Burke said she has seen God working in the lives of thousands of youth as her team served on 126 retreats, ministering to middle and high school students.

“Small groups are really where we connect,” she said. “Youth just feel so alone. They’ll say, ‘My mom doesn’t get me,’ or ‘My teachers don’t get me,’ but having someone their age talk to them is so moving!”

NET is an international ministry, and Burke was assigned to a region that includes Minnesota, Wisconsin and Iowa. She said she saw many young people who struggle.

“Definitely in high school, trying to be cool or fit in with others,” she said. “People in your class telling you it’s not cool if you’re not going to listen to this music with bad words or feeling like you have to stay and listen to gossip. There’s so much pressure on the youth.”

Father Kyle Nesrsta, Burke’s pastor at Good Shepherd, has a heart for his younger parishioners. He has attended the Diocesan Catholic Youth Conference (DCYC) and youth events, but said it’s not always easy to connect. “For me, I find youth very challenging,” he said. “It’s such a different culture now, so I depend on other ministers,” he said.

He has not worked with NET missionaries, but admires its many vocations to the priesthood, including Father Chris Smith, parochial administrator of Sacred Heart Parish in La Grange.

Burke also experienced that isolation herself in high school in Johnson City and in college in San Angelo. “School or friends took more priority than my relationship with God,” she said. “I started to feel the repercussions of that in my second and third year of college. I was sad all the time.”

Then one of Burke’s college friends, a former NET missionary, asked her to come to Mass. That friendship led Burke to want to help others form friendships with Christ. Burke, who eventually hopes to do social work, learned a lot about people, especially from those who graciously opened their homes to teams as they traveled.

“I think this is absolutely my favorite part about NET,” she said.

Burke fondly remembered staying with a family of seven, with married couples whose children have grown and even with a woman who had just discerned out of a religious community. “It’s just so great learning their stories,” she said.

Clare Sanchez is a former NET missionary, who is now a wife and mother. She said the emphasis on authentic relationships in NET is what often astounded youth in a world where friendships are transitory. She said it helps her family life today, and it encourages her to keep seeking relationships.

“There’s an epidemic of loneliness,” Sanchez said.

“We have to find people. NET taught us that we were going to feel awkward 85% of the time, but if you see a young family, walk up to them! If you’re a young adult, walk up to young adults, and introduce yourself. That’s a big deal!”

Burke has committed to work two years as a NET supervisor, meaning she will oversee retreat teams, handle travel logistics and help find host families for lodging. NET provides a very small stipend, and the rest of the money comes from fundraising. Burke will need to raise $24,000 over the next two years for food and travel.

“I was putting off my calls once,” she said. “Then I saw the reading where Jesus said, ‘It is better to give than to receive!’ Jesus wants people to give and be blessed! It’s fun to have a relationship and call people back and tell them what their money did. We are all called to be missionaries!”

Burke said God is working through NET.

“Every retreat we had, someone would say they met God for the first time or felt loved for the first time. It’s a testament that God is really working in this program,” she said.

For more information about NET Ministries and to donate, visit www.netusa.org.