Where do delegates come from?

The most important delegate is always close.

The North American Territory is really big – geographically, at least.

It is so big that some of its parts are not even in what a geography professor would call North America.  As a result, the Regnum Christi Renewal Convention has people from a vast expanse of planet earth.

Rather than explain this vastness by a standard map/geography lesson, let me set the boundaries by talking about some of the delegates.  Anyway…you can always go to Google Earth if you want to look at actual geography.

So…the convention is in Mundelein, Illinois, near Chicago.  Some people didn’t have to travel far to get here.  Candy Hamilton is from the Chicago suburbs, so we’re practically in her backyard.  And when she isn’t in her backyard, she is a preschool aide and technology coordinator at Everest Academy, a Regnum Christi school.

Going toward the far boundaries of the territory, we have Ray Arsenault of Prince Edward Island.  For those of you who are challenged by Canadian geography, it is in Eastern Canada, a bit East of Maine.  If you don’t know where Maine is, look it up.  Ray has a son who is a Legionary and a daughter who is consecrated; probably unrelated but interesting; he started out his work career as a Royal Canadian Mounted Policeman.

If you drive around 1,900 miles south to Orlando, Florida, you’ll find the home of Velma Cottle, a stay-at-home mom of six.  Before kids, she worked as a speech-language pathologist.  That is another thing you’ll have to Google.

Now go west for 2,800 miles to San Jose to the home of Jose Serrano.  He is rather global, having lived in Spain, Mexico, Atlanta, Miami and California.  He is as involved in Regnum Christi as any single person could be.  And you would think he would define the western boundary of the territory…but not so.

Kai Leal is from the Philippines, which is one of the places in the North American Territory that clearly is not in North America – but we’re glad she and several others from her country are here.  It takes 18 hours by plane to go between San Jose and Manila.  Kai majored in chemistry at Manila University, took graduate courses in philosophy and is fluent in Tagalog, English and Mandarin Chinese.

OK…come back from the Philippines and drive up the California coast to Seattle, Washington, and you’ll find Eileen Wieck.  She was a nurse after college, which likely was good background for her current work; she home schools her five children

I’m pretty sure the Canadians define our northern boundaries.  Canadians tend to compete for which city has the deepest snow, coldest temperature and easiest access to moose and caribou.  But among the delegates, I think the Northern Star is shining brightest on Donna Fausak of Edmonton, Alberta.  She is a former nurse who lives on a farm with her husband of 31 years.

Of course, there are delegates from all sorts of places in between the boundary spots:  Texas, Georgia, New York, Nebraska, Washington DC, Arizona, Indiana, Louisiana, Kansas, Ohio, Saskatchewan, Minnesota, Michigan, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, Idaho, Mississippi, Ontario, North Carolina, Colorado, Montana.

We also have three people – Sisan Walker, Mary Williams and Brian Williams – who are representatives of the Virtual Young Adult Region.  From the viewpoint of geography, I think that means they are both nowhere and everywhere.  Without the internet they would not exist.

It is a big, diverse, territory – and the delegates at the convention are a remarkable cross section of cultures, languages, ethnic backgrounds and ages.  But they are all Regnum Christi – and all feeling the joy of being members of our spiritual family.