Good day everybody!

Sorry it’s been so long since posting… training has been crazy and there hasn’t been wifi. AHHH!!!

Just kidding.

It’s actually been a really good sacrifice. You’re able to invest a little more in training and focus on growing as a team. Which when these are the people you’ll be living with for a year, it’s really important.

There’s definitely been certain struggles, but there are a few important things I’ve learned from each aspect of training. I’ll start with music training:

I arrived in Ireland a week early with the other musicians to do training, and it was partially overwhelming and partially humbling. I did not come in with as much music experience as other people, but I was looking forward to learning. Then we got there, put our instruments in the other room, and went to the first session.

“We ask you to not touch your instruments today.”

…

…

What?

That made me extremely nervous. I had come to music training for… you know… music training. I really wanted to improve in my instrument. But that happened to be the most important day we had. It was the day when we discovered that the music, even though we want to be good and to improve, is not about us. It’s about praising God and helping the teens reach that same goal. That point was emphasized even more when we had about an hour and a half of prayer and a half hour Mass each day before we even started training. It’s going to be a constant challenge this year, but in the end it’s what this year is all about.
Then we went to initial training where I met everybody who could potentially be teammates this year. With NET we call it brotherhood and sisterhood, which just emphasizes the special relationship we can each create. I found that I loved each and every person, and was really looking forward to teams. The interesting thing was, I was really hoping for a local team, where I would be at one parish and just minister to that community. But there were just a few things I noticed where the road team seemed more appealing. I kept thinking… what if I get put on a not local team? I felt very called to Ireland… so in the end the Scotland Road team was the only one I was not wanting.
Team announcements came very unexpectedly.

It was just a whirlwind of emotions. They called the Irish Road team first per usual. It is the biggest team NET Ireland sends out. They called up several people I had grown close to, and I was thinking that it would be a cool team to be on. Then they called up… ME! I was in legitimate shock. I was not expecting it… and there is one other Courtney serving with NET Ireland this year so I was wondering if I heard the last name right. But I did, and I am officially a member of the Irish Road Team. I look forward to many incredible adventures. The good news is I will be able to see so many places and encounter so many souls who need Jesus. The bad news for blog followers is that I might not be able to post once a week. But I will try!
I cannot thank everybody who has partnered with me enough. I know all of the training and extras with training, like going to the Shrine of Knock and to Galway, are only possible because of y’all. Again, thank you, your work so far has been tremendous and I can’t wait to see how it will impact the teens! If you have not financially partnered with me yet, I invite you to go to the link at the bottom. It’ll take you to the NET USA link, where all of my donations go through. But if you’re from Europe, go to the NET Ireland page to donate.

Again, it has been an amazing experience and it’s only been training! So all things in His Glory, and peace out! <3

 

 

5 Things I've Learned About Fundraising

            As of this second, I will be in Ireland in 3 days! It’s so surreal, and hard to believe that I am about to embark on this journey.

But the NET experience began the second I begun fundraising, which is why I got the blog up and running early. So here are the top 10 things I learned about fundraising:

5.  Persistence Pays: In this instance I mean it literally. There have been people who have expressed interest in partnering with me but it took a few reminders before they donated. It’s not that they don’t care or anything like that, but life goes by fast. Someone has even thanked me for reminders.

4. Time Flies: This ties in with the last point, but I am talking about my personal perspective. My biggest mistake fundraising was that I did nothing during the month of June. Why? Well, I got busy, blinked, and June was over. If you ever start prepping for anything important, don’t just wait until it’s time to go! Before you know it, it will be time.

3.  Who do you know? I do not like living in a world where everything is based on who you know, but seriously: who do you know? Who have you encountered? Do they have an interest in your mission? Ask! The worst that will happen is they won’t respond, and you’re no worse off than before. I wrote a post on this already, but I’m honestly amazed and honored that some people joined my mission this year.

2. It’s Not About the Money. Which sounds really funny to say when I’m writing a blog about fundraising… but it’s not about asking people to throw money at you and run with it. This year with NET I’m going to do something amazing. It’s something that not everybody gets to do, but through the fundraising more people get to be involved. This is why we call it a “partnership.” NET gives updates, and I’m updating personally on my blog, so hopefully everybody learns a little something about the NET experience. Even more importantly, through the fundraising I’m able to ask people for prayers. So many people, even some who don’t know me, are going to be praying for me and the teens next year.

1. God is Generous. And he works through generous people. I knew even before applying to NET that fundraising was going to be a challenge. They actually ask about our fears on different aspects of life on NET, and I went ahead and gave fundraising the maximum score I possible. Now, I am only a few hundred dollars short of my goal. So many people have donated generously to this cause, but I know God is the root of all of it.

