MALAWI PROVINCIAL CONFERENCE 2021

The Malawi Provincial Conference 2021 was duly opened by the Provincial Superior Bro Lawrence Sitima on Monday 8^th November. The theme of the conference is “What is My Contribution to the Growth of the Province and Congregation?”. In his opening remarks the Provincial invited delegates to do some soul searching regarding their lived experiences as Brothers FIC. He also underlined that the main objective of the conference was to review how the Provincial Council and all brothers have implemented the 2018 General Chapter resolutions and also those of the Provincial Chapter of 2018, thus far. Bro Sitima concluded his speech by stating that:

            “…. This is a reflective meeting where we have an opportunity to share our experiences for the past years, now, and the direction we want to take, more importantly, building not scattering the seeds we earnestly sow with the hope of a new and better Malawi Province, even if we won’t be there to witness this dream”.

(Some of the delegates in the conference room)

After the opening speech, the Conference Facilitator Rev Fr James Kasitomu (MCCJ) invited the delegates to confirm the Programme for Day One. Then delegates went into sharing the joys and worries of the Province. Among others, brothers appreciated the efforts of the Vocation Promotion Team whose efforts are slowly but steadily bearing fruits. Also, there was a sense of gratitude for the spirit of fraternal support for brothers in need of special care in times of illness and other vulnerabilities. On the other hand, delegates expressed deep concern for weak functioning of various committees. Another worrisome issue is the apparent lack of formation personnel at all levels of formation. The Facilitator urged delegates to seriously consider ways of improving the dire situation in formation as it is a key foundation for the growth of the Province.

(The facilitator, Fr. James Kasitomu)

During the afternoon session, Provincial Committees and the Provincial Bursar shared reports of their functioning in the past three years. Among those that shared were the Provincial Bursar, the Vocation Promotion Team and the Resource Mobilisation Committee which is charged with generating some income for the apostolic works of the Province. One noteworthy matter that came up was the challenge of sustaining such FIC institutions as schools for the deaf and Mitengo Technical College.

Day One of the Conference ended with a Eucharistic celebration presided over by Fr Kasitomu. The mass intentions included those for the success of the Conference and the growth of the Congregation in general. Despite the extraordinarily high temperature conditions, the day ended with all delegates feeling motivated to continue proceedings of the Conference on Day Two.

The Conference which is being held at Bethel, the Provincial House of Malawi, will end on Wednesday 10^th November, 2021. There are altogether ten brothers who are delegates to the Conference, including members of the Provincial Council.

Reported by Bro Andrew Makocho