The Lasallian PARC (Pacific-Asia Regional Conference) region is the most diverse in the world-wide Lasallian family, in terms of its different cultures, religions and socio-political and economic realities. This congress celeberated the many ways in which the Lasallian Mission is lived and expressed.

Gathering in the spirit of La Salle's original retreats for his Brothers and teachers, APLYC8 aimed to

• Energise, empower & enable youth to own and live the mission in their own realities, in the Spirit of Zeal.
• Create opportunities for delegates to share their experiences in service work, thus drawing inspiration from one another for designing new projects and improving current ones.
• Reflect on and clarify mission objectives in delegate countries.
• Celebrate the community of the regional Lasallian Family.
• Celebrate the diversity of Lasallians and the diversity of ways in which one mission is lived by many lives.

As APLYC8 comes to a close, Brother John D’cruz was called upon to give a wrap-up of all the events and happenings throughout this congress. Brother John started out by giving us a recap of our “formative process”. Our journey throughout APLYC8 was categorized into five phases.

The first phase was the “sharing of stories”. We all began by sharing our experiences with one another, as well as listening to the stories of La Salle and Father Beurel. The second phase was to “reflect more deeply”. This meant that we were stimulated to ponder over the stories we heard. It was a process requiring less of “what and how”, but “why” these poor exist in our world. The third phase was to “seek inspiration”. Many Lasallians undoubtedly seek inspiration from La Salle himself. However, Brother John also said that we may seek inspiration from our different religions or even other fellow Lasallians. The fourth phase was “discernment”. This was regarding the power of choice, which the short play “Nahut”, performed yesterday morning, addressed. The final phase was that of “conscious action”, where we decide to go forth and execute the Lasallian mission.

Brother John D’cruz highlighted how this was a process from “information” to “formation”, where we finally achieve a “product”. He also summarised our mission with these inspirational few words: “Based on our inner faith and spirit, we value the human and spiritual education of all people, especially the poor. We carry out this mission together and by association, and through the building up of community life.”