News
NET Lands in South Africa
In this issue: New Pilot Team in South Africa · Introduction to New Staff · Sharing the Gospel in the 21st Century
NET LANDS IN SOUTH AFRICA
MARK DOYLE
Executive Director
NET Ministries is in the business of hope! There are so many things that are happening in our church and our world at the moment that can easily steal and rob our peace and joy.
As evidence of this, in 2017, suicide was the leading cause of death for children between 5 and 17 years of age, accounting for 21% of all deaths of young people. Nearly 80% of these suicides were young people aged between 15 and 17 (78.8%).
This absolutely breaks my heart. There are so many pressures on young people today (e.g. family struggles, addictions, social media, peer pressure as well as the frenzy of advertisments that tell you how to look, what to do, what to wear etc., so as to be acceptable in the world). I understand why the world can seem dark and grey and a place that is not beautiful for so many.
What this means for me, is that more than ever, young people need to know that they are dearly loved, that they are precious and cherished. They need to hear the truth about who they are, whose they are and why they are here in a voice that is louder than all the competing voices that fill their heads. Young people need to know that they can be freed of the hurt, the guilt and the shame that so often haunts them, and that this freedom comes to them through the person of Jesus.
I’m so proud of this year’s Netters as they head out into the mission field. They are bearers of hope and light. They are reaching out to their peers as the hands and feet of Jesus, offering to walk beside them through the difficult things that many of them must face. This is why I say that we are in the business of hope. Where there is doubt and despair, our Netters bring hope to people through simple actions of love. By listening, encouraging, hanging out and spending time with young people, this sometimes allows a relationship to develop where we can speak about our experience of faith and the difference that it has made in our lives.
Every year I am amazed at the zeal, the passion and the generosity that our Netters bring to the mission, a mission that touches young people but also families. As I reflect on my own experience and how our children respond to the loving outreach of the Netters at training. Through their witness my own faith is renewed and strengthened. In praying about 2019 and the year that lies ahead, the staff felt led to choose this year’s theme scripture from St. Paul’s letter to Timothy.
Theme Scripture for 2019 2 Timothy 1: 6-9
For this reason, I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands. For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-control. So, do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord or of me his prisoner. Rather, join with me in suffering for the gospel, by the power of God. He has saved us and called us to a holy life—not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace.
Now is not a time for us as Catholics to lower our heads, slump our shoulders and avert our eyes. Now is a time to fan into flame the gifts that God has given us through the Holy Spirit and to keep our chins up, our shoulders back and our eyes fixed on the author and perfector of our faith. We need to go out in the power that the Holy Spirit gives us. That power that raised Jesus from the grave is the same power that’s in us!
What if you lived every day like you knew that to the core of your being? What would it look like in your daily life? For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-control. This is the Spirit that is in this year’s Netters as they go out to proclaim the good news to 30,000 young people this year. May they bring hope to our Nation!
Mark Doyle Executive Director
INTRODUCING THE NEW NET STAFF
RAMONA CORTES
Hi! My name is Ramona, I’m 23 years old and I grew up in Auckland, New Zealand (originally from the Philippines). Last year I served on the Melbourne Encounter Team and it was one of the most transformative years of my life. This year is my first year on NET Staff and I’m so excited to learn and grow and discover more about God, myself, Brisbane, what it means to be a missionary disciple and to be overwhelmed (in good ways!) by the love and power of Jesus in this place and in this time. Random facts: I really like spoken word poetry and driving through tunnels.
CHELSEA LAH-YOUN
Hello, my name is Chelsea Lah-Youn. I am 21 years old and was born here in Brisbane. Prior to being a part of NET Ministries, I was a student at the University of Queensland. I studied a Bachelor of Arts/Social Science, majoring in Linguistics and Development on the St Lucia campus for three years. During that time, I had a number of encounters with the FX teams. NET has provided a solid chunk of my faith formation and I am deeply grateful for the way it revealed truth, beauty and authentic fellowship in a space where I wasn’t even aware that I was searching for it.
I had the privilege of serving on the ACU FX Mission Team in Melbourne in 2018. And now I am thankful for the way God continues to move in my life as I work for NET - supervising the ACU FX Mission Team in North Sydney while continuing to pursue my studies at UQ.
