idea magazine

A revolutionary road trip

by Judith Hill

It began with a road trip around Ireland; just two guys, the open road and a whole island to explore. Open eyed and open hearted they toured the country, observing, listening, getting in touch with its diversity, its heartbeat. These were the beginnings of Project 32.

Youth for Christ (YFC) is behind the initiative which has the vision to see 32 teams sent out at the same time, one to each of the 32 counties for a week during the summer 2010 to serve local communities. The road-trippers had come back with such an overwhelming sense of the potential and couldn't shake the sense that there were so many people out there who needed help and support. They saw this idea of parallel teams reaching into every county of Ireland, as historic.

One group in Port Stewart in County Londonderry are already planning their project to tie in with the Milk Cup, a well known football tournament for young people in Northern Ireland.

The teams will spend time being trained in Dublin before getting to work on the ground from July 22nd-August 3rd. Each team's involvement will include aspects of work with children and young people and social action, from car washing to garden clean ups.

N.I Project coordinator Judith Cairns said that they are seeking to look at the big and small picture: "We're all about serving the local community whether it's through kids work, youth work or practical acts of kindness. It is a full picture, as we also want to really engage the people of the area in prayer.

"I guess it's about building relationships in the community… having that investment in an area, opening their eyes to what is possible and making new connections."

"We believe it's really significant that it's all happening at the same time… we hope it will create a real energy as a whole lot of wee dots on the map work at the same time."

Recruiting leadership has been the major focus over the last few months for Project 32 and with over 40 leaders on board, attention has turned to enthusing participants from across the UK who can volunteer their time and passion.  

While the vision of all 32 counties may be a way off yet, the team are over half way there with more than 15 counties covered

If you're captured by the spirit of Project 32 then why not check out their website (www.projectthirtytwo.com) and consider signing up. It began with a road-trip but may just end with a nation being touched by God.