A missionary doctor. Saying yes to God's call.

Embracing the culture of life and God's call to service and prayer. The Healing of the Body and the Spirit. Living out the morals and teachings of Jesus Christ in our interactions with others.
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Contact me: Lydia@simplenatural.org

Transcript

Dr. Stephen Robinson, Saying yes to God’s call.

 Lydia

A wonderful gift to be here, in a clinic in the Valley of Texas. I am Lydia Nevarez. We are in Culture of Life Ministries. We have with us today, Dr. Stephen Robinson, e is a physician. We have so many questions that have to do with the gift of Life and the gift of medicine. Doctor Robinson, welcome!

Dr Robinson

Well, thank you. I'm glad to be here. it's always a pleasure to speak about life. It's about who we are in Christ and God, our creator, He created us and what that means and how do we navigate this world that has so many challenges that face us. 

Lydia

You are not from here, where did you grow up?

Dr Robinson

I was raised in central Florida. my parents and two twin sisters that were younger than me grew up there, had a desire from an early age to do something in the medical field to become a doctor. And in following that, I think the Lord's hand was with me even at that age and showed me. Some of it was from my father who inspired me and told me I needed to follow this path. By God's grace I enrolled in medical school, was accepted at Florida State University and then finished at University of Florida and moved to Oklahoma to complete my residency in Family Medicine. Worked with the Choctaw Nation for a few years, and after, I was married there and we had one son, we were debt free and felt this calling to do something more mission minded, more than just going to work and earning a paycheck. And that wasn't exactly what we were doing but wanted something a little bit more adventuresome maybe. My wife and I were thinking of going to Russia in that area because she's actually from the Ukraine. But God had different plans. And we saw an ad for a family practice down in Raymondville, Texas, which is the north part of the valley. And we prayed about it and felt led to do that. It was a practice where we would work with two months on and one month off, and we were thinking on that month off, we would go travel and do our mission work. Well, what happened is children came to other boys and it becomes more difficult traveling on planes and traveling across time zones with children. So around I think 2010 and 2011, God put it on my heart through after praying to give my services away for free.

Lydia 

How is it that you were able to listen to God? 

Dr. Robinson

I think the Lord speaks in different ways to different people. And, of course, there patterns that you see in the history of man's relationship with God dating back to the scriptures. I mean, there's this still small voice in the heart. There's the scriptures which we have now for the last 2000 years. And there's different things that will happen in our life, events or circumstances. And then sort of an epiphany or awakening of wasn't just happened chance, this was God's hand on this. And I think a combination of all those things has brought me to where I am today. 

Lydia

It is still wonderful that a couple of years ago I met you through the pro-life movement. Yes, I do. About ten years ago, in a in a conference, a pro-life conference, I met sister Nancy Bushey, Dr. Marta Garza and you the same day.

Dr. Robinson

Wow!

Lydia

I do remember very clearly. And is interesting because you said you saw an ad in the paper, my, in our family also because the family ministry through Natural Family planning, it came to an ad in the newspaper.

Dr. Robinson

Hmm. 

Interesting. 

Lydia

We were living in a college campus here in a town in Texas. My husband comes so happily, I was. Nursing our first baby. I remember clearly, he opens the door and I am nursing out two or three months old baby, and he said: Lydia, look what I found! This is what we been looking for, and the advertise said: Natural Family Planning

Dr. Robinson

Oh, wow! 

Lydia

That's so wonderful. 

Dr Robinson

It is. 

Lydia

We didn't know what it was, but we knew we were looking for something. And it was like, there has to be something. There has to be something.

Lydia

Ok, so you arrive in The Valley

Dr Robinson

I arrived in. We moved in in 2007 moved to Harlingen, but I commuted to Raymondville. We 

were in the practice. I say we, my wife and I because it's. You feel like you're together on this. In 2012, I decided to take my first step towards doing what God had called me to do. It was a struggle because it was a very, I thought, extreme thing that God would ask for me to give up my day job and just go out on my own to give my services away for free. How would I take care of my wife and my children? And it was something I wanted to make sure that it was of God. And so there was a period of discernment. So, 2012, I started transitioning to half a day, a week doing what I'm doing now. 2013 I formally ended private practice. 

