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Text Box:   First, please allow me to apologize for the fact that no Spiritual Cyber-Vitamin came to you last week as I had promised back on March 1st.  And thanks to those of you who prayed for our mission team while we were away in Belfast, Northern Ireland the week of March 6-13.  The reason for the Vitamin's absence had to do with the fact that we didn't make it back to Fort Wayne until the wee hours of Tuesday, March 16th.  Our flight from Belfast to Newark, New Jersey was uneventful on Saturday, March 13th, and everything seemed to be right on schedule for our return to Chicago Saturday evening.  However, a nasty storm with high winds fell upon the east coast of the United States around the time we landed in Newark--so our flight to Chicago was canceled.  At that point, the weather became a secondary problem.  The real issue was finding a flight with 19 empty seats in the midst of a situation where many flights were being canceled left and right.  Ultimately, Continental Airlines could not get us back to Chicago on a flight until late Monday night, March 15th.  Being trapped in Newark for 2 days, we made the best of it as a team.  I told the students, borrowing a well-worn phrase, that if "life gives you lemons, make lemonade."  Continental put us up in a nice hotel near the airport and gave us food vouchers for two days.  I then led the students into New York City on Sunday to do a little sightseeing.  The students were thrilled for the opportunity and got to visit Ground Zero (and the memorial located there), the Hard Rock Cafe in Times Square, and circled the Statue of Liberty on the Staten Island Ferry.  It was a fun day that cemented the strong bonds that had been built between team members through a week of ministry in Belfast.  And we all learned again how important it is to maintain a posture of patience and flexibility when life tosses a curve ball your way.  God allowed us to sleep off some of our jet lag in a nice hotel and, although we all missed our families, at least we ended the week with even more adventure than had been planned. I am going to interrupt my Vitamin series "What's in a Name" this week and next to give you a trip report of our time in Belfast.  We spent the week primarily engaged in youth ministry to Protestant young people and to Catholic young people.  We would lead an after school Bible club at a church in the Glencairn section of the city (Protestant) in the afternoon and then travel to Turf Lodge on two of the evenings to spend time and build relationships with Catholic youth.  One of our hosts, Desi Fisher, told me that he had never heard of any other group ever being able to serve both groups in the same day.  Normally, if you worked with one group, the other group would have wanted nothing to do with you.  Desi accounted for the opportunity by pointing to the fact that tensions had lessened in the city and the fact that we were an American team, not Irish from "one side" or the "other."  So, our team truly was able to function as a practical tool of reconciliation in the hands of the Lord.  I must say that Belfast, a city we only visited for half a day in 2007 when we were in Northern Ireland last, reminded somewhat of Berlin, Germany.  Both cities have experienced real turmoil and violence in their past--and a shroud of sadness hangs over both places to a degree to this day.  But we came away from the city very excited and very hopeful at what God is doing in the city to bring about peace and reconciliation.  There are individuals on both sides of the religious/political divide who realize that Jesus Christ, and only Jesus Christ, can bring us together.  As the prophet Jeremiah counseled the Israelites so long ago, we need to pray for the "peace" of the city--in this case the city of Belfast. (Jeremiah 29:7) One of the most moving moments of the week was Wednesday night when we heard a man named Robert Swan share his life experiences.  Robert spent 15 years of a special "life" sentence in prison for his participation in a Protestant paramilitary terrorist group.  While in prison, through a series of events too long to share, he became a Christian.  Refusing to talk about what he did to earn his time in prison, saying he didn't want to give Satan the glory, Robert encouraged the students to keep "going on" in their walk with Christ regardless of the cost or the challenges involved.  Robert represents the new, emerging Belfast, the Belfast able to move on from the sectarian violence to a city submitted to the peace of Christ.  He also sang some songs that he had written that were very profound.  One song described the fact that Ireland would never truly be free until the Irish had given their hearts to Christ.  Although we never had the chance to hear him in person, we were given a CD with the testimony of IRA member Seamus O'Connor--another man who had served time in prison and is now walking with Christ.  In his testimony, he described an evening during which God gave him the opportunity to tell a room full of Protestants that he was sorry for what he had done to them.  The lives of these two men are testaments to the healing power of the love of Jesus Christ and clearly even more awesome of a miracle than had the two men been physically raised from the dead.  Hearing the stories of Robert and Seamus encouraged our team to remember that no one is beyond the reach of the saving grace of the Lord.          Heavenly Father, thank you so much for allowing our team of 20 to spend a week in the beautiful city of Belfast with the beautiful people we met there.  We are grateful for the opportunities that You gave us to serve in Your Name and we pray that there will be some lasting fruit for Your glory because we made this trip across the Atlantic.  We pray for our friends in Belfast, old and new, that God will strengthen them in His service and use them to bring a true and lasting peace to their city--in every heart of every person who lives there.  Tear down the walls that separate people in Belfast and in Fort Wayne.  Draw us all closer to You this week.  In Jesus' Name, Amen.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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