Bâtir les relations!

La Guignolée

       Hier soir, nous avons fait la Guignolée avec les Chevaliers de Colomb. C’était un de ces soirs où il faisait froid, il ventait et la route était glacée. Une soirée où normalement des personnes raisonnables seraient restées à l’intérieur. 

     Eh bien, pas nous! Nous nous trimbalions dans les rues de St-Georges (Est) afin de récolter des dons pour apporter du réconfort aux gens pauvres de la région. C’est important de s’impliquer dans la communauté. C’est ce que l’Église nous demande de faire! Il faut s’entraider.

     Alors qu’il faisait son porte-à-porte, Zak fut reconnu dans une des maisons. L’homme qui restait là lui demanda comment il se faisait que des jeunes comme nous acceptaient de faire la Guignolée, surtout par ce froid! C’est alors que Zak lui a dit qu’il faisait partie de Les équipes NET et le monsieur l’a reconnu! Il lui a dit qu’il nous avait vus à la messe de présentation de l’équipe dans la paroisse de l’Assomption. 

     Il nous a fallu sortir de notre confort pour affronter la température et les gens. Il faudrait toujours avoir cette même ardeur pour évangéliser. Beau temps, mauvais temps, que les personnes soient agréables ou non. 

     Pour ce qui est de notre apostolat, la fin de semaine passée, une autre victoire a été réalisée : de nouvelles personnes sont venues à une autre de nos soirées! Pour une fille en particulier, c’était une invitation lancée sans vraiment avoir de grandes attentes, mais on a eu une grande surprise quand une réponse positive nous est parvenue et notre joie était à son comble quand on l’a vue arriver dans notre salle qui porte le nom de Pasto-Vie!

     Les soirées de sports sont toujours aussi comme une grande fête! Les jeunes qui y viennent savent qu’ils seront bien accueillis et qu’ils y ont toujours une place. Plusieurs y participent même si les sports ne sont pas leur passion. C’est vraiment là que les gars forment leurs amitiés et les filles sont très intenses dans leur jeu également! Ces soirées de sport, ainsi que les autres activités sociales, sont importantes pour notre apostolat car elles nous permettent d’apprendre à mieux connaître les jeunes et de bâtir des relations avec eux.    

     On dit tranquillement, mais sûrement! Le Seigneur nous fait planter des graines et ce sera à Lui de les faire grandir!

Sara, Les équipes NET

Andrée-Anne, Matt, Zak, Mickel, Rebecca, Lisa, Josée

Évangéliser

‹‹ Voilà pourquoi le monde ne peut pas nous connaître : puisqu'il n'a pas découvert Dieu. ›› Première lettre de Saint-Jean 3, 1



En tant que Les Équipes NET, nous avons une mission d’évangélisation. La définition d’évangéliser, selon le dictionnaire Larousse c’est : ‹‹ prêcher l'Évangile à des populations non chrétiennes, convertir au christianisme››. Sur Wikipédia, on peut lire sous le mot évangéliser : ‹‹ Vraiment, par expérience, je plains le jeune prêtre que l’on envoie, pour ses débuts, évangéliser la Beauce. ›› — (Joris-Karl Huysmans, La Cathédrale, Plon-Nourrit, 1915).


Nous y voici rendus! Nous ne sommes pas des prêtres, mais nous en sommes aussi à nos débuts. Pour revenir à la première définition, nous ne sommes pas dans une population de non-chrétiens. C’est pourquoi on parle de ‹‹ nouvelle évangélisation ››. Ré-évangéliser les baptisés. On peut bien être baptisé(e) sans être croyant. Alors à quoi cela sert-il de suivre la tradition?


Dans la famille d’accueil où je suis, les parents sont impliqués dans les démarches pour le baptême. Leur constatation est grande en ce qui a trait au manque de connaissances des jeunes parents par rapport à ce qu'ils offrent à leurs enfants. Les gens les font baptiser sans savoir ce que cela apporte concrètement. La question que mes parents d’accueil demandent aux parents est : qui est Jésus pour toi? Les parents ne savent pas. Ils ne l’ont pas appris! Ces parents veulent le meilleur pour leurs enfants et ils font bien! On peut voir le désir des parents pour que leurs enfants aient l’opportunité de rencontrer ce Jésus qu’ils ne connaissent pas tant eux-mêmes.


