What began as a wrinkle in plans has changed into ample opportunity for ministry to skyrocket in the West Global Region. “We’ve used the time during COVID-19 to do a lot of work on structure and training and it’s been a great time,” said Divisional Vice President, West Global Jim Roquemore.
The West Global Division is comprised of five regions: Canada, Caribbean, Latin America North, Latin America South and Brazil, and one key revelation for the division was staffing, elevating and empowering leaders for more connections in the sports world. Numerous staff have been added across the division, like James Oilar in Talent Advancement and Hannah Wiedemann as Field Support Manager, as well as Hans Ostrem as Canada’s Regional Vice President.
“We thought COVID-19 was going to be a setback, but at the end of the day it’s been a great time in ministry,” said Roquemore.
Roquemore looks for leaders who come to the table with passion and vision for ministry, then works with them to intentionally align within their role through skill training to gain a better understanding of FCA and E3 Discipleship Training, and cultivate specific talents they’re passionate about.
“We’re making sure they are in a ministry role they feel called to and equipped to serve in and making sure our leaders have true mastery in the skills they need,” he said.
Organizational advancement is structured across the US and global regions to concentrate on specific areas and create ongoing relationships. Caribbean Vice President Dan Bishop and Great Lakes Regional Vice President Craig Cabe have crafted the Caribbean into ten regions and assigned each region to a team in the Great Lakes US region.
“What’s come out of this is a greater clarity for our Great Lakes region and Caribbean teammates to be more specific with PRAY GIVE GO,” said Bishop. For example, the Cayman Islands and Northern Indiana are connected in partnership. Northern Indiana has is six prayer needs for the Cayman Islands, four GIVE needs and two needs for GO.
“Already, there’s been money raised to purchase Bibles and sports equipment for the Caymans because we have this clarity,” Bishop added. “There are already results. The opportunity to be organized creates a long-term result of ministry.”
For Latin American North Vice President Julio Gomez, one of the greatest strengths this year came using technology to grow relationships in a culture embedded in affection and in-person connection. They hosted a virtual chaplaincy training and had forty-three people complete the three-month course.
“We saw the need and opportunity and God is raising up leaders with a passion and heart to do that. They want to go deeper,” said Gomez.
The West Global Region’s intentional alignment and relationship building with staff and leaders puts them in an exciting position for greater ministry moving forward. Said Roquemore, “Everybody is ready to go. We’re at the starting blocks, we’ve been training and ready for the starter pistol to go full force.”
Pray for God to raise up more leaders in West Global and for FCA staff to grow. Pray for key relationships to continue to build, for wisdom and discernment.
Get involved with West Global here and visit fcaworld.org to learn more about what God’s doing around the globe through FCA.
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