“We are sent. Not called to do something, but sent. We will know when we get there what we are called to do,” Rev. Clint Rabb

I told Nissia (Mama Tembo’s youngest daughter who comes into the office after school everyday) that I really wanted to sit down and write but was too drained to sit at the computer. Well my lovely friend said well why don’t I do your hair and relax you, that will make it easier. So as I sit here she is playing with my hair… ohh no I think she may be teasing it. But staying relaxed…

I just heard that Haiti had another earthquake and I don’t totally know how to feel. I think studying abroad in Cuba, helped me better understand the difference between Caribbean countries and how they are used and the level of support they have.

Then things hit home even more, when we got an e-mail from Gail (The Africa regional Executive) on Jan 14th saying three GBGM staff were missing in a collapsed hotel. We were working on putting together bunk beds at the center for the students coming and Jen looked at me and said Clint Rabb. In the initial reading we thought it meant they were fine, but when I went to read it for myself it was talking about hopes for their safety not that they were safe. And through I don’t know Sam Dixon well, I knew the name and capabilities. So I broke down pretty openly and said if anyone would know what to do right now for the Haitians and the situations it would be them. It was like the wave finally hit.

I can’t imagine the range of emotions for their families. Later that day Jen managed to get back into e-mail and we found out they were found. We even saw a clip with Jim Gulley in it, so things seemed much more hopeful- but it also set in that after 55 hours how many other people were not going to be found and what did also this mean about the strife of Haitians. Then we found out at Mama Tembo’s house on Saturday night (16th) Sam Dixon had actually already passed and earlier information had not been complete and the Clint Rabb was in the ICU in Florida.


Rev. Sam Dixon

We had just had a celebration for our two new colleagues from the US who got married last may, but the girls wanted to through an African Wedding with initiation. Mama knew Sam Dixon very well, and shared that when she was just getting a food stipend with SHADE Sam had told her how much he believed in the work. He also helped her find a way to help pay her daughters school fees. We also saw Gail the next day, after she had just arrived in South Africa and got online from the hotel room that morning. Hearing both Gail and Mama’s stories help paint a picture of how many personal relationships Sam had and how he made individual people all over this world feel heard.

My relationship with Sam only had a little to do with the fact that he was the head of the United Methodist Committee on Relief (the organization I had decided in high school I would one day work for.) The reason I knew Sam Dixon’s name was not because I focused on all the work he was doing, it was because his name was on the contact information about Cuba. Last year with the storms that devastated the Caribbean, my mind had been more focused on Cuba than anywhere else because I had a personal connection from when I had studied there. Well when UMCOR was finally allowed to send funding, I was anxious to see if there was anyway I could go. It was a few weeks before I was graduating that December and I didn’t have a job lined up and I wanted to go back and serve in Cuba. After a day or two of leaving messages, Sam Dixon himself called me back on his cell phone on the way to JFK for some trip somewhere. I was surprised to hear from him myself and understood through our conversation that the money was being sent to the UMC of Cuba and they weren’t sending more people. But he was very kind and congratulated me on my upcoming graduation from American University. (I just checked and I still have his number saved in my cell phone.)

Well, during training with the General Board of Global Ministries this October, there we a few times we had to be at the main offices in the “God Box” in Manhattan. I will admit here there were a few times I wandered off while we were filling out forms, to try to find friends of my parents. In my wonderings I also came upon Sam Dixon’s office, which at the time was on the same floor as the young adult program and Gail’s. I decided the next time I was there I would check if he was so I could thank him. He was on the phone but some other people in the office told me I could wait.

I am so thankful I strayed off when I did and that I waited. I had the opportunity to go into his office and explain who I was and get a chance to meet him. He again congratulated me, this time for my upcoming commissioning as a Mission Intern. And I think also because of his support for SHADE. We had a nice conversation and then I hurried back to sneak back into training. And I thank Sam for taking the time to really hear me, when I was never directly part of his work. And it helps me realize how blessed so many people were to have Sam in their lives and in the position he was in. GBGM and UMCOR have not had the easiest time of late and lack of funding has affected all levels of the organizations – but there are still people like Sam and Clint and so many others we know, not compromising their level of integrity and support of this work, no matter how complicated things got.


Rev Clint Rabb

Rachel got a little bit of internet connection at home (something very rare and that can’t happen on my computer with our internet cards) and she and Jen found out that Clint had passed on Sunday (17th). The three of us were alone at home and in total shock. Clint is a tough guy and I don’t think I had wanted to contemplate how serious his injuries could be. After a little bit of time we each went to go get our notes from training and sat down and remembered Clint.

Clint Rabb led two of our sessions at training. He is also the head of Volunteers in Mission for GBGM. But out connection to him is really through his wife Suzanne Field Rabb. Suzanne is out former boss for the Young Adult Programs and went through the whole process of our entry as Mission Interns and US-2s. She is the person responsible for hiring us and training us. And through discernment weekends and training you learn a lot about personal sides of people. Through Suzanne and Beth Buchanan we knew a few things about Clint.

Then he came in to lead a session on the Theology of Mission. He kind of is a no nonsense kind of guy, with very different mannerisms than Suzanne so it took me until being into the exercise to realize how much I respected him and appreciated the session. And in reflecting being able to poor over the notes and have actual quotes written down was incredibly helpful. Jen and Rachel also added to the quotes and sharing all of that and caring about Suzanne and her family from afar was extremely powerful.

I also have a lot of respect for the way Clint cared about people, especially Suzanne. And his intense knowledge reminded me some of my dad. I would have liked to see a debate. I was also in the position of having very little free time to get to a doctor- but having an ingrown toenail that I needed to get taken care of before moving to South Africa a few days after. Clint knowing the area around Stony Point NY better helped me find an urgent care place, that Jen Chickering (currently US-2 in OK) graciously drove me to and sat in the exam room with the crazy doctors and me.

Somehow even though it was just my toe, hearing he was trapped at the feet made me worry about the feet. Just because he had helped me with my own.

I don’t totally know how to process these men are gone; especially for the worldwide community they served with knowledge caring and integrity. I don’t totally understand hope as I always have, because of the process they underwent. But I am totally thankful for the lives of these men and that I got to meet them for a brief glimpse.

And I also have had to realize that in working for social justice and in relief work, I will become to know more personally these stories. And in knowing these stories to know the pain of catastrophe more deeply and the inspiration more intensely in my heart.

So as my last note- these are two great men and I know there stories more than all the other extremely important people across Haiti that I pray for every time I pray for Sam and Clint. May we remember all the names we don’t know and all the people they are connected to across the globe. We are connected.

With peace,
Hannah

Some have asked for the scriptures we used for the Theology of Mission Session with Clint:

Luke 11:9
Galatians 2:6-10
1 John 3:16-18
Luke Chapter 6
Luke 4:16-30
Matthew 25:31-36
Matthew 4:21
Acts 1
Acts 13
Acts 6
James 1:27
Luke 10
Matthew 28:16-20
Job 28 (the passage Clint led the discussion on) and said, “Spend your time on the things that are important.”