Un coeur de gratitude

Bonjour!!!


Les dernières quelques semaines étaient très occupées pour nous! On avait quelques soirées jeunesse, une retraite familiale, une soirée d'adoration, deux messes jeunesse, une visite de superviseurs, et plein de rencontres! Chacun de ces événements demandait beaucoup de préparation et c'est vrai que notre horaire est toujours plein. Notre temps ici avant Noël est presque fini et lorsqu'on regarde les événements qu'on a déjà eus, c'est vrai que notre travail avance rapidement. Comme responsable de la musique, je suis toujours en train de former des musiciens et musiciennes.

 Jusqu'à maintenant, ils ont déjà joué avec nous pour une messe jeunesse et une soirée d'adoration!Une chose qu'on a faite plus récemment dans l'esprit de l'Avent a été une levée de fonds pour l'apostolat jeunesse. On a chanté des chansons de Noël au IGA ici à St Georges, avec des seaux pour que les gens puissent y déposer de l’argent. L’événement a été organisé par quelques bénévoles et beaucoup de nos jeunes sont venus et ont joué de la musique. On était là pour représenter NET, mais on n'était pas les organisateurs comme d'habitude.

Une chose qui me frappe est à quel point nous sommes bénis ici en Beauce. La communauté est incroyablement chaleureuse et belle. Depuis notre arrivée, chaque prêtre, personne-ressource, secrétaire, sacristain et jeune a été tellement accueillant et présent pour nous. C'est vrai qu'on travaille fort comme équipe, mais ces personnes font des tâches dont on n'est même pas au courant. Je suis reconnaissante pour ces personnes et aussi pour mon équipe. Jusqu’ici, notre équipe a rencontré beaucoup de difficultés, mais Dieu m'a donné une équipe très forte et sainte.

 

C'est incroyable comme le monde peut prendre leurs dons et la bonté de la vie pour acquis. Je suis coupable de ça. Je remercie les gens, sans vraiment penser au travail qu’ils font. Peut-être que, dans l'esprit de l'Avent, on pourrait prendre le temps de remercier les personnes qui travaillent fort, même si le monde ne le voit pas autant. Peut-être qu’en plus, on pourrait remercier Dieu pour le cadeau de son Fils et se souvenir de son amour pour nous.

Joyeux Noël!

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

The Home Stretch!

With Christmas just around the corner, iNFUSE 2 has been scrambling to wrap up all of our events before we head to Edmonton for December retreat and then Christmas break. It seems that just as our ministry has started to get busy we are headed home. It's definitely hard to leave, especially such a wonderful community like Weyburn.

As I mentioned before, the past few weeks have been wonderfully busy. We've finished all our Encounter days, started up small groups, and also had our usual ministry including our high school and middle school youth groups, sports night, youth liturgies, lunch visits, and so much more! We are all feeling pretty worn out and are very ready for a break, but the ministry keeps us fueled. It's so powerful to see the impact that we are having in the community.

Having our Encounter days has been an especially powerful experience for all of us. After each day we read the "experience sheets (X-Sheets)" of all of the youth and we are always amazed by how many youth say that their favourite part of the day was prayer time. Sometimes we would have a group that was especially unfocused and it seemed like prayer time was just going to be a boring 30 minutes of sitting. However, God works in w
onderful ways, and no matter the attitude of the group, prayer is incredibly impacting and beautiful. God is working in hearts here!

As we go home for Christmas, we feel a little bittersweet. It's hard to leave the community just as we feel like our ministry is taking off, but on the other hand we need a good long rest so that we can do all that we need before we leave for good in spring.

Pray for us! God is working miracles here! 

God Bless,

iNFUSE 2 

Sometimes He Make us Swim

One night at our high school youth group, we talked about prayer. We were asking the youth what prayer means to them; what it looks like in their lives. One girl spoke up and said, “I was struggling with a few things and I was at this event, and I looked up at the wall. On the wall I saw a picture of a quote that said, ‘Sometimes God calms the storm, sometimes God calms the sailor, but sometimes He makes us swim’.” She said that she felt that God was speaking to her through this.

