The General Board of Global Ministries (GBGM) is promoting a “Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) Mission Partner Consultation” on July 21–23, 2025, in Panama City, Panama. This event is designed to strengthen partnerships, encourage collaboration, and address shared challenges to Methodist mission in the region. The Consultation also involves the General Board of Higer Education and Ministry (GBHEM) as well as educational associations working in Latin America and the Caribbean such as the Latin American Association of Methodist Institutions of Education (ALAIME) and the International Association of Methodist Schools, Colleges, and Universities (IAMSCU). The IAMSCU President, Adriana Murriello, will be representing the association as well as members of the IAMSCU Board of Directors (Roland Fernandes, Bishop Rosemarie Wenner).
The Consultation also builds on a series previous meetings, including direct conversations involving Dr. Roland Fernandes, the General Secretary of GBGM and GBHEM, with the Heads of Churches during 2023 and 2024 as well as the Global Ministries’ Missionary Gathering in Colombia (February 2024), a GBGM-GBHEM Dinner with representatives from Latin America and the Caribbean at the General Conference of the United Methodist Church in the United States (May 2024), the World Methodist Conference in Sweden (August 2024), the ALAIME Conference in Mexico (October 2024), and the CIEMAL Missionary Conference in Panama (November 2024). As a culminating point in this process, the Consultation will address the needs and opportunities unique to the region and include the following themes: evangelization, education, work with youth and young adults, support to women and children, peacebuilding, migration and humanitarian aid, and poverty alleviation.
Panama City was strategically chosen for its central location and historical role in fostering regional collaboration. Inspired by the spirit of Luke 10:1 – “And sent them two by two ahead of him to every town and place where he was about to go” –, the event will embody partnership, collaboration, and shared engagement in the missio Dei as participants are sent together to prepare the way for impactful ministry in the Latin America and the Caribbean region. This initiative is continued the joint effort of GBGM and GBHEM of aligning their activities and promote a unified presence and integrated structure of both agencies in the region. This event is taking placing during challenging times, when Latin American and the Caribbean region witness a growing flux of migrants who are facing cruel repression and being deported from the United States to various countries on the continent.
The consultation will bring together Bishops and Presidents of autonomous Methodist churches in Latin America and the Caribbean as well as GBGM and GBHEm staff, United Methodist representatives, leaders of CIEMAL, ecumenical partners, and facilitators who will lead the discussions on various themes. For more details, please contact GBGM’s website:
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