NET returns to Hamilton

NET RETURNS TO HAMILTON DIOCESE

Written by Brigid Conroy, Editor.

Two decades since the diocese last had a NET team, the Pastoral Services Team is pleased to announce that 2020 marks the return of National Evangelisation Teams (NET).

A team of five enthusiastic, hearts-onfire-for-Jesus young adults have arrived in our Diocese to share their passion for Jesus and personal testimonies with the young people of our diocese at schools and youth groups near you!

The last time NET was here in Hamilton Diocese they were based in Rotorua and I was in my last years of primary school. I have wonderful memories of having a bunch of joy-filled older brothers and sisters, as my parents ensured we visited the team’s house regularly (smart move, Mum and Dad!). Their genuine interest and aroha for me (and my family) has left a lasting impression. I am certain they are part of the reason I still hold firm to the faith today.

I encourage all parents, teachers, parishes to make the most of this opportunity that presents you to support the faith of our future generations. Here are labourers for the harvest and that harvest will be rich in rewards in the years to come.

HOW DOES NET WORK? National Evangelisation Teams (NET) has been pursuing their mission of evangelising young people in hundreds of schools and parishes since 1988. NET teams have contributed to revitalising the faith life of schools, parishes and university communities in more than 40 locations. This missionary pursuit has allowed NET to spread the message of the Gospel to more than 500,000 young people. NET is a peer to peer ministry that believes in the ability of authentic witness to transmit our faith to young people in generations to come!

EQUIP THE CALLED

Each year NET accepts 40- 50 spirit-filled young adults who have heard a strong call in their lives to proclaim the Gospel to the next generation. They are trained for six weeks and mentored by NET staff throughout the year. These missionaries, known by many as ‘Netters’, experience community life in teams, a deepening of their personal faith, and the joy of ministering to other young people.

PURSUE THE MISSION

Young people need to be pursued and know they are an important part of the Church! NET make an impact through three key missions, all of which occur in a unique context. They offer “Encounter Events” like retreats, youth groups and more, for schools and parishes to book throughout the year. NET also offer long-term missions where a team will serve your school, parish and university communities for 2-6 years.

MEETING YOUNG PEOPLE

Young people need to be met where they are at, without judgement or expectation. No longer can we wait for them to come to us, but we need to go out to meet them. NET Teams are trained to do this through the three areas that form the core of NET’s ministry tools. This includes fellowship, proclamation, and invitation, and together they lay the foundation for the effectiveness of our teams in their mission fields.

Tammy Botha (Team Leader) Hey everyone, I am from Australia and am 19 years old. I feel so blessed to be here in New Zealand, this is my second year of NET and I really love letting young people know that they are loved by Jesus so I’m so excited to be here in the Hamilton Diocese. John Paul Schryvers (Team Leader) Kia Ora! I’m 19 years of age, from sunny Nelson, and now serving as a NET missionary for my second year. I love music, the outdoors, making friends, and my huge family! I also can’t wait to meet, and share my faith with, the young people of this diocese! John Foxon How’s it Digeridoing, I’m 18 from Brissy Australia, I love basketball, long walks on the beach and banana milkshakes. Since joining NET a few months ago I feel like I have a new purpose in my life. I’m excited for this year of youth ministry and can’t wait to share my love of Jesus with the young people of Hamilton.

Preparing Young People for Life

Book ‘Em In! Book in the NET team by contacting our Youth Office Manager Jil Miller e: jily@cdh.org.nz or p: 07-856-6989 Diana Pinsker Hey everyone, I’m 19 years old from Brisbane Australia and this is my second year of NET. I am so excited to be in New Zealand and super keen to share with the young people of Hamilton how much Jesus loves them and that the Church is a place they can feel at home. Fiona Pelosi G’day everyone! I grew up in Sydney and decided to do NET after encountering Jesus while studying Psychology and Human Resource Management at university. I’m excited to get to know the young people in this Diocese and spread the Good News!

Written by Diana Pinsker, NET Hamilton.

This year’s NET Hamilton team has run retreats at Aquinas college Tauranga, St Mary’s Putaruru and St John’s college Hamilton as well as supporting youth groups and other youth ministry initiatives since our arrival in the diocese in February.

This year we will be working closely with the St John’s College community to help support students in their personal journey of faith. The first retreats the team ran at St. John’s college was for the year 12s, their senior leadership retreats.

The team really enjoyed getting to know the students and were able to journey with them throughout the retreat days. To get a better idea of how the retreats at St Johns went, one of our team members John Foxon has written a small reflection about his experience on one of the days:

“Throughout the retreat day, the students break up into smaller groups and will be with one of the team members. It’s an opportunity for them to have conversations with their small group leader and peers about the topic of the day and chat about faith and life.

On one of the retreat days I had a student in my small group who was pretty quiet and wouldn’t go into much detail when I asked the group questions. Throughout the day this boy remained quite reserved in small group. As we entered into the final session of the day we gave the students the opportunity for prayer. I would go up to

HE SHARED WITH ME HOW HE SAW THE BENEFITS OF A REAL RELATIONSHIP WITH JESUS.

each student during the reflection time and talk to them about how their day was and also give them the option to pray if they would like to.

I went to talk to this student and during this time we were able to talk deeply about areas he wanted to grow in and he shared with me how he saw the benefits of a real relationship with Jesus.

After he shared this with me we prayed to invite Jesus into his life. I never would have expected that this student would have wanted to do this and to share with me the area’s he wanted to grow in, but it just goes to show that Jesus can work in anyone.”