Second and Third Week of the Training of Formators in Nairobi

Published by Fr. Charles MUMBERE KIPUTSU, SMM in Africa Anglophone · Monday 24 Jul 2023
Tags: NU, AFA, 1045

[FR] [ES]

NAIROBI, Kenya - The second and third week of the training of formators was facilitated by Father Donald LA SALLE, SMM. He was accompanied and introduced by Father Felix Mabvuto PHIRI, SMM.

The second week focused on "Leadership Formation". Father Donald began by reminding us our mission as Montfort Missionaries in the Church as underlined by the numbers 9 and 69 of our Constitutions. He showed us that to be a formator is to be an evangelizer. Thus, his great concern was to see how we can be leaders in the work of evangelization as formators. Then he gave some general ideas about leadership. He spoke about the art of leading with particular emphasis on the two ways of leading: manipulation and inspiration. He also spoke about the art of accompaniment, emphasizing the humble inquiry. He gave us the spiritual habits of the heart of leaders. He concluded the second week by talking about the echoes of leadership in the Montfortian Constitutions and in the Ratio (volume I and II).

On the third week, it focused on “Working it together”. Father Donald introduced this week by telling us about the planning cycle. For him, the mission is at the center of this cycle. Developing this point, he went straight to the numbers 18 and 19 of the Acts of the 38^th General Chapter 2023. These numbers speak of the culture of planning. Indeed, “without planning, we plan to fail”.

Then, he approached the point of the different kinds of teams. He distinguished three: the sports team, the hierarchical team, and the fraternal team. The last is the common type among the Montfort Missionaries. He also talked about the teams that work well. He spoke here about the characteristics of an effective team.

Ending this third week, he showed us how to encourage working together in the formation house. About working together, he underlined the importance of co-responsibility and the spirit of collaboration. This is why he invited us to cultivate the skills of working together and to learn by doing. It should be noted that apart from the conferences, we also had moments of exchange and sharing in every team of formators according to the different entities. The two weeks have been very rewarding for us. We give thanks to God for all that we have learned, and we ask him to accompany us on the remaining week of our formation.

To Jesus through Mary.

Fr. Charles MUMBERE KIPUTSU, SMM

Vice-formator

Francophone Scholasticate of Songa/Burundi

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