By Cecelia Campbell Livingston
Col. Jamie Ogilvie, vice-president of the Jamaica Broilers Hi-Pro Division, which places emphasis on small farmers and provides inputs for them to capitalise on their investments, believes there is no secret to his or the company he represents success.
An ardent Christian since 1998, he knows what it means to rely on God’s leading and allowing Him to take charge.
Ogilvie, who has been with the company for five years now, comes with a discipline that was instilled through years of service in the army, a couple of Masters degree in his quest for knowledge, and a firm foundation that can only come from walking consistently with the Lord and consulting Him on every decision.
He is also thankful he has a leader, Christopher Levy, who is not shy about declaring his faith, and in insisting on allowing the Lord to lead.
“First of all, on the back of my business card is our company motto, our mission statement, which very clearly sets out that ‘With God’s Guidance’. [This is] is always the starting point in any conversation. This company and me as an individual, rely on God to drive our decisions, what to do, and achieve what we set out to do, because as a company, Jamaica Broilers is not just about being a business and a profitable one, but a business that relies on the Lord to guide our steps and to take us through,” he shared with the Freedom Come Rain newspaper.
Ogilvie shared that there are so many times when he has personally seen God’s hands showing up and guiding the company through rough waters, and he credits this to the company putting God first and acknowledging Him in all they do.
“We have seen our vessels colliding with bad weather, and we have seen God shut the skies for four days when the forecast says rain for the next four days, and God shut the skies and allowed us to finish unloading, and the moment the last grain was off, the rain started,” he recalled, adding that another instance when he saw God show up big time was when they were rapidly running out of grains and the vessel loading at the point of origin was experiencing delays. They however got a break with their vessels not only being loaded but reaching on time before they ran out.
Col. Ogilvie, who grew up in a Christian home, remembers making a decision to follow the Lord at the tender age of seven. He looks back at the time as “following his parents faith,” and so it wasn’t sustained.
In 1998, he came to the conclusion that he wanted to recommit his life to the Lord. He will be the first to admit that it has not been a perfect walk, but seeking God’s salvation daily, he continues to build his relationship with the Lord as he goes through periods of ‘dry spells’ and “enrichment and growth,” always cognizant of the fact that without God it is not going to happen.
Growing up in Kingston with his five siblings and his father, an army man, it is not surprising he too got enlisted after completing his initial officer training at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, England. He was posted to the Second Battalion, the Jamaica Regiment in 1988 and spent nine years in service.
During that time, he held various command appointments and was deployed to Haiti in 1995 as the Operations Officer of the CARICOM Battalion, under the United Nations Mission in Haiti, which took over from the US-led Multi-National Force (MNF). He subsequently served as the Commander of the Military Training Wing (then JDF Training Depot), Newcastle, where he had direct responsibility and oversight for the training and professional development of all recruits, Non-Commissioned Officers (NCOs), and Young Officers.
He completed his Bachelor of Science in Accounting and Management at the University of the West Indies in 2000. In 2005, Col. Ogilvie completed a Master of Science in Defence Analysis at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California; he then read for the Master of Military Arts and Science (Strategy) degree in US Army Command at the General Staff College (Fort Leavenworth, Kansas). He is also a distinguished graduate of the United States Army War College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, where he read for a Master of Strategic Studies, and a graduate of the Management Institute for National Development (MIND), where he completed a Postgraduate Diploma in Public Sector Senior Management.
But for all these accomplishments, Col. Ogilvie will tell you that what matters most is his obedience to God and allowing His light to shine through. He takes this to every meeting he holds at the company.
“In everything we do, we start with prayer and commit our plans to the Lord; we ask His blessings and His favour. Next week I have a meeting with my team for the second quarter; we start off with prayer and commit the next quarter’s activities to Him. Ask Him to give us wisdom and to grant us favour in the marketplace,” he revealed.
Admitting that the marketplace can be very brutal, he said they don’t want to rely on their own wisdom, but instead trust and rely on God to give wisdom and for them to understand.
