Half a moustache

Christmas Greetings!
This last month of ministry has been super busy. I didn't realize just how tired our team was until one morning one of the guys on our team looked at one of the other guys and exclaimed "Matt did you only shave off only half of your moustache?" YES, WE ARE TIRED!

We recently did a few parish missions. At the end of one of them we had a lady in her thirties approach us and explain that she had had her conversion when NET came to her school when she was in grade 9. At that time, NET was not yet in Canada, they had come up from the states.  Today she has four kids and is living in a small community and is clearly still in love with God. When she shared her story with me I realized that we never know how many lives we are impacting with this ministry and that sometimes we may not see the fruit until much later. The gospel has clearly had an impact on her life and it is continuing to impact her and those around her. Go NET!

May Christ continue to bless you this season and always.

Erin

'Twas The Night Before December Retreat

'Twas the night before the night before December Retreat, and all through the north

Two NET teams they traveled, together they traveled forth.

The gas tanks were filled at the station with care,

In hopes they wouldn't run out before they got there.

Seats in the vans served as temporary beds,

As glory stories through the year ran through Netter's heads.

Two GPS's replaced the team's map,

So that the navigator could chat and then take a nap.

Ahead on the road there arose such a clatter,

"What on earth could ever be the matter?"

"The windshield washer fluid is out and we couldn't see"

So we filled it and forward we continued with glee.

As we get to the next town it begins to snow

The road up ahead is closed, as far as we know.

In Wawa we stop and continue no more,

Eating at a restaurant with very little decor.

The two teams gather and meet really quick

And say a prayer through the intercession of St. Nick (and others)

In the local church for Mass they all came,

Where they were welcomed warmly and people learned their names.

Hello Cameron! Hello Erin! And hello Emily and Matt!

Hello Kandace and Katie! Hello Mariah, Melissa and Matt!

Hello Cecile and Rhianne, Sarah and Julia, Colin and Eoin, Josh and Matt!

Let's stand over here and have a little chat.

"So your stuck here for the night?" the deacon asks,

We'll find you places, its not a hard task.

The community was great and took as all in,

We didn't have to resort to a motel or an inn.

In the morn' we arose and found the sky clear

And December retreat was now one day near.

Onwards we continued to the town of North Bay

To arrive at the retreat in less than a day.

We know God provided for us all the way,

Our hearts are lifted and together we pray,

We thank Him for His blessings and His grace,

For being with us and finding us a place.

And now it's the eve before December retreat

We'll clean out the garbage from between the seats

Clean our vans then we're off, to the camp we will go,

Nothing will stop us, not even the snow (God willing!)

Massive Worship and Encounter Team Two

Sends forth a message to people like you

We pray that God's blessings shine like a light,

and Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!

And also...your spirit?

Hello again from the beautiful city of Halifax!

It's Lauren here, and I'm just going to fill you all in on what's been happening over here in Nova Scotia. As we all know, the Church switched to the New Translation of the Mass at the start of this Advent season, and I have to say it's been pretty funny stumbling through the Mass with everyone else. I don't think I've successfully said "and with your spirit" through the whole Mass. Then again, I'm not sure if anyone has. All I know is, it's been pretty interesting and quite entertaining, but putting humor aside, I am seeing the fruit of this change already. There is a deepened sense of reverence for Mass and what we say during the Mass and how important it is. It's been really amazing to see this change happen.

Ministry has been going very well as well! We've been focusing on parables with our Beyond group in the past few weeks and it's been really fun to teach the youth about parables and their importance. One of the highlights was when each of the small groups created a skit that reflected the message of the parable. With S.H.Y.G., our High School group, we had a night about God's Reckless Mercy and at the end of the night, we had confession available to the youth and every single one of them went. It was such a powerful night for them and we were all really blown away by how much the night impacted them.

Since it is the last week we have here in Halifax before we head back to Ottawa for December Retreat, we had a Christmas themed social night for S.H.Y.G. that included Gingerbread Houses, Christmas music, and Christmas games. The "Guess the Christmas Carol" game turned out to be quite intense, and probably the favorite part of the night. All in all, looking back at our first half here in Halifax, it's been amazing! We've met so many wonderful people and have seen God do some pretty awesome stuff too! We hope you all have a wonderful Christmas and look forward to sharing with you more Days in the Life of iNFUSE Team 3 after the break!

