It’s all about young people spiritually connecting with other young people.
“The best evangelist of youth is another young person,” said Pierre O’Reilly, NET Canada’s executive director since 2019. “I think that's why it's been very effective. It's not older people or parents going in and trying to evangelize you, which is also important. There is a particular grace to a young person being able to share their faith and be bold about their relationship with Jesus, which I think has been part of the recipe of the success of all the NET Ministries.”
In the Canadian context, this non-profit successfully grew from humble origins into a dedicated evangelizing force that has communicated the Word of God to over 300,000 youth.
James Mikulasik and Rachel Scott, two Canadians serving NET Ministries in Minnesota, accepted the invitation of the late Ottawa Archbishop Marcel Gervais to establish NET Canada. They started with no office, no staff and virtually no money, but were fervent in their mission to “challenge young Catholics to love Christ and embrace the life of the Church.”
One travelling team quickly multiplied into more, and parishes impressed with the organization’s one-day retreat asked for a continual NET presence. Thus, parish ministry teams were born.
“I'm just amazed that we've continued to basically keep the same charism and mission, but we've grown both in professionalism and scope and ability to reach across Canada,” said O’Reilly.
NET Canada’s young adult leaders, all between the ages of 18 and 30, indeed journeyed across the country during 2023-24, collectively racking up 43,000 kilometres in travel, the equivalent of about 10 coast-to-coast trips. The parish discipleship team visited 300 classrooms, hosted 58 youth nights and guided 200 teens through online Alpha courses. The retreat team helmed 110 retreats in 21 dioceses that reached over 6,200 students.
Fernanda Cano, a team coordinator for NET Canada since 2021, originally joined as a retreat team member in 2017. She said each retreat features the core spiritual activities of small group discussions, one-on-one prayer sessions and missionaries sharing their testimonies. These weightier items on the itinerary are complemented by games, skits and casual chitchat, which serve a greater purpose than one would assume.
“If there is a young person who is (passionate about) sports or video games, we meet them where they are at by taking an interest and asking questions,” said Cano. “We also ask each missionary to nourish or grow in their radical mystery of presence, which is giving our full attention to the young person in front of you. This is during games or conversation, which can look insignificant, but we are meeting the person God called to that retreat at that moment.”
The 19 missionaries serving on NET Canada’s retreat or discipleship squads during the 2024-25 school year will venture forth at a time when secularism dominates mainstream culture.
However, a May 2024 study authored by Deacon Father Andrew Bennett, the faith communities program director for the non-partisan think tank Cardus, called Still Christian(?) What Canadian Christians Actually Believe, indicated that younger Christians (18-34) today are more likely to embrace and adhere to Christian beliefs than previous generations.
Bennett wrote that “at 57 per cent, a clear majority of younger Christians agreed that it was essential to encourage others to embrace the faith. Only 43 per cent of those aged 35–54 agreed, and slightly more than one-third (36 per cent) of those aged 55 and over agreed.”
O’Reilly concurred that missionaries will be greeted with intriguing evangelistic possibilities once they hit the road following the 2024-25 NET Canada Commissioning Mass at Annunciation of the Lord Parish in Ottawa on Sept. 28.
We have a generation that is more and more being raised with no faith whatsoever,” said O’Reilly. “It presents a unique opportunity that we're not fighting against preconceived notions or a rebellion against the faith. A lot of young people we encounter have no faith background whatsoever. And so, they do seem very much more open to hearing, you know, what our missionaries have to say to hear what the Church has to offer them.”
Cano, 27, said she and her missionary colleagues share that point of view. They acknowledge that society has “moved past a time of Christendom where social and cultural values are Christian to an apostolic era where, like the first Christians, we have to rely on the Holy Spirit to invite people into Christianity.”
In addition to Canada and the U.S., NET Ministries International has missionaries working for Christ in Australia, Ireland, Scotland and Uganda.