Salt in LaSalle

Welcome to Encounter Two’s first blog entry of the new year! 2012 has found our team busy getting back into ministry mode. We returned to road ministry after a week of training in Ottawa, and have spent our time in the southern plains of Ontario.

As someone who is from out west, one of the things I notice the most about Ontario winters is the use of salt on the roads (in Alberta we use sand instead of salt). Being surrounded by salt has led me to reflect on Jesus’s call to be the salt of the earth and light of the world. One day during a retreat, I was praying about this and I realized that we as a NET team spend our time being the salt of the earth. Salt brings out flavor in the ingredients it surrounds, bringing out the best in another, and only a little bit of salt is needed. Travelling Canada this year, and especially in this first week of ministry, I’ve realized that this is what we do, drawing out the best in others, even if we can only spend a little bit of time with them, with hopes that our time spent will have eternal benefits for them.

Our first few days of ministry were in LaSalle, Ontario, just minutes away from the American border and the booming metropolis of Detroit. It was there that I was able to see the effect that a NET team can have on others.

The first story comes from a host sister that Sarah, Julia, and I stayed with. She was so excited to host us, and shared her enthusiasm with everyone she met. She bonded really well with the three of us girls, and spent many hours chatting with us and asking us questions about NET and faith and God, and sharing her stories as well. On our last night there, after saying night prayer with the family, the dad thanked us for coming, and said that he could already see the change in his daughter that our being there had brought about. The next morning we arose to each find a letter from her, filled with many encouraging words and words of gratitude. It’s amazing to think of how much of an effect we could have on her in such a small time!

The youth minister in LaSalle also asked us to put together an evening program for the high school leaders who ran the EDGE nights, asking us to focus on leadership. He spoke to us in the afternoon about what he would like covered in the evening. Initially we were expecting little more than a large group discussion on leadership, but after talking to the youth minister, we decided to create an evening using elements from retreat ministry, but different from our regular retreats. We had only two hours to plan and prepare for the entire event, but the evening turned out to be a huge success. Many of the youth and young adults stayed and chatted with the team for over half an hour after the session was over, and we even took down seven names of people interested in doing NET!

The next morning we had a retreat for the grade sevens in LaSalle. I was nervous at first because I found myself having a hard time connecting with the youth at the beginning of the day. By the end of the day though, I had established many strong relations with the girls in my small
group. During prayer ministry, after praying with the girls, a few of them looked me in the eye and said, “Thank you". After prayer ministry, I encouraged the girls to read their Bible and pray their rosary, and our team gave away several Bibles and rosaries.

In conclusion, I would like to share with you an excerpt from a letter that one of the youth volunteers who was present at both events wrote to us. The letter was for me a testimony of the power of Christ that works through the NET teams. He begins by apologizing for not saying bye to us in person, and then continues:

…Know that you hold a special place in my heart, and I hope this could be a reminder that you hold a special place in the heart of Christ, and all His Church. The work you do and the way you use your gifts to glorify Him reminds me of the amazing-ness of His Love – it shines
through you to everyone you meet and it’s beautiful…

From the southern lands of Ontario,
Katie Foster
Encounter Team Two

(Top photo - Melissa giving the Confirmation talk; Bottom photo - Sarah hanging out with a host family)