Divine Word Missionaries
The SVD OTP/CTP Program
OTP-CTP-PFT-CCME
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The
OTP/CTP:
Not Just
Allowable, but
Necessary
t
was probably the only other SVD international gathering held outside of
Rome/Nemi in recent history (the other one being the general assembly of
provincial superiors held in São Paolo, Brazil, in 1992). In any case, it
certainly was the first Society wide meeting ever held in Africa. The Ghana
province, the elder among our AFRAM provinces and regions, had the honor of
hosting it. And from all reports, the Ghana province proves to be a worthy host.
I refer to the Workshop for OTP/CTP Directors held on August 01-31 at our Common Formation Center (CFC) in Tamale, Ghana. This workshop was organized to implement partly a recommendation of the last general chapter which stated: "That the Generalate Secretary for Formation organize a forum on the OTP/CTP. The aims of this forum should include: (1) Investigating what programs are available in provinces throughout the world; (2) delineating guidelines that will serve as minimal requirements for provinces who want to offer an OTP/CTP program; and (3) Providing training of OTP/CTP directors and on-site supervisors".
Although the chapter recommendation refers also to "on-site supervisors", the workshop was limited to OTP/CTP directors. It was felt that the concerns of and demands on on-site supervisors are too local to be the subject of a workshop on a world-wide level. The consensus was that a workshop for on-site supervisors would make more sense when organized on an interprovincial or subzonal level. In any case, the hope was that such an interprovincial or subzonal training workshop for on-site supervisors would be one of the spin-off effects of the workshop for OTP/CTP directors. The OTP/CTP directors of an area or subzone could organize such a workshop for the on-site supervisors of the area or subzone.
A total of 32 participants came to the workshop in Tamale, representing 27 provinces and regions of the Society. Of the 32 participants, 4 were Brothers and 1 was an SSpS (two other SSpS sisters participated in the first three days of the workshop); 8 represented AFRAM, 5 EUROPA, 9 PANAM and 10 ASPAC. A "core group" of four confreres, headed by the Generalate Secretary for Formation and Education, organized and ran the workshop. I joined the group during the first week, when the participants were led to an appreciation of the overall situation of the Society and of Formation in the Society and listen to each other's reports on the OTP program. The topics of the subsequent weeks ranged from "Entry into a new culture", "Language and culture learning" and "SVD mission spirituality" to the "Role of the OTP/CTP director", "Accompaniment of the OTP/CTP candidate" and "Ministry supervision". Two "missionary journeys" were organized to the Kintampo parish in the Brong-Ahafo district and Saboba parish in the Yendi district. Participants also had the opportunity to visit a typical African village where they shared a meal with the local people. The staff of TICCS (Tamale Institute of Cross-Cultural Studies) helped in facilitating three days of the workshop. Bishop Vincent Boi-Nai of Yendi shared his expertise on ministry supervision with the participants. The participants returned the favor by traveling to Yendi to attend the celebration of the bishop's silver jubilee of priestly ordination.
The workshop was positively evaluated by the participants. The participants valued most the experience of meeting other OTP/CTP directors and the possibility of discussing common concerns and problems. Likewise they welcomed the opportunity to study together the guidelines for the OTP/CTP (contained in the booklet, SVD Formation for Mission) and to arrive at practical suggestions for their implementations. The fact that the workshop was held in Africa was also appreciated very highly. It gave the participants a stark first hand experience of what it means to cross over to a "different culture". The workshop produced a kind of a "concluding document" containing the participants' "findings, learnings and proposals". Two things appear to be especially underlined in this concluding document, namely, (1) that the OTP/CTP program no longer appears like an out-of-the-ordinary adjunct in the provinces or regions, and (2) that there be greater coordination, collaboration and common planning among OTP/CTP directors. The participants also made up a list of 9 proposals toward following-up this workshop, promoting the OTP/CTP program among our provinces and regions, and enhancing and improving further its effectivity in our Society.
Indeed, the OTP/CTP program--that is, this 2-3 year cross-cultural experience in a country other than one's own, consisting basically of the study of a new language and a ministry experience--has been with us since 1968. Since then about 550 confreres, including 45 brothers, from 25 countries have participated in this program. The first program was written by Frank Gerry of Australia and was further developed by Leo Brouwer of the Melanesian Institute in PNG. The theologate in Chicago later prepared a more detailed program which has served as the model for many of the existing programs in our provinces and regions.
The US stands as the country that has sent the most OTP/CTP students (around 110), followed by India (around 87), Indonesia (around 60), Poland and the Philippines. SVD provinces in 30 countries have taken the responsibility of hosting and organizing OTP/CTP programs and accompanying young confreres undergoing the program. The China province is the province that has welcomed the most number of OTP/CTP students (around 65), followed by PNG, Ghana, and Japan. Three OTP/CTP students have died while undergoing the program--Maurice Mayo from the US in 1977 in Ghana, Rajnhold Bodynek from Poland in 1984 in Japan, and Varikkattu Sabu from India in 1994 in Brazil. About 80 confreres have left the Society during or after their OTP/CTP experience, and about 60 have completed their basic formation in the countries where they did their OTP/CTP.
Every evaluation of the OTP/CTP program at general chapters has been quite positive. Indeed, the experience of those who have participated in the program, as well as of those involved with it in both the sending and the receiving provinces, testifies to the validity and effectiveness of the program. While some doubts linger on among some confreres and in some quarters of the Society, especially in regard to the financial costs entailed by the program, the overall opinion on the OTP/CTP in the Society is without doubt a favorable one. In the context of the internationality of the SVD, the OTP/CTP is seen more and more no longer simply as something allowable but as something necessary. Indeed, it is one of the most effective structures we have in the Society for preparing our members to live and work in international and multicultural communities.
The workshop in Tamale was certainly one important step in further underlining the importance of the OTP/CTP program. I would like to thank Fr. Kurian, our Generalate Secretary for Formation and Education for organizing the workshop and running it along with Emmanuel Fianu (GHA), Mark Schramm (USC) and Miguel Sommers (AJSC). My thanks also go to Fr. Provincial Vincent Owusu of Ghana for generously and competently hosting the workshop. And my thanks, finally, to all the participants for their cooperation and collaboration during the workshop and for their enduring interest and strong commitment to the OTP/CTP program. May the workshop in particular and the OTP/CTP program in general help make the SVD truly "a community of brothers from different nations and languages and thereby be a living symbol of the unity and diversity of the Church."
Fraternally in the Divine Word,
Antonio M. Pernia, SVD
Superior General
Source: ARNOLDUS Nota-October 2002
A Word from Father General