Lydia

And isn't it also you saw around you that gave you confirmation? the need of the health care that people sometimes have a way of paying for services.

Dr. Robinson

Yeah

Lydia

This part of the valley there's a lot of people that don’t have insurance and I have no way of paying. 

Dr. Robinson

It's a very unique Area. The valley is. I think you have Mexico just a few miles away. And so you have two cultures and you actually, I think, have a third culture, the valley culture, which is a mixture of Mexican and United States. You have wealth here because we're on the US side of the border, but you have extreme poverty. You have folks that have just come over. You have immigrants that are trying their hardest to make a living and the extremes in the even the dwellings here, the colonias, shanties and big two-story homes not too far apart from one another. 

Lydia

A very big contrast. 

Dr. Robinson

A very big contrast. Yes, but it's interesting, though, knowing that I wasn't able to see past my paradigm, so to speak, for how a doctor should work. I always felt like it was, you know, the economic model of you provide your services, you get paid for what you provided. The Lord had proposed around 2010, 2011 a new, and actually it's not a new model, but it was to me a new model in the modern mind. I was actually at that point thinking of doing direct primary care or something similar to concierge medicine, where you have monthly prescribers they subscribe to your service, pay a monthly fee and then they are able to access health care. 

Lydia

They have all the benefits. 

Dr. Robinson

Yes. And I told the Lord that's what I wanted. And he said, well, that's not what I want for you. 

Lydia

Is a family, is your wife, is your kids, everybody’s involved in this because being a married man, being the head of the house, being a Catholic doctor as well. Mm. How beautiful opportunity that all of you are immerse on this service.

Dr. Robinson

Yes.

Lydia

I just imagine that I'm sure that there's prayer going on sometimes in your house for situations that are here in the clinic or with patients. Well yes, that does happen, but it's not as angelic as some people would think sometimes more business than we would like, you know, trying to work with schedules and, you know, the life of a missionary. Sometimes things happen in the evening times more than the regular worker. And so the evening meal sometimes gets trumped and there's this constant desire to protect that and protect family time. So. 

Lydia

Yes, but it's a beautiful teaching, I'm sure, for all of you, for your kids as well, that following God's call sometimes is not easy, but it's doable. 

Dr. Robinson

That's correct. And the idea it started earlier in my college career, after reading some of the encyclicals of Saint John Paul II, on the family, Familiars  Consortio, you just really driving home the fact that although we have great Catholic education in schools, parochial schools and different things that our diocese and parish can offer us really  the way God set up education, the best Catholic education you'll get is in your home. That's where it should be. And as a future husband, I really took that to heart and prayerfully brought that through in what I do. 

Lydia

As a future husband. You were not even married yet and you where immerse in this Familiars Consortio.

Dr. Robinson

Yes!

Lydia 

How beautiful! 

Dr. Robinson

And I recommend that for anyone who is thinking about that. You know, the Lord has different walks of life for different folks. Most commonly is the married life. And even those that don't go into the married life that God's calling them to be single or to be part of a religious order, this is going to help because we're all part of the same family of God. God uses shadows and his model in different ways. And in the fact of being a in a family and learning how to work in your part as the family. We are all learning in this together. But to bring in all of the things that we need to, and not relegate them to others. 

Lydia

And I would like to ask you, tell me something about your mother, when you were young.

Dr. Robinson

Well, my mother, actually is a somewhat sad story, but a somewhat happy story as well. She was a very faithful woman of God, she raised us to go to church every week. And one of her favorite devotions was Advent with the Advent wreath and trying to do family devotions at least once a week around the advent wreath lighting the candles and reading scripture and praying together. She ended up having brain cancer, and when I was 12, she finally succumbed to that and passed away. But you know, the Lord has things, tragic moments that happen in her life. And I'm reminded of what Saint Paul says to give thanks always for everything that happens. And that is been one thing that I've learned. We all have tragedies, and we have to give thanks because it's an opportunity to draw closer to God. And that's what I had to do after losing my mother. 

I'm sorry that you lost your mother when you were so young. 

Lydia

I’m sorry that you lose your mother when you were so young.

Dr. Robinson

Yes. 

Lydia

And, but how beautiful the way you're talking about her

Dr. Robinson

And actually, I'm a convert to the Catholic faith. So, we grew up in the Episcopal Church. 

