Sister Regina Robbins, a member of the California Province of the Sisters of Notre Dame, is about to embark on one of the biggest adventures of her life --- at age 66.

If she followed traditional ways, she might be contemplating retiring to a quieter life with fewer responsibilities. Instead, she is moving to Nkumba, Uganda, in Eastern Africa to open a House of Studies, a convent located near the city and university, so that the newest African sisters of her order can pursue higher education and live together in community.

Sister Regina will be guiding a group of young African nuns as they attend university and gradually take on responsibility for the social and educational programs the Sisters of Notre Dame have initiated in the region. She also plans to get involved in parish work and explore how she might be helpful in local schools, seminaries and university.

Quite a change --- and to those who know her, quite a surprise, given that Sister Regina has been working, and very successfully, in formation with seminarians at St. John's Seminary in Camarillo for the past 13 years. What brought her to the decision to uproot herself and move across the globe to another continent and another culture?

Her answer is simple: "God called."

Last summer she made a silent 30-day Jesuit retreat, an experience that confirmed in her heart that "this seemingly wild idea is coming from the God I believe in, the God who calls me."

She is aware that some people question why her community would send someone her age on such a mission. They ask her, "Do you have an option to say no?"

Yes, she replies. And no, she does not have to go. "But agreeing to go is much more in keeping with who I am and what I have lived for 46 years as a professed Sister of Notre Dame."

While she never dreamed of being a missionary, she admired the sisters who went all over the world with "a faith-filled spirit of adventure and a zeal for the Gospel." She is in good health, she says, and confident that going to Africa is natural and the right thing for her to do.

"I ask, 'What can I give back to God who has been so good to me?' This is my answer."

The idea of living fully, of continually looking for the path that God is calling us to follow regardless of age, is the theme of two books that speak to the experience Sister Regina has chosen to live.

One is "The Enduring Heart, Spirituality for the Long Haul" (Paulist Press), by Wilkie Au, professor of theological studies at Loyola Marymount University, who notes that "Living with soul means sustaining a delectation for life, a zest for living, a bounce in our walk, a song in our heart, and an ongoing appreciation for the very gift of life." This aptly describes Sister Regina as she moves to the next stage of her life. She is excited and open to the possibilities Africa and its people hold for her.

And Sister Joan Chittister, in her most recent book, "The Gift of Years, Growing Older Gracefully" (Blue Bridge Books), echoes similar thoughts:

"It is easy at any age simply to stop, to be satisfied with what is, to refuse to be more," says Sister Chittister. "But when we go on working --- at something, for some reason, for someone, for something greater than ourselves --- when we go on giving ourselves away right to the very end, we have lived a full life."

Besides her work with the young nuns, Sister Regina will also work with priests in Uganda who studied and graduated from St. John's Seminary, where she was their professor and formation advisor. She will return periodically to vacation in California, anxious to share stories of the people and adventures of Africa.

On Jan. 11, Sister Regina's community, family and friends gathered to celebrate with her as she prepared to "fasten my seat belt and fly to London or Amsterdam and then directly to East Africa." She told those gathered that St. Julie Billiart, spiritual mother of the Sisters of Notre Dame, encouraged the sisters to have hearts as wide as the universe. And she shared a personal motto, a driving force of her life:

"To go wherever He sends me. To do whatever He tells me. To know He is always with me."

It seems that Sister Regina is living this motto to the fullest.

Anne Hansen is a member of the Camarillo Catholic community. Her e-mail address is familymail@aol.com.