So to catch you up on the life and times of this absolutely marvelous team, we will have to fill you in on where we’ve been….
Hello, Maria here, before leaving Alberta, one of the last places we went was Chestermere. The host families there were amazing and we love them so much. On one of our last nights there, the priest, Fr. John, had the whole team over to his house, as well as our host families and a couple other families for dinner. We had such a great evening hanging out, talking, playing Wii ‘Just Dance’ with the kids, (Jacob is a dancing CHAMPION, by the way.) At the end of the night, Father told us how much they appreciated us being there and our host families thanked us for being examples to their children and blessing them, but it was really them who blessed us. The families there made us feel like we were part of their family and the weekend we spent with them was treasured. I am so happy to be back in British Columbia and I am looking forward to the many retreats we have here. The weather is beautiful, the mountains are beautiful, the sky is beautiful. Can you tell I’m happy to be home? I got to see most of my family on our way to Vancouver. My sisters and youngest brother were able to meet my team which was a surreal experience; having both my families together in the same place. It was so good to see them, and to see my Mom. She has been so important on my NET journey. She did NET herself, in 1986 in the states, and has been super supportive and helpful on my own adventure with NET. I will be seeing them again in a couple weeks. Love you, family!!
Marc again. Leaving Alberta was sad as we left behind many new friends, but the road ahead was totally awesome. Our last destination in AB was Banff, the home of the natural hot springs, a ridiculously amazing hotel and the most beautiful scenery we have seen to date. It’s truly awesome to see God in everything especially nature, whether it be in the trees or the mountains, birds, sunshine or wind. God is all around us, He is always there for us, to protect, guide and equips those who seek him.
Maria again. Going off of what Marc said up above about God in nature. Before we left Alberta, one of the Sunday homilies we heard was on invitations by God. The priest talked about how things in our life that are beautiful, or things that we take for granted everyday are really a call to evangelize, a call to love, and a call to serve. The beauty of the mountains, the soaring in our hearts when we look on something truly amazing, the laughter of friends. These blessings are given to us from God and should remind us to follow Him always, and to help others recognize God in these things. For myself and many of my team, the beauty of seeing the Rocky Mountains, and the beauty of BC has been a call to marvel at the infinite power and love of God, and to thank Him for giving us this beauty.
Retreats so far in BC have been going really well. Besides being really enjoyable and full of energy, the youth seem to have a real grasp on their faith and a desire to learn more. We have had some really powerful and touching prayer times, and I’m looking forward to the rest of the Vancouver Archdiocese. The other night we had the honour of celebrating Mass and having dinner with Archbishop Michael Miller. He is an amazing man, and we had a great time talking with him and the awesome staff at the ArchDiocese Office.
BOOM! Marc here again. Next on the agenda is our final Supervisor visit which starts this week! And well we’ll be in BC for awhile so it’ll be sweet! We’re definitely going to meet Maria's family again which I’m stoked for!!!!
Till next time,
God bless,
Marc Moreau and Maria Kalin
Encounter Team One
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