Melting snow and dropping eggs...

The snow here in Steinbach is starting to melt. Spring is definitely on its way and what better way to welcome spring than the start of Lent! Our March Family Fun Day – Crazy Olympics – was incredible! Andrew and Phylicia did an amazing job coming up with fun activities for the families to do together. After the families arrived we put them onto three teams and gave them a variety of challenges to complete together. I was lucky enough to be on a team with two awesome families (one of which had hosted Amanda, Phylicia and me the week before). We were challenged to make a net out of yarn and tape, everyday machines out of our bodies and a structure that would protect an egg, dropped from the top of a ladder, out of straws and tape. The fellowship and good-natured competition was so great to see. It was also great to see such a variety of people come out and spend time bonding and creating connections. LifeLine this past weekend was amazing. The night was entitled Desert(ed) and was all about Lent. I gave a talk about some of the questions many of us have about Lent – what exactly it is, its purpose, why we give up things, what can we get out of it etc. The teens were really open in small group about their struggles understanding Lent and how they now see it in a whole new light. They see that giving up something for Lent is all about how they can better themselves and strengthen their relationship with God. I’m glad we had this night before Lent started so that they could really think about what would be best to abstain from and what they could give up that would help them move closer to God. Glass Alabaster was a hit this week with Spa Night. After Ash Wednesday Mass we gathered our usual group together (and a few extras who were invited after Mass) and we headed over to our host home and had foot massages, painted our nails and did face masks. Although all of these were fun I think the fellowship was the best part of the evening. Seeing all these young women interacting and simply being women together was beautiful. Some of these young women run in different circles at school or even go to different schools so it was wonderful to see the new connections and reconnections we were able to provide with a simple spa night. I cannot speak for the Real Men group, but that seems to be going really well too. I will have to get more details from Andrew and Brenden for the next blog. For the Glass Alabaster group we ordered the books “Arms of Love” and “Surrender” both by Carmen Marcoux for the girls to read. These are really great books about having pure, chaste, Christian relationships. I love how we can talk about these books and share about how great it is to be Christian women who are proud to be living pure chaste lives. We have been getting more feedback from the parishioners about the events we are holding and our Youth Mass. One of our contact people admitted to us the other day after Mass that she had been in tears during Mass because it was so beautiful. I thought that was pretty amazing, but she then went on to tell us that she was not the only person! Wow! The Spirit was definitely moving hearts during that Mass. It is moments like that that make this ministry truly worth it.

Before I sign off, I figured I should let you know what is coming up. This Sunday’s REACT is on how the ends don’t justify the means and the whole night is Star Wars themed. I am super excited to see how it turns out. We are also having our second parish talent show, entitled “Steinbach’s Got Talent: Take Two”. We already have a few acts lined up, mainly from the youth which is super exciting. Our volunteers are going to be receiving more training next week as well. Plus we are still recruiting more volunteers. I want to thank you, the NET blog readers, for your support. We could not do this without your prayers and all the ways you help support this ministry. God bless Elizabeth Fitzmaurice

Howdy!

This is James Richmond reporting in from the Massive Worship Team. I’ve kidnapped Brandi, our usual blogger, and locked her in our trailer (temporarily of course) so I could write this blog.

Summing up our ministry in a sentence I would say “we’ve been given’er”. We’ve been kept pretty busy which seems to be the theme out in the western provinces. At the start of the year I thought that it would be unlikely that we would be booked for a lot of Youth Rallies (basically a high energy concert with a talk, witness of faith, and drama) because they seemed so different than a usual NET retreat. I’m an athlete and I’m pretty flexible, but I never thought my foot would reach all the way to my mouth.

