The day began with a morning prayer led by the Indonesian Province on the theme: 'One heart and one soul in Leadership and Fraternity.’ During this time, we opened ourselves to the guidance of the Holy Spirit, so that our meetings and all our works throughout the day may be an offering of love to God.

In the first three sessions of the day, we dived straight into the topic of ‘Team Building: Strengthening unity and synergy within leadership teams’, which was again delivered by Br. Bertrand Nee Wayoe, a Ghanaian Holy Cross Brother and General Councillor, currently living and working in Rome.

Having addressed the topic of ‘Servant Leadership’ the previous day, Br. Nee seamlessly transitioned to the subject of team building. He recounted a story of a competitive race between a Hare and a Tortoise, to see who could finish first. During the race, the challenges posed by the terrain made them realise they had to work together as a team. The Hare, therefore, had to carry the Tortoise across the vast plain, while the Tortoise, in turn, carried the Hare on its back across rivers and streams. By working together as a team, they succeeded in reaching the finish line together, both as winners. Team building, therefore, requires synergy: working together to create something greater than either of you could achieve alone.

The biblical story of Mark 2:1–12, in which four men lowered a sick paralytic through the roof of a house to the feet of Jesus for healing, further illustrates the importance of teamwork when aiming to accomplish significant tasks. The four men in that team had to trust, support one another, communicate, cooperate, and be creative to achieve their ultimate goal of bringing healing to the sick person. We do need these elements, and many more, when working in leadership teams if we are to make any progress towards our goals. 

The fourth and final session of the day involved us dividing into Provincial groups to discuss the following three questions: 1). What is the relevance of the Constitutions of a religious Institute like ours? 2). State the charism of the FIC Congregation, and 3). What is the mission of the FIC Congregation? All three questions were under the main topic: ‘Constitutional Regulations on Leadership’. The discussions were to continue the next day.

The third day’s activities ended with Holy Mass, Supper and Recreation.