Drew's Den

I will keep you updated via my phone calls to the folks on this website throughout the year... with how I am and where my team is and how cramped it is in the van, and how much the Lord is with us. This is gonna be great, huh?

There is so much work ahead of us, but it makes me very much at ease to sit back knowing we’re in good hands…your prayers. We will absolutely be praying for you daily wherever our travels may be. Thank you so much for any and all of the prayers you can send up too (those gym floors are hard)!

I left August 14TH for St. Paul, Minnesota, for something totally awesome. For nine months I will be out on the road presenting high school retreats around the country with this group called NET, one hundred 18 to 30 year olds brought in by over 60 dioceses ‘cause they are so unbelievably Spirit-filled.

A cowboy? Naw! I wanna be a NETter! - Drew, age 6, in lap of our first NETter houseguest, Lisa Lynn (1987)

Actually, I’ve applied three times now and have finally been accepted. Well thank God for that too, He had a plan to prepare me for NET. I spent a year and a half in a state college as an English major (I’ll be finishing up at the Franciscan University come NEXT fall).

I’ve been able to volunteer three or four days a week with both the Marlboro Lifeteen high school youth group and our Young Spirit middle school youth group back in Massachusetts. God has given me some excellent opportunities here, and His graces and my growth have been unbelievable. I’ve also been working daily at an elderly assisted and independent living home. It’s like a hotel for seniors. But it’s been so wonderful and, man, they can teach you so much when you have ears for it. The elderly give you a whole different view on life.

Boy, I have to tell you that I really hate reading stuff like this that I know are going to multiple people. But I am rushing around like a madman here. Music training with about 25 people has been all this week in Minnesota. In a week everyone else (75 more) will show up for five weeks of training at a camp in Wisconsin a few hours away. I’ll know my schedule for the year by the end of September. It’s all very exciting.

Well, I don’t know. That’s it really. Oh, yeah… Ahem, all team members have to raise $2800 from sponsors. To date, I’ve been able to raise way over that amount. Everyone has been so generous that I can’t even begin to keep up! Thank you all so much! Thank YOU so much!

Well, we musicians trained for another week learning to PRAY about 15 songs a day. I even played bass guitar for a mass. We have flutes, violins, and drums along with the many guitars. As a joke we bought ourselves hats and shirts with the funny Hawaiian name for our band on it.

But the best part is that we have been growing so close as friends. The 12 girls bonded. And we 12 guys developed such a trust and deep level of relationship in such a short time. As a matter of fact, two of the guys who were on NET last year said that they hadn't gone to this depth of friendship until half way through the year. It's just awesome. Truly God is doing something. We are seeing Jesus in each other. It's TOTALLY GOD !! We feel as if we'd known each other all our lives. It's just been the most amazing ten days in my entire life !! God is doing unbelievable stuff.

Two days ago the rest of NET showed up. We have taken over two buildings now (with a Chapel too). There are 170 of us being trained. That high number is due to the fact that NET Canada has sent 30 for training, plus a diocese has sent it's staff for training with us.

Laundry Night. We all hopped in our assorted vans and invaded the many small towns in rural Wisconsin this night. Off on the illusive search for laundromats. It is so…so…well flat and …let’s just say that the biggest sign I see outside at this pay phone is in the neighboring Super Value Grocery for HINES Katsup at 69 cents. That’s big news out here. Hoping that the folks will send me my skateboard. I’ve had enough of the hills back in Massachusetts. This is definitely skateboard country.

Have to tell you about this really awesome (am I over-using this word yet?) priest named Fr. Fred G(something) from California but recently from LifeTeen in Mesa, Arizona. He has the gift of being a wonderful confessor. I was told by several that if you forget or withhold something you should confess, Fr. Fred will remind you or even tell you what it is (“Anything else you want to say? How about this…”). Being aware of this, I didn’t have to be reminded…but I was certainly blessed by his encouraging words.