Thank you to everybody who has joined me in my mission thus far! If you have not joined financially, I have a link at the bottom. If you have or have not, set a time to pray for me! Request a Mass for me!

My next update will come from Ireland, so God willing I’ll have safe and easy travels!

The Never-ending Adventure

                And I officially only have 17 days until I leave the country for almost a whole year! But my journey does not begin in 17 days... it has been going for years. Many of you know who I am and how I got here, but some of you don’t. Some of you have stumbled across this blog randomly. Some of you heard about me through friends, but perhaps we have never met. Welcome to my blog, and here is my story:

                I have lived in Dallas for fifteen years now, and I have loved it. I am Texan through and through and will miss the Lone Star State when I leave. When we moved here I was homeschooled, but soon entered a private Middle School. My parents wanted me to have a good education, but the primary reason they paid thousands of dollars a year was for me to develop my faith. Unfortunately this did not happen. Whether it was that several aspects of the faith were taught incorrectly or whether there was not a Catholic atmosphere, I would say my faith was much weaker when I left. I had absolutely no interest in Christ, but I knew what I wanted my high school image to be. I wanted to be cool. I wanted to be a basketball star. My first week of high school was great.

                And then came the retreat.

                At the beginning of each school year, my home parish of St. Ann’s in Coppell hosts a retreat for the high schoolers. One of our parishioners owns a camp and generously lets High School Ministry use the facilities. My mother, who has been religious since her own conversion when I was four, wanted me to go. As a fourteen-year-old I did not have a choice, but I did not want to go.

                Thank God I did.

                I was certainly not a saint afterward, but it was the first time I thought that maybe church was something worth going to. I finally had a reliable group of friends who made me want to be better. Nothing changed in my life, but I had a good enough reason to go to youth group and that’s where seeds planted. Seeds that only needed to grow.

                The next year I was getting ready for Confirmation and I heard of a retreat called Franciscan LEAD, which stands for Leadership, Evangelization, and Discipleship. This was the first time I was really ready to change my life. Perhaps this could do it? The first few days were great, but Thursday night was life changing. We prayed over each other for the gifts of the Holy Spirit, and that was the first time I have ever felt the love of God.

                God is love. If you have any Christian background, you have heard that. At that point I had eight years of Catholic education and two years of Catholic Youth Ministry under my belt; I knew that statement. Yet for a good three years I did not believe it. For the rest of my life I did not understand it. If you don’t understand love in your heart, not just your mind, it is impossible to grasp. Yet that night, that Thursday night, I felt the love of God.

                I have not been the same since then. My parents have acknowledged it, and I can trace every major decision I have made in the past seven years back to that night. Decisions like this recent one to join NET in Ireland this next year. It has been made with after lots of prayer and time, but really a desire placed by God to do something.

                Thank you for reading, and continue to pray for me as I prepare to leave in a week and a half.

                I’M GOING ON AN ADVENTURE!

T Minus 2 Months

Well there's only 2 months to go and I just got my second Partnership report. I'm halfway to my goal!!!!!!! As always, thank you to everybody who has joined me thus far. To those of you who have not, I put the link at the bottom of the page so check it out. But it is so incredibly exciting to watch this becoming even more and more of a reality. This time last year I was in Central America, and while I thought about NET a few times I did not think it would actually happen. Even half a year ago I had very little certainty other than a voice in the back of my mind telling me I would go. Now I am two months out and cannot wait to meet both the people I will be serving and the people I will be serving with.

Now I am a big reader. Even before I found out that I would be accepted into NET I found a few Irish books that I just had to get my hands on. One of these is a book on the older Celtic Saints and missionaries. It's pretty cool learning a little about all the people who have helped shape Ireland to what is is today, but even more interesting is the number of missionaries they sent out in the first millennium. There was a whole chapter dedicated to the multiple abbots and sisters who traveled to mainland Europe and built monasteries. Ireland had so much influence on the Christianity of Western Europe, which in turn influenced Christianity in the Americas and other places in the world.

Now it is my turn.

I am a reverse missionary. These places have been Catholic for some time, but as Pope Saint John Paul II continuously said they need a New Evangelization. Now the people who have given so much need something in return. I am by no means the first and I know I will not be the last. But just like God worked great things through the missionaries who left the island, He will work great things through me and the other missionaries who return.

Rewarding Faithfulness

I just got my first Partnership Report! Thank you to everybody who has partnered with me thus far... I look forward to sharing this year with you!

This is a very appropriate post to follow the previous one about a Leap of Faith. One of my big leaps during this time has been asking semi-famous people to partner with me. For privacy reasons I will not say exactly who, but I have sent emails and partnership letters to people who are moderately well known in the Catholic world. I do have some sort of connections to these people, but some of them I have not even met. But you know what? They have joined me this year!