En amenant une équipe NET dans leur milieu, la communauté de la Beauce montre qu’elle veut le meilleur pour sa jeunesse! Nous sommes ici pour cette génération qui ne sait pas qui est Jésus. Par notre présence et nos témoignages de vie, nous sommes en train de montrer aux jeunes du Québec qu’il est possible de croire. La foi, ça n’arrive pas tout seul! C’est notre désir de Dieu qui crée en nous cette soif pour avoir plus que ce que la vie terrestre offre.


Les jeunes ont soif. Soif d’aimer et d’être aimés. À chaque événement que nous faisons, nous créons des liens avec les jeunes en allant toujours un peu plus loin dans les enseignements de Jésus. Si quelqu'un a soif, qu'il vienne à moi, et qu'il boive, nous dit Jésus dans Jean 7 : 37. Notre travail à nous, Netteurs, c’est de les conduire à Jésus afin qu’ils puissent boire de cette eau pour qu’ils n’aient plus soif.


Le défi est vraiment d’amener les jeunes à voir l’existence de Dieu. Qu’Il est là, au milieu de nous. Nous devons, par notre exemple, être des témoins de l’amour que Jésus nous porte en nous aimant les uns les autres dans l’équipe. Les gens ne nous connaissent pas tous, comme ils ne connaissent pas tous le fait que Jésus est venu pour nous sauver.



Comme le pape François nous le demande, nous irons aux périphéries de l’Église pour annoncer, pour ÉVANGÉLISER!

Sara, Rebecca, Mickel, Zak, Lisa, Matt, Andrée-Anne, Josée

Act of trust

iNFUSE 3 ~ "NET in The North"

In all my temptations, in all my weaknesses, in all my difficulties, in all my sorrows, in every failure, in every discouragement, in all my undertakings, in life and death, in time and in eternity, oh sacred Heart of Jesus, I place my trust in you. 

Trust has been a HUGE aspect of NET, as well as being here in the North Pole ...aka Yellowknife... close enough right??

 I would just like to take a minute and break a few things down for you. When you apply for NET you are signing up for a year with 7 or more random strangers, with whom you will spend almost every waking hour, day in day out, in a location that is unknown. Just let that sink in. You may be thinking "wow those people must be crazy to want to do something like that." You might be right, but when you really think about it it's pretty amazing; the fact that the people you are placed with become your family in Christ. Some will be there to make us laugh, some to give a listening ear but all of us are here to challenge one another to grow in holiness. It shows just how much trust we must have in the Lord our God to be placed on a team that can work to share Christ's love with everyone we encounter. 

We as a team came to Yellowknife feeling blindfolded, having no idea what the future was going to hold.  I've found God likes to be unpredictable and He continuously shows me that I need to let go of any anxieties and trust in Him and His plan for me. He has taken us in hand and slowly but surely we are guided on a path of good judgement. 

Steph and Mike

Yellowknife is one of the most beautiful places I have ever been and I am so thankful to have the opportunity to be part of such an amazing community. Now I'd be lying if I said that it didn't come with any struggles; I've caught myself thinking a few times why the heck did God bring me here, I'm in the middle of nowhere! It never fails to surprise me how every time I have these thoughts one of my teammates reads a scripture or verse during team prayer that was based on trusting in God's plan. It's little reminders like these that keep me believing that He hand picked each one of us and placed us exactly where we need to be.  

Last Wednesday we had our team day. We spent it out at Trappers Lake (the retreat centre that we take care of) having a snowball fight.  That's right... a snowball fight. There was a moment where I just stood there and thought "holy smokes I absolutely adore every single one of these people", I was completely overwhelmed with a feeling of love. It really showed me that there is no reason to stress about the future because the future is up to Him, and what He wants is for us to really invest in the gift of the present. Among all the uncertainties I can honestly say that I have never been happier, through all of the struggles I finally understand what it means to walk with God and to invite him into every aspect of my life, knowing and trusting that he will guide me every step of the way.

Proverbs 3:5

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.

Thanks you for reading 

God Bless 

Steph from NET in the North

Moving Swiftly

Greetings!

Saskatchewan via NET 

I can hardly believe that we have been in Swift Current for a month now! Things have certainly been moving swiftly. We've made several visits to the middle school and high school, we've lead several events, and future events are planned. Although our days are pretty busy and many of us are starting to come down with a case of homesickness, we are overcome with the love and support that we have received from the parish community. 

