By: Rick Geurts
November 6-12, 2022, is National Vocations Awareness Week. We're sharing stories where TEC helped people find their vocation. Today, we hear from Rick Geurts in Atikokan, Thunder Bay (Canada) about his diaconate formation.
My name is Richard (Rick) Geurts. I was born, raised, and currently live in the small town of Atikokan in the province of Ontario, Canada. The nearest TEC center 'Sleeping Giant' is based in Thunder Bay, Ontario. I experienced TEC late in life in 1994 at the age of 40. Two of my three sons were teenagers at the time, and I wanted to share my faith with them, so I sat at the adult table.
As you may already know, the adult table is not treated any differently. We were kept in the dark about the Wheat Team praying and helping us during the weekend. Grateful, I became a member of Wheat Teams on subsequent weekends. The gift of a Good News NT bible during the TEC weekend was the key to my faith growth, as I read it slowly following the year long schedule near the back cover. Because the TEC weekend is similar to the Cursillo charism, I attended a Cursillo retreat three years after experiencing my first TEC.
My fourth day continues, grouping with fellow Cursillistas twice a week (mostly on Zoom these days). My wife Liliane, who has also experienced Cursillo, and I live close to our parish church and receive the Eucharist often. I've always heard the Lord calling. I am now answering the Lord's call in our 2nd year of the Diocesan Diaconate Formation. My vocation to the diaconate is a fruit of the TEC weekend I attended so long ago in 1994. There are challenges in life as always... but the Lord continues to call.
