Summertime is unfolding here in Ontario, where our team is now entering into the final week of ministry. We have been super busy lately, putting on retreats and traveling to the next town, in typical Encounter team fashion. Our retreats recently have been amazing, and every day I am left with wonder and awe at how God is working in each of our retreats. .
Two in particular stand out in the past couple of weeks. Both were in Brooklin, ON, a town just north of Whitby, where our team spent a lot of time in the winter. What was unique about those retreats was that the youth attending would be confirmed that night. Basically, they went from the NET retreat right into their confirmation only hours later. Small groups that day were really amazing, as many of the youth were already quite knowledgeable about Confirmation and what to expect. Later in the day, during prayer ministry, we had confession available. Something that our team has experienced time and time again is long confession lines, and these retreats were no different. At many of the retreats, students will only begin to line up for confession after their small group leader has prayed with them, but recently we have begun to encourage youth to line up as soon as they are ready, whether their small group leader has prayed with them. At our second retreat in Brooklin, Mariah told her small group that if they really wanted to go to confession, they should line up immediately, and suddenly, her entire small group moved and got in line! After praying with my small group, I left the church to get more Rosaries from the back room, and when I returned I found that my entire small group had disappeared and was now in the confession line. Unfortunately, due to time, not everyone was able to go to confession, but the priest was generous with his time and offered to come an hour before Confirmation that night in order to hear confessions.
Here's what a couple of youth said after those retreats:
"Today I learned about my faith and where I’m going with it. I learned that I want to spend the rest of my life with God and am looking forward to it. I confessed my sins and felt great about it " -14 male, Brooklin, ON
"I really liked how I could talk to my small group leader and I felt comfortable with her. Today made me want to go out and share my faith with everyone, and to stand up for my faith. I’m even more excited than I was before to make my confirmation and take charge of my own religion. Also, today helped me remember that there are youth programs out there that aren’t all pompous and instead teach you. Thanks!" – 14 female, Brooklin, ON
"The entire NET team was so fun and funny which made the day so much better. It really helped me to enjoy my day here. The video about forgiveness and the little white ball really spoke to me and it stood out. It really made me think and realize that no matter what I do, God won’t love me less. That phrase really stuck in my head. It also made me think about how important God really is in my life and how I feel like I’ve been shutting him out for the past few months. I really want to change that and it also made me excited to get confirmed." – 14 female, Brooklin, ON
Please continue to pray for our team as we do our last few retreats and head to Ottawa for Wrap up Week! Thanks and God Bless!
Katie Foster
Encounter 2
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