A few days ago during prayer, I meditated on the idea of love. I found myself fumbling through the Catechism of the Catholic Church and ended at the glossary. To my surprise, there wasn't a definition for love in the glossary, but rather a note that directed the reader to look at the definition for charity. The Catechism defines charity as, "the theological virtue by which we love God above all things for his own sake, and our neighbour as ourselves for the love of God". We hear at church about how God loved the world so much that He sacrificed His only begotten son for us. We hear about how amazing holy men and women such as St. Theresa of Lisuix, St. Francis of Assisi and Blessed Mother Teresa had such passion and zeal for God and the life of the Church. It's amazing to think that God has bestowed upon each of us the same ability to love and strive for that love as well. NET has not only taught us to love as Jesus loves, but also experience what that love is like. 

Before NET training, each missionary is asked to fundraise towards NET. By leading fundraisers, mass appeals, writing heaps of letters and much prayer, we have been working towards achieving this goal. All of the NETTERS have to reach out to our communities for support financially but especially spiritually. Without the support of our families and communities, we could not accomplish our mission in bringing the Gospel to thousands of youth across Canada.
Last week we all received partnership (fundraising) updates. We were surprised on how the majority of us have reached our fundraising goals and that they were completed by people who we don't know. It is so beautiful that, although we live in a world full of adversity, people are very generous and kind. 

The Community of Swift Current

Besides our partnership, we have witnessed true Christian charity through our parish community in Swift Current. We have been so blown away by the amount of support and love we have received. When we planned a Halloween party for grades 6-12 and we made announcements in mass that we were looking for volunteers to donate candy and other Halloween treats. We ended up receiving way more than we planned! The Lord certainly provides! The parish is blessed with so many parishioners that are eager to help. 

We've also been able to witness Christ's love through our host families. Every two weeks we move into a new host home. Currently, we are at our third host home. Every morning when we're driving to the parish, our conversations are almost always about how awesome our host families are. How wonderful is it that families open their homes to two or three strangers for two weeks? We've had a blast talking to our host families, playing with the kids and being included in family traditions. We are so thankful and feel so blessed to have had the opportunity to be incorporated into so many families. Every week I realize that saying goodbye to Swift Current in May is going to be a challenge! 

We are so thankful by the constant generosity and love that we have received throughout our journey with NET! Amazing things can be accomplished when we allow God to work in and through us, which we have witnessed in all of our supporters. 

Thanks for reading!
Ashley
iNFUSE 1,
 Swift Current, SK

What we do this for.

Our Sisterhood

Last night a miracle happened in Weyburn, Saskatchewan. Eight souls had an encounter with the living God on a cold Wednesday night in a quiet church. Eight souls experienced the love of Christ for what may have been the first time in their lives. It all happened because they made the choice to come to youth group and took the courageous step to follow Christ and go to confession.

Last night we had a youth night on God's forgiveness for our grade 7-9 youth group. To be completely honest, it was a pretty hastily prepared night. Our planning ended up being last minute, but God showed us that He can work in our fallibility. The night began with a talk that I gave, followed by a drama with the whole team, and then Ashley shared about her experience with going to confession. After we had finished our part of the night, we gave God a chance to move in their hearts. Our parish priest made himself available to hear confessions and seven young men went, and one non-catholic girl also went to confession to talk with the priest about Christ and His forgiveness. The confession portion of the night was only supposed to last for half an hour, but youth stayed in line for confession until an hour after the night was over. Praise God!

Rachael and Me (Jillian)

While I only had a few days to write a talk, we learned the drama the day before the event, and we rushed to make a prayer playlist minutes before the first youth arrived, God used all that we had and multiplied our talents to make His glory shine through us. Though we had little to offer, that put no limits on God and His might.

Last night reminded our team that this is what we do this for. Sometimes we get so caught up in meetings and music and mingling that we forget what we are really here for. We are here to challenge young Catholics to love Christ and embrace the life of the Church. Last night we saw eight souls accept the forgiveness of Christ. This is why we are here. This is why we exist. This is what we do this for.

Peace be yours in abundance,
Jillian and iNFUSE 2

Hearts Quietly Seeking God

Every Wednesday, my team visits a local public high school during the students’ lunch hour. We eat lunch with the students, talk with them, play cards, play ping pong, and make an effort to speak to them about our ministry. We have been told to be cautious when talking about faith in the schools, as one may imagine that many students are not open to the subject. Every week is hard, and it’s often difficult to stay optimistic when our opening remarks to students sometimes result in glares or uninviting comments. Even for me, having recently graduated from high school, I find it really hard to connect with youth who are even just a year or two younger than me.

This past week, though, was a different story.

