Thoughts from the Mission Team

Northern Ireland. The country didn’t really scream “mission field” to me. It seems so easy, as a Christian, to support missionaries in Africa, China, India, and other poverty stricken third world countries. However, a European missionary (especially a short term one), seems less admirable. To me, going from one Westernized country to another, from a home full of amenities, to a destination with much the same somehow seems less noble than suffering in the flesh for ministry.

These were thoughts my head was filled with as the JBU Ireland Summer Missions team prepared for ministry in Belfast. I knew that God had led me here and that He would move, but it just seemed like a missions cop-out. A mission trip to me involved sweat, exhaustion, and service work. Not to say that none of that has happened here, especially with the very warm weather that seemed to have followed us, but it certainly didn’t come to mind as I looked at our trip itinerary.

If these were the thoughts every team member came in with, I can definitely say that God was ready to open all of our eyes in a dramatic and moving way. Belfast suffers from more poverty than I had at first known. Willowfield Parish, the church we have partnered with, runs ministries such as Besom (delivering donated furniture, etc. to families in need), Just 55 (a short program and free dinner on Sunday evenings), and a food pantry (for families who may not always have a meal on the table). More than a physical poverty, though, there is spiritual anguish that resides in the history and the present day of Belfast. Willowfield Parish works to meet this need of its community as well.

The leaders at Willowfield focus a great deal on the power of prayer and the presence of the Holy Spirit. Prayer is our way of speaking to the Heavenly Father, and the Holy Spirit acts as an intercessor and also fills us with the fullness of God. Seeing their prayers in action and recognizing the power of the Holy Spirit in their lives has encouraged us and spurred us on as we work with them in ministry. In addition to this basic Christian need, Willowfield focuses on a specific need within the community.

The painful division between the Protestant and Catholic followers of Christ in Belfast isn’t breaking news. What Willowfield is doing about it, however, may be. Sunday night a program called Youth Fellowship takes place. This past Sunday, it was run by the youth themselves. A few on our team had the privilege of sitting in on this time. Much to their surprise, the youth had set up a formal and very respectful debate on the peace wall. The peace wall divides a traditionally Catholic neighborhood and a traditionally Protestant neighborhood from one another. The debate involved those who wanted the wall to remain standing and those who wanted it to be torn down.

On the side that believed the wall should remain many argued that the wall prevented violence. Some expressed their feelings of fear just walking past the wall and how much more that would increase if it were torn down. They worried that more people would be hurt or killed if the wall were removed. The wall creates a band-aid for the conflict. Though it does not solve the problem, it prevents further aggravation of the pain.

Those who wanted the wall to come down felt that nothing would ever be solved if it remained. Peace comes at a high cost and they wondered whether it was really loving to separate themselves from Catholic believers just to prevent conflict. When all sides had spoken the final orator, a young teenage girl, gave a message that applies not only to her peers, but also to all Christians.

When it comes down to it, are we really just talk? She spoke about how at church all of the teens would profess to love the Catholics in their community, but she also knew that they also said not so wonderful things to or about those same individuals at school. She bravely called herself and her peers out on their hypocrisy. The world often cries “hypocrisy” to the message of Christianity, but how often do we call ourselves out on our weaknesses? She finished powerfully saying that they needed to stop just talking and get down to brass tacks. They needed to pray for the Catholics and for peace. Division like that, major problems like that, don’t just end without God’s power. We have the privilege of His Holy Spirit, and the power to pray to Him. What a beautiful testimony for that girl and for Willowfield. What a powerful message to the church.

More to come on details about the ministry we are doing on this trip.

Submitted by Kristen Starkey