My point is you never know what will be the result of an idea that seems completely crazy. Especially when God is at the center of it. Think of everybody who has founded a new religious order. Then there are other visionaries like St. Joan of Arc, who had an absolutely crazy idea to lead the French military. Yet it worked. So many who have founded religious orders are now canonized Saints. France is its own nation. All of this because somebody listened to God, took a leap of faith, and he rewarded it.

I know this was a short post, but thank you for reading! Be brave and do whatever it is God is asking of you! And as always, if you have not partnered with me yet, go to https://mission.netusa.org/giving/ministry-partnership-development and put "Courtney Holbrook with NET Ireland" in the "I'd like to join the mission of" section. God bless! <3

Leap of Faith

Remember that scene from Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade? The one we that we wished was ACTUALLY the last crusade for this Harrison Ford character? Anyway, there is one striking scene where Indy comes to the edge of a cliff in his search for the Holy Grail. The notebook, which has been his guide, tells him to take a leap of faith.

Now we know what happens... but just imagine for a second that you're this great adventurer. You come up to this ledge and there's no way to jump across. Going back means certain death. But you have words to reassure that you can get across. They are just words, but you can't help but trust the source. So you take a step, praying that it will not lead to doom.

That is missionary work in a nutshell. From the beginning raising money to live off of to the very last retreat, it is all one big leap of faith. All I can do is hope that God will take care of me every step. He's trying to reassure me, but it will be impossible to see until I go out and raise the funds essential to my year of ministry.

And you know what, fundraising involves a certain amount of faith on the part of the givers as well. You want your money to be put to good use. Perhaps funds are really tight and it seems that even parting with a few dollars could be impossible. If that is the case with you: do you trust what God will do with it? Do you trust He will take care of you? It's a challenge. But it's worth it.

As always, go to https://mission.netusa.org/giving/ministry-partnership-development , and say that you "Want to join the mission of" "Courtney Holbrook with NET Ireland". For those of you who have already supported, thank you!!! You are now a part of this incredible work next year.

The F Word in Catholicism 

Fundraising.

                What a scary word for us sometimes. I have organized a fundraiser, fundraised for a healthcare project in Guatemala, am currently fundraising for NET, and am attending a fundraiser this weekend and this word still terrifies me. I am probably the worst at receiving anything, so the very idea of actually going out and asking for money makes my stomach do somersaults. There is always a fear of a negative perception. Even worse: indifference. Next year I will be with NET Ministries traveling around Ireland and putting on retreats for high school youth. Many of these young people have never really encountered Christ, so I have an incredible mission for next year. I know it, God knows it, but sometimes it takes a little while for people for realize.

                I began to realize this mission was important when I was in Europe myself a few years ago. Most churches served more as tourist traps than places to encounter God. I remember going to Sunday masses and there being so few people. As a committed Catholic… especially as one who is looking very seriously into religious life, this made me very sad. I wanted to do something. I wanted to any and every talent I have to make a difference. I felt drawn to Ireland, the Catholic country that only has ten to twenty percent Mass attendance with those under thirty. I felt drawn to go and spread the Good News to the people of this beautiful country.  Now that I am done with my college degree, I have the time to do this.

                But that brings up an interesting point though… as Catholics we are all called to “go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 28:19). God has given us a time, talents, and treasure that help us do this. As individuals we rarely have all three at once. Thankfully we are not trying to change the world as by ourselves… we are trying to change it as a Church. If there is a member who has the time and talent, there is an entire world of treasure to back them up. In this way every single one of us has the opportunity to change the world.

                Yes, I will be the one going to Ireland next year, but you will be with me. Through prayers and donations you will be joining me in this important work of Evangelization. That is why I wanted to start this blog, so that you can stay up to date with this mission and see the people who your treasure is directly impacting.

                For me this journey begins now with raising money for the program. NET has emphasized that the most important part of fundraising is getting the word out there and letting people know that a) this is a need and b) this is an opportunity. I will be doing several things between now and August to do just that, and I wanted to share! What works… what does not work… you’ll know it all! Then maybe sometime if you have an amazing opportunity like this one, you can have an idea of where to start.

                Thank you for reading, and I’ll update as I have more fundraising stories! If you have not done so yet and wish to join me in this incredible mission, go to https://mission.netusa.org/giving/ministry-partnership-development and put “Courtney Holbrook with NET Ireland” under the “I’d like to join the mission of” section. To find out more about what I’ll be doing go to http://www.netministries.ie/ . Help me encourage young people and embrace the life of the Church!