Can we build a virtual team of people on different continents from different cultures?

As church planting director, I can't coach church planters and develop training myself in our five divisions: Latin America, Europe, Africa, Asia and MENA (Middle East-North Africa). No cookie-cutter approach will do. It needs to look different in each setting. So the logical thing is to build a team. In fact the reason we have a director of church planting is to raise up church planting coaches and catalysts in all these parts of the world. Now the question comes: Is this doable given different time zones, cultures, expectations, and financial restrictions?

We will have church planting coaches, by God's grace and we already have identified some of them for three of our divisions: Latin America, Europe and Africa – but will they be a loose network connected only through their relationship with me? Or will they be a real virtual team that will provide peer-coaching, mutual learning, and encouragement on the journey? I would like to try and here's what I think it will take:

1. Face-to-face time to build relations initially.
   
   1. We already have a first gathering planned around the Exponential New Church Conference April 19-23 in Orlando Florida.
      
   2. We need a church sponsor that will gather our team early in 2010. I would like the spouse to come for it to be a team retreat located on the campus of a church that shares our vision.
      
   3. Afterwards we will need to gather face-to-face once a year. This will be costly but we could make it worthwhile by using the time for training and meeting in sites where best practices are taking place.
      
2. Some real mutual learning and personal growth must come from this team. The value must be felt by all. It would be a waste of time to sit around in meetings or conferences. Our times together must be highly interactional, well planned, and edifying spiritually – more like a field trip than a meeting.
   
3. We need to use the best technology for virtual communication. I am praying for an associate who will help with this and also help master trainers set up their church planter training around the world.
   
4. We will need monthly communication. This can be synchronous using telephone conferencing. Thanks to Skype that could even be free! When it is 2 p.m. in Eastern Europe, it is one in Liberia, 8 a.m. in Florida and 8 p.m. in Jakarta. So it is possible to all be on the phone the same day. We can also have a team website where people can post what they are learning, add prayer requests, and download ideas and resources.
   
5. Being a team is a choice. Ultimately the church planting point persons must see the value in this and commit to it.
   

What do you think? Impossible dream? Would you pray for God's leading? I am not good at technology but learned how to use some of the tools as a professor with the Latin American Training Network. Would you pray that God would lead me to an associate who would head up the technology and training dimensions of this ministry? Thanks.