Lesson 1: Cove = Fun!!

Hello Hello!

Sean Milan here, updading you on recent Team 1 activity.

So, we have been in Nova Scotia the past two weeks, and let me tell you, it has been Fun,Fun, Fun, Fun, thats one more fun than the Beach Boys! We spent the majority of our time in Halifax and Dartmouth, we crossed te toll bridge about ten times, digging into our stipens each trip! We traveled down to Yarmouth, or as we liked to call it, Yarrrrrrrrrmouth. We also went to the city of Truro, but the majority of our Encounter Days were held in the Halifax area. We are enjoing the lovly weather, some days we wear shorts and t-shirts - well atleast Dominique does! But really, we have been sooooo blessed, god has gifted us with the ability to avoid snow, and freezing cold weather, well atleast for us Canadians on the team, Rachel (Ireland), Richard (New Zealand) and Alexes (Texas), it seema they are cold where ever they go - but we give them tips to help prepare them for when Jack Frost actually arrives.

On a side note, I failed to mention that we had a Supervisior visit a couple weeks ago, to say the least, it was Awesome, Pat and Kaitlyn are the two best "supes" I have ever had ( only had). We had sooooo much fun with the, for our team day we went bowling, and bought beaver tails, the majority of out time was them watching us on reatreats, and chating with us in the vans. We can't wait until they come again, and we would like to apologize for all the purge!

In other news our team traveled out to Peggy's Cove! Peggy's Cove is a light house, surrounded by rocks and big waves, you may have seen it already on a post card. I was hit by a wave, within only five minitues of being there, so i was soaked the whole time we were there. We all enjoied it so much, we ate lunch there with several Net Alumni,( from Nova soctia), fed seagulls and and bought souviniers that we will have to purge next supe visit!( sorry Pat, sorry Kaitlyn).

Well other than invadeing the odd shoppers Durgmart, we have had excelent weather, wonderful encouter days, and lots of East Coast hospitality.

Stay tuned next week when we willl be in Toronto Ontario!!!!!!! hopefully we will meet up with the french team!!!!!!!

God Speed

Sean milan

Team 1

Olympics, Outreach, Senior Girl's B-Ball Game, and More Buffalo Soldier!

Hello to all! Man this week was full of energy for Team Five. Our Lifenight was a social so we played Crazy Olympics. On Wednesday we went to St. John’s Catholic High School and did our first official Outreach lunch program where we played Jeopardy! After that we did a bit more Outreach by attending the Senior girl’s Basketball game against Perth District Collegiate Institute. It feels like we were never in the office this week. (The picture to the left is our team and Caitlyn. We made her a birthday card and traced our faces on it).

I can’t even begin to express how much fun the Crazy Olympics was. We had twenty-two teens show up, and when we added Tom, Alyssa and I as participants, we had the perfect number of people for the teams; five teams of five. The night started with the singing of O Canada, prayer, the turning on of the flashlight Olympic torch, the splitting of teams, team flag-making, and finally the team cheer. The cheers were the best! One team was called the Pterrifying Pterodactyls. Their cheer was basically the team shouting, “We’re the pterrifying Pterodactyls!” Then they flapped their arms like wings and tried to squawk like Pterodactyls. It was extremely funny and entertaining to watch them all. The rest of the Olympics consisted of the balloon relay, mad relay, back ball relay, banana relay, and "sucking up" to the judges. I think the teens really enjoyed brownnosing. In all it was an awesome, energetic night.

Jeopardy for Outreach went really well too. We had about twelve teens show up. I was really surprised to see a few new faces; faces that were interested in checking out Lifeteen! That was exciting. Most of the questions for Jeopardy had to do with the Church, Lifeteen, or NET. These teens caught us off guard…they really knew their stuff. They would even take guesses at answers and get the right one. The best part of Jeopardy was watching the teams buzz in. We made each team choose an animal sound. One team chose a kangaroo…the sound was ‘boing!’ That whole lunch time went by so fast, but we let them know that we are going to be back next week, and they were excited to do something again. That was really encouraging.

After Jeopardy we went to Perth District Collegiate Institute (PDCI) to watch the Senior girl’s Basketball game. Was it ever intense! PDCI was up about five or six baskets in the first quarter, but then St. John’s caught up and from the second quarter to the fourth it was neck and neck. The energy was high in the gym because St. John’s sends a cheer group from the school. We had those blow-up clapper things, and we cheered and made so much noise. It was well worth the yelling when our girls won the game. Some girls who attend Lifeteen on the team were really happy to see our team there supporting them. That really ended my day with a huge smile. I realized how much I miss school games.