Lydia

Oh, I see.

Dr. Robinson

Yes, but my first Catholic Bible actually came from my mother. 

Lydia

Wow!

Dr. Robinson

Yes, it was. I don't know how she got it, but it was one of the things in my journey into the Catholic Church. It was a very, very helpful book for me. 

Lydia

You mentioned John Paul II. I myself had a big conversion. Being Catholic wasn't really all there as a Catholic. And through the encyclicals, the readings of John Paul II, Love and Responsibility and all of this is how I realized, wow, I'm not really living as a Catholic as I should. My husband and I also went through this path, even being Catholics. And we got to this understanding that not only as you do when you read something but deeply in your heart. And we did through the intercession of all of these wonderful writings of John Paul II.

Dr. Robinson

Yes. What a treasure that we have from this man of God who wanted to just pass on all of the things that he learned from our Lord in his pilgrimage here on Earth. 

Lydia

All right, to start something that, you know, God wants. And, you know, you’ve been discerning about it, and this is it! we start now! How did it happen?

Dr. Robinson

Well, you know, I see there's two types of people. There are planners. And then there's those that go out and do and there's all sorts of folks in between. I tend to be a doer. So, I didn't I didn't think much. I didn't plan much. I did one of the ways I was able to get my feet moving on this was getting out of the fear of what was going to happen. I asked the Lord: would it be okay if we compromised where I just took some baby steps and the Lord was okay with that? He said, Sure. And so when I blocked my schedule from my clinic for Thursday mornings to start this, the day finally came in November 2012 and didn't know what was going to happen. I had emailed some friends said, please pray for me, don't know what this is going to do. And I had pictured myself maybe doing home visits that didn't have anything really. So I got out, I was going to act on this and see if this was really something that God had his hand in or was it contrived in my imagination. And so I kissed my wife goodbye at 8:00 in the morning and got in my car and drove. And the spirit led me, just the thought came in, why don't I go to Saint Anthony Parish where I went to, went to Mass, went into the office, asked to speak to Father Larry, and they said, no, he's not available. So, I said, okay. So, as I was leaving, walking out the door, there he is coming in, walking his dog, and he said, what are you doing here? It's a workday. And I explained to him this this idea that I thought was still crazy. And he said, well, he looked at the secretary and he said, what do we have for Thursday mornings over at the annex building? Which is a house that they had acquired and renovated. She said nothing. He said, well, book all the Thursdays for the rest of the year with Dr. Robinson. So, I went from having nothing to a place to meet now. 

Lydia

Wow. That is God's work! 

Dr Robinson

Yes! 

Lydia

In preparation for some time and then confirmation, right? 

Dr. Robinson

Yes. Every step of the way, the Lord has been faithful. And I've seen his hand work. He lets us take our steps of faith. And sometimes they're scary. Sometimes we don't know that they're steps of faith so, we look back. He you know, it says your word is a lamp and to my feet. And I like that idea of a lamp. It's not a flashlight or a big beam where you can see far away. He just shows you where you can step, where your feet can go to the next step. 

Its illuminating what is next? 

Yes. And that's how it's been. We started and the first day didn't have a patient. But I did have someone come by and write a check for a donation. 

All right. Which was. Important. Also is needed. 

Yes. 

Bought some basic equipment, a scale to measure weight on thermometer or blood pressure cuff. And the next week we had some patients. Word got around, and the week after that, a few more volunteers. And then within a few months, the church across the street, they wanted to know. Yes, they asked to speak with me. And so I met with their elders and they were curious. They wanted to know what was going on. And so I told them and they asked, how can we be a part of this? And I like that question.

Lydia

It's a confirmation somebody else has to be in this. 

Dr. Robinson

Yes. And it's it also helps one to know that this is bigger than you. it's not me. It's that God started something that yes, he's called me to it. But it's a it may be a movement or something he wants to accomplish and he's going to bring his the people he's asked. 

Lydia

He has already selected each ne of the persons that have. Been part of this, and the ones that are coming. 

Dr. Robinson

exactly. He has certain people with certain gifts and that's what I've been learning a lot these days that everyone has their own gifts and abilities that I may not have much of at all. And we're brought together to work together, and we accomplish great things.

