Big D.Re.A.M.S. for Small Communities

In the last little while, nearly all of my weeks away on the road have been in small communities where I have been welcomed amazingly; where what I have to offer across a huge variety of avenues was voraciously accepted which meant absolutely full schedules; and where people have thanked me for coming and sharing in their community. From comedy shows to schools to businesses to coaching and mentoring young people and youth workers and teachers, to speaking in churches to appearing at large scale events: no matter what it was, whatever I did was attended well, recieved and responded to passionately and appreciated.

Conversations in two of these towns got me thinking: these places need people to come to them and work with them. They need people who will not just be 'fly-by-night', but who will commit to a long haul plan that will not come in and head out, but that will commit to coming back again and again and again to support the work that has been done and assist thing to the next level.

God has been speaking to my heart since my week in St. George, and my coversations with my mate Ross in Normanton (see the last post about what is happening there) have led me to believe that I can do something of this ilk.

Enter, the D.Re.A.M.S. (Delivering Remote Area Motivation and Support) Project. The idea is to 'adopt' 10 regional and remote towns and to work with them for an extended period of time. It would go something like this:

I would go into a town and spend a week there doing any number of things:
- Speaking and running programs for children and young people in schools and in the community;
- Working with those who work with young people: teachers and principals, nurses, youth workers, youth pastors whatever supporting and coaching them;
- Engaging with community groups that need support and ideas;
- Working with local businesses/chamber of commerce to coach and develop business owners and managers and help them to provide ongoing opportunities for the local community;
- Engage with local churches in their work and ministry in the community, especially where they engage and work with children and young people;
- ...and so on.

After a week in the town, I would come home and do two things:
a) continue to engage with connections in the community to provide ongoing support and coaching;
b) in consultation with local community leaders, begin to develop the next week long visit to come 6 months down the track.

The idea is that a commitment is made with the community to engage with them continuously, and to visit with them to suport and motivate every 6 months for a one week period.

I have worked out that I should be able to do this for only $5000-$6000 per week/per town. This includes everything - my work for the full week, transport, accommodation, expenses, resources and preparation for the next visit. That's only $10,000-$12,000 per town each year. I am hoping to find some in-kind support to help with travel and accommodation that would bring this figure down by about $2000/year or so for each town.

While the towns have not yet been selected, interest has been shown from St. George, Ayr, Normanton, Gladstone/Tannum Sands, Mt. Isa, Cooktown/Mareeba/Atherton, Woorabinda, Charleville and Port Augusta. Alice Springs is also on my heart.

Can you help? Expressions of interest are being sought to provide the resources to do this. Are there businesses out there who want to invest in regional and remote areas? Are there corporations who are stakeholders in some areas who might want to support this endeavour? Are there individuals with a heart for these communities who might want to contribute?

If you have networks who may want to be involved, please show them this blog or pass on the information and have them get in touch with me. I am looking to meet with some potential supporters in the coming weeks, want to at least see if we can get Normanton funded and in before the end of the year, and have at least 5 of the 10 towns supported and booked in for 2010 before Christmas.

Contact can be made via the contact information to the right of this page.

Please commit this to your prayers.

Cheers and Peace,

Mark G