God Bless!
Lauren

(iNFUSE Team 3's Blogger)

From home to home, and heart to heart, from one place to another

The warmth and joy of Christmas, brings us closer to each other. - Anonymous

EPIC INFUSION!

Hey everyone

It’s Infuse 2 here once again to let everyone know how our ministry in the Hat is going.

Firstly, I want to start off with an explanation of what our past two nights have been about. For Equip, we did another night on ways to pray. We discussed with this second group the importance of prayer, and some awesome ways that they can talk to God.(ei, Praise and Worship, Scriptural reading, Journaling, etc...). It was great.

For Unchained, on the other hand, we had a much more laid back type of night. FEAR FACTOR!!!! (okay, maybe not laid back. just based more on social stuff than spiritual).. We made sure everyone participated. Even our supervisors who showed up in the middle for the once a month visit jumped in. We formed everyone into two teams, and asked for a contestant from each team for each challenge. We basically had a bunch of foods that, no matter what combination you put them in, would not taste good. (ei, Pickled herring, ice cream, croutons, molasses, mayonnaise, hot chili peppers, raisins, and etc). Then we posted them all on a big game show type wheel, and every time contestants came up, the wheel was spun twice. Those two choices were then put into a blender, maybe a little water was added, and once they formed a sort of lumpy soup, the contestants had to drink them. Your team got a point if you finished the drink at all, and two points if you finished

ahead of the other contestant. It was fun. Disgusting, but fun.

Also, Recently, we held our first Family Fun Day. It was Jeopardy themed, and we had a great turnout. We also played a game of Dutch Blitz, which I personally really enjoyed. It was awesome. We have another one coming up on December 10th, so be sure to keep your eyes open in the bulletin for more information on that. Oh...yeah... and I forgot... ITS SNOWED!!!! I wasn't nearly as excited as Kyle was, but he's texan, so it makes sense that he would flip out. But it is definitely beautiful.

Ok, thats all. It was great to talk to you guys.

God Bless

Isaac

P.s. To love God is something greater than to know Him. -- St. Thomas Aquinas

Awesome Sauce!

Happy Holidays!!
We find ourselves in the first week of advent, preparing for the birth of Christ and the return home for Christmas with great anticipation.
We are presently in Merickville, a beautfitful little town only a short drive from Ottawa. We spent all of last week in Windsor doing retreats and getting spoiled rotten by our host homes and contact people. We continue to be amazed by their immense generosity.
In the past week and a half in Windsor we had the rare chance to spend 4 nights in a hotel, swimming in the pool every night and eating all our meals in restaurants, all paid for by the school board! We also had the amazing opportunity to be hosted by NET Alumni, all with inspiring stories and a great idea of exactly what we needed at the end of the day. Awesome Sauce, as Melanie would say :)
In our past several retreats, God has blessed us with students who have an absolute craving for the Rosary. Without fail, during prayer time there is practically a mob of young people coming to take one of these treasures from the bin and asking us how to with pray them. And then they pray with them! By the grace of God, they have a desire for this beautiful devotion to our Blessed Mother Mary.
Also lately, a kind of message I've seen God giving our team is that everything that happens in our lives He will use for good. A member of our team recently lost his grandfather, and it's been difficult for him, but with the grace of God he seems to have found peace with it. Only a few days after, he was able to really help a student who had gone through a similar experience. I've also found that sharing our past experiences as a team has helped us to grow and learn from one another. God works in incredible ways...
Team life has been good, as we find joy in the little things each day. We built a snowman, we go to Timmy's 2-3 times a week, and we're constantly building our repetoir of inside jokes. We've really gotten to know each one's strenghts and weaknesses, what makes us happy and what drives us crazy. We are truly like brothers and sisters! God bless you all as we enter the most awesome season of the year!!!
Love from Les Equipes NET!
Julie Godin