Lydia

I remember, then after that, you move to another building.

Dr. Robinson

Yes. Well, after that church, another church asked. It was people wanting to be a part of it.

You know, when a church has something that comes in, they really like the fact that that's a ministry now that they're a part of. 

Lydia

And that's so beautiful, and like you said, they can bring their own gifts, their own their own doings, their own planning, their own to integrate all of these care for the body that God had created. 

Dr. Robinson

Yes, exactly!

Lydia 

How to fall on your needs for these? Yes! Celebrate that this is bigger. 

Dr. Robinson

Yes. And it was something that I thought would just be a Catholic movement, in other words, within just the Catholic Church. But the bishop, our Bishop Flores, when he looked at it the first time we met about this, he said this is an ecumenical movement and this is good. You should  not try to fight this. And to see the body of Christ coming together and working. Of course, the mission of it is very Catholic in terms of what we do and what we do not do.

Lydia

Give us an example of the Catholic health care. Catholic medical care. Because you embrace a culture of life with all the teachings of Jesus Christ, but of the Catholic Church? What is. Talk to us about this. 

Dr. 
Robinson

It actually in history it's a very I would say, new movement for us as Western civilization to adopt a lot of the things in medicine that go on now, such as contraception. I don't think abortions that new but the different ways we do abortion are just because technology has grown but sterilizing and even getting into gender issues where we're trying to change people to be something that they were not genetically born with all of these things, you know, or you just crept in, I think in Western medicine around the 1800s. And with them comes a lot of baggage and confusion. And I think things that just are uplifting for ones of faith, there's all sorts of difficulties with them. 

I remember listening to a tape by a woman called Janet Smith. It's called contraception. Why not? It was taken in my first year of medical school, and that really got me thinking of, wow, I didn't realize that these issues were there. 

Lydia

How perfect! when you were in medical school, when you were being trained for all of this? Possibly.  I'm sure, about contraceptives.

Dr Robinson

Yes, it was very it was my first year. So, I had really had any run ins of whether I should or shouldn't. It was really more of a shadowing of a Catholic physician. And he had had a patient that they had talked about the birth control pill and whether to go on it or not. And he saw I was my curiosity was piqued because that was a typical thing that most of the doctors did. And so he gave me that tape and said, I want you to this is why I do what I do, why I believe what I believe. So, I really started learning just how impactful the church's teaching is on medicine and how it's been there from the beginning. It's not anything new, but they've been preserving that which was handed to them. 

Lydia

In with contraception, for example, contraceptives, usually the woman uses hormonal contraceptives, so, is that really caring for the body?

Dr. Robinson

And I think it goes deeper into the psyche of us using our own bodies for something. And, you know, mostly with contraception, we're trying to make this decision of whether we're going to be open to fertility or not. Fertility is there when you're single. There's no there's no question on that. You know, you may be fertile, but if you are not with someone, then there's no problems. But when you get with someone, whether let's say you're not married, then there's issues that come up and you have to decide, are you going to live by God's way or are you going to live by your own? And that can be for single people wanting to have relationships outside of marriage or even within marriage, you know, taking, I guess, taking the role into your own hands, what God has always traditionally had. 

Lydia

Demanding, this is happening, this is not, when you're not open to life in your marriage life. 

Dr. Robinson

Yes. And it brings the definition of marriage into question. What are God's plans for you when you get married? Is it is this fertility issue something that you have a right to just push away and say, well, I'm going to have this when I want to. 

Lydia

You push it away using hormones and other things, and then when you want it back, sometimes it's not there.

Dr. Robinson

Yes, That's very. 

Lydia

Because it causes damages to the body, especially women.

Dr. Robinson

Yes, very, very true. We have to be encouraging, and as a Catholic physician, that is one of the things I've learned and I'm still learning is, we have to encourage people how to live correctly, how to be healthy in the true sense of the word. And there's certain things we don't want to get into because it's not only healthy from maybe damaging our bodies. Maybe a cancer could come up from a hormone that we're taking in for this or blood clots or, you know, a stroke. 

But it could, it's damaging our psyche and our way of thinking and our way of living and acting in maybe subtle ways that we don't notice it first. 

