wfn.org | [UMNS-ALL-NEWS] UMNS# 459-For this family,

[NewsDesk <NewsDesk@UMCOM.ORG>]

 For this family, being a Robinson means being in ministry

Aug. 18, 2005	 News media contact:   Tim  Tanton * (615) 7425470*
Nashville {459}

NOTE: NOTE: A photograph and a related story, UMNS story #458, are
available at http://umns.umc.org <http://umns.umc.org/> .

By Allison Scahill*

LITTLE ROCK (UMNS) - Being a part of the Robinson family means working
for the Lord-at least for a few family members.

The Rev. William "Paw Paw" Robinson, a few of his children and a
grandchild are working for Theressa Hoover United Methodist Church and a
related ministry called Black Community Developers in Little Rock.

Children at his day care center gave him the nickname Paw Paw, and the
name stuck.

"Everybody calls him Paw Paw. That's a term of endearment, especially
when you have another senior, another person the same age who calls you
Paw Paw," said Deborah Bell, Robinson's daughter. "Even the mayor of the
city calls him Paw Paw. The bishop calls him Paw Paw."

Bell became director of community development for Black Community
Developers eight years ago, after leaving corporate America.

Her father "brought us together and said 'We need to start a business.
We need to do something for our family,'" she said. "He really believes
in a legacy. We were thinking a business where we were going to make a
lot of money, but Lord knows, he sent us to ministry, and in ministry
you don't' necessarily make a lot of money."

Bell said her father has been an inspiration in her life.

"He has been an excellent mentor, (an) extremely compassionate and
anointed person," she said. "I have the business mindset because I came
from corporate America, and he has made me realize that it's not about
numbers, it's not about the bottom line, it's about people."

Her father has always helped others, she said.

"He, at one time, was a coach of a junior high school. Every evening he
coached football and track. In the evenings when he came home, the guys
came home with him," she said. "So my mother always learned to fix the
biggest pot of beans and cornbread because he's always served others.

Robinson said having Bell's experience and know-how with the community
developers has been a blessing.

"Being a preacher's kid and seeing how I had been involved in outreach
ministry, that became an intricate part of (Bell's) understanding of the
gospel as well," he said. "She could make a lot more money working in
corporate America than we can pay her, but I think it's the fulfillment
that individuals get."

Robinson's youngest daughter, Karen Robinson, is director of Paw Paw's
Day Care, one of the church's ministries. Growing up with her father was
"exciting," she said.

"He's always got something going on or doing something. And just like he
is at Hoover moving around, he's like that at home, moving around doing
something," she said. "If you had a problem, don't go to him. Because if
you asked him, he would look at you and say, 'What are you going to do
about it?' He's another Bill Cosby to me. He's always going and doing
something or saying something that you really don't want to do at that
time, but it makes a lot of sense when you think about it."

Robinson said his grandson, Darryl Swinton, also works for Black
Community Developers. After earning a business degree at the University
of Central Arkansas, Swinton joined the family enterprise to take care
of the books, Robinson said. "Since then, he's gone on to get his MBA
and run part of the other programs."

Robinson enjoys working with his family.

"I've enjoyed this ministry," he said. "... It's been good for me
because I think my health and my sanity - even though sometimes it gets
hectic - (are) lifted because of some of the things I've seen happen."

*Scahill is a mass communications major at United Methodist-related
Baker University in Baldwin City, Kan. She worked as an intern this
summer at United Methodist Communications in Nashville, Tenn.

News media contact: Tim Tanton, Nashville, Tenn., (615) 742-5470 or
newsdesk@umcom.org.

********************

United Methodist News Service
Photos and stories also available at:
http://umns.umc.org <http://umns.umc.org/>

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