By Mary Knapke

DAYTON DEANERY — Playing a version of musical chairs, students from their early teens to mid-20s ran through the gymnasium at St. Peter Parish in Huber Heights on a recent Sunday morning, each desperate to reach one of the seats in the middle of the room. Those who went out in earlier rounds watched the game and talked over blaring music.

CT/MARY KNAPKE

National Evangelization Team members perform a song for retreat participants during a retreat at St. Peter Parish in Huber Heights.

The scene was part of a typical morning at a National Evangelization Team (NET) Ministries event. The day-long retreat opened with a game and skit, followed by a song team members performed — many of them dressed in wild outfits — to introduce themselves to retreat participants.

While the presentation was fun, its message was significant.

"I’m in love with the Lord, and I just want to share it," said Sarah Kalonick, one of the team leaders. "God’s worked in my life so many ways that I just felt so strongly that this has got to be shared."

The 11 members of the team began their travels in August, leaving the NET Center in St. Paul, Minn., in the van that would become home for nearly a year. The team gives retreats six days a week for Catholic youth in grades 7-12.

Team Six, one of eight teams, has visited parishes and schools in Illinois, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio and Wisconsin.

In the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, they visited 13 parishes and schools, from St. Antoninus in Cincinnati to St. Patrick in Troy. St. Peter was their last stop in the archdiocese before moving on to Lexington, Ky., for another week of reaching out to teens and spreading the Gospel.

In an average 9-month season, each NET team travels 20,000 miles, serves 7-8 dioceses and facilitates, almost 150 retreats, reaching 8,500 young people.

Kalonick, from Huntington, W.Va., listed the most common reasons why teens might not fully participate in their faith. They may believe living their faith will be boring or that they will have to give up "fun" interests. Some think they can get involved when they’re older, and others question the relevance of faith in their daily lives, especially if they see themselves as essentially good people.

Through small group discussions, a team presentation, songs and prayer, the team responds to each point of view.

"What I’ve discovered is that students aren’t really into the typical teenage struggles like you think," such as drinking and drugs, Kalonick said. While those vices remain a temptation for many teens, she said the NET team has found that an abundance of positive activities often distracts teens from their faith.

"What we’re finding is that a lot of students are super-involved. . . . They’re good kids, they’re talented, they’ve got a lot of gifts from God, but they’re like, ‘I’ve been doing this all week. An hour of Mass on Sunday? I just want to sleep in,’" she said. The retreat is built around encouraging young people to make God a priority in their lives.

Team leader Jonathan Fasnacht, from Janesville, Minn., decided to join NET and share his faith with youth following a personal tragedy. His brother, First Lt. Michael Fasnacht, was killed June 8, 2005, when a roadside bomb hit the truck he was driving while on patrol in Iraq.

"It’s so easy to take things for granted and not appreciate what the Lord is giving you. It’s a shame—sometimes it takes an event or a tragedy to open your eyes to just how much the Lord’s blessing you," Fasnacht said. "Through losing Michael, by God’s grace, my eyes have been opened to how much the Lord is working in my life, how much He is blessing my family and me."

He said within one year, his immediate family experienced each of the seven sacraments through various individuals’ life events.

"Ultimately, why I’ve come to NET, after seeing how much the Lord has blessed me and my family, I’ve wanted to give back. I want to give back in whatever way I can," Fasnacht said.

Dan Wade, a volunteer in youth ministry at St. Peter, said he hopes the parish will host a NET team again next year.

"We’re excited to have these guys here," he said. "The kids on the team are just so inspired. It’s very impressive to see young people so excited about their faith."