Our fifth team to visit our mission partners in Northern Ireland leaves on Thursday, September 25 and returns on October 4^th. Please keep them in your prayers as they offer their presence of hope in a very conflicted part of the world. For over ten years, St. Luke’s has had a relationship with SpringfieldRoad MethodistChurch and ForthSpring Intercommunity Group as they work to build bridges of peace between Catholics and Protestants.

Centuries and centuries of conflict along historical, cultural, political and religious lines have divided Northern Ireland. These conflicts have created a history of mistrust and suspicion. To separate Catholic and Protestant neighborhood, high walls, ironically called Peace Walls, have been built. At the same time that we cheered the fall of the Berlin wall, the Walls of Belfast went up!

We support a small Methodist church in West Belfast. The church sits literally on a wall that separates a Protestant neighborhood and a Catholic neighborhood. Using the strong symbol of the church as a bridge, the church works to build understanding between the communities. The church is a founding partner of a non-profit group called the Forthspring Inter Community Group. Forthspring works with toddler and mothers, children in after school programs, youths, women and senior citizens to try to build bridges of communications and communication between the two communities.

Keep checking this blog for details about the team's mission experience and also check out their new website at  www.belfastteam.org

Thursday September 25
The Belfast Mission team starts it mission trip to Belfast Northern Ireland, tomorrow, Thursday Sept 25.

This is a travel day We will meet as a group of 11, travel to the Orlando airport and then travel on Aer Lingus flight 120 leaving out of Orlando at 6 pm and arriving in Dublin Friday morning about 7 am Dublin time! Please keep the Belfast Team, the fine people of Aer Lingus, and the Northern Ireland peace process in your thoughts and prayers tomorrow.

Saturday, September 27

The Belfast Mission team travels to Derry/Londonderry Saturday, September 27. 

This city has two names. If you are Protestant. pro-British, you call the city Londonderry. If you are Catholic, pro-Irish, you call the city Derry. Just for ease, I’ll call it Derry.

Derry has been at the center of much of the conflict over the centuries. In 1690, the Protestant Apprentice Boys slammed down the city gates against the approaching forces of James, the Catholic claimant to the British throne. Derry successfully withstood the resulting siege.

In more modern times, one of the first major events of the recent “troubles” came in Derry. In January 1970, 14 Catholic marchers were killed by British military forces, in an event commonly called “Bloody Sunday” (Yes, the “Bloody Sunday” that U-2 sings about! For a while, a portion of Derry was barricaded against the British, and called Free Derry.

We will tour the city walls. We also visit the Bloody Sunday Museum. The high point of our Derry Day will be meeting with The Bogside Artists. The Bogside artist run both a non-denominational church service, and have painted huge building end murals throughout the Bogside (the Catholic portion of Derry) telling the story of the troubles. The mural emphasize the peace process.  Images show broken weapons and the dove of peace sitting on a oak leaf (the symbol of the city of Derry is an oak leaf).

In our continued study of reconciliation and restoration, Derry is an example of how people tell their stories, and even through their pain, try to show a Northern Ireland of peace and hope.

For more information on the Bogside Artists: http://www.bogsideartists.com/

Please keep the Belfast Team, all the people of Derry and Londonderry, our coach driver and coach for travel mercies, and the Northern Ireland peace process in your thoughts and prayers tomorrow.

We do have a website http://www.belfastteam.org. We will update the web site during the trip with the mission experience for each day. Please feel free to check the website during the trip (Sept 25-Oct 4).

Sunday, September 28

The Belfast Mission team will attend Church service at our partner Church, Springfield Road Methodist Church.  Springfield Methodist is one of the founding partners of Forthspring Inter Community Group. After service, we will be having a lunch with the congregation. The rest of the day will be a time for rest and reflection.

Please keep  the Belfast Team, the congregation of Springfield Road Methodist, pray for your and our rest and reflection, and the Northern Ireland peace process in your thoughts and prayers.

Monday, September 29

The Belfast Mission team will be at East Belfast Mission Monday September 29. East Belfast was once an industrial hub and economic power of the United Kingdom. The area was heavily depended on shipbuilding. However, the shipbuilding industry closed, and 30,000 jobs in East Belfast were lost! Now the area is one of the most economically distressed areas in all of Europe. Unemployment, lack of education, lack of job training, alcoholism, domestic violence and hopelessness run rampant. Protestant paramilitarism is a strong community influence.

