Moravian Seminary graduate serves the Latino community in the Lehigh Valley

For the final lecture of the Spring 2010 “Called to Mission” Second Tuesday Moravian lunch series, Rev. Tracy Robinson ‘06 spoke to the community about his mission work with the Latino population in the Lehigh Valley as Latino Christian Service Implementor in the Moravian Church, Northern Province. A lunch featuring a wide variety of Spanish dishes was a joint effort between a local Spanish restaurant and Tracy's mother-in-law and wife Rhonda, a current student at Moravian Seminary.

Tracy considers himself a product of Moravian missionaries who served his home congregation in Nicaragua decades ago. He feels that in the same way that the missionaries reached out to him and his family, he will be making similar efforts to reach out to the local Latino community. In 2002 Tracy and his family relocated to Bethlehem for him to earn his MDiv from Moravian Seminary. In 2006 he was called to serve at Holly Springs Moravian Church outside of Raleigh, North Carolina, where he shepherded the congregation through its closing. In 2009 he returned to Bethlehem to serve the Northern Province of the Moravian Church as a church planter for the Spanish-speaking community in Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania.

Tracy works with the Latino community, primarily in South Side Bethlehem, in various capacities. He serves on the board of ASPIRE (After-School Partnership for Instruction, Recreation, and Enrichment), an after-school program that works with youth in the Bethlehem School District. Tracy also is in the process of finding office and worship space on the South Side so that he can be closer to the people he is helping.

Tracy admits that smaller organizations of Latinos exist on the South Side, but his goal is to create a church community where all feel welcome to worship and work together. By working in the community through programs such as ASPIRE, Tracy hopes to build credibility and trust for his church and mission work. He emphatically invited Seminary students and faculty to join him in his efforts to reach out to the local Latino community.