REPORT NO. 13, General Conference 2015.

Wa-GHANA, November 13, 2015.

The last day of Gen-Con 2015. We opened our day with our morning prayer led by Bros. Wim Luiten and Maarten Bouw (The Netherlands Province). The theme of our morning prayer was “Our Apostolic Mission, A Community of Brothers, and Borne by God.”. This theme has connection with what we have deepened and discussed in the past two weeks.

The Gen-Con closed after the morning session. There were three topics that we discussed during morning session: Distant Preparation for General Chapter 2018 in the Netherlands, Resolutions Gen-Con 2015, and Any Other Bussiness. There were  19 points resolutions that we have made during our meeting. Some of the important things that come up from our meeting are for example: a) The provinces are to organize the deepening on our apostolic mission among the brothers; b) The provinces do not have any objection if the General Council see the need to organize an international meeting on apostolic mission; c) Meeting of formators in Indonesia 2016 will focus on the initial formation; d) The provinces continue to promote vocation and associated life according to the possibilities and the situation of the province; e) The provinces are expected to enhance the communication among the brothers in the province and to make use of the available means of communication in the Congregation (web-site, magazine, face book, etc.) to strengthen our sense of unity among the brothers and provinces; f) Each province is to find ways to prepare the brothers in the leadership functions, in the area of both spiritual and apostolic; and g) The theme on our apostolic mission can be taken as one of the possible themes of the General Chapter 2018.

Based on the evaluations we made, we were satisfied with the process and the resolutions of the meeting. The meeting went smoothly and the atmosphere among us was relax. There was not any tension at all. In connection with accommodation, we felt satisfy. We thank to the brothers of Ghana Province as a host of the meeting, who have done their best to prepare everything we need both of meeting and accommodation. We were all happy.

In his closing address, Bro. Martin Handoko, our General Superior, regarding to our Gen-Con, he said that I am fully aware that this conference is not meant to solve all the problems of the congregation. However through listening to the sharing of experiences of our fellow leaders, I hope we feel united in our struggle to live out our call, and at the same time are encouraged to continue finding the best way to help our brothers grow to be fully alive as a religious. I am also convinced that through out the conference we have been mutually giving and receiving support, inspiration and encouragement  in many aspects of religious lives.

We hope that we can realize and implement all the resolutions we have made in the coming years. We ask Lord to continue to lead and to guide us in accordance to spread out the Kingdom of God to the people surround and to our fellow brothers. We close our meeting with the Concluding Thanksgiving Eucharist prepared by Bro. Raphael Besigrinee.

Theodorus Suwariyanto