CAMERON MARTYN
My name is Cameron Martyn. I am 21 years old from Coffs Harbour NSW. One thing you should know about me is that I am a huge comic book fan. I was blessed last year to serve with NET as a missionary on the National Team in which I learnt and grew a lot. One of the many things I learnt is that so many young people are searching for hope and purpose and that Jesus truly cares for each one of them and wants to give them those things and so much more. I also learnt that despite the fact that we may see some of these students for just one day, Jesus can still make an impact on their lives. I was blessed to be able to be a witness and an instrument of that impact. I am extremely excited to serve this year with NET on staff this year and build up the church and it's future leaders.
WIL GABUT
Last year, I served with NET on the Iona College Team. We worked as full-time youth ministers, running classroom sessions and youth groups and accompanying young people on their journey of faith. Prior to doing NET, I worked as a chef, practicing my passion for cooking and food. While I’m still passionate about being a chef, my time on NET sparked another passion which I’m still discovering and that is for young people to get to know who Jesus is and the role he can play in our lives. That is what has inspired me to answer the call to work on NET staff. My hope in working for NET is to really make a lasting impact on the ministry and the lives of young people that we serve. I truly believe that NET is one of the great treasures of the Church as we push forward in the New Evangelisation.
NET 2019 IS Launched
NEW PILOT NET TEAM IN SOUTH AFRICA
Caryn & Steven Edwards
Local Supervisors Cape Town NET Team
On the 25th of January 2019, the first pilot NET team came to Cape Town. It fills us with a great sense of hope and joy to know that their arrival is the fruit of much prayer. It has been felt by many that there is a ‘gap’ needing to be filled where youth groups and schools desperately need the dynamic power of witnessing young people, close in age, with hearts on fire for Jesus. As their supervisors, we are privileged to walk this journey with them as we witness them bringing Christ to the youth of South Africa.
It is equally surreal, as it is joyful to witness the pilot team breaking ground in their early weeks of ministry. They have received such positive feedback already. We have many hopes for the team this year. We hope that they will experience the unique context of our country, which is incredibly diverse culturally and economically, as an adventure of growth. We have seen them humbly learn more about our country’s history and we have marvelled at how they have adapted so easily to the different contexts they have already encountered.
We have been married for 2.5 years and have a 10 month old baby, Sienna Rose. We are both teachers, Steven teaching Economics at an all-boys high school and I am teaching Religious Education at an all-girls school. Both of us have experience working in youth ministry outside of Australia. Steven was mentored by and volunteered with the creator of Theology of the Body film series in the United States while I was serving with NET Ministries in Australia.
It was upon meeting that we realized that one of the many things we had in common was the desire for more young Catholics to have a deeper relationship with Jesus Christ and to develop youth ministry skills to aid this vision.
I will always be grateful for the year I spent on NET Australia in 2011. What struck me while doing ministry in Australia was that all teenagers - regardless of their culture or socio-economic background - have one thing in common - a desire for more. For a young person to share his or her story about how God can satisfy longings that nothing material can satisfy is a powerful witness. It speaks to the spiritual thirst that both Australian and South African youth have in common.
Our deepest hope is that more youth will experience the joy of relationship with Jesus and that this would lead them to have turning points in their lives where they decide to live for God. The pilot team is a living example of what transformation looks like and they are bold and expectant in what God’s plan is for South Africa. No doubt, they’ll inspire other young people to serve Christ, both as missionaries on the ‘frontline’; as well as in their daily lives.
Our deepest gratitude to NET Australia for so willingly and generously supporting the vision of NET South Africa and for equipping the team and to Father Charles, our youth chaplain, who has spent years paving the way for the pilot NET team to reach our shores. But mostly, we are so grateful to God, whose dreams are always wilder and bigger than our own.
