Message from the Immediate Past Board Chair
Dr. Arline McGill
Immediate Past Board Chair
Dated: October 12, 2020
As we leave our seventh year of existence and move swiftly towards our eighth year, I have had opportunity to reflect on just how far we have come. It has been a privilege and an opportunity for growth in my life and a joy to see how God undergirds His work and provides for It.
I came to the task of board chair without the extensive experience that is claimed necessary for such a position. Maybe that was the wisdom of God since we were pioneering a work which needed to last. This is not the first time that attempts at establishing similar movements in the Cayman Islands have been made. But with the Holy Spirit’s involvement and a confluence of resources in the form of persons coming to this island and also strategically placed in the body of Christ here in the Cayman Islands, who desired a similar outcome, we have been able to progress to this point.
The burden of stewardship is not always an easy one to carry, but the presence and leadership of the Holy Spirit always gives an edge. In John chapter 15 and verse 6 it says, “Jesus said to His disciples, you did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit. Fruit that remains so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, He will give you.
We are not meant to excuse ourselves from stewardship and service based on our perceived lacks but rather to have the courage to step forward when we are called and to know that having been called, God will equip. As it says in I Corinthians chapter 1: Think about the circumstances of your call brothers and sisters, not many were wise by human standards, not many were powerful, not many were born to a privileged position, but God chose what the world thinks foolish to shame the wise, and God chose what the world thinks weak to shame the strong. God chose what is low and despised in the world, what is regarded as nothing to set aside what is regarded as something.
Although we brought our academic and practical experience to the task of serving this national movement, I believe that we came heavily dependent on the Holy Spirit and bathed decisions in prayerful consideration.
The mandates for an effective board according to the Governance Training Manual of the International Fellowship of Evangelical Students are:
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To establish organizational mission, vision and strategic direction. This we have achieved.
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To develop and sustain effective governance structure and process. This we have started and in fact is a dynamic which will be continually changing in response to the needs of the movement.
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To assure adequate capacity. This we are currently doing.
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To monitor and strengthen organizational performance and impact. This area still needs development.
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We have borne these mandates in mind, as we have carried out our work with the understanding that everything cannot be done at once and that it is critical to lay a solid foundation.
I believe that we, on the outgoing national board, have established that foundation, and we look forward to the continuation of the building of this movement into a house that will serve the Christian community of the Cayman Islands well, while resisting the pressure to become overwhelmed by practices which marginalize the leadership of the Holy Spirit.
May the Holy Spirit continue to enrich our work as a service to the church and communities of these islands and the building of a solid faith in generations present and to come.