 We have printed off many event cards to distribute to the different people we meet, in hopes we can communicate with them and invite them to our events. During the lunch hour visit, I had a few conversations with different students, and played cards with them and some of my teammates. Long story short, I personally handed out seven event cards to the students I met. I told them a little about our events, and invited them to participate. They seemed a little hesitant at first, but they gladly accepted the cards and went on their ways.

God gave me the opportunity to hand out event cards to those students for a reason. I do not know the students very well, and I definitely don’t know where they stand in their relationships with God, but that’s okay. It's possible that they won't even come to any of our events but in giving them the event cards, God helped me to plant a seed. I did what I could; now I allow God to work. These students and so many others are thirsty for truth and for real love, and they’ll look everywhere to find answers. God can use every single one of us to reach out to people and help show them that their questions can be answered and their longings can be satisfied. 

Evangelization is literally a matter of life or death. Every person we encounter is a soul that we could help save. It is our duty as Catholics to spread the Gospel message, even though it’s not easy. I find it so sad that there are people living their lives and have yet to hear that God loves them, though I find myself struggling to spread that message because I fear judgment from others.

I think the most important thing that I’ve been learning recently is that the students don’t need me - they need God. I’m simply there to help them find the path to Him. Evangelization is like this: I hand someone a map, with Heaven being the destination, and the Gospel being the directions to follow to get to God. We can’t force people to listen to us, but at the very least they deserve the opportunity to hear God's message of love. If we don’t spread God’s love to the lost, who will? 

“We cannot forget that evangelization is first and foremost about preaching the Gospel to those who do not know Jesus Christ or who have always rejected him. Many of these are quietly seeking God, led by a yearning to see his face, even in countries of ancient Christian tradition. All of them have a right to receive the Gospel. Christians have the duty to proclaim the Gospel without excluding anyone.”
(Pope Francis) 

Rebecca Atkinson
Les Équipes NET
(Sara, Mickel, Zak, Lisa, Josée, Andrée-Anne, Matt)

Lighthouse

Lighthouse

Our team wants to feel like that: a team, more than anything. Unity has been a huge desire on all of our hearts since day one, but I tell you, it is difficult. The Devil knows that there is support in community, and so he tries to distance us from each other. When he isolates us, we are more likely to fall into sin and despair. We need each other to remind our souls that they are not islands; we were made to be in relationships, not just with each other, but with God. Healthy relationships here on earth are the best training ground for that heavenly relationship we strive for.

With all this in mind, our team has decided to make a Marian consecration together. Such a consecration means that we devote ourselves to Jesus through Mary, because she is the only human being who never deviated at all from God’s will, and she can teach us how to do the same. By doing this as a team, we believe it will unite us under a common purpose, under a common protectress found in Our Lady, and draw others to us through increased grace.

The way I like to think of Marian consecration is this: Imagine a lighthouse. The only way it can protect and guide the ships still at troubled seas is by lighting up the large lamp as a beacon. But if you lit the lamp, and it was only a tiny flame that was lit, the service it could offer would be limited at best. The flame, therefore, should be increased and intensified as much as possible, so as to be the best possible guide it can be. Marian consecration is like oil thrown on the flame that sends the flame dancing higher and shining brighter than it ever could before; God’s grace given through her refines and amplifies our natural merits and virtues, and I have seen the effects of this firsthand.

I had just made my first ever consecration to Our Lady on September 4th this year, which happened to be the feast of Our Lady of the Rosary. The next day, I had a retreat with a larger small group than normal: ten girls. During the prayer ministry time and after I had prayed with all the girls in my group, I grabbed a rosary from the front to say a decade for the girls, and was making my way back to my seat when two of the girls in my group stopped me. They both held rosaries and, looking confused, asked me if I knew how to pray it. I said yes, and offered to teach it to them. Some of the other girls in my group looked curious, so I told them that anyone who wanted to learn the rosary could come with me. I ended up teaching all ten of my girls the rosary and prayed a decade with them, and not only that, but so many of them wanted directions on how to pray so they could continue the devotion at home that I didn’t have time to write out enough for them all and had to tell them to Google it!

I really felt like Our Lady of the Rosary was working through me, because the girls saw me and sought out that knowledge. The graces of Mary were so strong that they could still see them despite their imperfect house in me, and that’s where the heart of Marian consecration lies:  a beacon of virtue, amplified to full lighthouse power, drawing people nearer to the root of God’s love and grace, to Home in heaven—and all done through imperfect humans, because God has that kind of power.

