!Audacious ’09 is coming to Manchester this year. And right at the heart of it will be a community outreach programme designed to show the love of God to the people of Greater Manchester through acts of kindness.

On the two afternoons of the 6th and 7th August, all the !Audacious 09 delegates will suit up and ship out to serve on community projects across the city to deliver ’10,000hrs of Hope’.

‘A-Teams’ of up to 25 young people will be transported from the Manchester Central base to local neighbourhoods, equipped and let loose on projects such as cleaning up the local shopping parade, litter picking, scrubbing off graffiti or painting railings.

Problems that local residents have been concerned about for months or years – an alleyway filled with rotting mattresses, kitchen sinks and other rubbish – can be cleared up and transformed in a couple of afternoons.

The projects may only take a few hours but each one makes a significant impact. The results are visible for the whole community to see.

But there’s more to it than that: there’s a spiritual aspect to it as well. While teams are there, they are encouraged to interact with the local people who happen to be out and about, generally raising their eyebrows and taking it all in.  Many are curious enough to ask what’s going on, some even probe into the deeper motivation behind it, and so direct evangelistic opportunities emerge. Delegates suddenly find themselves with amazing opportunities for telling the gospel.

It’s easy for you to get an ‘A-Team’ into your local community. Visit www.bigdeal.org.uk to find out how.

Find out more about the !Audacious conference here.