Tribute to Pr. Rob Lloyd

The year was 2012 and the place was Nakuru, Kenya. It was my first campaign trip with ShareHim. I was more than a little apprehensive because I've never done a campaign on my own. My campaign manager was Rob Lloyd. I called Rob frequently and he quelled all my anxiousness.

One of my 'state of uneasiness' was arriving in a foreign country at 2:00 in the morning. As the Lord would arrange it, we were on the same flight for the last leg of the journey. I did not post a photo so he did not know what I looked like. I was comfortably seated in the airplane, on my way to Kenya when I heard a voice said 'Dr. Carmen Kerr' I looked up and there was Rob in a beautiful Hawaiian shirt and a lovely smile. Needless to say I was very happy. We left the airport in the wee hours of the morning and half way there the taxi had car trouble. I prayed silently that God would help the driver to solve the problem. I also thanked God that Rob was there and I wasn't alone with the taxi driver.

My big question was how did he manage to identify me in an airplane full of people without prior knowledge of what I looked like? A couple days later I asked him the curious question. He said "Well, you looked different" and we both had a good laugh.

Our group included college students from the Czech Republic with their leader Kamil Kreutziger. Pretty soon we became like a close knitted family. We had breakfast together and then we had worship. Rob was like the 'iconic father.' I watched him interact with the students and we all loved him.

When we leave our campaign site at night, we would meet in someone's room for debriefing. We were joined by Rob. There we would eat pineapples, bananas, light snack and have a real good time as we shared what went well for us. Rob would often bring 'Rock Cake'. It became a favorite with everyone.

Outings with Rob were hilarious. He included everyone. There was much fun, laughter and taking lots of pictures. We did not want the campaign to end. Everything was beautiful. We pledged that if there was ever an opportunity in the future we would work together.

When I signed up for the campaign in Rwanda, Don Folkenberg was the Date Block Manager. Shortly before the effective date of the campaign I saw Rob's name as Date Block Manager. I could not believe my eyes. I called him immediately to ask him if it was true. He said yes it was a matter of last minute arrangements and he would be working with Don. I got in touch with some of the members of the Czech group who were also coming to Rwanda. We were oh so very, very, excited because we were going to work with Rob again. We could not wait to see him.

The day I went to the airport there was a thunderstorm in Washington and my flight was cancelled. I emailed Rob to let him know. I also sent him a text. He replied saying he would inform the person who was supposed to meet me, and he was sorry for my delay. That was the last communication we had.

We were informed that on his way to Rwanda, Rob was taken ill and he was in a hospital in Hong Kong. We were also told that the prospects weren't looking good. Those were agonizing moments as we pleaded with the Lord on Rob's behalf. Sad to say he passed away and we never got to see him. Our hopes and dreams of having a grand reunion was dramatically postponed.

We cry and we ask "Why Lord, why?" then like a ray of hope in the words of the songwriter "We'll catch the broken thread again, and finish what we here began; Heaven will the mysteries explain, and then, ah, then we'll understand.

Rest in peace Rob, your labor was not in vain. See you in the morning.