Lydia

I know that there's been studies going on about the way it changes the different parts of our brain, and our perceptions about danger and emotions. It’s like if we're not being ourselves anymore. Driven by something that is not part of our nature. I see it, I see it with clients that come and see us that many issues arise, side effects, emotional issues, but women are suffering.

Dr. Robinson 

And our way of life changes and our way of thinking changes, and even our theology changes the way we see God, the way we interact with God and others. And I think that's one of the big reasons. Pope John Paul II wrote a series of sermons and compiled them into what we have now is theology of the body. 

Yes.

To really give us an idea of how wonderful God's plan is for us, if we will just follow it. 

Lydia

So wonderful how Holy Mother Church have always tried to care for this gift of life. And that's, for example, in Humanae Vitae

Yes. 

Lydia

This is what may happen, and this is what had happened with the use of the pill at that time, and how it has been… there is a part in Humane Vitae that says, Children of couples that are not contracepting, that are following the teachings of Humanae Vitae. Their children have an opportunity to grow on the moral values that are so important for us as a person. Simply as a person. 

Dr. Robinson

Definitely. And in in our quest for sainthood, I mean, is as followers of our Lord is is members of his body, the church are our goal. We have our eyes set on Jesus. We're running this race. And we want to we want to obtain the crown. We want to be saints. We want to grow in these virtues and but what better way than to follow the rules.

Lydia

I’m going to read about your Mission Statement: We serve all people in the community, We strive e to restore physical, mental and spiritual health. How everything has to be integrated!

Dr. Robinson

Yes!

Lydia

It’s not only the body, but it's also, the soul!

Dr. Robinson

Exactly. We're not just body and we're not just soul.  God made us united in that. And when we forget one aspect of it, then the whole body can't be healed and how wonderful it is that a lot of our modern medicine came from the church, came from missionaries that would go out and bring people maybe even into their homes and care for them. I'm thinking of some of the missionaries that came across into the US during the early days, and you look at big different cities across the US and you'll see these Catholic hospitals and there's a story there of these nuns or our brothers that come in and just live a life of poverty, giving up themselves heroic virtues to help the people there. They also realized back even in those times, that prayer was an important part and anointing and the sacraments of healing, how integral they were even for taking care of someone who had high blood pressure or anxiety or any of those ailments. It's interesting. There are studies now showing how important attitude is in cancer patients helping to heal cancer attitude is everything some will say, well, what better way to have a great attitude than to be in communion with our Lord? 

Lydia

I haven't been in this clinic through the day, and then it's a time when you all pause, mid-morning. And that's a special. 

Dr. Robinson

Yes! it is our time when we get together as volunteers and we introduce new ones that have come, we announce things that are going on in our life or events coming up. And we take some time to share our prayer requests and to pray for one another, and also time to really focus maybe on one aspect of our mission, what we're doing and why we're called. As human we are very forgetful and, you know, our Lord calls us to remember. And so it's something that we need to do frequently. We need to remember our mission, why we're here, why are we treating people differently.

Lydia

And you are! Is a beautiful place here.  There is such a dignity with the care that everybody receives here. 

Dr. Robinson

Well, praise God for that. We hope to continue that as a legacy, as we move forward. I think, you know, the mission one of the reasons in our mission statement, we put we do not offer contraceptives or refer for abortions or sterilizations or assisted suicide we needed to clarify what that meant, embracing the culture of life. It was of course, that was, I think, coined originally from Saint John Paul II again, if it was the Gospel of Life or one of his encyclicals that he talks about a culture of life and a culture of death. And we grow as people, as humans, when we're within a culture of life, we flourish because that's the way God created us. When we have the culture of death, even if it starts to creep in, all of the difficulties, the sin, the problems of shame and guilt will start to come in. And so we are doing our best to be that beacon, that light on a hill within our community, to take that stand and hopefully to be forerunners or frontrunners in this race of promoting healing in the most dignified way. 

Lydia

Yes! 

How many volunteers are there in the clinic now? 

