The First Four Weeks in Sydney!

I can’t believe we’ve been in Sydney for four weeks already! Time has flown and it has been a great start to what looks like being an absolutely incredible year!

We were welcomed to Sydney by Bernard and Emma from Catholic Youth Services and driven to our home we unpacked and got ourselves settled. The feeling of being back in Sydney was surreal; so much was the same, but so much had changed. We were straight into ministry with City Silence the very next day and then an encounter day on the Friday. Sydney is a big city. Schools are big and year levels are big, at least for a six person NET Team! Our first encounter day was attended by 160 year 10 students. Whether we liked it or not, the training wheels were off. It was a great day and we learned a lot about our ministry and working together as a team. In some ways it felt like we were learning to fly because we’d been pushed out of the nest! But the biggest thing I remember about this day was being greeted, by name, by a student who I had ministered to on my first year of NET. We often give so much to God and do what He asks of us, but don’t often get to see the fruits of our labour, which is ultimately God’s work any way! But it was a blessing to see the faith, alive and vibrant, in a young person and know that you helped in some way.

We’ve done seven encounter days already, ministering to almost a thousand young people. I’ve had the privilege of sharing a couple of talks and leading one encounter day. A highlight would have to be driving six hours to a campsite near Gunnedah for a day. It was a very short visit, but one well worth it! On our way we had dinner in Singleton; where the World’s Largest Sun Dial calls home, encountered some wildlife on the country roads late at night and visited the Big Golden Guitar in Tamworth! Another highlight would be on another encounter day getting to pray individually with all the students in my small group, and then to my surprise one of the students praying for me. It was a beautiful moment and one I want forget any time soon.

At the Big Golden Guitar in Tamworth

We are kept busy with lots of other ministry. Catholic Youth Services held a welcome BBQ for us and have been keeping us on our toes with regular events. Each week we go to City Silence at St Mary’s Cathedral. Young people from across Sydney gather together for an hour of adoration and then head out for dinner. After going to Six30 Holy Hour regularly, it is like having a little bit of Melbourne with me! And on Wednesday nights we’ve started back up Chill ‘n’ Chat. My team in 2012 kicked off the first ever Chill ‘n’ Chat, last year’s team kept it going, making it bigger and better, and this year we get to continue this great event, starting with a Lenten program. We’ve also begun planning for the Catholic Youth Services Camp next month which is something I am looking forward to.

We’ve also been exploring, heading into Darling Harbour one night for Team Time. Team Time is one of my favourite times of the week. We stop doing ministry, preparing for ministry, or any of the other tasks we need to get done, and spend a couple of hours hanging out as a team. Other than heading into Darling Harbour, we have played many a game of Articulate – which is my favourite board game, and in honour of St Patrick’s Day (and Sarah’s Irish heritage!) we held our own St Patrick’s Day Parade as we were unable to get into the city for the Sydney Parade! This is by far one of the funniest nights we have had. Instructions were to make a float/dress up in something related to St Patrick’s Day. These instructions were interpreted in many different ways. Nick dressed as ‘Irish Man: Ireland’s first ever superhero’. Sarah dressed as ‘The Girl From Belfast’. Steph as an Irish gypsy. Josh decorated his skateboard and wrote some spoken word. I don’t know what Paul dressed as, but there was a lot of green! And I dressed as a rainbow with a pot of gold! (I unfortunately lost my laptop charger, so I can't get photos off my camera at the moment to show any pictures from this great night.)

Us at Darling Harbour

We’ve got lots on over the next few weeks. More encounter days! More City Silence! More Chill ‘n’ Chat! Starting to minister at a couple of universities! And a whole bunch of other random stuff, including having our supervisors visit is in a couple of weeks! I'm sure time is going to fly, but I'm looking forward to what is next.

 

Called. Equipped. Commissioned.

Called, equipped and then commissioned. Or should it be commissioned, called and equipped?

