The Journey
Start date: Aug 1, 2015,
End date: Oct 31, 2016
PROJECT
FINISHED
"The Journey" is a project which will be carried out by the Youth Ministry together with active participation of 2 European volunteers. Youth - for youth - on a journey. This is a statement which describes best the idea of the project.
Our goal is to Inspire, Train, and Equip. We want to shape a new generation of people who will live and act in mutual respect. Those who will experience it will be both volunteers involved and young people participating in conferences, camps and trainings. In order to achieve it we want and Send. In other words, we want to:
- Inspire young people to live active life based on Christian values and encourage them to get involved in actions for the benefit of fellowmen.
- Train them to fulfill this mission by means of conferences and camps, and during activities promoting those events.
- Equip them by running seminars, workshops, trainings, and by experience which is working in teams of leaders who organize events for young people. It will also take place in a local context where the volunteers will be involved in activities with children, youth and students, and will help in running a charity.
As a result we want to send young people, which means that young people who are properly trained, inspired and equipped can be engaged in activities in their local communities both in Poland and in Europe. For that we will be taking particular actions during the project. The title "the Journey" is to illustrate the fact that each of us is on some kind of a journey. A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. It is true not only when it comes to making the real world - simple actions we take part in everyday but also in the process of self-transformation, shaping one's own character, and gaining new experiences. Those volunteers who accept the challenge will be a great example of a journey they are getting on for their peers from Poland.
All tasks and activities for the volunteers have been integrated in an annual Baptist youth "life cycle", from autumn conferences and youth animators, winter camps, national conference to youth and children summer campaign.
During summer holidays volunteers will work in a team responsible for doing summer camps for children and youth - both away and so-called in town "day-camps". They will be engaged in the preparation and planning process of the camp as well as in running the event. In their team work they will use such methods as discussion, audio-visual methods, presentations, workshops, brainstorming. In a team of leaders they will need to prepare a plan for a camp, set up their working plan, share responsibilities and giving tasks to the right people. Volunteers will be responsible for workshops material preparation, help in workshops, and help in running workshops at a camp, preparation of games, and activities for youth and children. For the project there have been planned interactive methods and team work activities, individual work with participants, building good relationships, sport activities, games and entertainment, and learning by doing.
There will be particular tasks scheduled to be done each month so that some tasks which need advance preparation would be completed adequately in advance - i.e. invitation of speakers, logistic issues, preparation of materials, website updates, and activities in a local context both on a charity and youth sphere.
Also, there will be an informative campaign going on at the same time and weekend visits of youth groups in different cities, where volunteers will run workshops and advertise conferences and camps. Apart from that, volunteers will be involved in administrative work at Youth Ministry, website administration, and a charity work of a local church of the city.. The wide range of tasks will allow volunteers to get involved in various areas of service and fulfill their ambitions on different fields. As a result, volunteers will gain an overall development throughout their entire stay. The result of the project will be new skills volunteers gain, their encounter with new cultures and new opportunities we will show them as well as stimulating passion among young people. Joint action of youth for youth will result in deepening volunteers' empathy, will make them more sensible for other fellowmen and will let us influence the new generation by stirring up the spirit of engagement among young people.