New Roles

This was our first week in our new roles at L’Arche. Sunday, April 18^th we were both present in the Ember. Lucy had her second observation of Jillian’s routine and then accompanied Jillian and her father to their church. The message posed an interesting question: if you were accused in a court of law of being a Christian would you be convicted? The pastor said ways to convict would be faith, love and works. It was an interesting and thought provoking message. In the afternoon, the two of us along with Jillian made cards for May, who was in a play about stereotypes and the evening was filled with a spring-cleaning of Thomas’ room!

On Monday, we had our weekly team meeting and then ventured down to buy Micah some garden boots! He was quite excited to get some boots to stomp around in the horse manure out at the allotment.

Tuesday, sadly, Micah did not get to go to Edinburgh. He was planning to go to Scotland for a social enterprise conference, but due to the volcanic ash the flights were cancelled. Instead, Micah lead the team formation at the allotment and we all pulled weeds for about an hour before heading back to get a cup of tea and warm up! In the afternoon, Micah went to work on the business plan for Root Soup with Maria and Lucy went to work in the office on volunteer coordination with Faythe.

Wednesday was Lucy’s first day helping Jill with her routine alone. Jill responded better to Lucy helping than expected, but was pretty insecure that she was going to be left alone. Jill will just need to get used to Lucy helping her and then it will all go more smoothly! After the core members were off to college and the center, we had our second round of induction (orientation) with Scott. Then Micah had his first UK driving experience. He will have a couple more and then he will be an official driver for L’Arche! In the afternoon Lucy was in the Ember and Micah was pulling weeds in the back of the Ark. The backyard of the Ark has been left unkempt for some time and is need to some TLC. We plan to add some raised beds for tomatoes, cucumbers, zucchini, and anything else that isn’t wind resistant that won’t grow at the allotment. We are planning to rip out a couple dead bushes to plant some berry bushes! Soon we will have a backyard worth spending time and having BBQs in (hopefully!).

On Thursday Lucy was in the office with Faythe. The days was filled with emailing potential volunteers to set up phone interviews, say we either have or don’t have a spot for them, or tell them we are reviewing their application! Then Faythe gave me a rundown on the visa process from the “sponsorship” side. The visa process is the part of the job that is most overwhelming. There are so many things to make sure to do exactly right and steps to it! Luckily there are plenty of people in other L’Arches in the UK that can be called to ask questions when Lucy goes through it for the first time! It was quite interesting to learn that L’Arche Ireland does not accept any applications from people from “third world” countries because of their “tendency to not fulfill their time” while L’Arche UK does not have a policy there is increased paperwork to the visa application for an applicant from a “third world country.” So, L’Arche Belfast has not made a policy and has left it in the gray saying that they would prefer the person to have experience in another L’Arche before coming to L’Arche Belfast. It was just interesting to learn how this is distinguished in a “worldwide community” even if politically it makes sense. Micah filled his day with gardening. Scott and Micah went to Maria’s house and created two vegetable plots for her. Afterwards, Scott and Micah went up to mow the allotment and check on the progress of the fruits and veggies. Micah has enjoyed beginning to learn all about organic gardening and it will be exciting when 20 raised beds and the fruit bushes and trees begin to produce.

Friday was a rest day for both Lucy and Micah. We had everyone from the Ember over to the Ark for dinner. Larry, Micah and Lucy made taco salad for dinner! It was a good evening in the Ark!

Saturday we were present in the Ember. Lucy accompanied Jill to Michel’s, her weekly Saturday outing to a local vegetable shop. Then everyone from the Ember went out to lunch at a café down the road. The afternoon was filled with babysitting for Scott and Megan’s kids and then it was time for the traditional Saturday meal of fish and chips. After dinner, Maria and Thomas returned from a L’Arche meeting in Dublin and we enjoyed an evening of chatting around the table with tea and biscuits. We pondered such questions as “What animal is your soul?” and “Is that person more like a cat or a dog?” It was good times around the Ember table!

Today, Micah continued his training for the team marathon. Other than that we were travel agents. We started working on a sketch of an itinerary for Micah’s parents visit as well as planned our trip to Amsterdam in a few weeks to see Ana sing with the Hesston Chorale. It was an exciting day of planning!

The past week has really flown by with a lot of new experiences as we have gotten into our new roles. We would ask for prayers are we are continuing to learn these new positions and finding the balance between life in the office, Ember, garden and Ark. Lucy has been sick with a nagging cold for a couple weeks and would really appreciate prayers. Thanks for all your ongoing support!