Recently we’ve been to Barnwell/Taber, St. Paul, and High River, Alberta. We’ve had so many Youth Rallies booked and I’ve been loving it. I think that this event really reaches out to the students on a different level than a regular NET retreat. Music is universal and crosses language and religious barriers with ease. It is so relatable and it allows us to connect with the youth on a whole different level. The first NET retreat that I ever attended (and one of the only) was when I was in Grade 6. I honestly don’t remember anything about the talks, skits, or even names/faces. What I do remember was that they were young, Catholic, and excited about it which witnessed to me and inspired me to seek a deeper relationship with Jesus. I think that we as a band can make that connection with those we are ministering to in an even bigger way because they can relate to us instantly as musicians. We’ve often gotten comments along the lines of, “They’re Christian? They’re good!”, or, “Wow, I used to think Christian music was lame; that was awesome!”

Often after a Youth Rally teens will approach us to chat, share what they got out of the event, or get autographs and pictures (funny? Yes, but it has happened several times!). In Taber, AB when we were putting on a rally for the students at the high school, it was originally just for grades 7-9, but then senior students were asking to get let out of class, and the Principal gave the okay for anyone who wanted to come to leave class. That was pretty cool, but what I found awesome was what happened afterwards. The crowd was a bit tough in that they didn’t really want to participate, but I remember keeping my eye on one girl who was bravely singing all the songs despite the fact that her friends weren’t. After the rally she came up and asked for our autographs. She had this big smile on her face and told us that she had had a really good time. I was taking down our equipment and didn’t get to talk much, but the entire team was talking about her afterwards. I don’t know how the rest of the teens took the talks and music, I know that at least one girl was touched and brought a little bit closer to Jesus that day. Also, a boy came up at the same time and was asking Paul how he could join NET. We told him he had to wait a few years, but it was encouraging.

Our team has been very blessed to be able to stay with many of our own families while travelling, and while in St. Paul we stayed with Rebecca’s family. The girls stayed at the actual house and we guys were in ye ’ol cabin a couple of kilometres down the road and through the bush. It was a beautiful log cabin and made us feel somewhat manly as we didn’t have running water or electricity and we had to keep a fire going for warmth. One night I went out to do a couple things and stoke the fire. When I tried to start up the Rhino (basically a glorified golf cart) to head back, it wouldn’t start. I was forced to hoof it through the pitch black forest with my little flashlight. But never fear, it had a built in Swiss army knife so I was ready to defend myself against wayward coyotes. Rebecca’s Dad was very generous and took the guys out on a snowmobile tour of his property our first night out. He warned us that they were very powerful machines and asked us about our experience. I fibbed a little and said that I was comfortable on one (I’ve only gone twice before and not very fast). Christian jumped on the back of my snowmobile not realizing that he was placing his life in my not-so-capable hands. Apart from getting stuck a couple of times and tipping over in deep snow I thought I was doing well and I was feeling pretty confident - I think my confidence was a tad premature. I pushed on the gas too hard and the sudden acceleration slid Christian and I backwards. However, because I had a death grip on the steering column and my thumb was stuck on the gas, Christian pulling on my body made me push harder on the gas and caused us to go even faster. We were plucked right off the snowmobile and dumped in chest-deep snow. You think we would learn but this actually happened a couple of times – t’was HILARIOUS!

I hope that this blog has given you a bit of an idea what is going on out west with Massive Worship. I really feel like we are pioneers and paving the way for future Massive Worship teams. The response to us has been fantastic and I know that God is working in this ministry. I can’t wait to see how God will use it in the future. I should probably go let Brandi out of the trailer. It does get cold at night I suppose.

May God bless you and your family – oh, and bless you with a coyote-killing flashlight (you never know when you may need one!)

James Richmond – Electric Guitar

Massive Worship

(isn’t that a cool way to sign my name!)

I Heart Shaunavon

Shaunavon: a small town in southern Saskatchewan. A place where there are fields as far as the eye can see on pretty much every side of town. There’s one main street. It’s the perfect little town.

There is a Paul Brandt song that says, “The best things in life that I have ever seen came from small towns and big dreams.”

