Parents

Our missionaries commit to nine months of service, from August 2022-May 2023. The first five weeks of their commitment begins with our fall training program on August 15. Following this training, they and their team would do mission work from September until December, where they will then get two weeks off for Christmas. Missionaries return in January for a week of training, and then continue mission work until May, where their time with us concludes with a week-long wrap up and our Closing Celebration.

The NET year begins with an intensive five-week training conducted by the NET Staff, a dedicated and talented group of young professionals. They are assisted by priests from several dioceses and religious orders as well as several NET Alumni priests and religious. Archbishop Bernard A. Hebda presides at special liturgies.

The first two weeks of training are conducted at Lake Wapogasset Lutheran Bible Camp, in Amery, Wisconsin and the last three weeks are held at the NET Center, our national headquarters.

As mentioned, the first two weeks of training are conducted at a camp in Amery, Wisconsin. We have found it invaluable to get missionaries away from the noise of the city so they can concentrate on deepening their personal faith and work on developing strong relationships with the men and women with whom they will be serving. Toward that end, we will be asking all the missionaries to leave their cell phones at the NET Center while we are away at camp. Consequently, they will not be able to call or email you during their time at camp. (Of course, if there should be an important reason for them to contact you, we will make sure they receive access to a phone.)

Family Emergencies during training:

In the event that you must reach your son/daughter while at camp, please contact Pete Burds, Vice President of Mission by emailing peteb@netusa.org. Pete will be regularly checking email throughout the days. 

Once we are back at the NET Center, you may contact your child’s Team Supervisor. You’ll be receiving their contact information after teams are announced at camp.

6:30AM Wake Up

7:30AM Personal Prayer Time

8:15AM Mass

9:15AM Breakfast

10:30AM: Presentation #1 This presentation spells out for the missionaries the Christian ideal. It includes such talks as “Loving God First”, “Union with God in Prayer”, “Morality”, “Understanding the Eucharist”, etc.

11:30AM 15 min Break

11:45AM Presentation #2 This presentation focuses on the practical application of the ideal. Included are talks like “Practical Prayer Advice”, “Relating as Brothers and Sisters in Christ”, and “Reconciling Relationships”.

12:30PM Lunch and Afternoon Break. Options include recreational activities, reflection time, one on one care by staff, and the Sacrament of Reconciliation.

2:30PM Presentation #3 This time includes the skill development of the individual and the team. This would be the time to work on preparing presentations, learn how to lead a small group, drama training, etc.

4:45PM Small Group Discussion

5:30PM Break

6:00PM Dinner

7:30PM Evening Activities These include everything from the practical (laundry nights), to social events (talent shows), to prayer times and Holy Hours.

9:45PM Socializing and Wind Down

10:30PM Bedtime 

NET Ministries remains committed to providing quality medical insurance for its missionaries who are unable to secure medical insurance through their parents.  To help keep our costs low, NET has chosen a “Partially Self-funded” medical plan in which the ministry absorbs the first $40,000 of covered medical bills for each missionary while purchasing insurance for amounts in excess of that.  While this system has worked well, it is still expensive, and thus, it is extremely helpful if NET Missionaries are able to remain on their parents’ plan.

We invite you to consider this possibility. Recent federal legislation has mandated that children be allowed to remain on their parents’ medical plan until age 26. Please contact our Director of Administration, Deacon Dan Brewer (danb@netusa.org, 651.450.6833 x104) and let him know if your child will need to use NET’s insurance or if they can remain on your medical plan. Our goal is to not have you incur additional costs by keeping your child on your plan. If keeping your child on your plan results in additional costs to you, please talk with Deacon Dan regarding how NET can assist with those additional costs. If your child is able to stay on your medical plan, please have them bring a copy of your medical card to training.

NET offers a one-time $100.00 incentive to any missionary who is able to remain insured under a different plan.

If your child is taking any regular medications, please have them talk to their physician about getting enough medication to last until Christmas. Some of the teams will be serving in rural areas where it can be challenging to get prescriptions filled quickly.

If there are general concerns about your child’s specific health needs (asthma, allergies, etc.), they should talk with their physician to get advice regarding how to manage their health needs prior to coming to NET. Many of the missionaries will find themselves in a variety of geographic settings and a little pre-planning can make a big difference.

To help cover the costs of training, meals, transportation, a monthly stipend, and other expenses, your child has been asked to raise a minimum of $7,000 in personal support. It costs NET approximately $24,000 to send out a missionary, and funding comes primarily from three sources: 25% from missionary sponsors; 40% from program fees; and 35% raised in NET’s Development Department. The Partnership Program at NET Ministries is coordinated by Paul Ives and he will be providing your child with initial training (two webinars) and ongoing support and coaching to help them reach their goal. Our own experience with support raising has shown that any missionary who prays, plans, and executes the strategies we teach them will easily reach or exceed their goal.