Our friends in the East Belfast Mission, a Methodist mission, work in this community. They sponsor a homeless shelter, job training, and other opportunities for this community to rebuild their lives. We always enjoy our day in East Belfast. We will hear from speakers representing different parts and different perspectives from this Protestant community.

To learn more about the work and challenges of East Belfast Mission: http://www.ebm.org.uk/

Please keep the Belfast Team, the work of the East Belfast Mission, the people served by the East Belfast Mission, and the Northern Ireland peace process in your thoughts and prayers.
 

Tuesday, September 30

The Belfast Mission team will be with our partner church, Springfield Methodist Church, and the non-profit group they support, Forthspring Inter Community Group, on Tuesday, September 30.

Tuesday will be what we call the Catholic Community Perspective Day. First we will walk to a nearby Monastery, Clonnad. There, we will attend Mass, and then meet with Father Reynolds. Father Reynolds was active during the “Troubles”. He and a local Methodist minister went together to homes of victims from both the Catholic and Protestant communities and together prayed with the family members of the victims. Clonnard also sponsored some of the initial conversations between different factions that ultimately lead to the peace process.

We return to Springfield Road Methodist, and will hear from a person working in restorative justice. The concept of restorative justice is that both the victim and the perpetrator should talk together to try to reach common ground, a solution to the offense and a personal understanding of each other’s perspective.

Finally, on Tuesday we will tour Stormont. Stormont houses the Northern Ireland Legislative assembly. This is the location of the unified government, that brings both Protestant and Catholic political leaders together to run the local governments.  
Please keep the Belfast Team, and the Northern Ireland peace process in your thoughts and prayers.

Wednesday, October 1

The Belfast Mission team will spend its second day with our partner church, Springfield Methodist Church, and the non-profit group they support, Forthspring Inter Community Group, Wednesday, October 1.

Wednesday we will find out more about the activities our mission partners at Forthspring. We will hear from speakers on the issues of restorative justice. The concept of restorative justice is that both the victim and the perpetrator should talk together to try to reach common ground, a solution to the offense and a personal understanding of each other’s perspective. We will also talk with police officers serving the neighborhoods around Springfield Road Methodist Church and Forthspring. We will spend the rest of the day with the pensioners (senior citizens) in the area, in prayer and in discussions regarding the issues facing seniors and the differences between the services for seniors in the United States and in Belfast.    

Please keep the Belfast Team, senior citizens in Belfast and in the United States, our partners at Forthspring, and the Northern Ireland peace process in your thoughts and prayers.

Friday, October 3

October 3 is the last full day of the Belfast Team mission trip. Today, we travel to County Down, south of Belfast, to experience Celtic Christianity spiritual sites. First we stop at Nendrum, a 9th century monastic site. Next, Inch Abbey, the ruins of a 12th Century Church. Lastly, we spend time at Saul Church, a church built on the site tradition teaches was the location of St Patrick’s first church. Upon arriving in Ireland, a local man allowed Patrick to use his barn - “Saul” in Irish – as his first church, and therefore the name – Saul Church. This is a day to remember all of those who went before in faith, to remember that we (and you!) are on the same journey of faith, and that we walk today as the link with those who walked before us and those who will walk in faith when we are gone. We will have a service of salt and light at Saul Church, remembering that we carry with us the salt of the earth and the light of the world. And we reflect how what we experienced in Belfast will become part of the memories of our own faith and life, and part of the future as we journey forward.

For more information on Nendrum: http://www.discovernorthernireland.com/accomfinder/product.aspx?ProductID=2877 and http://www.ni-environment.gov.uk/nendrum.shtml  

For more information on Inch Abbey: http://www.discovernorthernireland.com/accomfinder/product.aspx?ProductID=2876  and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inch_Abbey

For more information on Saul Church: http://www.discovernorthernireland.com/Saul-Church-Downpatrick-P3387 and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saul%2C_County_Down

Please keep the Belfast Team, the journey of faith (past present and future, and for us and for you), clear skies and safe driving, and the Northern Ireland peace process in your thoughts and prayers.