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Danielle’s Story
Learn more about the impact the NETTERs are making on young people in Australia through Danielle’s story
Dear Friend of NET, Danielle always knew that Jesus was real. As a child she didn’t know how she knew or why she was so certain about it, but it was just in her. It probably had a lot to do with her attendance at St Patrick’s school, the local Catholic primary school of Wentzville, Missouri or the fact that when she was young that her family attended Mass regularly.
Danielle was involved with Girl Scouts, and community sports like volleyball and soccer. As a family they loved the great outdoors and would often spend the weekends or holidays at Mark Twain Lake, boating camping, fishing and hiking.
But now that she was 13 years old, she was having a hard time and beginning to question all these beliefs that had come so naturally to her before.
‘I was going through a really tough time at school. I felt very lonely because a lot of my friends had just left for different schools. My friend group seemed to randomly break up one summer and suddenly I just felt very alone.’
Eventually, one afternoon, not knowing what to do with all these emotions or this feeling of loneliness that seemed to be penetrating her life, Danielle reached out to Jesus, out of desperation. Her childhood faith told her that he was real, but up until this point he had seemed like a distant figure, up in the sky and far away. But something inside her told her to try, so she prayed:
‘“Jesus, I can’t do this anymore, it’s too heavy, I need your help.” I had this physical sensation of a weight being lifted off my shoulders. In that moment I knew that Jesus was real, and that I wanted to follow him. I actually said out loud, “I’m free.” I knew that Jesus has taken this weight away from me. It didn’t fix everything, I didn’t have a bunch of friends now, but it was different because I wasn’t alone. God knew my struggles. He was with me.’
Despite Danielle’s desire to follow Jesus, she didn’t really know how to do that, practically, and she didn’t feel like she really had anyone around that she could talk to about this.
But this experience never left her, and she carried it with her, so when she went to high school and had the opportunity to start attending the local youth group, she took it. At Youth Group Danielle started to learn more about her faith. Her favourite part of youth group was the final 20 minutes of every week, after the food and games and some faith formation when they would go into the church for a prayer time. She didn’t pray much outside of youth group, but she looked forward to that 20 minutes each week to have some quiet time with Jesus.
It was also in high school that Danielle discovered her love of music and singing and started getting involved with the choir and musicals. So, it was natural then, that when Danielle graduated from High School in May 2014 that she decided to attend a small liberal arts university in Illinois called Millikin University for a major in music education.
While attending Millikin and living on campus Danielle found herself confronted by so many of her peers who were living out of a very different set of beliefs than she was. She found herself haunted by the big questions of life. She knew she was created to be in relationship with Jesus but was struggling to figure out how to do that.
‘I was looking for life to the full, I was searching for satisfaction and looking for something deeper. I wanted to live for more, but I was trying to put so many of these things into the emptiness that I was experiencing. Popularity, sports, music, hobbies, good grades, dating, relationships… but nothing worked.’
Then one night the Campus Minister at Millikin invited Danielle along to see a presentation from a Catholic speaker at one of the local parishes. The speaker said that if someone or something isn’t pushing you to be the best version of yourself then they’re too small for you, and this cut Danielle to the heart.
‘I realized in that moment that I had never really decided to give Jesus everything. I decided to push through the fears and that night that I made a decision to run after Jesus with everything I had and to let go of all the things that were holding me back: my boyfriend and friends who weren’t pushing me to be the best version of myself, the uni lifestyle of partying and negativity, my own pride. I wanted to fill myself up with good things that inspired me and to surround myself with people who would support my faith.’
After that night, Danielle’s life changed. She started praying more. She started journaling. She started going to Mass more often. She started going to the Newman Catholic Centre regularly.
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As her university graduation approached Danielle was debating about what to do next. She felt drawn to some kind of mission work but also felt like she should put her uni degree to work and start teaching. She attended a conference run by FOCUS and there she met a woman who told her about NET Ministries. Danielle was quickly drawn to the idea of bringing the Gospel message to young people as she recognized how she herself had such a great need for this in her own life and when images of Ireland started showing up in her prayer, she knew she had to go.
This is what Danielle had to say about her time with NET Ireland:
‘Eventually, Jesus taught me that it’s not about me, it’s all about him and that it was about loving people. I learned that the things you think are sufferings can really be transformed into joys if you allow. Ever since the night I decided I would follow Jesus with everything, I’ve decided to trust God and He’s been so incredibly generous! I’m so grateful for all He’s done for me.
