May 25, 2007 by Dottie Byers.

This is a copy of the email our team received from Pastor John Wonnacutt of the Springfield Methodist Church. John and Bernie, the Forthspring Director, hosted our team. The message is a nice “wrap-up” of the trip, but from the other side of the “pond”.

Dear Bill and Carol
Delighted to hear from you, I had hoped to send this to you before you sent to us and wrote the following:

I trust that the journey home went as well as those journeys can. Oh to be Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz and be able to click our heels and be where we wished in an instant! I think the first couple of days after such a trip is so hard readjusting to ‘normality’. We certainly have found a change at the centre, it feels strange not to have you around! Hope you find the ‘re-entry’ to be reasonably smooth and there is room to have some R & R. (I suppose the limo helped the limo, hope you get a chance for lots of sleep)

Unfortunately to be at the meal and to wave farewell on Thursday morning proved to be impossible with Sophie and Sandra’s work schedule. I confess to not being very good at ‘goodbyes’. Later on Thursday I went to the airport to pick up Sandra’s mother and I smiled to hear Lionel Ritchie singing on the radio ‘Going to America’.

The last couple of days we have been pinching ourselves as we gaze in wonder at all you achieved. We now have two steel cupboards in the store having moved one from the vestry. Elsie Kirkpatrick is so pleased to be able to get the other steel cupboard out of the vestry which will make it much more homely and allows us to reconfigure the chairs making it more roomy. Next week the electrician will hopefully put the light downstairs in the store. Ricky has his eye on the remaining wood and plans with his brother in law (Barbara Watson’s brother) to put an additional shelf above the mezzanine floor. Super to see this initiative and enthusiasm. We returned the scaffold to the building site nearby. The local builders who supplied the scaffolding were delighted to hear how well the project had gone and were only too glad to be involved. The notice board in the hallway will be decorated for Sunday morning and provide a daily reminder to people coming in what is available at the church

We are so grateful for your servant leadership. The team you brought over was fantastic and so well chosen. The level of work both in terms of output and quality was phenomenal. They were gifted as well with the ability to roll with programme changes, get alongside local people and made use of all available opportunities to be a source of encouragement. As Bernie highlighted your presence with us achieved far more than the work that was done. You helped to remind us why we are there, that it is truly worthwhile and spurred us on to greater things.

As I said at the beginning we will remember yourselves as you ‘come back to earth’. I pray that your own congregation and other congregations will be able to celebrate all that you have achieved. Clearly they caught the vision from the last trip and ‘got’ what had gone on. We had mentioned that the peace process needs to happen on at least two levels to moveforward; at institutional level and at grassroots. You came to Belfast when there were seismic changes at institutional level and simultaneously you made such a difference at grassroots. I would love to share something of all that we experienced with yourselves with the VIM rep/committee. Would you have a contact email for such a person? I would be very grateful when you get an opportunity.

Other developments since you left.. One of the Springfield Road congregation was bereaved the day you left, Rita Glass’s husband died. She was not able to meet you as her husband was very ill. The funeral will be from their home which is just beside Olivia’s home on Tuesday morning. It was Rita who introduced Olivia to the centre and the church. Tomorrow in Sandy Row the outgoing Secretary of the Methodist Church in Ireland Rev Winston Graham will come and preach. The sound system that was being installed last week was tried out last night and the congregational representatives are very happy. (Phew!!!) This weekend as a family we are having fun as Sandra is away with her two sisters and her mother has come to stay which is a whole new experience!

Well I think I will let you go and get another mug of ‘proper coffee’ and let your minds, hearts and bodies further recuperate. once again many thanks for all that you have done for our centre, congregation and ourselves as individuals.

Kind regards

John, Sandra and Sophie

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May 18, 2007 by Dottie Byers.

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

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May 15, 2007 by Dottie Byers.

We knew the people of Ireland were beautiful and fascinating. Now we have learned that the physical land and natural features of Ireland are beautiful also. We have spent the past two days touring Downpatrick, Derry, and the Giant’s Causeway. En route to these places we passed through miles and miles of green fields, trees, sheep, and cows. This has made more of an impression than when on my trip to the Republic of Ireland four years ago. Perhaps being in the minivan and closer to the land, maybe we are going through more actual charming villages than four years ago.

Downpatrick is supposedly where St. Patrick did his primary work and died. There is a beautiful Anglican - Church of Ireland - cathedral that we visited. Some of our group visited the museum. The cathedral sits up on the hill. On the way down the hill I met Freddie the cat and got into a long chat with its owner. So much fun to see this touch of humanity. His owner provided me with insight into how the troubles affected those who lived outside of the cities.

