Home Again

The last two days in Belfast were a flurry of finishing up, cleaning up, meeting more people, doing a little sightseeing and shopping in the pouring rain and a last meal at McHugh’s with some of the folks from Forthspring.

Everyone on our team was reluctant to part ways not just with the people we were supporting but the whole focused time away. When the new storage room was finished we formed a relay line of sanctuary chairs which were the first things in the new room. Doug and his helpers did a fantastic job of building the second floor and stairs. We also cleaned out the “paint” room and added salvageable materials to the storage room, or the “dungeon” as the room came to be called. A licensed electrician will soon add more lighting to the room. This room had once housed the organ but was destroyed in one of the fires that the church suffered from both sides of the conflict. We put the sanctuary in order again with more space and more possibilities for the small congregation.

We touched up and finished up painting jobs. The youth director for Forthspring Diedre was thrilled to the point of tears at the change in the condition of the youth room. We had spruced up the lavatories and entry doors of several rooms as well as the pre-school and aftercare program rooms. We were told by the pre-school director that the children were never taken outside, not just for security’s sake but also because parents were afraid people on each side would see them and know that they were mingling with Catholic or Protestant. The parents would then not bring their children back. It left one with the feeling that generations will live before real peace of heart and mind takes place.

The women of Springfield Methodist and the Forthspring Center are negotiation to be the first people in Belfast to take bricks out of the wall that separates the two communities. Bernie, the Forthspring Director is making some headway with the politicians to do that. They want to put windows in where the bricks come out so that people can start seeing each other! It will be a start.

We had time with the Golden Girls again. By the end of the trip we had become fast friends with not just the staff but with the people who used the facilities and programs of the Center. On Wednesday we also met the American Consul-General for Northern Ireland. He will be soon returning for home duty at the Department of State. He said that only two countries kept a consulate in Belfast and the U.S. is one. As a representative of the U.S. government he has continued to take part in the peace process, taking his direction from the Northern Ireland government players. He feels they are making progress politically and somewhat economically. But on a personal and cultural level it will be a long time before they take down not just the brick walls but the preconceptions about the other side. He was most charming and we found out that he is also a Methodist.

We had a celebration dinner Tuesday night. A very talented 17 year old musician, Emir, played the harp and the tin whistle for us. She was absolutely brilliant! Two of our group members performed solo and their selections were quite moving. We distributed gifts to the people we most interacted with and what remained was offered to all the people who were there. They didn’t want to let us go and we didn’t want to let them go! Even our team leader, Bill Borthwick, noted to us that not only were we a fabulous team working together but we had built relationships with the people we came into contact with in a way that the previous team last year had not been able to. He had noticed that these people had opened their hearts to us because we were willing to mingle and listen.

We also Pastor John Wonnacott’s parents after the Celebration. His mother Sheila is quite active in the World Methodist Women’s Federation and has attended conferences related to this in the United States and Korea. His father was most charming. We also met his wife Saundra briefly. We had all adopted Sofia, the baby, on our excursion on Sunday. She has a dozen new grandparents, aunts and uncles now. We did not see much of John the last few days because his other (and larger) church Sandy Row Methodist Church was demanding some time while we were there. John walks a fine line between his responsibilities at both churches and Forthspring Center.

We walked downtown the last day about a mile and a half. Some of us took a bus tour around Belfast. We saw sights associated with the Titanic, Shankill Road Community (Protestant) and Falls Road (Catholic). I still feel disturbed with the grafitti of para-military groups still on the walls of buildings. We saw one street where there were many wall murals one after the other. There is still evidence about of the human and property destruction of the Troubles. The people we met and mingled with as individuals struggle each day to carry out their dreams of one Belfast a bit at a time and with courage. They are doing God’s work. Supporting their efforts is also God’s work. So we added to the “peacemaking” even in the short time we were there.

Being part of that effort is what will bring me back to Belfast again. I want to be part of that. This trip was the right thing for me to do. I thank God I answered that call to go, to send me. I am bringing back an abundance of love and understanding. My cup runneth over and I am looking forward to sharing the stories with you in other ways soon.

Peace, Dottie

This entry was posted on May 18, 2007 at 12:09 pm and is filed under Ireland 2007 Mission Trip. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response or trackback from your own site.