Courtney McGrailIt’s important for young people to hear about faith from other young people, writes Declan Morris
I first heard of NET Ministries when I was doing my Junior Cert in school. The local NET team attended the youth group that I went to in Newbridge, Co. Kildare. My first impression of the NETTER’s (as they like to call themselves) was they were friendly, fun and outgoing people. I found I actually had a lot in common with them and could relate to them really well.
I got to know the NET team that year and in getting to know them I got to know a lot more about the Catholic Church. They helped me understand my faith better and through that my faith grew stronger and stronger. It makes sense now knowing NET’s mission statement is “to encourage young people to love Jesus and embrace the life of the Church” because that’s exactly what I saw them do in my parish.
When I finished school last year I thought about going to college but decided first to take a gap year. However, God had a different plan. I was at the Youth 2000 summer retreat in Roscrea when I bumped into some of the NET missionaries. As part of their five weeks of training the missionaries and staff were visiting the retreat just for that one day.
I got talking to some of the missionaries and then ended up having a lengthy conversation with one of the staff members of NET. He told me that it wasn’t too late and asked me to think about joining NET Ministries of Ireland, to do something amazing as the slogan says.
It seemed rushed but I felt I couldn’t miss this opportunity; I knew I’d gain a lot from volunteering with NET for a year. So I said yes and became a NETTER.
Training
When I got to training I knew then that I wasn’t doing this for myself, I was doing this for Jesus and so that Jesus could work through me.
I can honestly say so far it’s been amazing!
I’m part of a team of six people and we’re living and working in the Dunshaughlin-Culmullen parish in Co. Meath. There are two other local teams based in Ireland and also a road team which travels in Ireland and are actually just back from doing retreats in the UAE (United Arab Emirates). We’ve also sent two teams to Scotland this year.
My team is great! It’s exciting to live with people from all over the world: America, England, Uganda, Canada, and I’m representing Ireland on this team. We’re all very different because of our different cultures but I’m always surprised by the new similarities we discover every day.
My team has been doing lots of exciting things. We frequently visit the local community college and our focus is on getting to know the young people there, it’s nice to think that if any of the youth are feeling lonely we can be a friend to them. Just like I looked up to the NET team in my parish it’s humbling to think that now these young people are looking up to me.
We run two youth groups in the parish – a junior and senior youth group where we play games, do talks, dramas, activities and lots more to communicate the Gospel message in a way the young people will understand and that engages them. It’s wonderful to be a part of this work as attending a youth group is really where I found my own personal faith.
We’ve also been privileged to run a surfing retreat in Rossnowlagh and we’ve attended a lot of local events including a Youth 2000 retreat.
I think the part of our ministry I enjoy the most is actually giving talks. Before joining
NET I would never have had the courage to even speak in front of just a few people. But now I find it’s so rewarding; giving talks about God and my relationship with him. It is still a bit daunting and nerve racking but I’ve found a new confidence since being in NET.
It’s also great being part of such a wonderful parish community, the people here are just so lovely and it’s a pleasure getting to talk with them. It’s great to work with and get to know two amazing and supportive priests.
Personally, I think that Ireland’s faith is broken. Young people don’t have a good knowledge of faith and they view it as a thing for old people. NET works as a peer-to-peer ministry, it’s important for the youth of Ireland to see there are young people who play video games, watch movies and also have a personal relationship with Jesus.
In NET we relate to young people because we are young people, I think it makes a huge difference when a young person hears about the Catholic faith from someone just like them.
I’ve been having a great time so far and I definitely would say NET is super fantastic and I would say it’s the experience of a lifetime.
www.netministries.ie