Meet Pastor Mike Robison

There is a new face — well, relatively new — at the New London Christian Church. He is youth pastor Mike Robison. Catching up with him this week, we wanted to give New London an opportunity to get to know him and his family and what makes him tick.

Mike grew up in Twin Falls, Idaho. That’s where many life-changing events happened: It’s where he met and married his wife Toni, and it’s where their children were born and raised until they became Iowans. When he was 14, he became a follower of Jesus

When Mike was a junior in high school, he took the ASVAB test. He scored high enough to be recruited into the U.S. Army Special Forces program. He trained at Ft. Benning (now Ft. Moore) in Georgia. But an injury short-circuited his training before he became a Green Beret. God had other things in store.

Mike changed his life’s direction in a unique way. He decided to make Jesus his full-time job. He took a “Good Will Hunting” approach to making himself an “approved workman for Christ” in the areas of doctrine and theology. His education came from hands-on training and discipleship from two Pastors (Bryan Bacon and Eric Nelson) who invested their time in him and allowed him to apprentice under them.

They encouraged him to immerse himself in such Christian classic authors that included A.W. Tozer, Oswald Chambers, and C.S. Lewis. Mike also tackled John Bunyon, Martin Luther, John Knox and early church fathers such as Augustine of Hippo.

Mike had a desire to tell others about the transforming power of Jesus. His youth pastor saw his potential and asked him to teach the youth group one Sunday morning. Thinking it went horribly, Mike left the church in tears, vowing to never teach again, but again, God had other plans. Slowly but surely God crafted him into an effective youth pastor. He’s been in youth ministry now for 15 years.

Mike began at NLCC in November of 2024, and he was fortunate to find a whole host of volunteer leaders that have been serving the youth in this community for years.

“A large part of my job is pouring into these leaders by training, equipping, and creating opportunities for them to do what they have already been doing, but even more effectively,” he said, summing up his ministry.

His favorite thing about being a youth pastor is seeing the light in students’ eyes when they realize the awesomeness of God, the goodness of the Gospel, and the excitement that comes from following Him. Mike also loves the amazing team that he works with at the Filling Station. In addition, he singled out his wife Toni. Mike emphasized that he loves that God has given him an amazing wife. He gets to spend his life in service to Jesus with her by his side.

Mike assists with the church’s children’s ministry with fourth and fifth graders. However, the focus of his ministry at NLCC is to middle and high school age youth. Currently they are using programs such as Christ in Youth and Right Now Media in a supplemental way. They are now going through the Book of Luke, keeping it at the level to challenge the students but also allowing them to dig deeper at their own pace.

When asked his favorite Bible verse, he chose two from Romans. Romans 5:8 — “But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” The second was Romans 8: 1-2 — “Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death.”

We ended our interview by returning to the topic of the Filling Station. They feed a lot of hungry teenagers, and they are expecting the group that attends to grow. Mike is always looking for anyone who would like to donate a frozen pizza…or two to this ministry. You can email Mike at mike.robison@nlcclife.com if interested in donating.

We want to welcome the Robisons to New London and thank them for their work with the young people of the community. Mike and Toni’s ministry answers the questions posed in Romans 10:14 — “But how can they call on Him (Jesus) to save them unless they believe in Him? And how can they believe in Him if they have never heard about Him? And how can they hear about Him unless someone tells them?” (NLT)