Now if that sort of grace can draw in youth who have never experienced God before like that, imagine what it can do for ten young missionaries who are already striving to go deeper in their relationship with God. When all of us become united in this, when our separate merits and grace become united and amplified through Mary, the light will be ten times as strong—certainly a reliable lighthouse to lead people safely Home.

Love and peace,

Encounter 2

P.S. If you are interested in Marian consecration, a fantastic and insightful resource is the book 33 Days to Morning Glory: A Do-It-Yourself Retreat in Preparation for Marian Consecration, by Michael E. Gaitley, MIC. Our team has been working through it and we'll make our team consecration on November 19th, the feast of the Presentation of Mary.

The Grand Musician

A very necessary part of our fortnightly (bi-weekly) routine are ministry days. On such days we are given access to a venue to rehearse various components that are required towards ministry. It’s a cordial affair where we can hone our talents to evangelize youth to the best of our ability. It was on such a day that I was preparing a rehearsal for a new drama we were going to use in prayer ministry. I went to plug in my iPod into the team computer so as to familiarise myself with the song to be used. 

A few months ago, I remember the great joy I had in filling my iPod with thousands of songs the night before leaving for NET. According to my “piety” at the time, I justified my music as the entitlement that I didn’t have to sacrifice this year, since after all I was giving up a lot from my life back at home. I planned to escape to sweet tunes with fresh beats when feeling emotionally low whilst on the road. 

However when I plugged in my device now, my jaw dropped, the iPod had auto-synced with the computer and deleted every song within. A few seconds were enough to change my mood internally. There was just enough time to roll my eyes and grunt my disapproval loudly, when I was prompted to head off to rehearsal. In the middle of the haphazard drama practice I sent up a silent prayer of frustration, “God, why did you allow for my music to vanish? Far out! I was doing ministry work after all!?!”

Some hours passed and it was time for team prayer.  Amongst my lack of enthusiasm something incredible occurred. Suddenly, the songs sung during team prayer sounded beautiful, more beautiful than I perceived previously. The same songs that we had been singing for weeks appeared to come to life. The lyrics became a focussed prayer and touched my heart. I could praise the Lord regardless of what I had experienced throughout the day. Indeed, it was of no consequence what was on my mind at that moment, but rather I felt the joy of simply basking in His Love.

It seems that the Lord stripped away the music that I was clasping to so as to bring me closer to His heart through praise and worship. No longer could I run for the temporary relief of the music, that my emotions could just float on to feel numb for a while. I was able to enter deep into prayer with nothing competing against the healing satisfaction that the Lord has to offer.

Our music leader, Kristy, shared a beautiful reflection during team prayer about Encounter 1.

“Consider this guitar. It’s well used, and day after day the strings dance. They dance and sing and after a while, they tire. They get dusty, dirty and broken. A string gets replaced. It doesn’t match. One is gold instead of grey. Some are wound tight, some are smooth. Some are harder to play and some cut already calloused fingers. At first glance this guitar is worthless. Yet when a grand musician starts to play, a beautiful, joyful noise is heard. If even one string broke, the sound would be half as lovely. Every string is necessary.

In the same way, every person on our team is necessary. We all have strengths and weaknesses…sometimes we get dusty, dirty and broken. But the Grand Musician plays us skilfully and lovingly creates beautiful music through us.”

~ Kristy Hagerman

As the days flow by our team is growing closer together than we could ever foresee. The shear amount of experiences, prayer and willingness of others to be honest with us each day has accelerated the bonding process.

Francis Nowak ~ Encounter Team 1

Current Mission Progress: 20 encounter days 

                1 weekend retreat

                                                3 evening events

Filled With Joy / Je suis dans la joie!

À côté du Saint Sacrement lui-même, votre voisin est ce à quoi vos sens sont soumis de plus saint..’’ – C.S. Lewis (traduction libre)

Alors qu’une autre semaine commence pour nous en Beauce, nous venons de dire aurevoir à nos superviseurs après leur visite fructueuse. Les jours qui viennent de passé ont été toute une aventure pour l’équipe au complet. Avant l’arrivée des superviseurs, notre équipe avait des difficultés avec l’unité. À cause d’ennuis de santé, une de nos chefs d’équipes a pris deux semaines de repos, mais ce n’était que la pointe de l’iceberg pour nous. Faire du ministère et travailler avec de parfaits étrangers pour huit mois va assurément causer des troubles et des problèmes, qui vont soit nous diviser ou bien nous renforcir. Récemment, il a été difficile de nous rappeler de notre mission et de trouver des manières de travailler pour faire les parties moins plaisantes de notre ministère, mais après cinq jours bien remplis, nos cœurs sont renouvelés.

