What An Awesome Week of Ministry!

Hi Everyone!

Well, we have had a jam packed week! We had our first overnight retreat for grades 6-9 as a kick off to our youth group we also started this week, named Pulse!

Playing Ninja, which was a favorite game during the weekend retreat!

The overnight retreat was a really great experience! It was our first major work as a team, and it was cool to see how well we work with each other and help each other out when problems came up! A group of grade 7 girls asked us at the end of the retreat if we could put on a week long retreat for them, because they liked it so much!

Me giving the "Who Are You" Talk!

We also had an encounter day, which is a day retreat. This was put on for about 60 students in grade 7 at their Jr. High School here in Lethbridge. This ended up being a really fun day! The students heard a talk on “Who Are You”, talking about who we are in relation to God, and we learnt many fun games! We ended the day with prayer ministry, allowing them a chance to pray to God.  It amazed me how many of the youth enjoyed this part of the day so much, a few of them expressed how much they enjoyed the prayer which was awesome!

We also started our youth group we named Pulse! It was an exciting night of crazy Olympics! One game involved gummy worms tied to string, and the object was to get the candy into your mouth with out using your hands! Everyone that came out had lots of fun!

We can't wait to share more of our work with you!

God Bless,

Amy ten-Bohmer

Infuse 1, Lethbridge, Alberta.

Let the Groups Begin!

Alberta is just gorgeous this time of year. One week it's a glowing sunset, and now it's all frosty and white. Changes up, but keeps it exciting, right?

We have completed our first week of ministry events. Let me tell you all about it! Last Friday, we kicked off our first REACH jr. high youth group with a good crowd and good food. REVIVE came next, the high school youth group, once again with a great turn out for our first night.

On our high school visit, we introduced ourselves with a popcorn survey. We found out the answers to questions we've always wanted to ask teens like "What is your favourite sport" and "if you could be any canned vegetable what would you be?"... The consensus was corn.

The parishioners enjoyed the talk series on parish mission with visiting priest Fr. James Mallon from Halifax this week. Our team was able to aid his talk to high school students by providing a game, drama, sharing our personal faith stories and a song. He knows NET well, as he had an iNFUSE team at his home last year! It was great retreat practice for us parish netters.

Our team is having a great time here, making the most of every moment. Even our day off, we spent learning about the production of sacramental wine, and the men on our team tested their carpentry skills making box drums. Aren't they talented! We also celebrated Joseph's Birthday this week. 

Happy Birthday Joseph!

We have our first family fun day this weekend, so check out next week's blog for all photos of fun.

Blessings

Stephanie & iNFUSE 3

Let Ministry Being!!

So much has happened in the last two weeks out here and it's just none stop here down in Southern Alberta in Medicine Hat. We've put on our first Unchained high school youth group, our first Equip middle school youth group which is happening tonight, and Family Fun Days are starting soon to! I've always loved Kick Off events, getting to know the youth of the area and get them pumped to come back to more nights in the future. It's going to be an exciting year watching everyone we encounter grow in friendship and our ultimate goal of bringing them closer to Christ. I've heard stories of people's lives being changed from having NET teams in the parish and that just makes us want to be able to work even harder for God cause He is truly the best boss to work for. 

We've been up to Calgary a few times in this past week to meet with other youth ministers from the area for more training regarding the Diocese of Calgary so that was very informative. Many challenges we're laid out for us and making us the best youth ministers we can possibly strive for. Nothing but good stuff for sure. Thank you to everyone who was there, it was great to build up our relationships with one another and share in our years of experience of youth ministry. 

One of my favourite things from going out to Calgary though was being able to see the beautiful Rocky Mountains. Most of the team (except 3 of us, Matt, Jim, and Kyley) had never seen them before so there was much excitement in the van as we saw them come into view. Being in southern Alberta is extremely flat if you didn't know. As in if you wake up in the morning early enough you can see the sun rise in the east and it's still pitch black in the west. Another example you can see a train from start to finish without moving your head. That is how flat is down here but man it is still unbelievably beautiful cause God knew what he was doing when he created the place we call home. 

