NET Ministries has embarked on its 16th year of training for young adults in youth-to-youth Catholic ministry.
Forty young adults from New Zealand, Canada, the United States and around Australia took part in the five-week program last month.
Trainees dedicated time to prayer, team development and learning ministry skills to help them communicate their faith in Jesus Christ and how that faith impacted on their experience of everyday life.
Throughout the year small teams travel to schools and parishes across Australia and New Zealand to share stories of ‘good news’ with other young people.
Teri O’Quinn from Texas in the United States, one of a team of six that will serve the Archdiocese of Sydney, described the training experience as ‘invaluable’.
‘I came ready to give and I received. I came ready to serve, yet I was served,’ she said.
‘Time and time again we heard this quote from Mother Teresa, ‘you cannot give what you don’t have’, and in the insecurity we all feel at the beginning of any new adventure, I wondered if I had anything to give?
‘Sure I loved my Catholic faith and felt called to service in the Church, but what experience could I convey to others to make them want to change their lives and follow Christ?’
Teri said that was her first mistake.
‘Thinking that somehow I was personally responsible for the conversion experience of others and that I had to change the lives of everyone I met.
‘As the days of training passed, I figured out how wrong I was.
She said the experience of the staff and their constant reassurance and affirmation eased the uncertainty of her calling to NET.
This year, NET Ministries will have two national teams on the road and local teams will serve in the Archdioceses of Sydney and Adelaide, as well as Armidale diocese.
The national teams will cover the whole country, working in dioceses from Cairns through to Geraldton, with a stop in Tasmania scheduled along the way.
One team will also spend six weeks working in parishes and schools throughout New Zealand.
NET Ministries is also looking for sponsors for a new van to cover the more than 40,000 km the team will travel in the coming year.
For more information contact (07) 3397 9666 or visit www.netministries.com.au
