The Hero Within

“What is a hero? What makes someone a hero? Why do you look up to them? ” These are some of the questions we asked the students at our last Lifeline (grade 5/6 youth group) night. We discovered together that most of us like superheroes because they are willing to do hard things for the benefit of others. Heroes are selfless. Jesus was selfless when he died on the cross for us. 

Why do we look up to heroes? Because we see in them something that we admire, something that we want to be. 

So along with showing the students commonly known superheroes, like Batman, Spiderman, and Superman, we showed them some real-life heroes that they could also be inspired by, such as Bethany Hamilton, Iqbal Masih, and Bl. Pier Giorgio Frassati.

HUGS!

We gave the students the opportunity to be heroes this night by making Easter cards and “hugs” for children at the Montreal Children’s Hospital and for some of the older people in our parish. They really enjoyed making things that would bring joy to other members in their community. At the end of the night we had a prayer service where we prayed for the people that would receive the cards and hugs! 

God Bless,
Shaina Wreede 
iNFUSE1 Montreal

What a month!

Wow! The month of March has been a crazy month full of fun events, but before I get to that I should mention that on February 28^th we had the honour of attending the celebration for newly created Cardinal Lacroix in Québec! It was an evening filled with the Gospel, some music, some speeches, and we even got to perform the flashmob with our youth again! It was definitely an evening that I will remember for a long time to come.

We kicked of the month of March with a weekend retreat for our junior high school youth group students. It was a super fun weekend and a great opportunity to build fellowship within the group, as many of them don’t see each other much outside of youth group. The weekend focused a lot on the different ways that God calls us and the importance of answering His call. It was such a great chance to get them talking and opening up more with each other, and to see them really become a group of friends was amazing!

A few weeks later, we went out to see ‘The Son of God’ with our senior high school youth group followed by a short discussion and prayer time. It was really cool to be able to share the experience with them and be out in the world doing normal things and see them outside of the typical youth group setting, to and be able to discuss how we felt about the movie.  

Last weekend we had our weekend retreat for our senior high school students! It fell on a really good weekend because many of our youth who are often less available to come to our youth group nights were able to make it to the retreat! The retreat theme was ‘Open Wide the Doors to Christ’ and we spent a lot of time talking about prayer, sacraments, fellowship, and service and how they help us to open the doors of our hearts to God and really let Him into our lives.

God bless,

Katelyn Sutton

La Beauce

EAST COAST!

Hey Friends!

Encounter 2 here, it's been a while since we have updated you in what has been happening in the road! Well we have officially made it to the east cost! We are currently in New Brunswick and have finally seen the ocean! Just recently we were in Montreal, Quebec and had the incredible opportunity to go to St. Joseph's Oratory. It was beautiful and truly a peaceful experience. Montreal also has so much character, especially in it's architecture. Speaking of character we also got to see Infuse 1! It was so great being able to hang out with them and hear how their ministry is going.

 After Christmas we spent a lot of time in Ontario going back and forth from Windsor to Toronto area and back. While in southern Ontario we did a Confirmation encounter day and this day in particular the youth were a tough crowd. IT was hard to win them over and gain there respect and attention. A lot of us were nervous for small groups, but when the time came for them to share and be open they really opened up and were easy going. During the prayer time we were amazed at how respectful and genuine they were. God definitely was at work and we were reminded to never doubt his abilities.

We are excited to be able to explore and encounter eastern Canada! We are thrilled to announce that we are officially going to New Foundland! We will keep you posted and hope to have a video blog up soon!

May God bless you in this lenten season,
Encounter 2

To Calgary and beyond!

Well hello there! It's Tim again! We're currently in Cochrane, Alberta. All of us here on the road team are definitely grateful to see the weather starting to warm up. Not that I don't enjoy the snow but driving for ten hours from town to town in the snow's definitely nerve wracking to say the least. Plus, I miss not having to wear four layers of clothes to stay alive.

This past week we've actually been at the same school. We've had the chance to minister to youth from junior kindergarten all the way up to grade nine. It's definitely been interesting to minister to students who've all gone to the same school. We've been doing classroom visits with the junior kindergarten students through to the grade sixes and we've done retreats for all the grade seven through nine students.

Seeing the impact God's had on the school since we got here's been amazing. Peter and I have been hosted with two of the students we ran retreats for and seeing how they've changed at home has really inspired me. Seeing that what impact God makes on them doesn't just disappear after the retreat, it follows them long afterwards. It's definitely rekindled our fires to keep doing His work.

We just ask that you keep us and our ministry in your prayers. You'll be in ours!


God bless,
Tim Elliott
Encounter One

Hello From iNFUSE 2!

Well, we have been in Edmonton for almost six months and ministry here is booming! God has been so good to us this year and I love seeing just how far the youth have come in such a short time. The youth we have coming to our nights have grown so much, both spiritually and in fellowship with one another. They really seem to enjoy and get a lot out of what we are doing here.

God truly has amazed me so much this year! I find personally that at times work can seem difficult, especially on nights when only a small amount of youth show up for youth group. Sometimes it can feel like we work super hard and don’t have a lot to show for it.  But, I have begun to notice that it is in these times that God seems to work the most.

I remember sitting with one of the youth after an event and he turned to me and said "you know those moments in life when everything is just so good and fun, when all your friends are around and everyone is happy? Those times when everything is so beautiful that it makes you want to cry? Well, I'm having one of those moments right now." I was very surprised that he said that, but when I looked around I realized how true it was. Most of the youth who came at the beginning of the year kept to themselves. It seemed that they were here for the fun. But, now it goes deeper, they want to be here because they feel welcome, accepted and loved by us and Christ. I realized that what has happened is that God has taken the little we can do and used it to touch people's hearts. How beautiful is that? God is showing me that He is always with us, that He loves us and that He is working through us.

So, even when it is hard I am learning to keep my trust in Him and allow Him to work through us to bring others to Him. God truly is good and I am so blessed to be a part of this experience!

God Bless,

Jessica

iNFUSE 2, Edmonton