Durant la visite des superviseurs, notre équipe a animé plusieurs événements habituels et un de ceux-là était la soirée d’Adoration. Comme chef de musique de l’équipe, je suis bénie d’avoir eu l’opportunité de faire la musique. Après l’Adoration, j’ai partagé avec l’équipe que Dieu m’avait vraiment rappelé le pourquoi je suis ici. J’ai expérimenté un amour et une paix dans mon cœur qui m’a apporté une joie que je n’avais pas encore sentie depuis que je suis arrivée en Beauce. Pour la première fois depuis un bon moment, je remercie Dieu de tout mon cœur pour mon équipe et mes superviseurs et je me souviens de l’importance de ma mission.

Vers la fin de la visite de supervision, nous avons eu une journée d’équipe dont nos superviseurs étaient les organisateurs. Cette journée incluait une retraite femme/homme, une activité incroyablement difficile pour renforcir l’esprit d’équipe qui incluait une corde jaune et deux arbres, un temps de partage en équipe, un dîner aux chandelles, la messe, la prière d’équipe et un moment d’affirmations et de prières en tant qu’équipe.

Personnellement, je ne peux pas mettre le doigt sur ce qui a changé dans les jours passés et je ne vais probablement jamais être capable de le trouver mais même ce matin quand nous sommes arrivés dans la camionnette pour aller au bureau et commencer la journée, l’atmosphère était plus léger et Dieu était présent en chacun de nous. Je pense bien parler pour tous les membres de l’équipe en disant que la semaine qui vient de passer était éprouvante, mais nous avons été individuellement guéris et avons restauré notre foi en Dieu. Il est vivant et travaille en chacun de nous et nous le voyons de plus en plus. Notre mission cette année peut changer des âmes pour l’éternité mais nous ne pouvons le faire seuls. En fait, nous ne pouvons pas le faire du tout. Nous ne sommes pas appelés à apporter notre personne au monde que nous allons rencontrer car ce n’est pas nous dont ils ont besoin, c’est de Dieu. Il œuvre en nous utilisant comme des instruments dans Ses mains.

Unis dans le Christ,

Rebecca

Traduction : Sara

Les Équipes NET (Andrée-Anne, Lisa, Josée, Mickel, Zak & Matt)

“Next to the Blessed Sacrament itself, your neighbor is the holiest object presented to your senses.” – C.S. Lewis

As another week begins for us here in Beauce, we bid a farewell to our supervisors after a very successful supe visit. The past few days have been quite the adventure for our team as a whole. Before the arrival of our supervisors, our team was struggling with unity. Due to health conditions, one of our team leaders has taken two weeks off to rest – but that was just the tip of the iceberg for us. Being in ministry and working with total strangers for eight months will evidently pose problems and struggles, which will either tear us apart or strengthen us. Recently, it had been difficult to remember our mission and find ways to work through the less-than-pleasant parts of ministry, but after a very eventful five days, our hearts are stirring.

During our supe visit, our team put on a number of events as usual, and one of these was an Adoration night. As music leader on the team, I was blessed to have the opportunity to play music for Adoration. After Adoration, I shared with the team that God really reminded me of why I am here this year. I experienced a love and peace in my heart that brought me a joy which I hadn’t felt since arriving in Beauce. For the first time in a while, I whole-heartedly thanked God for my team and supervisors, and remembered the importance of my mission.

Towards the end of the supe visit, we had a team day that our supervisors organized for us. This day included men’s/women’s sessions, an incredibly difficult team-building exercise that involved yellow rope and two trees, a team sharing time, a candlelit dinner, Mass, team prayer, and a time of affirmation and prayer as a team.

Personally, I can’t put my finger on what it is that changed in the past five days and I probably never will be able to – but even this morning when we got in the van to go to our office and start the day, the air felt lighter and God was present in each of us. I think I speak for every member of my team when I say that this past week was challenging, but we were all individually healed and restored in our faith in God. He is alive and working in all of us, and we are seeing that more.  Our mission this year is one that could change souls for eternity, but we can’t do it alone. In fact, we cannot do it at all. We are not meant to bring ourselves to the people we encounter because it is not us they need – it’s God. He is at work and we are only mere instruments in His hands. 

In Christ,

Rebecca

Les équipes NET (Sara, Andrée-Anne, Lisa, Josée, Mickel, Zak & Matt)