Finding My Feet

City Hall, Belfast City Centre

Our first week here in Belfast was spent in orientation with our site coordinator, Doug Baker.  Besides helping us to get a bit more familiar with the city, Doug took us all around to see the different churches and organizations that we are going to be working with over the next year.  It was a great opportunity to see where my friends are going to be spending most of their time during the next 11 months—but it also gave me a sense of hope.  The more we trundled around the city in our white minibus, the more I was struck by the way tension still lingers here: it is in the divided neighborhoods, the intensely political murals, the memorial gardens, the walls along the roads.  It is in the Gaelic shop signs and in the British flags fastened to lampposts.  But, even as I was sobered by the evidence of the conflict, I was encouraged to see the people and organizations that are working to bring peace and reconciliation to this city. 

If you’re interested in some of the churches and organizations that are striving to meet needs in Belfast, I’ve listed their names and websites below.  I’m sure that they will do a better job of explaining their missions and their work than I ever could:

• East Belfast Mission (http://www.ebm.org.uk/)
• 174 Trust (http://www.174trust.org/v3/index.php)
• The Vine Centre (http://www.vinecentre.org/)
• WAVE Trauma Centre (http://www.wavetraumacentre.org.uk/)
• The Link (http://www.thelinkcentre.org/)
• Dundonald Family and Community Initiative (http://www.dfci.org.uk/)

This is one of the things I began to understand during orientation: how little I actually understand about this conflict.  It is so much more complex that I ever imagined.  But I’m also beginning to see how God is working in this city to save, to heal, and to provide.  And that is an exciting thing.

Word of the Day: Chuffed (adj.)—very pleased