We do so much singing around here. I’ve decided though to not bring my walkman on the road. I want to be present to those around me on the van and not tuned into my own world.

I was brought back to my early childhood days with the Charismatic praise and worship ceremonies here. My folks used to take us every Friday evening to our local Catholic Charismatic prayer group, the Servants of the Holy Cross, in New Jersey. It was so good to just be free and happy in the Spirit. Reminded me of my younger years doing that with everyone. And with our NET’ers too who’d be visiting each spring.

I’m praying that a certain really neat kid be assigned to my team. Why not! It can’t hurt to ask. And I’m praying that I be open to the Holy Spirit more each day too.

We were assigned our teams. I’m with some awesome people. There’s Malia 27 from Hawaii, and Sam who’s 24 and been working at St. Paul’s Outreach. They will be the Team Leaders. I’ve been selected to be the team’s music leader.

Who's that handsome guy? None other than Drew himself!

Nick, 21, is the surfer kid from California and will be playing music with me. Gary, 20, is a big friendly dude. Then there’s 23 year old Brett, who we call Yogi, from Illinois, has a cowboy mustache and cowboy boots. Full of high energy and jokes is artistic Pete, 18, from Minnesota with curly blond bouncy hair.

Since we just all met, I’m not as full of info about the girls yet. There’s Patricia, 21, who’s coming back for her second year on NET. Then there’s Marcia, also 21, nice girl. Susie is 20 and from Minnesota also. And Jen, 24, is so cool and from Pennsylvania. I’m so sorry, I forgot the last one. BUT not to fear, I’ll know her very well by the next phone call home, I’m sure.

So, I’m not on the “home team” or the bilingual team. But beyond that, we’ll have to wait for our routes.

They tell us that NET’ers usually put on 15 lbs each year. You know, all that pizza and pasta that we are fed everywhere. So I’ve decided to abstain from desserts entirely.

One more week here at Camp Wapo in Wisconsin (then back to St. Paul for a few more weeks). The talks are just wonderful. Each day I’m learning something new and glorious about our Lord, about the Father, about the Blessed Mother, about our Church. I could write two pages each night about what I’d just learned that day. It’s all happening so fast and so deep. I’m learning AND applying stuff each day.

For instance, just today we were given a talk on our role in salvation history. That each of us is so important to God’s plan. That it’s up to each one of us to do what He wants of us. So I look around here and see all these faces and realize that it would be so catastrophic if I don’t love that person.

On a more mundane but oh so joyous note, everyone’s been sooooo generous that we’ve been able to fund an entire other NET’er. My folks prayers were answered and over $5,000 has been donated to my account.

Back in St. Paul, staying with our first host family. A lovely older lady, Lucy, who’s family was all grown and gone. So Gary and I actually had two bedrooms and a shower upstairs … all to ourselves. Everything these two weeks is a trial run for us. We are now learning how to put on the retreats (skits, games, etc.). Had our first “practice-for-us” yet two very real retreats this weekend. The one for the tenth graders was quite challenging, while the eighth graders were so open and enthusiastic to the gospel message.

My role on the team is, you know, lead musician, but also “team recruiter”. That means that I give the pitch to the teens about possibly considering NET for themselves in the future. Hey, I can do that.

Yogi was urging us guys to “do something together” in order to be better friends this year. So the guys on my team had a cool bonfiire at a park one night. We ended up telling each other the pranks and general anarchy that we instigated in our middle school days!!!

I don’t think that I told you that there are 8 teams in 8 vans with 12 NET’ers on each team. The teams will be criss-crossing the USA this year. We got our assignments for the fall:

Today’s the Feast of St. Therese the Little Flower. How appropriate. To be sent out on our first missionary trip today, because she is the patroness of missionaries.

Packing up our lockers back at the NET office with the extra “stuff” that we won’t need now. We’re each given two high-school-type lockers to store our bathing suits and boogie boards, etc. Really psyched about this day finally arriving.

