Ulster Project - Hutchinson, Kansas
2008

Money has been raised...teens have been selected...matches have been made...activities planned...books are ready to print...meals have been arranged. The excitement is building, with the 12 Hutchinson teens and their familes, the 12 Northern Irish teens and their families, and also with the behind the scenes committee members who have worked so hard to bring this all abut. We've managed not to spend all the money in our account, although after we pay for gas that may change!

I can now breath a small sigh of relief, but probably won't breathe normally until after July 29th.

This summer will be my sixth Ulster Project to be involved in and my first year to serve as chair. Each year has been a unique experience unto itself. Twenty-four individuals between the ages of 14 and 17 get the opportunity for the experience of a lifetime, touching the hearts and changing the lives of all those involved. Then they return to their own part of the world to forge ahead in life, more confident, more mature and changed in ways you can't always put a finger on. While each year has its own experience, thee end result is always the same.

A group of ordinary people plan and think, talk and plan, and think and talk some more. In the end this group of ordinary people gives an extraordinary gift to another group of ordinary people. It's an amazing chain year after year that I just can't get enough of.

As we embark on the 2008 Ulster Project, I want to take a moment to thank God for His constant strength and guidance in yet another Ulster Project. I want to thank all of the people who have worked so hard to bring about the ninth Ulster Project. I want to welcome the teens from Portadown and surrounding areas in Northern Ireland. I want to welcome and thank the host families from Hutchinson for being a part of this Project. I told you all that you will take a stranger into your home on July 1st and on July 29th you will send a member of your family, home to Northern Ireland along with 11 other new best friends.

My enthusiasm for this project never seems to dull. Year after year I can't wait to share it with a new group of people and watch as they are affected. It always fills me with such a sense of joy to see that accomplished each year. I myself come out of each year with new friends that I'm so thankful to have met. I pray that each of you will be touched and changed this month and I look forward to sharing that experience with each of you.

God Bless,

Vicki Foss

2008 Ulster Project Chairperson