So with this all said, stayed tuned for more to come. God Bless! 

From the World's Largest Teepee 

Matthew ten-Bohmer

InFuse 2 Medicine Hat

Encounter Team 2's First Video Blog

Bridges, Wind, Retreats, Oh My!

Hi Y’all!

Life in Lethbridge is pretty grand so far! We are starting to get to know the city a bit better, and we are taking less wrong turns now! (Having a GPS is super helpful as well!) One of the cool parts of being a part on an iNFUSE team is the chance to become familiar with a city and the people that live there!

 Fun fact about Lethbridge is that it is the home of the largest and highest steel trestle bridge in North America! It goes across the river that splits Lethbridge into different parts. There is a beautiful park by the river and bridge that we spent some time in as a team! We will defiantly be going back throughout this year!

Another fun fact is that it is windy here. I’m not talking about little winds that blow the leaves around in the front yard or blow your hat off your head. I’m talking about winds that blow your car to one side of the road while driving, or make you to feel the house swaying in the wind!

I wonder if flying around with an umbrella could work….If it did, I would definitely commute to work that way every day!

As for ministry work, we have started visiting the schools in the area during lunch time to hang out and eat with them! The students have been really welcoming and it is a pleasure to spend time with them every week! It can be a challenge to approach people you don’t know, but it is so rewarding when they invest in a conversation with you!

We are starting our Jr. High youth group this week with an overnight retreat on the weekend! We are super excited for it!   Updates on it will be on the next blog!! Stay tuned!

God Bless ,
Amy ten-Bohmer
Infuse 1, Lethbridge.

And So It Begins

Hello all,

So here we are on our first couple weeks on the road, and so far its been fantastic.  In the first week on the road we have put on five retreats in four different towns, Alliston, Bradford, Scarborogh, and Whitby.  In Scarborogh be put on a retreat for an all boys school of over one hundred grade tens.  It was a very bonding experience for the team.

During the second week put on four retreats in the towns of Oshawa, Whitby, and Barrie.  During that time we began to feel more comfortable putting on retreats and speaking to teens about our Lord.

While staying in Oshawa some of the team members received the opportunity to go up flying in a cessna 170 airplane around the CN tower and along the coast of lake Ontario.  It was a bright cloudless day when this took place and it really opens your eyes to the beauty of Gods creation.

Flying over the Toronto skyline

At this time we are back in Scarborogh for the next couple weeks putting on retreats for Pope John Paul 2nd high school.  So far we have just put on retreats for grade tens and they were very enthusiastic and it was an absolute joy for us to put these events on for them.  We are looking forward to our next couple of days because we will be having the grade elevens and twelves.

Saucesome

We feel so honoured and privileged to be doing Gods work and we can definitely see him working in the youth that we are able to work with and in the wonderful host families that we are honoured to stay with.

We hope you all enjoyed a wonderful Thanksgiving and we would like to thank you all for your continued support and prayers.



Sincerely,

Matt Bliault and the Encounter 1 team.

We're Thankful For You!

Hope you all had a wonderful turkey day! We spent our Thanksgiving with host families and their families and completed the evening with a garage party. We even did some praise and worship with our new friends. It’s been really cool learning about their lives and what has made this community what it is today; beautiful and vibrant. The church is full of families with prayer devotion, active CWL and Kof C.

All of the turkey has not kept us from working hard on our upcoming junior high and youth nights, family fun days, music for liturgy and community events. We've been filming promos (super fun!); making ads and surveys; and meeting, greeting and mingling at events throughout the town. I should mention, one thing our team is thankful for is our new vehicle!

