Second day in Belfast

Life went smoothly with the arrival of our team of 12 in Belfast city. We were on information overload most of the day as we were all tired from lack of sleep. Pastor John met us at the airport and brought us to the Community Center where we had breakfast in the Cafe Chat. We got an overview of the programs going on here, of the history of the church, and what we might do while we were here. The sanctuary of the church sits on the “peace line”. The line and the wall are not continuous but a good bit of it exists in these two separate communities of Protestant and Catholic. John was quite excited about it being a historic occaision and cause for rejoicing because it was the day of the formation of the new government that they have been working on for 10 years. All of the talk shows had callers discussing this and whether it would make a difference. The workers in the community such as at the Forthspring Community project where we are working didn’t think the ordinary person would notice much of a difference but they are skeptical of politicians. The Forthspring Community Center has many programs - youth, pensioners, pre-schoolers, after-school care. The youth director does most of her work out in the neighborhoods having found that makes more of a difference than forcing kids to come to the Center. The Springfield Methodist Church, one of two that John serves, has been the victim of arson several times by both Protestant and Catholic groups. Part of the Baptismal fount was burned and only partially restored so that they can be constantly reminded of their past.

In the mid-afternoon we went downtown. The city center is bustling and quite lively. Then we had dinner at the oldest pub in Belfast, McHugh’s. It was built in 1711.

Our accommodations are at a small, spare hotel two blocks from the center. There is a pond with ducks in the back of the building that is part of a nature preserve. Bed felt good last night!

Today we got down to work. Part of us worked on prepping one of the youth rooms for painting - sanding, washing, spackling, sanding again, and then a primer coat. I went outside and helped weed, rake, and sweep around the concrete areas and the parking lot in front. We broke at 12:30 pm to participate with the pensioners in a weekly prayer meeting. About three-quarters Catholic and one-quarter Protestant, the pensioners had been taking a ballroom dancing class. We met one of the founders of the Cornerstone project which was started by Catholic and Protestant clergy together to reach out to those mourning deaths resulting from the “troubles” - families of policemen, soldiers, Loyalists, Nationalists - wherever there was pain. They are one of the sponsors of Forthspring.

We had a lunch with the pensioners and had a good time getting to know them and they us. We’ll see them again at the Barn Dance on Saturday evening and at the Celebration dinner on Tuesday evening.

The staff of this center work tirelessly and are helped by student volunteers. There are several here, college-age, with the Youth with a Mission program from several countries. One of our students, Mike, just recently graduated from the University of Edinburg, and is doing a month here prior to going to the United States along with 29 other students to participate in a program for older youth of both Catholic and Protestant backgrounds. They each have an assignment and Mike will be interning at the World Bank. I am hoping to hook up with him sometime while he is here although the program will keep him busy. He has been asking me lots of questions about DC. I would love for some youth from our church to meet him and get to know him.

We got quite a bit of work done today and are all a bit tired at this point.

I am quite excited to be meeting the people who have been working for years to bring about what happened yesterday. Tomorrow we will meet the Catholic priest who has worked tirelessly with both political sides and has influenced these leaders. Even the pensioners told us that they met Ian Paisley and Gerry Adams and prayed for them regularly!

It is one thing to know about the politics of this divided place from afar. It is quite another to be in the midst of it. It is sad to know that people who live across the street from each other literally have been for many years living apart from each other, never leaving the neighborhoods to know people so close by. The Methodist Church of Ireland purchased a duplex behind the church. It is now occupied by two Catholic nuns who wanted to live in the Protestant neighborhood and work in that community. I saw a house in that neighborhood that had a “Shalom” sign on the front of it. That touched me. Little bits of peacemaking going on trying to penetrate the walls that separate. Physical walls with barbed wire at the top and houses with bricked up windows and doors.

So much too tell even after two days. But I have to get moving. I am being called to dinner with the group.

More another time.

Peace, Dottie

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