If you have any questions about support raising for serving with NET Ministries, please contact Paul Ives at pives@netusa.org or 651.450.6833 ×125 and he would be happy to speak with any parents about the process.

Yes, your child will receive a stipend.

Beginning in September, your child will receive a monthly stipend of $150.00 into their bank account. Please ensure that either you or your child send us the account information as soon as possible. You can either send NET a voided check (NOT a deposit slip, as this does not have the complete information that is needed) or call us with the information. Please indicate if you are submitting information about a savings account instead of a checking account. Know that this information will be kept confidential and secure, and then destroyed at the end of their NET service.

You can send this voided check to:

Deacon Dan Brewer
110 Crusader Avenue W.
West St. Paul, MN
55118-4427

Or, contact him at:
651.450.6833 x104
DanB@netusa.org

Your child’s safety is a top priority for us! Let’s take a look at a few important aspects of NET Life:

Host Homes: NET Missionaries stay in host homes provided by the parish or school where they are serving. Retreat teams will usually stay in each home for one or two nights while the home team and Discipleship teams stay in the same host homes for two to three weeks. All of our host homes are vetted by the leadership of the local parish or school where the team is staying. Missionaries always stay at a host home with at least one other missionary – they’ll never stay alone. If a missionary ever senses he or she is in an unsafe situation, they are instructed to leave the house, contact NET Staff, and we will get them to a new home immediately.

Driving Safety: Only select missionaries are chosen to be drivers based on a DMV background check, age, and experience. All of our missionaries are trained by professional instructors, and our vehicles are maintained using the same standards used by professional bus companies. While the mission of evangelization is important, safety comes first. Thus, our teams are instructed not to travel during dangerous weather. If by chance, a team gets caught in a storm, they are instructed to get off the road and contact our staff. We have a network of thousands of supporters across the country who are ready to offer shelter and additional help. Also, each team has NET-provided credit cards for emergencies.

NET Missionaries are allowed to bring a personal cell phone, which they can use for a limited amount of time per day when they are not conducting ministry. Once the missionaries are placed on teams, parents will also receive an email from our office with emergency contact information particular to that team.

While we cannot guarantee their success, we do offer official loan and scholarship deferment letters for your son or daughter that have been successful in many cases. In addition, we provide a letter for acceptance forbearance in the case that your child has been accepted to a college or university.

Though emergencies are not likely during your child’s year of service, in such a case, on top of their personal cell phones, each team has access to a team cell phone that they can use to contact the appropriate authorities if necessary. The teams also have a number to a direct cell phone line that, at all times, is in the possession of an on-call staff member.

Your child’s safety is a top priority for us. If you have any questions about our emergency precautions, please contact Pete Burds, Vice President of Mission at 651-450-6833 x728 or peteb@netusa.org 

During our initial five-week training, please send all letters and packages to the NET Center and we will deliver them to your child:

Missionary Name
NET Ministries
110 Crusader Avenue W.
West St Paul, MN 55118

Once the teams complete training, the process is different depending on what type of team your son or daughter is on.

Retreat Team 1 (Home Team): Continue to send all mail and packages to the NET Center listed above.

Discipleship Teams (Teams 8-12): Mail all letters and packages to their Discipleship Team locations - addresses listed above under Team Supervisors. 

Retreat Teams 2-7: You can send all letters to the NET Center at the address listed above. Our receptionist bundles up all letters for each team and sends them via UPS to the teams every Friday. So, the teams receive mail once a week.

Please note: we cannot forward packages. If you’d like to send your child a package, here’s the procedure:

1. Retreat Team Schedules are available above and will tell you where your son or daughter will be every day of the year.
2. Call the contact person listed on the schedule for where your son or daughter will be one week from when you’ll send the package. Ask them permission to send the package to that location. They will give you the best address where you can send the package. If you cannot get a hold of retreat location contacts, please contact the NET Staff member on the top of each schedule.
    

Example: Suppose you want to mail your child a package on October 1. Look on the schedule and check where your son or daughter will be on October 8. Call the contact person listed, tell them you’d like to send a package to your child who will be doing a NET Retreat at their parish on the 8th, ask whether they can receive the package and what is the best address to use to send the package.

After missionaries are placed into their teams, they will be assigned a route for the fall. There is no way to know before missionaries arrive in August if they are on a route that needs winter clothing.

If your child has winter clothing, they are encouraged to bring it to training and store it in their locker at the NET Center. If they don’t have the appropriate attire, we recommend waiting until they receive their routes during training rather than purchasing something they may not need. There will be time for you or your child to attain the appropriate winter clothing before they leave training.

Please keep in mind that every NET Missionary will spend a week in January in Minnesota for January training.