SHARING THE GOSPEL IN THE 21ST CENTURY
Shayne Bennett
Program Director
As part of NET training over the last couple of years, we have sent all our teams off to the beach at Noosa for an afternoon of fun in the sun. For those who are unfamiliar, Noosa Beach is one of the premiere holidaying destinations in Australia (not for those who prefer a more rustic and unpopulated destination). While it was an afternoon of fun in the “nearly” sun, we were very intentional about our purpose in being there. Our goal was to meet people – pure and simple. We were not there to try and evangelise them or recruit them for NET, we wanted to encounter people. It may sound very simple but it’s an integral dimension how NET goes about mission in the 21st century.
Pope Francis regularly speaks about developing a culture of encounter where we meet others in their experience of life. Sometimes, the encounter becomes an opportunity to share faith but its ok if it doesn’t. During our afternoon on the beach, there were so many different opportunities to share life with people. A soccer game with some internationals concluded with a time of faith sharing and prayer; a random conversation with an older woman revealed her pain and anxiety about her husband in hospital; young boys and girls joined in the fun of making sand castles or face painting while curious parents asked – who are you and what do you do?
This small snap shot from training becomes so important as teams go into their different areas of mission. Whether it’s a school, a parish, a university or some other mission context, the challenge is to remember that its all about the people whom we are called to serve. Our first call is to love them and its not possible to love them without getting to know them. We describe ourselves as a relational ministry for a good reason. In a time where many young people are sceptical about the church and the church’s mission, this dimension of personal relationship is so very important.
Another favourite word of Pope Francis is accompaniment. It means to walk closely with someone and on that journey encouraging them to grow closer to God. In a mission context, this often means listening to the concerns and complaints of young people about the church, their family, their school etc. It also means being willing to encourage and stand with them as they negotiate the sometimes difficult path of growing up. Some years ago, while working with indigenous youth in the Kimberley area, these young people taught us the value of just being there – not trying to achieve something but simply spending time. The teenage years can be a time of instability and in the midst of that instability is the need for someone who is constant.
While it is a great joy to share with others our encounter with Christ and the difference that “life in Christ” can make in our lives, this culture of encounter is about making room for the Holy Spirit to lead us, to create the occasion, the interest and the heart that is searching. When those opportunities arise, we should be ready with the reason for our faith (1 Peter 3:15). As Pope Paul VI reminded us in his Apostolic Exhortation, Evangelii Nuntiandi,
Evangelization will never be possible without the action of the Holy Spirit… It is the Holy Spirit who, today just as at the beginning of the Church, acts in every evangelizer who allows himself to be possessed and led by Him. The Holy Spirit places on his lips the words which he could not find by himself, and at the same time the Holy Spirit predisposes the soul of the hearer to be open and receptive to the Good News and to the kingdom being proclaimed.
(Evangelii Nuntiandi, 75)
This disposition of openness to the Holy Spirit is an essential aspect of our mission as we continue to seek new ways of proclaiming the same gospel with boldness and respect. A good place to begin is by loving one another with the love of Christ and sharing that love with others. This is the authenticity that our teams seek to live as they witness to a God who breaks into our lives through the person of Jesus.
And as always, please pray for us as we seek to fulfill our mission. We hope to see young hearts transformed as they encounter Jesus. That’s why we exist. Thank you for your generosity
APPEAL FOR NET
SOUTH AFRICA
It’s a historic moment in the life of NET Australia as we have commissioned our first ever team for the Archdiocese of Cape Town. They touched down in Cape Town on February 24th and have already begun their mission. The feedback that we are receiving from students and teachers alike is that the team is a breath of fresh air and meeting a desperate need. While the team is working primarily with high school students, they also have a regular outreach to the poor of Cape Town. Although NET has sent many outreach teams to work beyond our borders, this is only the second time (the first being Uganda) that we are sending a team to a place where there is potential for this ministry to continue to expand into the future.
At this stage, we are taking it one step at a time, but as a fledgling ministry there are great needs. One of the most pressing needs right now is for the local young people in Cape Town to receive training about NET and our charism.
From our end, we are seeking to raise $5000 to send two staff members to make this possible in 2019.
In this season of Lent, where we are called to almsgiving, please consider partnering with us to make this exciting new mission a reality into the future.
Are you able to help?
And as always, please pray for us as we seek to fulfill our mission. We hope to see young hearts transformed as they encounter Jesus. That's why we exist. Thank you for your generosity.