Dr. Robinson

Well, we found in the volunteer world some will come, some will go. And so our roster is about 200 that we have to clean up every once in a while for those that have moved on. But there are the ones that are really here week in and week out, I would say maybe 60. And they're the ones that come in and do their part. We have found that because God gives different gifts to people and has made us with different personalities, that those with certain gifts, they do their part and it's like their ministry. And so everyone has their own individual, unique ministry. They're working together. And therefore, that's why we have our name is not just one ministry, but ministries, culture of life Ministries. 

Lydia

And what are the services that are provided here?

Dr. Robinson

We have primary care consultations. So, someone who needs to see a doctor and women's health care. We started early on offering laboratory services, checking blood sugars, kidney function, liver function, blood counts, urine exams, ultrasonography came in early on as well. We as a physician from private practice, some of the skills that I had that were maybe a little different than your typical primary care doctor. I offer those such as stress tests for the heart endoscopy, such as a colonoscopy or, EGD to check the stomach and It's amazing how we've been able to help the community, patients that maybe even in other indigent clinics where it's not often we can sometimes do those things to help people out. And for those that we can't do here. A few years ago, we started a voucher program, which helps us. Donors have been gracious and donated more than we need to run the clinic so that extra money we help for patients that don't have quite enough money or don't have any at all. 

Lydia

For other services that are not offered here

Dr. Robinson

Exactly! we try to make things work within their budget. 

Lydia

Yes!, Gracias a Dios!

Dr. Robinson

Sí! 

Lydia

If a woman has an IUD can be removed in tis clinic?

Dr. Robinson

Yes, we do IUD removals we don't insert them. 

Lydia

No, that would be totally against the culture of life.

Dr. Robinson

Yes, but we and we try to get people to places If we can’t offer it here, that would help maybe reverse things.  Some people it's I think growing more now where some men or women are wanting to have a reversal of a sterilization and so trying to find a doctor that would do that for them.

Lydia

I think the closest one is by San Antonio. 

Dr. Robinson

You're right. Yes. But we've sent folks out of the valley and we get creative when we do that sometimes.

Lydia

As a natural family planning teacher, when we do seminars we encounter women, did not know what they were doing.

Dr. Robinson

So, if someone's considering that and even other things that are needed for their health, I always try to encourage people to give them hope, because one of the things that Satan likes to do is take away our hope, that it feels almost impossible. And with God, all things are possible when we unite to do things together, God moves in amazing ways.

Lydia

God has been giving you the opportunity to serve. You were able to follow that call, your family is part of this, your friends are part of this, other physicians are part of this, it's intense the work here. 

Dr. Robinson

It is. It's a very active thing. And one of the things that we all need as human beings is time to get away sometimes. And just like Jesus did, go into the desert to pray or going and praying all night somewhere in a place where he withdrew, that is something that more recently now  begun to intentionally plan retreats, just went on a silent retreat recently, which was an amazing time with our Lord. But those things we all need, we need to stay close to our Lord. And to really hang our hats on the idea that we need to be faithful and not necessarily successful. I have to be willing to look at this ministry and be okay. If the Lord said, tomorrow we're going to shut this down, and volunteers leave, and the money funding dries up. And I have to be okay with saying, okay Lord, blessed be your name. 

I think the biggest problems are when we want to do something so badly that God knows is it's going to hurt us or it's not going to be the best thing. And so that I always like to, if possible, to be able to go somewhere and just take in some time with the Lord, find out what he wants for me. And he's always provided ways. I think most of the time it's we, we desire to keep doing something and we forget about him and he's so gentle and reminding us. And we really have to be close to him. 

You know, there have been times in my life, and I know others where it get so almost crazy the way things are moving and worries and concerns start to happen because you think, well, it should have gone this way. But it did. It went the other way. And oh, how sad and how always what really helps me is bringing it back to, okay, Lord, I'm just a steward. You're the boss. I don't have to worry about this because you've already got it under control. It was a good day. I don't know why things went that way, but I trusted into your holy will and let it be done.

Lydia 

I honored that, I honor the trust that you have! And I want to thank you so much for listening to God for being open since your younger years. You have given us wonderful examples of how to follow, how to listen, how to stay still sometimes, and over all how to pray. 

Thank you so much!

Dr. Robinson

Well, all glory be to God for that. I think He you know, I don't know exactly why, but the grace he's given me is just it's been amazing and it's all it's all because of Him! We just have to be open to being His instrument and Him using us. Yes!