2015 NET Staff | 2015 NET Teams | Commissioning Mass | Reflections on Training | Alumni News

As always, our initial training time is one of profound transformation for all involved, with our volunteers being invited to a deeper experience of God through the power of the Holy Spirit. As NET staff members we are offered the privilege of journeying with these NET team members as they embrace the vision, mission and lifestyle of NET throughout training and the rest of the year. This journey is one of discipleship; where learning to become more like Christ is at the heart of a mentoring and coaching relationship between NET team members and NET staff members. Being able to witness this personal transformation taking place in front of our eyes is a great blessing and one of the most rewarding things that we as NET staff members get to experience.

In a particular way, this is an exciting year because Freedom has just completed its fifth year at QUT (Queensland University of Technology), and also marks the beginning of a new ministry for us called Freedom Launch teams. Freedom is the university arm of NET’s ministry and encompasses all of our work on university campuses. The Freedom model at QUT is a long term, sustainable model based on many of the principles of Catholic Christian Outreach (CCO) in Canada where Robert Schroeders (Freedom QUT Coordinator) was trained in university ministry in 2009. In this model the campus missionaries that make up the Freedom Staff don’t live a community lifestyle, and they fundraise their own wage and feel called to serve in this position long term.

The Freedom Launch model consists of team members whose mission lasts ten months, live together in community, and who fundraise approximately $6 500 (all of which are similar to other NET team

Issue 1, 2015

members). However, the ministry of Freedom is very different to NET’s school ministry which is heavily focused on retreats, called Encounter Days, and uses small groups, experiential learning activities, dramas, skits and testimonies as its main tools. Freedom’s ministry is one of few events, and is based on principles of discipleship and spiritual multiplication that uses faith studies and one to one mentoring as its main tools. Despite these differences that are borne from the necessity of different contexts, the heart of the mission remains the same: peer to peer evangelisation.

The purpose of the Freedom Launch model is to stir up the faith of university students and empower them to become leaders in their faith on campus; as the Freedom Launch model takes hold, and the principal of spiritual multiplication takes effect, infrastructure is able to be built to propel the ministry forward into the long term sustainable model with Freedom Staff members then coming onto the campus where that’s discerned as the next step forward. This year, Freedom Launch teams are placed at the University of Queensland (UQ) in Brisbane and at Mannix College on Monash University Campus, Melbourne.

In 2014, Freedom QUT had over 1200 students respond to faith surveys that resulted in more than 100 students in faith studies and attending events such as the Freedom Festival. Many seminarians studying at the Holy Spirit seminary have also been trained in evangelisation using Freedom’s faith study model.

I can tell you that it has been a wild ride to be at the helm of this ministry while all of these changes have taken place. continued on page 2 ...

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Address: PO Box 889Paddington QLD 4064

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But now thus says the Lord, he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine. When you pass through the waters I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not

overwhelm you; when you walk through fire

you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you. Because

you are precious in my eyes, and honored, and I love you, I give men in return for you, peoples in exchange

for your life.

Fear not, for I am with you;

I will bring your offspring from the east,

and from the west I will gather you; every one who is called by my name, whom I

created for my glory, whom I formed and

made.”

Isaiah 43: 1-7

2015THEMESCRIPTURE

FAREWELL FROM THE GREAR’S

... It is very clear to me that this is the movement of the Holy Spirit and it is a privileged time to be a part of NET Ministries as we continue to expand our mission field to reach more and more young people with the message of Jesus Christ. University campuses offer an incredible place to raise up young men and women who will soon become the leaders of this nation. If we can light a fire in the students’ hearts for Jesus - or sustain it through some challenging times - at this point in their lives, many of them will take that passion into their professional lives, their families, and to the broader church. It is this long term impact of apostleship that most excites me and the reason we are broadening our focus.

However, we cannot achieve our growing vision alone; we need your help to

accomplish this mission. At the moment our greatest need is for two things:

1. Generous donors who will financially assist us as we get this new Freedom Launch ministry on its feet and

2. People willing to help us with recruiting NET team members for 2016 by becoming HERO’s (Honorary External Recruiting Officer’s).

In whatever way you can contribute, please be generous in helping us make 2015 a fruitful year of bringing the Gospel to the young people of this nation.

Mark DoyleExecutive Director

If you had asked Rosie and I at the end of last year what our plans for 2015 were, we would have said we were all ready for another year on NET staff! As we started initial training we were excited about what God was doing in the lives of the netters and what he would do in the lives of young Australians through the NET teams.

