News
NETworks Issue 2 2022
In this issue: Team Port Pirie · Blessings in NZ · NET Alumni Mick & Laura Otto
During 2021, two alumni, Chiara Keady and Madeleine Luciani (also NET Staff) wrote and recorded the song 'Everything (It's Yours)'. The song is this year’s theme song for NET Ministries, and one that resonates with the teams and staff. Music plays a dynamic role in the lives of young people. I know that what I listened to in my formative years as a young person continues to have a significant impact on me. The music invokes memories of all kinds (e.g., romance, sport, religion, relationships and special occasions). I know the role that contemporary Christian music played in my life when I was first exposed to it. I was intrigued, curious and then captured. The style of music was uplifting and 'other' focused, seeking peace and good will for all, and an engagement with Jesus in a personal way. There’s a way in which our NET teams are like new music for today’s world. Their contemporary and relevant language needed is called to capture the attention of a new generation. In a world where it would seem God is forgotten or even rejected, each individual team member creates curiosity as to what it is be a young person with Jesus as their lived experience and focus. Like the words that David declares in Psalm 96 “Sing to the Lord a new song”, the NET Missionaries are this dynamic and necessary new song in the lives of their peers and all those they encounter. As their song is heard and experienced, they too call forth new music from the young people they encounter. The encounter becomes life changing for the Netters and those around them.
The opening lines of the theme song say this:
Take my offering, I don’t have much but what I have it's Yours. Everything I am, Everything I need, Everything I want to be. It's Yours.
These lyrics are profound, maybe almost difficult to say, but each NET Missionary and staff member has sung and prayed them with an earnest conviction of what they declare for this year. To give ‘everything’ to the Lord.
We are so grateful for each yes and the new song that each NET Missionary brings to their ministry this year. Please continue to pray for them as we give thanks for you and your important contribution to our mission to encourage young people to love Jesus and be embraced by the Church.
Peace,
Mark Lysaght
Executive Director Australia & New Zealand
TEAM PORT PIRIE
Dan Poloudis
When I signed up for NET at the beginning of 2021, I would never have thought that my year of mission would’ve ended up going in the direction it has taken me this year. Learning that the Diocese of Port Pirie covers the majority of the State of South Australia was a daunting prospect, but I quickly realised that it was where I was meant to be. Coming from a small town, one of the things I treasure most is community; so, it’s no secret that I’ve loved visiting all of the small townships and communities across the diocese, particularly the Parishes of Quorn and Hawker. Hawker is a town of around 314 people and the Parish consists of about 20. But the love and care that the parish community showed to our team was second to none. The hospitality in every parish or school visit has been so amazing which just makes me appreciate it even more.
Due to the Port Pirie Diocese being so large, we have been doing a lot of travelling and seeing many different parts of the state. But as much fun as that is, it is also a constant struggle, because so many young people have not experienced Jesus as a real and loving person. But that just makes me even more determined to show them who he is and the love that he has for them. I can’t wait to see what the rest of the year holds for us as this is just the beginning.
Felicity Meaney
Doing ministry in Port Pirie has been an amazing adventure. Being in Port Pirie has a really familiar feel to my own home town (Tinaroo, Nth. Qld.) as it is small and rural. There are also heaps of farming communities in the diocese and it has been a great experience to go out visiting and to immerse ourselves in farming life. There is a lot of joy in the simple things here and it has taught me, as well, to find beauty in the small things.
I’ve found it easier to connect with God as I connect with the people because they can see God in a simple way. The community here has been so hospitable and is always willing to lend a hand when needed. Traveling from town to town has been so amazing and cool. It’s a privilege to be able to travel so far and reach so many people. I never would have known how large a diocese could stretch until I came to Port Pirie but the community is really tight knit and they are really committed to helping one another. As a ministry we feel really supported by the faith of the people. It’s so enjoyable to be able to share and here the knowledge and stories of the community. They have so much to offer. It’s been such an amazing experience so far.
BLESSINGS IN NZ
Kia ora - Hello. At the invitation of several dioceses, I travelled to Aotearoa at the beginning of April for ten days. I spent time in the dioceses of Christchurch, Hamilton and Auckland, and while there are many positive initiatives taking place, especially in the area of young people, there was a thirst for more. The needs articulated in each of the meeting were consistent. They were looking for a newness in vision and direction which comes from the Holy Spirit. In addition, this direction requires a sustainable approach. It was refreshing and good to hear this vision as this is the page that NET Ministries seeks to be on as well.
The meetings also highlighted an expressed need, an urgent need, to pass on the faith to young people and to train leaders for the future that are inspired by faith. It also became clear in these early conversations that there was a deep appreciation for the young people who have served with NET who are now actively engaged in their local dioceses especially in youth and young adult ministry.
