Ghana

FIC Journey to Spiritual Enrichment, 2014

The commissioning ceremony of the FIC Journey to Spiritual Enrichment took place at the Provincial House - Wa on 8February, 2014. In attendance were the Provincial Superior, Bro. Seregious Dery, the animator Bro. Albert Ketelaars and his assistant Bro. Peter Agbozo, and all the participants, namely Bros Didas Toogumo, Amatus Taalo, Martin Balangtaa, Fidelis Gyireh and Alpitio Kog.

In his welcome address, the Provincial Superior thanked participants for accepting this challenge and emphasized that the individual effort and interest is paramount to the success of the program and thus pleaded for their cooperation. He hoped that everyone would enjoy the program and that it would bear fruits for them as individuals, the Province and the entire Congregation.

Bro. Albert on behalf of his assistant expressed their joy and readiness to journey with the participants. He pleaded for prayerful support for one another in this journey and urged them to declare their intention to their community members and solicit their support. He also stressed that this journey is a lifelong event and does not just end with the Oasis stage in Holland as some participants might think.

Bro Albert then led participants through a prayer service. Articles 15 and 55 of our Constitutions as well as a reading from the Gospel of Matthew (13:10-17) were referred to as choices of reading. In commissioning them, the participants took turns to read aloud the text of commitment.

During the business session, Bro. Albert gave a brief history of the spiritual journey from its beginning, pointing out the challenges and successes. Afterwards, the documents sent by the General Council concerning the concept, form and content of the exercise, and also the suggested time frame for the journey as a whole in addition to the guidelines for the FIC Journey to Spiritual Enrichment, were discussed. For a start, participants were asked to implement the following: keep a spiritual journey diary, communicate effectively with community members and have a spiritual director.

Following this, participants shared experiences of their encounters with previous participants of this journey as they were assigned to do before this meeting. From the sharing it was clear that though the program appears to be quite demanding, it would certainly be beneficial to the individual participants. The animator led participants to prepare a schedule for the subsequent meetings to facilitate the journey process.