Happy Easter!

Hello to all from Brandi, and the Massive Worship team!

We are currently in Deep River, Ontario, where we had an amazing Easter Weekend, but more on that later on.

First I want to start out with the Encounter Days we did. It was our very first official time doing a full day Encounter day (the type of Ministry that Encounter teams do). It was very interesting getting it all set up for because it is such a different ministry than we are used to… well I guess a few of us were used to it because we were on Encounter teams last year. However needless to say none of us had done it in a very long time.

We were in Pickering, ON and put on two Confirmation retreats. It was so exciting seeing where they all were and what their Confirmation meant to them and then helping lead them to more of an understanding by talks and our own personal testimonies. I was excited because I actually got to give the Confirmation talk that I used to give on the road last year when I was on an Encounter team.

Each retreat went very well; there were games, music, talks, skits, dramas, and last but not least (and my personal favorite part of the day) prayer time.

The prayer time has always had an impact on me because of the impact it has on the retreatants. It’s like taking these busy, busy teens who are constantly bombarded with the media, music, school, cell phones, the internet, sports, extra curricular activities and basically just a lot of noise and letting them sit in the stillness and quiet of God’s presence and have a quiet moment to think about their lives and God and who they are. It gives them a chance to pray and ask God for help, along with asking the NET team for prayers.

It is usually the most effective time of the day.

Another thing about these two Encounter days was that during the prayer time there was a chance for them to go to the sacrament of Confession and there was such a huge line up that, unfortunately, they weren’t all able to make it because of the time. The fact that the desire was there was what amazed me the most.

We then moved to Ottawa and did a youth rally at Frank Ryan school for about 380 students. It was very high energy and a lot of fun. Afterwards we had a few students thanking us and commenting about the youth rally on our Facebook. Go Frank Ryan!

Now for Easter weekend. We had a bit of a break from ministry for the weekend and we also happened to be in Deep River, hometown of James! The guys on our team got to stay at his house. The girls were split off into to other host homes that are his family friends. We had an amazing Easter. The Easter Masses and services were all so beautiful, we went to all of them as a team and also watched The Passion on Good Friday. Easter is such a powerful time to grow in your spiritual life, especially after a long Lent.

When you’re away from home especially on a holiday it’s so nice to have a family to celebrate it with. On Easter Sunday everyone gathered at one home and we had a lot of food and also an Easter goodie bag hunt! It was a lot of fun to join in on the families traditions, like the hunts and the different foods, like coloring Easter eggs, decorating cookies, the butter lamb (see picture of Sir Lardalot), and Easter dove bread.

After the hunt we played some football and soccer in the field with our team and the younger members of all the familes. It just turned out to be a great day. Host homes have been so great to us; it’s beautiful how they just let you into their family for the time you’re there. It is definitely what makes it easier to be far away from your own family. I love host

homes!

We also had the opportunity to learn some ballroom dances! We had a session on one of the nights and we learned a jive and a waltz, it was a blast!

I’m so happy that the weather has finally been getting sunny. For a ministry day (where we work and practice things for ministry) we were able to spend the day at a house that was on the River, it was gorgeous! We got to have band practice overlooking the water, and at lunch we had a campfire where we roasted hot dogs and made smores and banana treats. Summer is almost here!

I hope you are all enjoying the Easter season and the weather as much as I am.

God Bless!

Brandi Olson