Thanksgiving mass honours God’s work over the past year

Jenny Burr
Spur Ottawa Correspondent

National Evangelization Team (NET) ministries gathered their missionary teams last month, in Ottawa, to celebrate God’s work during the past year. Net missionaries are all youth, ages 18 to 30. The six teams spent the past eight months doing youth ministry in communities across Canada. With their families joining them, more than 230 people attended this year’s thanksgiving mass and dinner.

“It’s always an amazing experience to hear about the things God has done through the NET teams,” says Graeme Vanden Dungen. “The NET thanksgiving mass is an opportunity to celebrate the close of another mission year.”

Vanden Dungen oversees NET’s iNFUSE program. This year’s mass, however, was particularly special for him. His brother was a missionary and his parents flew in from Alberta for the event.

“It was an opportunity to celebrate our missionaries and all the work God did through them. The Banquet included a meal and a program demonstrating what the missionaries spent their year doing.”

“I saw their joy and authenticity. I saw something that had never been fully realized in my own faith life.”

Terrence Prendergast, Archbishop of Ottawa, led the mass. The program also included a final presentation of each missionary and mission team and a recital of a choral piece.

“As a whole, NET’s mission focuses on bringing youth to Christ through authentic witness,” explains Vanden Dungen. “We train our missionaries on how they can spread the Good News simply by being themselves and telling their own unique stories.”

It was in high school that Vanden Dungen first learned about NET from some of his cousins. At first, he did not consider himself a missionary candidate, because he was fairly quiet person. Then he met a NET iNFUSE team during his second year of university, in Lethbridge, Alberta.

“iNFUSE teams go to a parish and spend the year there building a foundation for youth,” he explains. “They go to the Catholic schools and I got to know the seven team members. I [saw] their joy and authenticity. I saw something that had never been fully realized in my own faith life, so I applied to NET Canada out of a desire to grow in my own faith.”

As the iNFUSE Supervisor for NET Canada, he witnesses firsthand the work the missionaries do. He and a female colleague offer pastoral support to the missionaries. They keep in contact with teams through phone calls, Skype, and by visiting them, aiding them in making their ministry as effective as possible.

“God told the father, in a dream, that the little flame of faith in his son’s heart had been ignited with his experience as a missionary.”

“My position involves journeying with a lot of missionaries through their year. It’s beautiful to see the intense amount of personal growth that many experience.”

One story of God’s continuing work stood out to Dan Potvin, Director of Stewardship and Mission Advancement with NET Canada. At the banquet, a missionary’s mom shared with him how her son wanted to continue serving as a missionary for another year.

“[At first] his parents insisted he return to university to finish his degree,” Potvin shares. “God told the father, in a dream, that the little flame of faith in his son’s heart had been ignited with his experience as a missionary. If he was not permitted to do a second year, that flame would be extinguished.”

Because of the dream, the parents had a change of heart. Their son is now following God’s lead, preparing for his second year as a missionary.