One of the highlights was to see the Hamilton Team who happened to be in Rotorua on retreat with Year Nine students from John Paul College. They were doing a great job amongst the students. I am so grateful to the Hamilton, Auckland and Christchurch Dioceses for their hospitality.
Mark Lysaght, Executive Director Australia & New Zealand
Congratulations to Bishop Michael Gielen, recently appointed by Pope Francis as the Bishop of Christchurch.
Ma te Atua e manaaki May God bless you
Christyna Malietoa-Brown
Hamilton NET Team 2022
There is a particular blessing you receive when you’re in the same area for a second year. I was on the NET Hamilton Team in 2021 and have returned this year. The first year was a little more difficult; forming bonds with students, allowing people to hear my story, planting seeds and understanding that I may never get to see the fruit. But when I arrived back in the Hamilton Diocese and went back into schools, I got to see fruit that was growing from last year as well as the year before. This year I get to watch saplings that weren’t there last year proudly showing their green, but also to be re-invited into the lives of the young people. As we have entered back into the different schools so far this year, I realised that the students remember; they remember the conversations we had about musicals, Disney, K-Pop and Jesus. I realised that by being myself and telling my story about Jesus is a memory in not only my mind, but someone else’s mind as well. Though the students still look for the other team-mates and Netters of past teams, I still see it as a great blessing that I get to experience some of the things that God has done through the witness that Netters have given over these last 3 years.
NET ALUMNI MICK & LAURA OTTO
We met on NET in 2008 (different teams, thank God) and got married in 2010. We both spent two years on team (’07 &’08 Brisbane for Laura, ’08 National and ’09 Coffs Harbour for Michael). We’ve now been married for 12 years and are blessed with 4 wonderful children ages, 10, 7, 4 and 2. After a few years on staff, Laura became a mother, and Michael joined Queensland Police, which led our family on an adventure first to Bundaberg and then Rockhampton. While in Rockhampton Michael felt called back to ministry and is now working for the Rockhampton Diocese in vocations, youth and family life ministries, while Laura leads youth ministry at our parish and runs a Catholic mother’s group.
Serving with NET was a foundational experience for us, that will stay at the core of who we are for the rest of our lives. NET trained us to be on mission, and to strive for more in our ministry and our personal lives. We’ve found that finishing with NET wasn’t the end of our time of mission, but the beginning of our life’s mission together. As well as helping us to find each other, it helped clarify God’s call on our lives and prepare us to live out that call together.
Our experience with NET Ministries was foundational to not only the ministry we are part of now, but also to our vocation as a family. One way our lives were changed during our years with NET was through developing a habit of daily personal prayer. It has forever shaped our personal lives, as we see personal prayer as vital to our daily lives and we endeavour to invite our children into this through reading the Gospel at breakfast time and often a daily examen at night. Recently we’ve taken “team prayer” to our family in a new way, developing an evening rosary routine, which the children have embraced. And we can’t forget the fun NET graces that the kids love to crack out at dinner time.
Relating to our fellow team members on NET has really formed us in the way we approach relationships in our lives. We are so grateful for the hard lessons we learnt on team, from conflict resolution strategies, to being intentional in our love, to learning to ‘die to self’. These lessons were great preparation for our vocation of marriage and parenthood.
SUPPORT NET'S IMPACT
At NET Ministries, our first priority is making sure we're able to give young people the message of Jesus Christ and the tools they need to learn and grow in this relationship.
In 2022 we have set a fundraising target of $79,300. This is to enable the mission of NET Ministries to more places and to more young people.
We are inviting 500 NET supporters to donate $100.00 before 31 July. This will mean we will be well on our way to our fundraising goal for this year. Will you join us in working towards this goal? A gift of $100 can make a huge impact on our ability to achieve our goal.
Your involvement makes a difference! When NET supporters like you give to the vital work of evangelisation, NET Ministries is able to provide the necessary formation and training along with travel, food and accommodation required.
And may the world of our time, which is searching, sometimes with anguish, sometimes with hope, be enabled to receive the good news not from evangelizers who are dejected, discouraged, impatient or anxious, but from ministers of the Gospel whose lives glow with fervour, who have first received the joy of Christ.
Pope Paul VI, Evangelli Nuntandi (Evangelisation in the Modern World)
Thank you for being a supporter of NET Ministries, particularly its missionaries who encourage young people to love Jesus and help them experience connection to the Catholic Church.
Peace and God bless, Mark Lysaght, Executive Director Australia & New Zealand
Can you help us transform the lives of young Australians and rebuild the church?
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.