Over the past few weeks I have spent some time reflecting on what I have been called, equipped and commissioned for. I can tell you that God planted a little ‘NET seed’ in my heart almost ten years ago. He laid it in fertile soil and attended to it regularly. At times it looked like it would never grow into anything more than a tiny little sprout, but eventually after much care, maintenance and watering the seedling grew into a calling that I could no longer avoid saying no to. That's how I know that I am called to serve in Sydney on the Catholic Youth Services NET Team in 2014.

And I know that I have been equipped to do so. I spent six weeks on training earlier this year to specifically get ready for this year. But something I don’t think about is that God has been preparing me for this particular call since the day I was born. I believe that everything happens for a reason. And I believe that everything that has happened in my life has brought me to where I am now and will take me to the places I’m going in the future - even though I don’t know where or what they will be. It’s not a coincidence that I was on this team in 2012. God planned that. And He is going to use my experiences from that year to do His work this year. Two years ago I would not have thought I would be doing a third year, but God was preparing me for it without me even realising!

 

2014 Netters, Staff and Freedom Staff

On Friday 21^st February fifty-one Netters were commissioned by the Archbishop of the Brisbane, Mark Coleridge, to share the Good News to the youth of Australia. We were asked three questions:

• Are you prepared to witness to Jesus, the Risen Lord, in all your words and actions?
• Through the ministry of proclaiming the Gospel, are you prepared to help others encounter God, our Father, through Jesus Christ whom He has sent?
• Are you prepared to be joyful witnesses who are willing to sacrifice your lives so that the Kingdom may be proclaimed and the Church established in the midst of the world?

To each question we all answered ‘we are’. 

The word commission has several meanings, but can be defined as a duty or task committed to a person or group to perform or the authority to undertake certain duties. This year I have been commissioned to encourage young people to love Jesus and embrace the Church, by witnessing to Jesus in all my words and actions, proclaiming the Gospel, and being a joyful witness. Essentially I have been commissioned to bring the Good News to others, but wasn’t this what I was commissioned to do in baptism? The Catechism of the Catholic Church says ‘“reborn as sons of God (the baptised) must profess before men the faith they have received from God through the Church” and participate in the apostolic and missionary activity of the people of God’ (CCC 1270) and in Ad Gentes, the Decree on the Missionary Activity of the Church, it states that every single disciple of Jesus ‘has the duty of spreading the Faith’. (AG 23) Which leaves me wondering if I was called and then commissioned, or commissioned and then called to this mission...

 

Either way on February 21^st we were sent out to spread the Good News of Jesus Christ to this country. And it has been a great journey thus far. As training came to an end we prepared for our first Encounter Days and then ran them. We had a few last minute things to learn on training, we visited the CarmeliteSisters in Ormiston. And then it was time for us to head to Sydney. We were warmly welcomed by the staff of Catholic Youth Services and have settled in. We’ve been busy since the day we arrived, but there’ll be more about that another time.

It is a privilege that God would call me to serve here in Sydney again in 2014. It is not at all what I would have picked. But I know He has been preparing me for this for a very long time and is going to be even more amazing than I could ever imagine. For now I’m going to put the question of which came first; the call or the commission, in the same basket as the chicken and the egg!

 

The Great Commission - Matthew 28:19



My commission reminds me of the theme for World Youth Day last year; 'go and make disciples of all nations.' (Matthew 28:19) The full text of Pope Francis' homily from the World Youth Day Mass on Copacabana Beach can be found here, but here are some words for reflection:

 

"Where does Jesus send us? There are no borders, no limits: he sends us to
everyone. The Gospel is for everyone, not just for some. It is not only
for those who seem closer to us, more receptive, more welcoming. It is for
everyone. Do not be afraid to go and to bring Christ into every area of life,
to the fringes of society, even to those who seem farthest away, most
indifferent. The Lord seeks all, he wants everyone to feel the warmth
of his mercy and his love."
 

Sydney Here We Come!