Yesterday we came to Derry, about an hour and a half’s drive from Belfast, and met the Bogside Artists, three fellows who started a ministry to work on reconciliation through art. They have painted 11 huge murals in the community of Bogside that portray people and events of the troubles in Bogside, a predominantly Catholic community where Bloody Sunday in 1972 occurred. They are great people and are coming to the United States this summer to spend two weeks at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival in June and July. They are availabe to talk to churches - hint,hint - while they are here, and to youth as they work quite a bit with youth in Derry. They are world-renown through their art and have also done humanitarian work in other places of conflict.

We went on to the Giants Causeway, a magnificent work of nature of which I took many pictures which you all will see when I return. it was most unusual and most beautiful.

It was a long day, but today is a new day and our last full day of work at the Centre.

Keep us in your prayers as we finish up the tasks God sent us to do.

Peace, Dottie

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May 13, 2007 by Dottie Byers.

We have had an incredible education in the daily struggles and issues of ordinary folks in Belfast who take a step out everyday. We met three ladies who are long-time users of the community center. They told their stories of how they came to be involved in the center, the friendships they gained and the friendships they lost, because they wanted to know about people on the other side of the peace wall. We met an ex-offender who is now heavily involved in working in the Community alternatives program with young people who have gotten in trouble but are not part of the juvenile justice or adult justice program. It implements the concept of restorative justice drawing together the community, the victim, and the offender with a growing amount of success. Tom Winston was in prison for many years as a political offender.

Friday evening after a hard work day we went out to an Irish pub in city center and talked and listened to Irish music. Ireland has an nationwide no-smoking ban in public places. And to those doubters that it harms business they should see how jam-packed the pubs are!

Yesterday we worked most of the day during numerous painting jobs that can not be done during the week because of traffic in and out of the building. Doug and Diane have made significant progress in the “dungeon” storage room which will be used for storage when it is finished.

Last night the ladies of the center hosted a “barn dance” or square dance in the multi-purpose room. We had a great caller/instructor. About 70 community people attended so it was quite a crowd and great fun was had by all. There was a huge amount of food most of it donated by center members.

This morning we are doing the service at the Springfield Methodist Church. Our resident team pastor is doing the sermon. We even have a retired choral music teacher leading the singing. Afterwards we are off for a day of rest and touring out in the country to Down Patrick and a ferry ride.

Cheers and peace, Dottie

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May 11, 2007 by Dottie Byers.

We have met some very interesting and hard-working people in the last few days. It has been a blessing and a privilege to meet those who work in the trenches each day of their lives. Father Jerry Reynolds of the Clonard Monastery has been for many years one of the most influential people in the peace and reconciliation movement here. We met him yesterday after a novena mass at the beautiful church that is part of the monastery. He is a Redemptorist priest and his uncle was a pioneer in reconciliation efforts in the late 1940’s and 1950’s. In fact, when he met Ian Paisley a few weeks ago for the first time the Reverend Paisley mistook him for Father Jerry’s uncle! He told us about beginning the prayer and bereavement work with Methodist minister Reverend Sam Burns where they work as a team to visit the families of the bereaved on both sides. He indicated that it was depressing work that for a time was taking place five or six times a week. Harry and Maura work with him as part of a Catholic reconciliation organization who visit Protestant churches. Harry brought tears to all of our eyes when he told us the story of being called from work to his home to find his wife Maura badly beaten and his daughter having barely escaped being murdered by gun. Two of their Catholic neighbors, angry that they were trying to work with Protestants had knocked on the door and demanded to see him. When he was not there, they prepared to murder a teenage daughter with a shot in the head. Still, despite these experiences, they are happy and optimistic people who consider Tuesday’s new government a “miracle” and are looking forward, forgiving and forgetting the past.

In the evening we met with members of Springfield Methodist Church and friends of the church in the community. We all told stories and listened to there’s. We were impressed with these older folks who continued to come to the church even when others were scared away. These people would walk in the midst of a riot to rescue a fellow women’s group member and get them to the church. They served us tea and biscuits afterwards and I even got a lift home with one of the women.

Yesterday we all got to listen to a history of the troubles in Ireland that go back to the 1100’s discussed by the Reverend Dr. Dennis Cooke, who is a retired president of the Methodist Theological College, a superintendent of the Methodist Church in Ireland and the author of a book on Ian Paisley. He, too, feels optimistic for the future.

This morning we planned a church service for the congregation on Sunday morning. We are doing the whole service. Fancy that! It is our gift to the congregation.

Today we are continuing to hear more guest speakers from the community, finish up some work in the building, and will be attending a crafts class conducted by the good sisters of the Curraugh Community next door. Then we are going out for an evening of Irish pub music.

We are well-taken care of and welcomed everywhere we go. It will be hard to leave these people next week. We already feel a bond, an attachment.

Time to move on and start this day. I hope it lightens up weather-wise. Not raining, but a bit overcast.

Peace, Dottie

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May 9, 2007 by Dottie Byers.

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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