For a number of reasons, NET were unable to send a team to St Fidelis Parish in Melbourne as was originally planned. When this became clear, it triggered something unexpected in us. We both felt like there was an opportunity here that God wanted us to consider. So we started praying and discerning, aware that we had about 48 hours to decide whether to leave our jobs, family and friends in Brisbane to take up a ministry position in the St Fidelis Parish. The more we discerned the more excited we became about the opportunity we saw. We asked God to open or close

the door for us, we began talking to the Parish priest, and the door swung wide open.

So for the past month we have been living and working in Melbourne with the amazing St Fidelis Parish. We are seeing God do amazing things in us, in our marriage and in the parish.

We want to thank NET for its incredible work and in particular for the way it has been the hands and feet of Christ to both of us for so many years and for the way God used NET to transform our lives. We will miss the NET family, but we know that we will always be connected through the shared mission of evangelisation and constantly connected through the Eucharist.

Rosie & Jeremy Grear

Issue 1, 20152

Rozlyn Kelly is 26 years old from Shepparton, Victoria. She served on the Sydney team in 2012,

the St Fidelis team in 2013 and a third year in 2014 on the Sydney team. She loves playing guitar, learning new things and although she misses her family, is enjoying living in Brisbane. Roz is joining the finance and ministry development teams.

Niamh Healy is 25 years old from County Meath, Ireland and is a primary school teacher by profession.

She served on the Brisbane Archdiocese team in 2014. She loves to stay fit and healthy, is a fan of fine dining, has a traveller’s heart and is always up for an adventure. Niamh is supervising one of our new Freedom Launch teams as well as working on campus with the QUT Freedom Staff.

Shayne Bennett returns to the NET staff after a 10 year absence to take responsibility for the

development of NET’s University Ministry. Having stepped down from the role of Moderator of the Emmanuel Community in Brisbane and International Vice President of a Pontifical Association of Communities, Shayne is keen to get back to a more grass roots focus on nurturing a mission focused church. Shayne believes that the university is one of Australia’s vast mission fields. He also continues in his role as Director of Mission and Faith Formation at the Holy Spirit Seminary in Brisbane.

2015 NET STAFF

CONTINUING STAFF

NE

W S

TAF

F

While our team members are the public face of NET Ministries, behind the scenes we have our committed, talented and hard working staff members. Being on NET Staff is a calling – the hours are sometimes long and budgeting on staff wages can be tough. Those who answer the call fill a wide variety of pastoral and administrative roles – management, supervising teams, training, finance, fundraising, recruiting, developing and choosing new ministry material, liaising with local areas and many more tasks.

This year sees a surge of new staff members and a few familiar faces moving on. The faces may change, but the spirit, ethos and mission stay the same. We present the NET Staff of 2015.

MarkDoyle

ShanelleBennett

StephanieRansom

SeanMcGrath

AllysonMourits

Travis Schoenfelder

Denis Ssekyewa

JeffHoffard

RobertSchroeders

JenniferColmer

EmmaPlant

SarahTyler

Issue 1, 2015 3

MELBOURNE AOYGerald Okello, Bradley Vergano

Alana Clark, Emilie Piat, Alyssa Ambulo, Victoria Standish

NATIONALBrandon Kengmana, Cosme Cham, Phillip Grech, Nicholas McDermott

Grace Hyland, Maria Downey, Hannah Zelasney, Marnie Hewitt, Emily Grant, Pia Irwin

MAZENOD COLLEGEAdrien Rondeau, Lachlan Wilson

Ashley Strain, Angela Brammer, Maria Moran

UQ FREEDOM LAUNCHDavid George, Jake Mullin

Karen Luzan, Vivien Dolar, Raeanne Kinahan

INTRODUCING the NET TEAMS of 2015

FEAR NOT, FOR I AM WITH YOUre you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you. Because you are precious in my eyes, and honored, and I love you, I give men in return for you, peoples in exchange for your life.

SYDNEY CYSAndrew Lemalu, Justin Bouchard

Harmony Miller, Kristen Chapman, Marianne Rozario, Gemma-Lee Watson

NATIONALBrandon Kengmana, Cosme Cham, Phillip Grech, Nicholas McDermott

Grace Hyland, Maria Downey, Hannah Zelasney, Marnie Hewitt, Emily Grant, Pia Irwin

MANNIX FREEDOM LAUNCHSamuel Sachse, Arnie Hurdoyal/Wesley Gibson

Kate Gilday, Claire Forbes

CANBERRA–GOULBURNChris Beaton, Nicholas Kelly, Thomas (TJ) MillsAlice Tate, Catherine De Battista, Sarah Morgan

INTRODUCING the NET TEAMS of 2015

FEAR NOT, FOR I AM WITH YOU I will bring your offspring from the east, and from the west I will gather you; every one who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made.” Isaiah 43:1-7

When I signed up to do NET in the middle of 2013, I literally had no idea what to expect. I left my home country of Canada in the beginning of January 2014, with little idea of what I was actually doing. However, once training started, I slowly began to understand what it really meant to be a Netter, and more broadly, a man of God.