Almost two weeks ago teams for 2014 were announced.  I am excited to share that I’ll be returning to Sydney as part of the Sydney CYS NET Team this year. I was surprised that I would be going back to a location that I had previously served in, but am very aware that God does the most random things in my life and they have the tendency to turn out pretty amazing! I am excited that I get to journey through this year with five other incredible young people. Paul is from Edmonton, Canada and is my co-team leader. Josh is from Texas, USA. Sarah is from Brisbane. Steph is from the Gold Coast and Nick is from Bendigo in my home diocese of Sandhurst. We’re a very random bunch, but have spent the last two weeks getting to know each other.

#sydneycysnetteam2014
From left to right: Me, Steph, Sarah, Paul, Nick and Josh

The day after teams were announced we spent an afternoon in Noosa together. We ended up going to the beach, climbing on some rocks and just sitting and talking. We’ve been having a lot of fun, but have also started all our ministry training. We’ve learnt how to give talks and share testimonies, lead games, and lead other activities. There were a few days where we learnt a whole bunch of dramas and skits. We also spent a few days learning about local ministry (as opposed to the National Team’s ministry) and community living. We were very blessed to have Bernard, the Director of Catholic Youth Services (CYS) in Sydney, visit us for a couple of days and share with us some of the ministry we will be doing this year. It has changed A LOT since I was on team in Sydney in 2012, so I am very excited for a new and exciting year.

The last three weeks have absolutely flown by and I have experienced many things - too many to write about! The first week was spent as a retreat. This has been my favourite part of training thus far. Each year I have been blessed with life changing experiences during the first week of training. And this year did not disappoint. I can’t put my finger on one particular moment, but continually over the whole retreat my heart was changed. It was a time of surrender for me. In fact the majority of training has been a time of surrender for me. I have been able to let go a lot of things and have realised I have so much to give, but in different ways than I ever thought I would. It has also been a time of healing and God is drawing me ever closer to Himself - again, in ways I never thought possible.

It has been a time of learning. I have learnt new dramas and ministry tools, but have learnt many new things about who I am. I have changed so much in the last couple of years, and I have been learning to take myself out of the box I have put myself in for so long. Just because I use to do something or react in a particular way doesn’t mean that’s how I am now. I have been reflecting a lot on St Paul’s Letter to the Romans where he says “Do not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewal of your mind...” (Rom 12:4) I have allowed God to change my heart and now in order to love Him with all my heart, all my mind and all my soul, my mind needs to be transformed and renewed; just as He has transformed and renewed my heart so much in the last two years. I know that God has started to work in this area and I believe that He is going to change me, and the way I think about things so much this year.

We’ve also had a lot of fun on training. Each year there is a NET Training ‘Crazy Olympics’. Some may argue that my only reason for coming back to do a third year was claim victory in this glorious event. I would disagree, however, after losing for two years in a row I was probably more hungry for victory than most. It wasn’t enough winning the Spirit Award in 2012. I needed to go one better, and in 2014 the dream team was assembled. We called ourselves the UrbanRoos! We had a cheer that would even rival the Manchester United Football Club. Competition was close. We won some events, but not others. We couldn’t even crawl to the finish line of the ‘Caterpillar Race’, but had a major comeback in the ‘Banana Relay’, and eventually won, claiming our prize of victory! Really, there’s never a dull day on training!

We’re coming into the tail end of training. We leave the Sunshine Coast this week and we’ll head back to Brisbane for our first Encounter Days and then we’ll be commissioned by Archbishop Mark Coleridge on Friday 21^st February. (If you’re in Brisbane and would like to attend, please check out the details here.) I cannot believe how fast training is going by this year. In just a couple of weeks we’ll be in Sydney. I’m excited for the next couple of weeks and what they’ll bring. It’s an adventure and I’m looking forward to what it will bring. I’m trusting in God and His ways as I know His plan is far greater than I can ever imagine. I'm sure Mary had no idea what God had in store for her, but she said "yes" and God did great things through her. So here's hoping God can do great things through me and my "yes".

Look out Sydney, we'll be there before you know it! And I can't wait!