After NET Ireland Danielle was trying to figure out where to go next. She was wrestling with two competing desires, one to travel and continue the adventure that she had begun but also with something a bit more practical.
‘I kept telling Jesus that I just wanted to go home and get a job and pay off my university debt, but Jesus just kept saying to me, “Dream bigger.” Then one day at daily Mass the idea of doing NET Australia just popped into my head. As I started looking into it more, all the obstacles that I had created just seemed to slip away. One day I was finally brave enough to ask God directly, “Do you want me to do NET Australia?” and He said, “Yes, it is my will for you!”
After 6 months with her family back in the US Danielle came over to NET Australia where she was placed on the Caloundra MX Mission team. This team serves the Catholic parish in Caloundra and Unity College. The year 12 students in one of the youth ministry classes had been assigned a project where they interview someone and ask 10 of life's biggest questions. Then something incredibly profound happened:
Two young women in this class decided to interview me! Over the course of the past few months, we've gotten to know these two particular girls pretty well, but it was so amazing to get to dive a little deeper and actually discuss topics which require conversation about faith. Throughout several classes, these two young women asked me about why I'm here in Australia, what I believe happens when we die, what I want people to remember about my life when I'm not longer here, and so much more. I told them that knowing and following Jesus had utterly changed my life for the better, how I trust Him and how I experience Him in prayer, and about how I wanted my life only to point to Him. Eventually, both girls revealed to me that they were not raised in religious households, and that they were wondering about what sin was and wanted more from life. Eventually, we began chatting about the sacrament of Reconciliation, and I got to tell these two young women of the mercy I'd experienced within the sacrament, such as a wave of unexplainable peace coming over me at the moment of absolution. Both girls were interested in what I had to say and one of them actually wanted to go confession and asked me to help her get into contact with our local parish priest! After we finished the assignment, I asked the girls if they had any questions about life after high school, or really just anything. They both said yes, and what happened next, I will never forget. One of them, looking at me with deep, great sincerity, asked, "If I've done some sins, and I've not really grown up religious or anything, will I get to go to heaven?" In that moment, my heart broke for these two young women, that they had never known the endless, merciful, love that God gives us without condition. I actually began to cry, and all I could say was, "God loves you SO much. He loves you SO much." As the conversation continued, I told the girls of many things I had learned through my own journey, such as God having goodness planned for me, of His desiring to give me life to the full (as stated in John 10:10), healing, love, mercy. We all cried together, and at the end of experience, we said a prayer. We prayed that Jesus would become a part of our lives and show us His unfailing love.
‘For me as a NET missionary, this experience was honestly INCREDIBLE. If I had come to Australia and given up a year of my life for only one thing, this experience would have been worth it. I am so grateful to God that He chose me to share His steadfast love with these two particular young women.’ ‘I feel like this is exactly where I’m meant to be. God is moving so much in our team and at the students at Unity College. I’m stoked beyond belief about the journey that I’ll get to continue with the students at the school. It’s such an honour to walk with these students and be a witness of a young person trying to authentically live out their Catholic faith.’
For me, this story demonstrates again so many principles that NET knows to be true. Young people need regular formation from their families, their schools and their parishes if our Catholic faith is going to be passed on to the next generation. NET provides this in such a practical and powerful way for young people, both the students that our teams minister to, and the missionaries themselves, generous people like Danielle.
Last year, in 2019, NET ran 1 021 different evangelisation events for young people. More than 100 of these events were weekly youth groups, where our team members walk beside and build relationships with young people, answering their questions about the faith and even more importantly, showing them that what faith looks like lived out on a daily basis.
Recent studies suggest that young people are wrestling with their decision for faith, as Danielle did, by the age of 13. NET is there working with young people from the age of 11 all the way up until they attend university. We are more committed than ever to proclaiming the Gospel message in a way that is compelling and relevant for young people of all ages.
Although the COVID-19 Global Pandemic has slowed us down, it has not stopped us, and we remain on mission!
We need your support to continue to bring our Catholic faith to more and more young people. Please consider a life-changing gift in support of Australian young people today!
God Bless,
Mark Doyle
Executive Director
PS: With your support, we reach more than 30 000 young people!
Your gift will help young people in Australia hear the message of the Gospel.
Visit netministries.com.au/support-us and donate today
PPS: If you would prefer not to donate online, please call us on 07 3217 5299.