The History of Windward Bible Church and the
Robinsons' Missionary Work in the West Indies
This page chronicles the history of how the Robinsons were led into missionary
work on the island of Carriacou which resulted with creation of Windward Bible
Church. See the following two sections:
How the Robinsons Got into Missionary Work
Walter T. II and Linda Y. Robinson both received Jesus Christ as their Lord and
Savoir after they heard the Gospel of Jesus Christ and understood it for the
first time in the fall of 1977. They had begun to grow spiritually and
faithfully attended and served the Lord in the church where they had first heard
the Gospel of grace taught.
By trade, Walter had worked as a customer service representative with The 3M
Company, a company that sold and serviced office equipment. One day in 1984,
he had been dispatched to service a copy machine at Cross Lanes Christian
School. While servicing the copy machine, he looked over the school and was
impressed by its nice facilities, cleanliness, and quiet and orderly atmosphere.
More importantly, he was encouraged to learn about the educational thrust that
helped support faith in the teachings of the Bible. Walter had serviced
equipment in most of the schools in Kanawha county, as well as many other schools
around the states of West Virginia, Virginia, and Kentucky. Cross Lanes
Christian School was definitely different in a very good way.
During this time, the Robinsons’ daughter, Tabitha, was now at the age where she
needed to begin attending school. They began to consider Cross Lanes Christian
School. They scheduled a visit to the school and spoke to the principle, and
were very encouraged with what they learned. They decided to enroll Tabitha and
looked to Lord to help them pay the monthly school bill.
Walter and Linda were so impressed with the
school, they decided to visit Cross Lanes Bible Church (CLBC), the church that
built and guided the school. Over the previous seven years, the Robinsons had
grown in the Word of God enough to realize that there were doctrinal problems in
the church in which they had first heard the gospel. They had also faithfully
attended and served in two other churches during that same period of time and
learned of other doctrinal problems. Thus, by the time they had placed Tabitha
at Cross Lanes Christian
School, they were hungry for a church that taught and practiced what they
believed the Bible taught about living and serving the Lord.
Their first visit was in a Sunday morning service. Walter was impressed by the
straightforward expository teaching of Pastor Jim Efaw. The Robinsons were
literally deluged by the folks of CLBC greeting them, inviting them back,
inviting them to dinner, etc. Walter was also impressed by the teaching of both
Pastors’ Dan Berger and Dick Corbin. The Robinsons continued to visit more and
more, until they became convinced that CLBC was the church to which the Lord was
leading them. They joined CLBC in 1985.
It was in 1985 and 1986 that the Lord used Pastor Jim to challenge the Robinsons
about possibly serving in mission work. Other churches they had previously
attended had spoke about supporting missionaries, praying for missionaries, and
even sending supply packages and crates to missionaries, but none had ever
challenged them to give themselves to mission work if that was what the Lord
wanted.
Since the Robinsons had never availed themselves to the Lord about this matter,
they could not say for sure that it was not the Lord’s will for Him to use them
in this way. Thus, they began to put the matter before the Lord and approached
Pastor Jim to inform him of what they were doing. Pastor Jim then took them
before the church in one of the Sunday services and asked the folks to pray for
the Lord to help the Robinsons discern the Lord’s will concerning this matter.
The saints began to pray and encourage the Robinsons ... and the Lord begin to
reveal His will to them.
To make a very long story very short, the Lord worked in a marvelous way to
reveal that His will was for the Robinsons to go to Carriacou, Grenada, located in
the Southern Caribbean of the West Indies to serve Him there. The Lord provided
and cared for them as Walter left his job to do deputation full time, but was
diagnosed with congestive heart failure, and had to undergo open-heart surgery
to correct it in 1990. The Lord then completed the task of raising up their
support and brought them to Grenada on August 21, 1991.
The Robinsons initially thought they were to work at a new Christian radio
station that was being built there. However, after being on the field for a
little under one year, the Robinsons came to realize that there were serious
problems with some of the activities of those that managed and worked at the
station. After being unable to resolve the matters over several months with the
help of their pastor, Dan Berger (by that time the interim pastor of CLBC), the
Lord moved the Robinsons into full time church planting that has resulted in the
work now known as Windward Bible Church. Many have come to know the Lord
as a result, many have been discipled, and many others are being reached with
the gospel each year.
The Lord be praised for all that has been accomplished!
Walter Robinson II
October 28, 2006
How
Windward Bible Church Came into Being
The ministry of Windward Bible Church began with street
preaching and witnessing in the Village of Windward in June of 1992. In July of 1992, we
began holding Wednesday night prayer meeting and Bible teaching in our home in Meldrum,
which is about one mile from Windward. Many of our immediate neighbors joined us. Over the
next few months word got out about our services and our attendance began to grow. We began
holding regular and formal services in November of 1992.
From the beginning of our work we began seeking a building in the
village of Windward to hold services, but we encountered a spiritual wall that prevented
us from finding such a place. Around the latter part of 1994 we were able to procure a
building in the community of Bogles, which is about one and one-half miles from Windward.
Finally, in the summer of 2000, the Lord provided good facilities for us in one of the
best locations possible right in the village of Windward. Praise the Lord! As far as we
have been told, only the Roman Catholic church has been in Windward since these islands
were first discovered and settled by the Europeans back in the 1600s!
Revised:
March 18, 2008.
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