This past weekend we spent in Edmonton at the Youth Rally with a few youth parishioners, the Archbishop and Andrew Papenbrock, the Associate Director of Youth Evangelization in Edmonton  It was awesome to see the youth inspired!

The drama we showed at St.Anthony’s parish was received well, and we can’t wait for youth nights to begin.

Blessings!

Stephanie & iNFUSE 3

Greetings from Lethbridge!

 Greetings from Lethbridge, Alberta!!

Hi everyone!!

It is really crazy that we are finally in Lethbridge and ready for a year of parish ministry!  Ever since teams were announced back in September, I have been looking forward to arriving and getting to work!  To get to Lethbridge, we drove with the Medicine Hat team for 5 days!  It was great to be able to see parts of Canada we hadn't seen before!  We drove at an excellent time, with the brilliant fall colours everywhere!  

One of my favorite memories from driving out was when we were in Regina, Saskatchewan.  We had arrived early and had some time before we were expected at our host homes for the night.  Neither of the teams had said team prayer yet, so we found a park and prayed in the middle of a group of trees.  The wind was blowing and it was definitely cold, but it was one of the best team prayers so far!  Nothing beats being outside - enjoying the beautiful creation of God with a bunch of people who share the same passion for the Lord! 

From the moment we arrived at our Parishes, we have felt welcomed.  Everyone has been so excited to meet us and have us work in their Churches.  We have been blessed to have an amazing group of people to work with while in Lethbridge for this year. We will be starting a Jr. Youth Group we named Pulse, as well as helping out with the high school youth group called Arise, and a group called Little Saints for younger children. It's going to be a great year!

Stay tuned for more soon!

God Bless,

Amy ten-Bohmer

Infuse 1

Welcome to Drayton Valley!

The Trip

We began our journey Sunday Evening. After a small delay, our flight was underway and we arrived to Edmonton around midnight.

The Arrival

Greeted by posters and smiley faces, we drove to Drayton Valley and were tucked in bed by 2am. Thanks host families!

The Tours

The next day we were introduced to the administration at St.Anthony's Parish and Elementary School, as well as Holy Trinity Academy.

The Town

For those of you not too familiar with Drayton Valley, here are a few town stats:

   Drayton Valley is located in central Alberta, Southwest of Edmonton

   The population is approximately 7500 +people in surrounding area

   This is a city if oil and gas, but also agriculture and forestry.

   And, maybe most importantly, a new Tim Horton's can be found just inside of town, with another on the way!

We are very excited to be starting up parish ministry this weekend; playing music for the Masses, and introducing ourselves to the parish with Name Tag Sunday and a drama.
Thus concludes week 1

God Bless

Check out our "First impression of Drayton Valley" photos

We have made it to the Hat!!

We have made it to the Hat!!! After a 5 day trek in Old Blue (our good old 91 Ford Ecoline 350 Van) with the Lethbridge Team across hilly Ontario, through the flatness of Manitoba, and Saskatchewan and Alberta... It doesn't change much but it's still beautiful none the less! The beauty of the sky truly makes the prairies one of a kind in God's creation. We saw the northern lights in Sault St. Marie, moose in Manitoba, deer here and there and then finally the giant teepee of Medicine Hat confirming our travels were done! and our work that God has sent us to was about to begin. 
Our first weekend here has been spent introducing ourselves to the congregation of Holy Family and it has been nothing short of a warm welcome! I'm extremely excited to get to know all the families and youth as the year goes on build up friendships that will last for years to come! 
We're getting ready for our first Unchained and Equip nights (our high school and middle school youth groups) which has excited a lot of teens and ourselves. This year is going to be nothing short of amazing for sure...

So with all this said here's a huge THANK YOU to our families and friends for supporting us both spiritually and financially because without your help we wouldn't have been able to make it to where we are today in Medicine Hat, Alberta. Well, God bless and you'll be hearing from us again soon! We tip our "Hats" to you all.

Matt ten-Bohmer

iNFUSE 2

Med Hat