NET HAMILTON 2021

MEET THE 2021 NET TEAM

BY DANIELLE MOURITS

NET Ministries aims to meet young people where they are, presenting the unchanging Gospel in relevant and fresh ways to engage with young people at any stage of their faith journeys. Essentially, the members of the team are all about sharing their personal experience of Jesus to encourage and challenge young people to discover and experience tangibly this life-changing relationship for themselves. The 2021 NET team have recently arrived in our diocese and are coming to a parish or school near you.

After six weeks of training and a few weeks of ministry in Brisbane, Australia, the 2021 Hamilton NET team had an unconventional start to their year, with managed isolation for fourteen days upon arrival to Aotearoa. The team used this time to begin planning and dreaming big for the year ahead, while enjoying taco Tuesdays, movie nights, regular walks around their designated exercise zone and time for prayer.

The team is a group of five Kiwis from around the country, hailing from Christchurch, Palmerston North, Wellington and Auckland. Hannah, Sharkie, Eric, Phoebe and Christyna come from diverse backgrounds, jobs and experiences and this year they have hit pause on their other commitments, deciding to volunteer a year of their

L-R: HANNAH, PHOEBE, ERIC, LEMALIE AND CHRISTYNA

lives to serve the young people of the Hamilton Diocese. They have a shortened stint of six months due to Covid-19 and their schedule, which will see them working all over the diocese, is filling up fast.

So far the team has spent a week in Hamilton, exploring the Hamilton Gardens, the zoo, Raglan, and spending some time with the young adult community. The team journeyed on to Murupara to spend a few days with the kids there, leading a holiday program focusing on preparing the young people for their reception of the sacraments later this year.

Building on last year, the 2021 team will be based in Rotorua. They will be starting up a youth group in the parish, spending time with the students at John Paul College and wil get involved in the community. The team will generally spend a week in Rotorua and then a week on the road travelling and working. They will spend their days running one-day retreats in the diocese’s five high schools, visiting youth groups and helping to organise and run other events across the diocese such as Regeneration.

This group of Jesus loving, adventure seeking, joy-filled young adults seeks to be a living witness to how the love of God can transform our lives, filling us with new purpose