Off to Crookston, Minnesota. 70 miles north of Fargo, North Dakota. Glad it’s October!!! The Bishop of Crookston has requested that we come to his diocese. We’ll have a full schedule for sure.

Look – pictures. And they’re labeled and they are for prompt uploading to the internet. Things are going well. My team is cool. A lot of strong personalities. Hm…Haha. I am praying for humility. Haha?! Ever thought you’d hear that from me? It’s working kinda.

Today we’re all writing letters to people. We’re staying at a convent in Detroit Lakes, Minnesota. I’ve been assigned the “Who Are You?” talk for this year. This focuses on middle school kids and understanding that we’re made in His image (as opposed to what anyone else would like us to be), and that He love us SO much. I inspire myself every time I hear it. No, I am inspired every time I speak God’s message.

Trying very hard to get in personal prayer time everyday in the mornings. This is fun, but a lot too. I really need support. I miss you guys a lot and am praying for you quite a bit.

More than half way through our first month on the road. Ministering to many 6th-8th graders as well as high schoolers. No more than 2 nights in the same town, then a drive of anywhere from 15 to 150 miles to the next parish. We do, however, get a “team day” off every Friday. Thank the Lord. This week our two supervisors will be out visiting us, so that should be great.

I want to again thank you all for your support of NET. I’m told by the fundraising office that over $6,000 has been donated. Cool. Thanks so much.

Drew called home today. This is a summary of what he said: They were currently staying in a rectory (the guys were) with a chapel. Other accommodations have been with host families who have been so nice. We wanted to know if he was on any gym floors yet? Nope. They actually have had beds, and towels too! As a matter of fact, Yogi and he were able to enjoy a treat in one house…spent four hours in a hot tub…till 2 in the morning.

He begged us NOT to ever send food to him. That’s the one thing that everyone everywhere has been so generous about. One family, who was not able to give room to NET’ers, invited them over and had a gigantic big thanksgiving-type dinner with all the fixin’s for them. They do nothing but eat, eat, eat in the van, crunchy, munchy sweets. With all their baggage squeezed into the van, someone tried to give them a pizza too, “Here, just hold it.” Guess they spend their time looking for hungry Minnesotans on the side of the highways.

Drew is trying to teach a few others to play guitar. And, oh dear, one of the “machines” on his instrument broke. But they have two other guitars along.

One of his teammates, Pete, shared his thoughts on the famous painting of Jesus holding up an exhausted man from behind, under the arms. The man has a nail in one hand and a hammer in the other. What a powerful image on many levels.

Hey – this is really cool! We ran into a van of young Lutherans giving retreats to teenage Lutherans. We might invite them over for teen prayer. How’s that for cool?

A BRIEF CALL HOME: Drew said that five of them had a day off. They took the van and the others went shopping for CD’s etc. He went to get his hair cut and it seemed so strange to be without the team. Got his guitar fixed, no big deal, and quickly too.

The team is getting on very well. He’s noticed growth in all his teammates; those prone to complaints were cheerful now, those formerly selfish were now helping others.

When asked if he was the designated van packer (as he’d hoped to be in the summer), he said that no Gary did that. However, he does end up helping him. And even labeled the inside of the trailer where things should go. Like his mom? Oh no!! Yes!!

Hey, he said excitedly, Wisconsin cheese IS really good. Also Drew really misses his little brother, Peter, and they got to speak too. Peter really liked Drew’s postcard with Scooby Doo crossing the Mississippi River.

Drew called home Saturday morning. His calls are so brief, but he was asking specifically for prayers for unity for the Team. Also he said that the team is getting in a really good routine as far as doing the retreats...the newness has worn off for them now with about 6 weeks under their belts. He received his mail...in case anyone sent him a letter. He was remarking on the Philippians 4:8 verse that I'd had him memorize as a teen...wondering if it was going to be in the reading for mass. It warms my motherly heart to know that he'd remembered that one. And a good one it is for his line of work now: "Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is gracious, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things."

(c) 5 September, 2000
Last updated 29 October, 2000
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