This was a great reminder for our team. We recognize that sometimes God is really good to us, makes it easy for us, and other times, He just wants us to work and grow. To strive for what we want to accomplish.She wrote that quote on the board for us, and it's been there ever since.

And then at our most recent high school youth group she pulled two of my teammates aside and said, “I really just feel like I need to talk to you. I can feel God’s presence with me for the first time in my life. I can literally feel God with me”

These are the moments that make all that we do worth it. These are the moments that we can see the fruits of our work and we can smile because we know that we made a difference in this young woman’s life.

We are heading off now for our Christmas break, and we will be back in January. We will miss our home that we have made here, and we are very excited to come back to the youth of Swift Current to help and watch them grow in their faith and relationship with God. 

Merry Christmas Everyone!

- Hunter - iNFUSE 1, Swift Current, SK

The Coming of Christ

What is this season that we celebrate? The Latin word Adventus actually means coming. This coming is the coming of Christ, and in the readings at this time of the year we hear how we must prepare ourselves for the coming of Christ. Advent is a season of joyfully awaiting the coming of Christ and what Christmas truly means.

"For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him." -John 3:17

The true meaning of Christmas is the celebration of this incredible act of love. The real Christmas story is the story of God's becoming a human being in the Person of Jesus Christ!  

In other news, our team is doing well, though ministry is slow here in the North. While it grows, we are building really good relationships with the youth here in Yellowknife. So far we have held two iGNITE youth groups, a CLT (Christian Leadership Team) retreat, and a Confirmation retreat.

Living at Trapper’s Lake Retreat Centre is both rewarding and difficult due to the men's responsibility of overseeing the maintenance of the retreat centre.  Even though it can be tough, we have many reasons to find joy in the midst of the frustrations:  we have made a hockey rink on the lake and have also had the opportunity to go snowshoeing there, which gives us just one more reason to love the work we do. 

Until next time, thanks for reading and God bless!

Ben from iNFUSE NORTH 

I Will Triumph

“So I will triumph over my enemies around me. With shouts of joy I will offer sacrifices in his Temple; I will sing, I will praise the Lord.”

 -Psalm 27:6 

This morning I sat on the couch watching out the window for the men to pick us up, as my teammate sat in the kitchen talking to our host mom. As I sat there I was thinking about how much I didn't want to have a conversation with them, and I’d rather sit alone in silence.

Dennen and Joy being joyful!

I’m supposed to be investing in my host family, even at 8:00 in the morning. However I wasn't doing that because I wasn't choosing to sacrifice how I was feeling to choose to love. Instead, I chose to sit in silence and let my grumpiness take over. I realized that I wasn't making an effort or a choice to be a light in the darkness, or for Christ.

Our team has been praying for the gift of Joy these last few weeks. During team prayer on Sunday, we were nearing the end of our hour and we were singing ‘Multiplied’ by Needtobreathe. Something made me laugh, and once I started, I couldn't stop. And before I knew it, we were all laughing. We were laughing at each other, and laughing at ourselves. I think that day was a time when the Lord really wanted to bring some joy into our day. Joy and laughter is so contagious when it comes from God. Joy is truly a gift to have, especially in times of struggle.

Joy is a decision and a sacrifice. Choosing joy goes much deeper than just having a happy day because things are going well. Choosing joy is deeply rooted in our faith, hope and trust in God.

As I go through this day and the rest of this year, I am trying to make a conscious effort to make a sacrifice and choose joy. Not only should I do this for myself, but also for those around me so they can see the joy of the Lord in me and be joyful themselves.

Every time I think about seeing Christ in someone, I go back to the story in the Bible about Mary going to visit Elizabeth. Elizabeth immediately knew that Christ was within Mary, filled with so much love and joy. I am always trying to strive to be just like that, and so should we all.

I challenge you to seek and strive to radiate with Christ's joy and goodness!  

Spread joy and Christmas cheer!

God bless,

Hunter

iNFUSE 1 - Swift Current, SK