Reggie Quimby, director of global partnerships at the State Board of Missions (SBOM), said personal relationships in Spain make ending Alabama’s relationship with Spain difficult.
“I really don’t want to wrap it up,” he said. “I know we have to do it in an official sort of way, but I tried to express at last year’s convention that my heart is still there.
“They are like family,” Quimby added. “It is hard to bring closure on something that is so close to you and continues to be close.”
“I think we had a good experience,” he said. “I think if we had an opportunity to do some more work there in the future, we would have learned from what we have been involved in.”
Because of Quimby’s relationship with Spain, it made it both easy and difficult for him to become the lead contact with Spain in the midst of the partnership after Harrell Cushing retired. Cushing, retired director of stewardship for the SBOM, and Troy Morrison, retired executive director, led the effort to start a partnership with Spain.
“It was difficult to say, ‘We can’t do that,” he said, “It was hard being a friend and not being able to help with some project, and there were projects in Spain we could not respond to. Many of them were related to the fact of not having the money. (TAB)
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