We Have Ignition... Baby!

After only a couple of weeks of preparing for another year of NET, I arrived in Brisbane for the Ignite School of Music run by Ignite Youth, AKA music training. A little known fact about me is that I actually grew up playing lots of instruments - the air guitar, the air drums, the air keyboard, I even played the air trumpet at one stage, but gave it up pretty quickly. Seriously though, growing up I wanted to play so many different instruments, but for varying reasons was never allowed. On my first year of NET there were some very talented guitarists who taught me a few of the basics. It was enough for me to attend music training in 2013. And then God blessed even more by placing me on a team with more talented musicians in my second year. I picked up some basics on the keyboard and learnt a whole lot more about playing guitar and singing. So these are the God-given gifts that brought me to Ignite School of Music this year.

So what is Ignite School of Music? It’s a five day program of hands on training and formation in contemporary Catholic worship. Worship. The five days were all about worship. I came to Ignite School of Music so excited to learn new skills that would help me lead worship, I forgot the most important thing about leading other people in worship was that I must first have a relationship with Jesus and worship Him in order for others to be lead in prayer.

About twenty or so of this year’s netters joined a whole bunch of other young people at this year’s School of Music, where team from emmanuelworship lead us in different sessions. We started each day with a Heart session. This was literally all about our heart. Well, not the organ that pumps blood through our bodies, but our heart for worship! One of my favourite talks was entitled ‘What’s in your hands...baby?’ Now in this talk I learnt that everything is apparently much cooler when you add ‘baby’ to the end of it! This is debatable, however, the good thing is I managed to take other things from this talk. Music is in us. It’s in us. And it expresses the inexpressible. I was blown away by listening to a heartbeat and knowing that it’s music; and it’s the first music we hear. Way to drop a sick beat there, Jesus! But what hit me the hardest is how much I had forgotten about the heart of worship. Maybe I hadn’t forgotten. Maybe I’ve just become complacent in my worship. Worship isn’t about us. It’s not about the feelings we receive or the lights or the band. It’s about God. True worship is a song of the heart and not of the lips. And it’s why we were created! Jesus draws us deeper into relationship with Him through worship. And that’s what happened for me over those five days.

After a conversation with a friend I had the realisation that I am doing a third year of NET. It kind of hit me like when you’re pushing a kid on a swing and you look away for just a second and they kick you right in the face! You know it’s there. You know it’s coming. And then out of nowhere - BAM! It hits you and you really feel it! But it was through this realisation that I was able to acknowledge that I’m not perfect and I don’t have everything right, but God is and does. And He is going to do great things in and through me because of this very simple little fact.

A little bit of praise and worship kicking off a Heart session

On a more practical note I learnt a whole bunch of new skills on the good old acoustic guitar. I’m taking away a few new chords and new ways to play old chords. We were split into bands and each band got to practice and lead everyone in a time of worship. During our band practice times each person in my band got to lead the rest of the band in one or two songs. This was a personal highlight for me. I didn’t actually want to do it, but I did it anyway! And I messed up the chords. I messed up the singing. But I was worshipping so it didn’t even matter! This is a massive achievement in my life, as a year ago I didn’t ever want to sing in front of others, let alone lead them in worship!

After a day off and a change in host homes, us netters came together at the NET office for an extra day of music training. We spent a lot of time practicing the Rivers Youth Mass Setting and learning how to play a whole bunch of songs we’ll need to know for the year. I found it really helpful and could tell my skills had improved a whole lot since many a failed attempt at playing an E minor chord just two years ago! I’ve come a long way!

Music Training continued at the NET office
#thirdyearnetlife

We’ve been sent out with new hearts and new skills to share who Jesus is through the language of music. It’s exciting. It’s a little bit scary. But mostly it’s exciting. Tomorrow training begins. All the netters of 2014 will come together for the first time. It’s also mostly exciting, but a little bit scary! But I’m looking forward to the adventure that will be this year.

The engine has started... Baby!

Netters of 2014 at Ignite School of Music