Take me, I’ll go

The groundwork was laid for my life when I was young. My father was a pastor, and Mum was always busy, but when Dad accepted a call she just got up and went. So when I married a pastor, my late husband Brian, we too just got up and went.

Each time we moved, we had to make new connections and I had to find my place in the congregation and parish.

(God) had used many situations in my life to GROW MY FAITH so that I could say, ‘TAKE ME… I’LL GO’.

I had gone to university to study microbiology, but by third year I hated most of what I studied. So I decided to do a Diploma of Education and teach. Having met Brian, my future husband, who at the time was on his vicarage year, I transferred to Adelaide to do my Dip Ed while he completed his final year.

Teaching was a good job. I walked into jobs as a high school maths and English teacher in Cairns, Queensland, and Corio and Horsham in Victoria. I met people on the fringes of society. I didn’t feel God’s leading at the time, but looking back it was amazing how things fell together. How could I doubt that God had been leading and teaching me?

When I ‘retired’ from teaching after 27 years in Australia, I taught in Yorkshire, England, for six months. I didn’t enjoy the work, but God used the experience to grow my faith.

Back home, when the Tertiary Ministry Coordinator job for LCA’s Victoria/Tasmania District was advertised, I was drawn to it. I spoke to Pastor Jim Westphal, who told me to go with my inclinations. I started the role in February 2011.

When the job finished after three years, I wanted to continue to work. I found two lay worker job ads that interested me and applied for them both. One was suited to my experience and qualifications, but I didn’t get that job. The other role was at Yalata on the Far West Coast of South Australia as a Field Worker for the LCA SA/NT District’s Aboriginal Ministry.

While I had tried to gain an understanding of the issues Aboriginal people face, and had visited communities in Queensland and Central Australia, I was ignorant. However, Yalata was where God wanted me and he had used many situations in my life to grow my faith so that I could say, ‘Take me … I’ll go’.

The part-time role entails supporting the local pastor, Russell Bryant. It involves helping with worship and interacting with, and caring for, members of the local community. It also requires church cleaning skills!

Through this job, God has taught me humility and how to rely on him. Each day I must remember that I need to depend on God for his wisdom.

Robyn Kuchel is the Far West Coast Field Worker for the SA/NT District’s Aboriginal Ministry, based at Yalata in South Australia. She also works part-time as Christian Pastoral Worker at Yalata Primary School. At school she says she considered becoming a deaconess, but that it didn’t suit her capabilities. Years later she saw that being a pastor’s wife was similar to being a deaconess.

This feature story comes from The Lutheran May 2016. Visit the website to find out more about The Lutheran or to subscribe.