This really reminds me a lot of Shaunavon because they just have such an amazing and involved community. Great people and great hospitality. We felt so welcomed from the moment we got there until the very end. It was a wonderful time getting to know the Parish community.

We did a Parish Mission while we were there which is a three-evening event with Mass, a talk, drama, and Eucharistic adoration.

Here is some of the feedback from members of the Massive Worship team about our time in Shaunavon:

Did anyone share with you about how they were touched by the Parish Mission?

I talked about Gifts and Talents, and about not being afraid to use our gifts and talents that God gave us. Afterward one of the parishioners came up to me and shared with me that God had really spoken through me in the talk to encourage her. By coming to the Parish Mission and hearing the talk she received courage to step up in her Faith and to move forward in the way God was calling her. It was really beautiful.

(Brandi Olson)

During the parish mission we had adoration every night (exposition of the blessed sacrament) and after the first night I had a lady come up and ask me, “What are you supposed to “do” during adoration?” She knew what it was, but didn’t know if she should sit, kneel, pray Our Fathers or what. I briefly explained that you are simply there to “adore” your God. I also said it’s a good time to just look at God and let Him look at you. The next night after adoration she came up to me and said there was a huge difference between the first night and the second. It just made sense to her and she really enjoyed it.

(Christian Bekolay)

How were you touched by our time in Shaunavon?

I think what impacted me the most was the incredible hospitality of the entire town. The Church congregation supplied us with our OWN FRIDGE filled with food and several families invited us over for suppers/lunches every day we were there. I have various food intolerances and a woman of the parish baked me the single most delicious loaf of bread ever, along with cookies and muffins. I often feel like a burden because of my food issues but I felt very loved by the community. Also, we had our trailer light wiring broken on our last night and when we took it in to the local shop, they fixed it for free! God Bless Shaunavon!

(James Richmond)

(Shaunavon is also home to Hayley Wickenheiser!)

What’s the strangest thing that happened in Shaunavon?

When we were there it happened to be “I Love Shaunavon” Day. The town mascot, Heartly, (a big yellow, smiling, heart) stopped by the Church to say hello.

Well I guess that pretty much sums it up.

We love Shaunavon

God Bless you all!

Brandi Olson (and various other members of Massive Worship)

"Why 'Y', you ask..."

Greetings NET blog readers. Here is an update from the past two weeks:

We continue to have adventures with our dear van, Frank. Every second Saturday is our moving day in which we would load up the van in the morning and after our work day is over take it to our new host home. This past switch we were on the way to our first stop when we discovered that we had a flat tire…what was funny was that we were actually on our way to our mechanic’s house. How convenient is that? So we quickly gave him a call, as we were unsure of how to get the spare tire out from under the van, and he came to our rescue. We all got quite a laugh out of the irony of the situation.

The next day was our second LifeLine night which we entitled “Y”. We had a running joke that people would probably wonder why “Y” and to find out why “Y”, the teens would have to come out to “Y”. Try saying that ten times fast. The topic of the night was God’s purpose for us. We had the teens work together to try to make their way from one end of a maze, “birth”, to the other end, “heaven”. Then Brenden gave a talk about how many of us don’t think about our purpose and that God’s purpose for us is wonderful. We also talked about how we also have to work to realize this purpose and put it into action. Despite the fact that it was a long weekend, we had a really good turnout and quite a number of new faces.

The next Sunday was our REACT night. We played “Minute to Win It” games with the teens making up “countries” as their team names. I think my favourite team name “Running Refrigerator”. They all created flags that went with their team name and that flag was hilarious, with a fridge running after a chicken. The night was filled with flying cards, shooting elastic bands, flipping spoons, smiling faces and laughter. It was great seeing how the teens warmed up to each other after the first couple of games.

