Dear young people, we didn’t come into this work to “vegetate”, to take it easy, to make our lives a comfortable sofa to fall asleep on. No, we came for another reason: to leave a mark. – Pope Francis
Now that we have a clear understanding of the persistent programs and efforts we as a Parish Family are looking for, we can begin to develop them. We want to do this way before the Life Center opens its doors, so when it is completed, it will be bursting with activities Day One. A core development task we need to take on right away is outreach, both within our parish as well as into the larger Naples community. We need to spread the wonderful news of our church and our faith to all those around us, especially all the excitement and progress for the future of the Catholic Community. In order to do that, we will be using some of the first fruits of our Capital Campaign to integrate a missionary outreach program called NET Ministries.
NET Ministries, which began in 1981 in Minneapolis, is a world-renowned Catholic evangelism and engagement organization. They reach youth and young adults through direct relationships and forming their connection to Jesus through retreats and getting involved in their lives. Our unique connection to them will be a 3-year commitment to a Parish Team, 8 full-time missionaries that will live, work, and proclaim right here in Saint John and around Naples. They will go out into the community and meet our young people where they are and how they want to be engaged. They will assist with all aspects of the Parish Family, including various ministries, supporting the Faith Formation program and After School activities. They will even live with us. We should welcome these new individuals at part of our Parish Family, and we will be asking for supportive homes that can house 2 of these missionaries at a time (either 2 men or 2 women) for several weeks. There, they will contribute to your home life and you will see such a difference, you will not want them to leave. If you are interested in becoming a host household, please take a look at their website: http://www.netusa.org/host-family-ministry/ and contact me with any further questions or request to get on our list. The NETers will be here September 18, so we are looking forward to our Catholic Youth Organization kicking into gear once they are established with St. John.
While the money has been pledged in our Build Our Future, Serve Our Past capital campaign to build our Life Center and some of our other urgent needs, we still need our entire Parish Family to give in order to reach our additional goals, including the detailed execution of the above programs. If you have any questions, please contact Joe Lichwalla, the Campaign Coordinator at 239-495-2001 or email: [email protected].
You can also learn more information about the Campaign at: www.sjecc.com/future