Love Is A Choice

      

        "A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another."

John 13:34-35

NET training has taught me that love is a choice we make to actively and intentionally love every part of a person, good and bad. Love is the choice to seek out and strive to make your relationship with a person better because if you didn't, you would only be scratching the surface of what it could be if you went deeper.

Working in close proximity in a small office of 7 people is not an easy task. You can imagine how hard it would be to get along all the time. It's harder than I ever imagined it would be. That’s why it’s important for us to understand each other.

We have been taught on NET that if we want to love our brothers and sisters in the best way, we are to call each other to holiness. We do this by talking challenges out and being honest with each other. Our team is amazing and I couldn't imagine having any other person on my team. However, I don't always love the things they do, or the decisions they make. A lot of the time, the reason why I don’t love the things they do, is because I don’t understand where they’re coming from or why they did what they did. But I can make a choice to seek to understand and love them by having a conversation with them about the situation. In the end, I can love and understand them so much better because we talked it through. I know that I’m not always easy to love and so I feel very loved when someone talks to me about how they feel and it leaves us only with good feelings toward each other.

I've noticed also, that I have a lot of trouble being patient with my team. I can see that God is testing my patience and teaching me to love each member of the team in different ways through it. There are people who I find easy to love because we get along. But then there are people on the team that I have to work harder to love and it's not easy to do. Not because they aren't great people, but because I'm still learning how to love them. And I want to know how to love them in a way that makes them feel loved. So, I seek to understand ways that I can actively honour and love my team.

Prayer is an essential part of our life and love we have for each other. If we didn't pray, individually and as a team, we would probably be a mess. We would most likely have trouble serving each other and feeling unified. If we ask Him, God will give us the graces and everything we need in order to love each other, but have to want it. God wants us to love each other and waits for us to ask Him for His help to strive for that.

 

Slowly but surely, we are all learning how to love each other. There are always going to be things that need to be straightened out, but as long as we approach it the right way, we can work things out and feel loved all at once, which is exactly what we want to do.

I'm so excited to continue to learn how to love each member of my team so that we can be unified and work together in the best way possible. Christ has called us to love each other so that we can be His disciples and grow in holiness together.

Thanks for reading,

Until next time!

With lots of love,

Hunter!

iNFUSE 1 in Swift Current, SK.

Making Connections

Life has been moving very quickly here in Weyburn, and days in the office are filled with work and meetings, while evenings are filled with youth groups, host home nights, and general busyness. It seems that everyone knows our names and are excited about what we are doing. We feel very blessed to be so loved by the community.

All last week we spent our time in the office organizing for a big ministry day on Saturday. Saturday came and we held our first youth Mass, followed by our first high school youth group. The youth Mass was a bit of a surprise to the parish, as we used projectors for songs and had a more contemporary youth band. While the new music and worship style was a surprise for many of the parishioners, after the Mass we received many compliments and even one older couple saying it was the most engaging Mass they had been to in YEARS! We felt floored and were humbled by the fact that God is using us to accomplish such amazing things for this parish.

After the Mass, we rushed down to the church basement where we had pizza, pop, and minute to win it games for the high school youth of the parish. While we only had about seven youth show, they were engaged and enthusiastic through the whole night. Even after the night was over, the youth stayed and talked with us for half an hour after. It is our hopes and prayers the Youth Group will grow exponentially!

We have been deeply immersed in ministry here in Weyburn and we are so excited to be making connections with parishioners, young and old! We are humbled that God picked us to make a difference here in Weyburn, Saskatchewan.

God Bless, The iNFUSE 2 Team

(John, Joey, Jacob, Whitney, Jillian, Ashley, and Rachel)

Right Click> Tools> Build Relationship with God

The dispersed conversations and laughter ease at the sound of microphone feedback as the red shirt clad young retreat leader announces the beginning of the last talk of the day. 

“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

Presence

Here I am

These are three of the most perfect words that one can say to God. This phrase was spoken by Our Lady in the film ‘Mary of Nazareth’, which my team and I went to see recently at the cinema in Kamloops, BC. The moment that “Here I am” was spoken, I was intrigued by the words. It was so simple, yet so profound. How could just being present, just being open, be so deep and so striking?

In the same way the presence of God, presented by those who strive to know Him, can be deep and striking. At the end of a recent two-day retreat, our team noted that the grade ten youth we had been spending time with were remarkably open to us, but more importantly, to God. We put up an open mic and allowed the youth to come up and share with their classmates about how they had been inspired during the two days. The last girl to come up shared something beautiful: “You guys showed us what I had been praying my peers would get to see. I hope you realize how powerful you are.”

NET tries to reflect God in everything it is, and our ministry is a ministry of presence. By merely being present, by encouraging the youth to be open to Christ, we reflect the part of God which is always present to them, always longing to draw His children closer to Himself. And that in itself is powerful enough to change hearts, move mountains (yes, even big BC mountains), and bring a beautiful light into what was once the darkness of being alone. Just by saying, “Here I am,” to youth, I have seen them dare to uncover their brokenness and become present to God, just the way they are, and know that He loves them just the same.

Just by simply saying, “Here I am,” and then pointing them to the cross and saying, “There He is,” I have seen hearts change in the light of His love. And THAT is powerful.

Peace and Love,
Samantha Wigglesworth ~ Encounter Team 2

The Sunrise is Hidden Behind Clouds for Now, but it’s Still Beautiful

It’s 6:45am and the dawn is greying. Our War Monument guard killed yesterday will not see this sunrise; neither will the gunman. Through the Mercy of God, rest in peace. Likely you remember where you were when you heard about the shootings; I was at an accounting seminar at the Ottawa Golf Course, 12km from Parliament. 

 We often remember such moments of tragedy. During 9/11, I was a young missionary at NET training. Between then and now, I’ve experienced death, both as a citizen watching major events unfold and beside a loved-one’s sickbed. Death is harrowing and profound, but I remember a prayer card at a host-home on my NET year that read, “Death is letting the candle blow out because the dawn has come.” The dawn outside is pale orange now and life is stirring outside.

 What would you consider the liveliest example of life? I think of a playground. A few weeks ago, I visited a NET team giving their first practice retreat at a school. It was the first retreat I’ve experienced since I was on NET 11 years ago. Such HOPE! From the playground to the NET prayer time; it was all throbbing with LIFE! My 18-month old just toddled into the attic where I’m writing – such LIFE! On that retreat, I “teared up” more than once (like many retreatants I might add), especially during the prayer time and hearing them all sing “may these ‘hallelujahs’ be multiplied.”

 The soldier and gunman were both once children on a playground. What went wrong? I don’t know. But our Lord said, “Without Me, you can do NOTHING.” Without God’s grace and blessing, no law, gun registry, protest, educational campaign or air strike will solve the world’s problems. Please pray. Pray for the deceased, their families, our Canadian leaders, military, and emergency workers…and pray that God’s kingdom come. Pray that His will be done in your life today, since you too are a missionary.

Robin Daniels, CA ~ Director of Finance, NET Canada

P.S. The sunrise is hidden behind clouds for now, but it’s still beautiful.