“Now, many of you may have experienced various things that are motivating you to further your relationship with Jesus. Awesome! However, in day to day life it can be easy to lose this motivation and forget to nurture our relationship with Christ. DO NOT BE DISCOURAGED…we have some tools for you! Repeat.after.me.”
With this cue, the retreat leader utters the strangest yet most intriguing acronym known to mankind.
“PSsssssFSssss”
The ensuing hiss of high schoolers repeating this odd arrangement of letters, though music to our ears, is halted approximately 13 seconds later and the acronym is thoroughly explained as a key to enriching our faith.
It rings so truly that Prayer, Sacraments, Fellowship and Service (or P.S.F.S.) are essential parts of spiritual growth. This applies not only to the youth but all people and most assuredly to NET missionaries.
As Encounter 1, we are given the unique gift of time to experience all these things in our evangelising journey together, travelling around Canada but ultimately travelling towards heaven.
Prayer - Personal Prayer, Team Prayer, Night Prayer, Dispersed During Day Prayer. The afore mentioned routine that was established within our training phase now brings us joy and focus for the work ahead. Is it as simple as that? No, some days it is difficult for us to commit our hearts to conversing with God. In fighting to not neglect prayer, we are given hope that we enter a relationship that is totally free and we are convinced that it is worth battling for.
Sacraments – receiving the body and blood of Christ at Mass during many of the retreats and on Sundays consistently reminds us of God’s love for us and the pertinence of sharing the Gospel to all those we meet.
Fellowship - a constant axiom whilst being on a team that truly shines when each one of us chooses to invest honestly in one another. Together in faith we can be strong.
Service - “God is first, others are second, I am third”… now that sounds like a rallying cry to service if you ask my opinion and other respectable circles. ;) Daily, I am boggled by the testimonies of students and team mates sharing what they experience during Encounter Retreat days. The more we invest in service the more graces we behold. As in the prayer of Saint Francis, ‘it is in giving that we receive.’
Please keep us in your prayers so that Prayer, the Sacraments, Fellowship and Service are always sought by our team and that this message is instilled in the youth we encounter. I hope that you will get to know us to a greater degree this year via this blog.
God Bless,
Encounter 1
Encounter1 = 11 members
6 Canadians
2 Australians
1 New Zealander
1 Salvadorian
1 Nazarene
Our family was blessed to spend one day & night with these dynamic young evangelists and what a day it was!!! Wishing all our NET teams across the globe safe travels and may your demonstrated commitment to PSsssssFSssss sustain you along this journey as you cast your "nets" into the deep waters!
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