An Eventful Trek out West...

So after an amazing week in Peterborough, ON we started heading to Timmins where three retreats awaited us. On our way up north we encounted more snow than our vans could handle. After 4 hours on the road, visibility became so bad that we were forced to spend the night in North Bay, As if the weather didn't cause us enough trouble, along the way one of our vans ended up in a snowbank on the side of the road. Thanks to a random stranger who allowed us to use their phone, we called the tow-truck to pull us out. No real damage was done, thank God. Also, the generosity of our unexpected host homes in North Bay was unbelievable! Within a couple hours of knowing we were coming, they had a huge dinner prepared for us, and all of our accomidations set up! The next day, we tried to continue our journey to the Timmins diocese, but due to an accident on the highway we were forced to go back to North Bay for the night. (Above: Mary paying the tow-truck driver) Finally, on our third attempt, we made it to Timmins and we were able to do one of our three retreats planned.

Then our trek to Saskatchewan then began! We spend 4 days in the van, spending the night in Thunder Bay, Winnipeg, and Regina. After over 30 hours of being in the van, we were very eager to arrive. We were very warmly welcomed in Prince Albert, and are very excited to get back to doing retreats!!

We would like to extend a special thank-you to all those who generously helped us along the way, whether it be housing us, feeding us, or allowing us to use their phone along the way. We realized how blessed we truly are, and that God is definitely taking care of us.

God bless and keep you!

-Silken Neutelings and Alex Sibiga

Encounter Team 1