grades 3-12 at TESOL in DRC
• 2016: Teaching Assistant for “US History, Reconstruction to the Present” at Purdue University
• 2015: Teaching Assistant for “US in the World” at Purdue University
• 2006: Guest lecturing for courses as Visiting Chaplain at Africa University in Zimbabwe
• 2001-2002: Instructor of “Bible as Literature,” Lake Land Community College.
• 1999: Teaching Assistant for Systematic Theology at CTS with Dr. Joe R. Jones.
• 1998: Teaching Assistant for Intro. to Old Testament at CTS with Dr. J. Gerald Janzen.

• 2018 African Clergy-Women’s Conference at Africa University while spending 2 months doing missions with Congolese friends in the DRC
• 2016 Africa Mission Trip with Wesley Foundation to Zimbabwe, Zambia and DRC for 1 month
• 2016 Haiti Mission Trip, 2 weeks
• 2014 Haiti Mission Trip, 2 weeks
• 2012 Africa Mission Trip to DRC, Zambia, Zimbabwe for 1 month
• 2008 Mission Trip to Democratic Republic of Congo for 5 weeks
• 2008 Mission Trip to the Houma indigenous people in Louisiana, 1 week
• 2001 Mission Trip to Juarez, Mexico, 2 weeks
• 2000 Mission to Belarus, 2 weeks
• 1999 “Crossroads” educational tour of Paul’s travels and early church in Turkey and Greece with G-ETS professor, Dr. Robert Jewett
• 1996 Israel/Palestine Seminarians’ Tour and Jerusalem Biblical Center Preaching Seminar
• 1993 Member of the United Methodist Church in the Czech Republic
• 1992 Bicycle Tour Across the United States (to raise money bicycles for pastors in Africa)

• June 2001 Ordination as an Elder in Full Connection, Illinois Great Rivers Conference
• June 1999 Ordination as a Probationary Deacon, IGRC