Meet Bob Werntz -- Leadership Interview Series (Part 1 of 6)

As you get to know more about Bob (in his own words) and his role on the leadership team, please remember to keep him and the other area leaders in your prayers!

Name
Robert (Bob) Werntz

What is your history with ReachGlobal?

• Worship Pastor at Park Hills EFC 1995-1998
• Founded Evangelical Free Church of Honduras church plant in 2001 – and have been part of the ADT since that time I think.

What is your position on the leadership team?

Financial Management

What does that mean? What do you do?
I monitor our financial resources and manage their application with the counsel of the Area Directional Team. I find creative ways to report the financial information so that the ADT can more easily make necessary decisions… I’m the guy that reminds the ADT of the financial realities under which we serve!

What makes you a good boss or leader?
I guess I often see things from a different angle; I like to find creative solutions.

My StrengthsFinder strengths are strategic, focus, input, learner, and deliberative.

What do you want to/need to work on as a boss or leader?
I want to work on balancing my desire to focus on the task with the need to cultivate quality relationships. 

What has God been teaching you lately about being a leader? 
To try to see people and ministry as Christ sees them.

Why do you love Latin America?
I love the culture and the people – and I love the music!

What excites you about the ministry we’re doing in LA?
Multiplying our resources by serving national movements – including movements that are not EFC but are compatible.

How can people contact you?

• Email: Robert.werntz@efca.org
• Skype: robertwerntz
• Facebook
• Text/phone: 815-275-6346

More Personal…

Tell us about your family.
Wife Joyce serves full time with RG CONNECT. We have three sons and three granddaughters.

Where do you currently live?
Freeport, IL (USA)

What’s the last book you read?
Doce Cuentos Peregrinos – por Gabriel García Márquez

What do you like to do for fun?
Date day with Joycie! Music!

Prayer requests

• For my family
• For wisdom for the ADT
• For continued health and growth of the Evangelical Free Church of Honduras

Surprised by God!

By Bob Werntz


Sometimes on the mission field, we are surprised by incredible God-given ministry opportunities that are a bit outside our expectations and paradigms. During our time in Honduras, this has certainly been the case for our family.

In 2009, I received a call from a ministry called International Fire Relief Missions (IFRM) in Minnesota requesting my help in connecting them with the municipal government on the Honduran island of Roatan. They felt led to minister to the firemen and medical emergency responders there, and the director of the group attends an EFC church in Minnesota. I love to go to Roatan – a beautiful island paradise where I have often dreamed of planting a hammock church. After many months of phone calls with governmental and customs officials and a couple of vision trips, the day finally came!

The Roatan Fire and Medical Services were happy to receive a fire truck and a container stuffed with over $1 million worth of supplies! A team from Minnesota traveled to the island for two weeks to train the workers on the best use of their new equipment. (At right, Roatan fire fighters, wearing and using their new equipment, receive car extraction training.)

At the same time, another ministry affiliated with IFRM (International Relief Missions) worked with a church in Roatan to train a group from their local church family to provide chaplain ministry to the emergency responders. Part of the training included going to the fire station and meeting all the workers there (pictured at left), the first steps to building a relationship between the church and the emergency responders. What a blessing to see these ministries and trainings come together after months of preparation and prayer!

God surprised us again when a group called Missions Mobilization International (MMI) contacted us. MMI had the desire to minister to the national police force in Honduras, the COBRAS, and requested our help. They arrived in Tegucigalpa with a team that specializes in training SWAT teams around the world. After several days of intense training, and once they’d earned the COBRAS respect, the MMI ministry team preached the gospel to them. Many COBRAS indicated their desire to follow Christ, and we handed out around 500 Bibles! Awesome!

Preaching the gospel to the COBRAS

Proud owners of new Bibles

May God continue to surprise us all with ministry opportunities that seem outside the box!