Bonjour and Hola! We are Steph and Ryan Robinson, married since 2009 and serving the island of Hispaniola since late 2010. Hispaniola is comprised of very incredible, diverse and caring people in both Haiti and the Dominican Republic. We consider ourselves so blessed to work alongside of our friends in these nations- helping them to see the full, developmental picture of God’s love through community development work.

We work with Justice Water, a ministry that empowers people to create developmentally appropriate solutions to the water crisis. With Justice Water, we have 5 operating locations around the island led by our incredible indigenous staff. We have also branched into additional community development efforts with a number of amazing and indigenous leaders to help them see their visions come to fruition through a non-profit have developed, Konbit Haiti.

Ryan has a BA from The University of South Alabama and is currently the Director of Konbit Haiti and gives oversight to all projects and happenings. He is dedicated to seeing ethical business and sustainable development happen on the island. He is a passionate, skillful and hardworking person with friends in both Haiti and the DR!

Stephanie has a BA from the University of South Alabama and her Master’s Degree from Northwest University in International Community Development. She has a heart for empowerment and children. She works alongside Ryan in helping with communication and fundraising, as well as helping to create the family development arm of Konbit Haiti.

A bit about the whys and hows of what we do in Hispaniola: Everything we do in ministry (and really in all of life) is belief-driven. We carefully think about the way we see the world and therefore care about the way we impact it. When it comes to our ministry on the island, our belief comes from what has been modeled in the Bible, the source of our beliefs as Christian workers.

What we do might not look like the typical “mission”, and you’d be correct to asses it as such. Drawing from the beliefs we have cultivated over years of ministry- from Scripture, friends and mentors- we are very careful to do what we believe is the call of ours and many modern-day Christians: empowerment. We see that God empowers people and does not always offer easy solutions which harm in the long-term. Because of this, what we do relies heavily on teaching and discipleship. It takes time and effort and intentionality– and does not always make us feel “good”.

We see our friends in Haiti and the Dominican Republic as equals, all of us with different skill sets and wisdom to offer. We do not see ourselves as people coming to “save” Haiti or the Dominican Republic, but rather people who have come to partner with indigenous workers who have vision, endurance and hope beyond compare. Together with them, it is our hope we can be a drop in the bucket of making the island of Hispaniola reflect the nature of God in a real way.

To learn more about who we are or what we do, please shoot us an email at followtherobinsons@gmail.com or look at our ministry websites: 

http://www.justicewater.net

and  www.konbithaiti.org