Passion to fuel the fire...

Hello everyone! I hope that this all finds you doing really well in all of your different places in life. Life is Belfast is moving along with rapid pace. I find myself wondering where the time goes. We have been here for 2 and a half months now and it seems like yesterday. Getting used to the pace of life here takes a while, not to mention the weather, which I am still adjusting to I guess. The weather can really change through all of the seasons in one day here. Today was the perfect example. It was cloudy and cool this morning when I left, then it was warm and sunny after I got done with a meeting, then it was cold and raining when we left the grocery store just now. Wow. It really is a different world here living on an island.

Today I went to a meeting and it really made me think. I was then able to kind of form some of my thoughts in a formally fashion and thought you all might want to read what I have learned over the past couple of weeks. Things are still very new to me in a lot of ways here. I think that finding your footing in a new place is very difficult. It is especially difficult to be working with the peace and reconciliation act when you were not present for the fight that led to this damage. It is sometimes very hard to put into perspective. It is almost like reading the second book in a three-book set. You constantly feel like you are missing pieces of the puzzle. Like most political things, the situation here is very complex, very confusing and very messy! I attended a meeting today with people from all over N. Ireland that are working for the peace and reconciliation act. The morning was entitled "Loyalist matter too..." This meeting was talking about community and how we must reach out to those of us who are not like us if we are going to make a difference. The meeting lasted all morning and we heard from people from all over N. Ireland that are involved in finding peace in this place. This meeting was to see what others were doing (networking), seeing what else can be done (outlook), and then empowering those who are working for peace to continue the fight and to re-light the fire within that it takes to work on such a tedious task. It was incredible to be in a room of peacemakers. I was very inspired by the morning. It fueled my fire to be here for sure.

Sometimes I find it difficult in life to find the time and the energy to be passionate about all that I feel passionate about. It is such a hard balance to be able to see a need and then to be able to act on that. N. Ireland is acting on this call. They have seen that there needs to be passion in order to find peace in this place. All of these people in one way or another were there because they are passionate. Passionate about peace, passionate about God, passionate about their community. It was wonderful to feel that passion.

What I am doing here could most accurately be described as relational work. Basically I am to build relationships. Relationships therefore encourage communication, which then sparks interest in what makes the other person tick, that then leads to compromise, then that leads to peace and friendship. Although this process happens everyday, we all have relationships in our lives, we all have friends and loved ones that we keep up with it is not easy task. This is one of the hardest things in the world to do. It involves a lot of time, a lot of effort, and a lot of care. All of the volunteers are finding the challenge of it here. Be it the relationships we are building here, or the ones we are desperately trying to stay a part of back home.

Peace is such a small word for such a huge concept. Peace this week came in the form of a elderly woman in my pensioners group telling me that she loved me and giving me a kiss of the cheek after I came and found her when she was lost in a town shopping. Peace came in a little girl in my homework club writing on her white board that she loved me and giving me a smile and a hug. Peace came in getting to see someone from Amarillo who is in town for a week preparing to bring his youth group from Amarillo back in June for a mission trip. It came in the form of talking about things back home, shared dear friends and miracles like the Buffs being 10-0. Peace. It comes and goes. But when it comes...isn't it something.

Peace and love be with you all!

Melissa