In late January of this year, Southern Ontario Tres Dias (SOTD) officially changed its status from “emerging community” to “chartered community,” capping five years of loving cooperation between the Canadians and Northern Virginia TD, the sponsoring community. The story begins almost a decade before the first weekend, when the Rev. Ross Gilbert, head of the Crossways to Life counselling center in Kitchener, Ontario, attended a Great Banquet weekend. The Great Banquet, a spin-off from Walk to Emmaus, left a deep impression. Ross left wondering how he could replicate the experience. He had little hope of doing so, however, until a mutual friend introduced him to Ward Sanford, a geologist with a passionate interest in spiritual counseling and a member of Northern Virginia Tres Dias. As it turned out, Ward was preparing to be rector for NVTD #17. He invited the Canadian to be one of his spiritual directors. They left the weekend with Ward saying, “If you ever want to start a community up there, let me know.” A year went by before the two met again at a conference. “Hey, whatever happened to you guys coming to NVTD and trying to start your own community?” Ward asked. “I just wrote to your president, asking about that,” Ross said. “But I don’t have an answer yet.” “Well, I’ve just become president,” Ward replied. “So let’s do it!” The Southern Ontario startup was one of the first communities to be developed under a structure initiated by Tres Dias. Called the “New Community Startup model,” this program establishes two liaisons to support the new community, one from the sponsoring community, the other from the Tres Dias International Secretariat. Ward became the NVTD liaison, and Mark and Teresa Babb, NVTD members who also serve on the international board, became liaisons for TDI. It’s a nine-hour drive, past Niagara Falls and along the edge of Lake Erie, from southern Ontario to northern Virginia–and possibly twice as many hours with traffic and a backup at the border crossing. Yet this did not stop Ross from sending three or four friends to each NVTD weekend. One of those friends was David Sisco. “I was quite naïve about it when I was asked,” David recalls, “But Ross said ‘trust me. The love you will experience will be contagious.'” And it was. David cites the great and lasting friendships he developed with members of the NVDT community as the prime factor contributing to success. David became the head of the steering committee, and after two years in that position, SOTD’s first president. The same testimony to the power of love was express by Cindy Zobel, rector for NVTD # 23, when the first women from Canada arrived. “I was so blessed to have met so many brothers and sisters who love the Lord! They are like family–I want to go spend time with them.” Cindy went on to serve on six of the seven SOTD weekends prior to the charter. By the time Dan LaMay succeeded Ward Sanford as NVTD president, progress was well under way and Dan found himself scrambling to get up to speed. The new community startup model provided a tool in the form of a Gantt chart, a spreadsheet with timelines and check boxes for starting and finishing essential activities. Dan recalls that the chart was exactly what he needed. “It gave us a track to run on,” he said. “It is really well designed. We knew exactly what we should be doing and when.” As time for the first weekend approached, insecurities mounted among the Virginians. “There had been a substantial amount of debate within our community as to when they would be ready for number 1,” Ward explained. “Many felt that they did not have enough people in their community yet.  At this point they had about 16-20 men and 8-12 women.  And the SOTD people seemed a bit overwhelmed at the size of what they were undertaking. But I and a few others really believed that we had a devoted core group, and that God would do the rest.” The community held its first weekend in 2014 with 15 men and 12 women candidates. The second weekend added 19 men and 23 women. Subsequent weekends averaged 25 men and 25 women each, creating a community of about 300 pescadores as it approaches weekend number eight. While the chart had unquestionable value as a blueprint, it also created a framework for “contagious love.” As Chris Brown, SOTD’s current president, describes it, “We had the privilege of working with people who felt the power of unconditional love, and who were willing to commit their talents, skills, and knowledge to making our community successful.” “There was a lot of bonding,” Dan recalls, “and a lot of deep, deep relationships. It was amazing to watch how God took what we did and made it much, much better.” Chris Brown expressed a similar idea. “We learned to view the world through the lens of grace, and when you view the world that way, you see the spirit of our Lord at work in all that you and everyone around you is doing.” We thank the Lord for showing us what love can do, and we pray for continued blessings on SOTD and on all who helped build this community. -The editors.