Glass Alabaster and Real Men continue to go really well. Last week the women looked at some of the lies the world tells us about what it means to be women and how it is actually our identity as daughters of God and brides of Christ that give us our worth and define us as women. This week we looked at the importance of female relationships throughout our lives. These women continue to amaze me with their openness and their desire to learn more about our worth as women. I cannot tell you what the men are doing in Real Men, but from what Andrew and Brenden have said it is great for them too. They had someone new come out this week and he is really excited to come back next time.

Our Discovery Faith Study is coming to a close. I have mixed feelings about it as I really enjoyed meeting our group of women every week, but I am happy to see how much they enjoyed it and grew from it. I know I felt reaffirmed in my beliefs through this study. One of the women has expressed an interest in leading it next year for a new group of parishioners. Isn’t that awesome?!?! I am so glad that we have been able to inspire her to take on that leadership role.

I almost forgot to mention, Matt and Caitlyn, our lovely supervisors, came and visited us during these past two weeks. It was great seeing them and getting their feedback on the work we are doing here. A huge plus was being able to share some of our stories with them. I am so glad that they are able to come out to meet all the wonderful people we have met here. I don’t think some of the stories we tell them would be quite so funny/inspiring/entertaining etc if they had not met the people involved.

Coming up we have a LifeLine night on Lent entitled “Desert(ed)” and a REACT night entitled “In a galaxy far, far away” (yes it is Star Wars themed) that is on the fact that the ends don’t justify the means. Our March family fun day is also coming up. The parishioners are getting ready to take part in some Crazy Olympic activities! We are also doing a lot of work with our volunteer leaders to get them ready for when we leave at the end of May.

Please keep us, our ministry and the mission of this parish in your prayers.

Until next time, this is Elizabeth signing off for iNFUSE team two!

Yay for minus fifteen weather!

We, Encounter Team One, have been very busy these last few weeks! We have gone from the Regina Diocese to the Prince Albert Diocese, and finally to the Calgary diocese.

While still in Regina some of us went to a Valentines dinner put on by CCO, with NET Ireland Alumnus, Reed Miller. We had dinner and met some very cool people, including the Marian Family. Sister Lillian of the Marian family gave a talk after the dinner and told us her very amazing story of how her family escape the Rwandan Genocide. Her story was very inspiring and reminded us that true peace comes from God and that He really can get us through anything.

The Prince Albert Diocese was an amazing couple of weeks. Ministry wise, we had quite a few ‘firsts’ while on retreat. We had our youngest retreats one day, and our oldest the next. Both those retreats were challenging but extremely rewarding. Apart from ministry, we stayed in some amazing host homes everywhere we went. The people of the Prince Albert diocese welcomed us so kindly and generously that this diocese will remain in our memories and our hearts.

One chilly (minus 30) day in the lovely village of Debden, Claire, Judith and I decided to take a walk around the town. We came upon a beautiful shrine to our Lady of Fatima, and when we got back to our host home, we asked our host dad about it. He told us a story that was amazing. During World War II, forty-nine soldiers went from Debden to fight (this is only a village of 300-some people). The Priest at that time prayed to our Lady of Fatima, that if she would keep them safe, he would a build a shrine to honour her. All forty-nine returned home at the end of the war, uninjured. He told of the story of two of those soldiers, two brothers. One was a pilot, and he flew in and out of the battle five times without being shot down. His brother was captured and put in a concentration camp. The camp was getting too full, so people were beginning to be shot on a daily basis. The day that he was scheduled to be shot, the war ended. So the shrine was built, in thanksgiving of the protection of Mother Mary. Isn’t that amazing? Go Mary!

Later, we traveled to the Calgary Diocese, and are now staying with Carissa’s family! We’re also enjoying the warmer weather of Alberta. My mom laughed at me, but -15 does feel significantly warmer than -35!

In the coming couple of weeks we will be continuing to travel the diocese of Calgary! Please keep us in your prayers!

Yours in Christ,
Maria Kalin
Encounter One