Hey Y’all! This is Encounter Team One coming at you from Saskatchewan! In the last couple weeks we have traveled from the Peterborough Diocese, to Mississauga, and then to Saskatchewan!
Our time in Mississauga was great. We put on four Confirmation retreats for the four schools there. They all went well, and we’ve found that we have grown as a team in our adaptability and communication since being back on the road. Claire, Marc and Katie did fantastic jobs on the talks, and I think those youth have a good grasp of the magnitude of the sacrament they will be receiving.
We had a cool experience at one of the retreats. We were having a bit of trouble keeping the youth’s attention, being the fun-loving bunch that they were. During prayer ministry though, Judith gave a little spiel on the rosary before we started, and handed rosaries out. It was something we decided to try because we want to spread the message of the power of the rosary. Almost all the youth took one and I have never seen a quieter or more reverent prayer time. They didn’t want to leave at the end of it. It was beautiful. Fr. Peter, Fr. Vid and Miri, the youth minister, were so welcoming at Merciful Redeemer Parish and made us feel at home. We had Mass on every retreat while in Mississauga, which was wonderful. Seeing the Church filled with youth really filled me with a renewed appreciation of the importance of the Mass and an urgency to help the youth of the country realize its importance.
We spent four days traveling. Our days have been, on average, 9 hours of traveling. The trip was great and I feel our team has grown, not only closer as you only can when spending 40 hours in a van, but also in zeal for our mission because of the amazing host homes that we have stayed in. Since so much happened in those four days, I have made this video to try and capture a glimpse of our trip to Saskatchewan. Enjoy! We sure did :)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Api8cMlWSM
Now we are in Regina, Saskatchewan, after spending a few days in Wilcox putting on retreats at the school, Notre Dame. We got to stay in dorms and hang out with the youth for two days which was so cool. We also celebrated my birthday on January 31st, which is also the feast day of one of our patron saints, St. John Bosco. My team created a hunt with clues in which I had to find all my team, my ‘fellowship,’ in Walmart. They kidnapped and blindfolded me and took me there. It was hilarious and so much fun. I love my team so much.
Until next time,
Stay Sweet and God bless,
Maria Kalin
NET Encounter Team One
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