Journeying from Belfast

Reflections on this year and what it has meant will last a lifetime, but as Karl and I prepare to leave Belfast, I thought I would put up a post about leaving Belfast.  For those of you who were at Whitehouse Sunday morning, you have heard a lot of what is written in this post.  Most of it comes from the address I gave in church.

In Luke 9 Jesus sent his disciples out to proclaim the Kingdom of God, and he told them to take nothing for the journey – no staff, no bag, no bread, no money, no extra shirt.  After what has been a tremendous year, it is time for Karl and me to set out on another journey – we will be leaving Belfast and going back “home” for four weeks (I am using the term home lightly here, let’s just call home a place where you gather with loved ones) and then will be moving to Tucson, AZ to serve another year with the Young Adult Volunteer program. 

In my time at Whitehouse, I was able to explore my spiritual gifts and received tremendous spiritual nourishment from the people and ministry of the church.  Whitehouse is a very special congregation, and I feel truly blessed to have been given the opportunity to be a part of it.  I was involved in so many aspects of the church’s life and was given the opportunity to work amongst a wide variety of people who had different gifts and personalities to learn from. 

So what will I be taking with me on my journey as I go back home?  One thing for sure is the practice of prayer.  Whitehouse is a body of believers rooted in prayer. 

On my first Sunday at Whitehouse, I walked through the doors and was immediately invited into the kitchen to have a cup of tea (Helen had already taken my order on Facebook the night before).  While Helen was pouring my cup of tea, I received hugs from everyone in the kitchen, the longest of which came from May. Before I could finish drinking my cup of tea, Francis invited me into the lounge to prayer over all of the aspects of the service that morning.  This was just the first of many prayers that I was part of at Whitehouse.  It is so important to keep God central to what the church is doing and to communicate with our Father in heaven, and Whitehouse has truly helped me to grow in my prayer life.

Another thing I will be taking on my journey is the principle of reconciliation.  There is conflict everywhere in this world and inside of us.  Northern Ireland is one place of many in this world that experiences division in everyday life, and living here helped me to learn different ways of reconciling conflict.  All conflict can be approached in a nonviolent manner to work towards peace, and this was evident in my time this year.

Every Thursday, I took part in the Friends and Neighbors Lunch Club.  A lot of people from the church attend this club in addition to four Catholic ladies from the neighborhood.  My favorite part about lunch club was the fellowship time before the meal.  Each week we enjoyed each other’s company while doing some fun activity Wallace or Colin had planned.  Whether we were playing boccia, doing a beetle drive, having a sing along, or just enjoying a cup of tea, the morning was filled with friendly conversation and laughter.  The people there were not concerned about differences they had with each other, but instead came together each week to join in fellowship and enjoy one another’s company.

When I journey from here, I will also be taking a sense of community with me.  This year, I experienced different forms of community through my time with the other YAVs and with Whitehouse.  What I want to take home from these experiences is the idea of loving and supporting one another through all times. Whether times are happy or sad, exciting or boring, scary or safe, comfortable or uncomfortable, easy or challenging, we must love and support one another. 

When I was away in Tremont for the youth mission trip, our group experienced what is was to be a community.  We shared a living space for an entire week, studied scripture and prayed together, and we lived with one another through times of joy, homesickness, frustration and goofiness.  My favorite part of the trip was our last devotional night when we gathered around a campfire to talk about the Holy Spirit.  That night helped our sense of community to grow even stronger.

Something that goes hand in hand with the love and support of Whitehouse is the act of hospitality, and that is another thing I want to take away with me on my journey.  From the moment I arrived at Whitehouse, I received tremendous hospitality.  During our first week in Belfast, our whole group of YAVs spent three days visiting each other’s churches in order to get an idea of what everyone would be doing during the year.  The day we visited Whitehouse, we were served a delicious chicken bake for lunch complete with apple tart and cheese and biscuits.  After the lunch was over, Betty told me that I better learn how to eat because I would be fed a lot of meals this year.  Well she wasn’t lying! 

Karl and I were welcomed into so many peoples’ homes and lives this year, and we are so thankful for the extra effort everyone made in helping us to feel welcome.  I did not experience too much homesickness this year, and I attribute that to the tremendous hospitality offered to Karl and me.  As Christ said, “What you have done for the least of these, you have done for me,” I want to take the act of hospitality I was offered from the people of Whitehouse and Belfast and extend it to all those I meet.

Lastly, I want to take what I learned about the body of Christ on my journey.  Effective ministry and the illumination of the Kingdom of God cannot be achieved alone or even by the hands of few.  Through my involvement in all of the various activities that go on in Whitehouse (GB and BB, Tots & Co., Tea and Coffee Morning, the Healing Service, Alpha and bible study, Luncheon Club and SWAT), I experienced the body of Christ working wonderfully.  There are so many people in the church who give of their time and talents, and that is what being part of the body of Christ is all about!  There are people gifted in pastoral care, youth activities, cooking, organizing social events for all ages of the church family, people gifted in conducting business matters of the church, welcoming, teaching, praying, nurturing, listening and much more.  When I go back to the States, I want to always remember being a part of this body and inspire other people to use their gifts to become part of the body of Christ.

So, when I journey from Belfast, I will be taking a number of things with me that are more important than a staff, a bag, bread or money.  I will be forever grateful for my time at Whitehouse and the innumerable moments which helped me to grow in my faith and love for God and His people.  I am very sad to be leaving the people I grew so close to over this year, but in the words of Dr. Seuss, I will not cry because it is over, but smile because of all that has happened.