One of my highlights was during training when all of us split up into our respective genders and had men’s and women’s days. Men’s days on my first year were a bit of a blur, but I really felt like they prepared me for my year on National team. Without giving away too much I can tell you that men’s days

From the moment I arrived on NET training, I knew it was exactly the place where I was meant to be. It was an incredible experience from start to finish, from the amazing talks and information we were given to the incredible people that I was surrounded by. I arrived on training thinking that I was already deeply committed to my faith, but with every day that passed, I was shown a new way to grow more.

Not only did training allow me to be open to new experiences, but taught me to abandon my comfort zone and embrace every new adventure with the same eagerness and enthusiasm! Throughout the entire experience, there were many times where I

were an exciting, testing, full on experience that drew me into a deeper relationship with Jesus. Fast forward to training in the beginning of this year and I found that Men’s days were similar, but also vastly different. I felt that as a second year I got a lot more out of Men’s days simply because I knew what to expect, and because of this I was able to go deeper into everything.

Now, as our first supervisor visit quickly approaches, I find that I have really come to appreciate more all that I learned about myself and about being a man. My two experiences of Men’s days are memories that ultimately keep me going throughout the year.

felt challenged by what training was teaching me, but there was never a moment where I didn’t feel supported – both by the Holy Spirit and by the people around me.

If there was ever a time where I felt like I wasn’t able to do something, I was met with positive encouragement, and through that community of support, I was surprised how many impossible things were no longer impossible at all! I thought I knew what to expect when I arrived, but now having left, I know that there was no way I was properly prepared for the experience. It was unlike anything I had ever done before, and was an experience that I doubt could ever be imitated. It was incredible!

REFLECTIONS ON TRAINING

Jake Mullin, UQ Freedom Launch Team

Victoria Standish, Melbourne AOY Team

Issue 1, 20156

ALUMNI NOTICEBOARD

BIRTHSStephen (Staff 12) & Nattasha Meirendorf (nee

Pennington) (National 09, Port Mac 10, Staff 11-13) welcomed their first child, Lucy Anne, in December

Sam Sivertsen (nee Flores) (Stanthorpe 01) & Martin welcomed their third child, Clara Emily, in January

Rachel Fredericks (nee Plummer) (Coffs ’09) & Andrew welcomed their first child, Josephine Ellen Fredericks, in

February

Sarah Hammond (nee Schick) (National 06, Bundaberg 07) & Troy had their first child, Theodore James, in March

Katrina Randall (nee Grad) (National 03) & Wolfgang had their third son, Isaac Wolfgang, in November

ENGAGEMENTSHelene van Iersel (National 04, QLD 05) is engaged to

Bernard

Charlotte Akau Veamatahau (National 09) is engaged to Ray

Michaela Hillam (Lismore 09) is engaged to Shawn Pang

Ruth Ransom (Port Mac 11, Emerald 12) is engaged to Daniel DeValentin

Erica Shapka (Mazenod 13) is engaged to Brandon Chudyk

WEDDINGSSean McGrath (Mazenod 11, Townsville 12, Staff 13 ro current), & Teresa Delsorte (Adelaide 04, QLD 05, Staff

06-14) were married on December 13th 2014

Amanda Halbach (National 13, Freedom Staff 2014 to current) & Travis Shoenfelder (Mazenod 13, Staff 14 to

current) were married on December 13th 2014

Justin Mourits (Sydney 11, Mazenod 12, Staff 13/14) & Allyson Cantin (Mazenod 12, GCC 13, Staff 14 to

current) were married on April 11th 2015

Paul Curtis (National 07/08) & Jessie Diamond were married on January 8th 2015

Applications are now open for our 2016 teams

Issue 1, 2015 7

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Issue 1, 2015

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NET MINISTRIES FUNDRAISING DINNER

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Guest speaker

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And as always, please pray for us as we seek to fulfil our mission. We hope to see young hearts transformed as they encounter Jesus. That’s why we exist.

Thank you for your generosity.

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