REPORT FOR GENERAL CONFERENCE 2015, Wa - GHANA.

DAY 11.

THEME: CONSUME LESS LIVE MORE.

Members of the conference started the day with a prayer in the chapel at 6:30am as usual. The prayer was led by Malawi Province; the theme was “Consume less live more”.

An opening prayer by Malawi Province at exactly 8:30am set the stage for the business for the day. Bros. Remy Nyukorong and Theodorus Suwaryanto facilitated the session. Bro. Remy first presented the financial statements and explained the various ways the General Council try to generate money for the Congregation. He also explained the fluctuating financial situation of the Congregation. After the presentation all the Provinces were asked to share on their experiences with the new financial manual after the workshop was organized in the Netherlands in June, 2015 for the Provincial bursars. The aim was to establish how successful it has been for the various Provincial bursars to implement the policies drawn up in the new financial manual. After these sharing, Bro. Theodorus suggested to all Provinces to come out with an investment statute for their Provinces to guide their financial operations.

PROMOTION OF SELF-RELIANCE PROJECT

When the house returned from a thirty minutes break, the General Superior Bro. Martin Handoko commended all the Provinces for their improvement in the way they manage their finances. This he said is evidence in the surpluses accruing the various Provinces from the previous allocations. He however, called on all Provincial Bursars to operate under the directives of the Provincial Superiors and also follow the financial manual. Bro. Martin (General Superior) further urged all brothers to be wary of the fact that the finances of the Congregation are dwindling and that they should live moderate lives. He alluded to other congregations that that wined off the Provinces under the care of the General council and noted that FIC has not gotten there yet.

The message from the General Superior to the participants of the conference on finances was that the allocations to the various Provinces will remain as was given last year. The day ended with an evening mass said by Rev. Fr. Martin, a tutor in St.. Francis Xavier Minor Seminary.

Kuu-ireme Godwin.