So, like I promised, Buffalo Soldier is back in the pictures giving a tour of the office. This picture actually doesn’t show much. It’s a corner of the room. You can see a bit of our wall length cork board, a piece of computer, and Rebecca hard at work. It’s a great picture though!

Team Five-Alive is peacing out for this week. We hope every one is doing well.

God Bless,
Shayla Doucette

Team 4's Got Talent

Team 3, still kicking, now for one month in english!

Why hello once more! This is your happy blogger from team three, reporting now from a small city just north of Toronto, by the name of Newmarket. We are just starting our first few English retreats of the year. As we are the bilingual team, our entire year on the road, save one month, is in french, and it is this one month, in English, in which we are embarking, here in the Greater Toronto Area.

The past week has been filled with good times and traveling. When I last posted, we were still staying in a small town of southern Saskatchewan, named Wilcox, where we stayed at the Athol Murray College of Notre Dame. This is a boarding high school, and it was an absolute priviledge to be able to stay with them! On Wednesday, we attended a Rememberance day ceremony that was held at their church, in which a veteran of the Second World War told the story of how his arm was blown off- intense! And in the evening, we were asked to perform in what was dubbed a "Festival of Praise". The entire school (except for those who were away for hockey, as this school is very hockey oriented, and has an excellent program) attended this concert, in which we led them in praise, and shared testimonies. It was really great! And our music team did an amazing job! Those present, myself included, really enjoyed it. These studernts were aweosme! It was great getting to know them through the meals we shared, and the classroom and dorm presentations we facilitated throughout our stay there.

On NET, we celebrate what we call Un-birthdays. Seeing as not everyone on the team has their birthday on the NET year, we have these surprise celebrations to honour each member of our team. During our stay in Wilcox, we were able to celebrate Phil's, and it was great! We went out to Regina (30 minutes away) to an arcade (and, to be honest, it was great to be able to get in touch with my inner boy...), we watched a movie, and just had fun bonding as a team, honouring our brother.

And now, after 4 consecutive days of traveling from Regina to here in Newmarket (in which I was able to stay home in Winnipeg, in my nice cozy bed), we are two retreats into our english ministry. Today's went particularly well, as the students, all confirmation candidates, were very open and were excited for this retreat. The talk, testimonies, and particularly the prayer time went very well. They were offered the opportunity to celebrate the sacrament of reconciliation, and there were so many who wanted to go, that we ran out of time! The Holy Spirit was very present, as He is in all of our ministry.

This is why I am so thankful to all you who support us through different means, especially through your continuing prayers. We in turn, are always keeping all of you in ours!
'Till once more!

Kevin Prada

***I do have pics, but for some reason, this computer is not uploading them. I'll try tomorrow:)

Team Two Wants to Learn Everything, and Write Down Everything They See

This past week our team met many very responsive youth at our Encounter Days in both Vernon and Osoyoos, B.C. Osoyoos is actually considered to be part of Canada's only desert; ironically, it snowed one of the days we were there!

Following Osoyoos, our team moved on to Kelowna, where we will be until Friday of this week. Sunday was a Team Day, which brought us to Summerhill Pyramid Winery, where we got a tour, and learned much about the fine art of wine making, and wine tasting! The unique thing about this particular winery is that it's cellar is in a pyramid! We learned that the pyramid has proven to yield better wines after storage. We also learned that the pyramid is a popular venue for many different celebrations - there was recently a wedding held there! More interestingly, though, in my opinion, is that we also found out Avril Lavigne hosted an event there! I was very excited to hear that she and I stepped foot on the same grounds, and in the same pyramid! (I'll proudly admit to being a big fan; my team can attest to my excitement!)

I do have one more pretty exciting story. Monday night we had an Encounter Evening for a couple of youth groups from the Kelowna area, and I shared a bit during the prayer ministry time about how my prayer life has developed . I shared about how I had difficulty with prayer in the past, because I didn't understand it. I said that I later learned that prayer is more than words, but that it is a bond between me and God. I used the analogy of a peanut butter sandwich, using myself and God as the pieces of bread, and prayer as the peanut butter that holds them together. After the prayer ministry time, a lady from the church approached me, and said she'll always remember me as 'peanut butter'. She shared with me that she could relate to my story, and that prayer was just words to her, until she realized she could just talk to God like a friend who always listens. I believe God was working through both of us to strengthen our desires to pray, and to remind us that he really is the best friend we can possibly find!

"Until next issue, I remain your faithful correspondent",

God Bless,

Lauren M. Krol

Team 2

*Credits to "Harriet the Spy" for the awesome quotes!