Life after 1 month

Thursday the 8^th of April was our first day back after our trip to Dublin. It was a really low-key day, which was a nice welcome back. Thomas came back from a holiday in Scotland with Sharon. They went to visit a L’Arche community in Edinburgh. Both had a wonderful time, but came back pretty tired!

Friday was the first day when it was hard to live in community. It was planned that we were all head to the allotment (garden space) in the morning. Because of scheduling and preferences of members of the community, it was moved to the afternoon (after we had made the packed lunches for almost 20). Then when it came time to go in the afternoon, a core member still did not want to go, which meant one of the assistants had to stay behind. It looked like Lucy was going to be the one to stay behind, because she can’t drive here and it was thought 3 drivers were needed. But, Jenny volunteered to stay once it was discovered that only 2 drivers were needed, which was awesome because it was our first time to the allotment. Once everyone got over the fact that everyone wasn’t there, we had a fun time planting vegetables, weeding, and having a cookout. The allotment is about a 15 minute drive mainly east of our houses. It has a great view of the Belfast Lough, the Parliament and the Strangford Lough. There are some pictures below that show the allotment!

On Saturday, we learned our first core members’ routines. Micah learned Thomas’s routine and Lucy learned Larry’s. This means we now are able to help them get ready in the morning and evening (mainly brush teeth and wash up). Then, we went out to lunch with Naomi and Thomas at Common Grounds. Common Grounds is a café that Thomas volunteers at on Wednesday evenings. It is a non-profit café that supports organizations worldwide. After lunch, Micah went with Thomas to the barber, which is a big event for Thomas!! He has been looking forward to it for a while! Lucy came back to the Ark to get the guestroom ready for a week full of guests!! Once Micah returned from the barber it was time to get serious. He has been determined to choose a team to follow in the English Premiership. He has asked around the house. He has done research. He has watched games. He narrowed it down to two teams: Tottenham and Aston Villa. The evening was spent watching Aston Villa lose to Chelsea.

On Sunday, we attended City Church, which is associated with Common Grounds. We arrived 10 minutes early after our walk and immediately were asked if we were visitors. The lady then told us she knew we were visitors because we were there early. “No one arrives to City Church early or even on time.” By 15 minutes past starting time, the church was finally full. Another perfect afternoon: a walk in the sunshine to ice cream and soccer. Micah had his second chance to choose a team: Tottenham losing to Portsmith. So he put off this life altering decision for another day! On Sunday evening we tagged along with Anna, her sister and brother-in-law with James and Thomas as our guides to see paramilitary murals throughout the city along with the dry dock where the Titanic was built. Some of the murals are from the Troubles and some are still being painted today. We will put pictures below!

Monday we had our weekly team meeting and then headed to the Belfast Castle (again tagging along with Anna and family). The castle was not that impressive, but the surrounding county park provided a nice walk and nice views of the city. In the evening, Micah attended the end of the L’Arche Belfast board meeting. He was introduced as part of the Root Soup Management Board. He enjoyed the opportunity to meet the board members since he will be working with them on this endeavor.

Tuesday was a big day! We were present in the Ember. Micah assisted Thomas with his routine while Lucy had her first day learning Jillian’s routine. Jillian’s routine is a bit more involved than the guys so it takes a bit more observation before Lucy will take it over. Then we had our formation meeting. But the big event of the day was meeting with Maria, Scott and Faythe to hash out our role in L’Arche. So…instead of four days in the Ember, we are looking at a change in schedule starting on Monday. Lucy will spend 2 days working in the office shadowing Faythe in hopes to learn the ropes of her job before she leaves in August. Faythe is the volunteer coordinator. She recruits and supports volunteers. Lucy then will spend 1.5 days in the Ember and a ½ day in meetings. Micah will spend 1 day in the office working with Maria on the business plan for Root Soup. He will spend 1 day in the garden with Scott. Micah then will spend 1.5 days in the Ember and a ½ day in meetings. We are excited about the possibilities this will bring. In the afternoon we had our house meeting with the core members followed by Jill’s birthday prayer where we all told her what we love about her.

On Wednesday after many failed attempts we went to the Ulster Folk and Transport Museum. The Transport museum goes through all type of transport and the history of it in Ireland. The Folk Museum is a replica of a rural life in the early 1900s. It was a great escape from the noise of Belfast and a great way to enjoy the sunshine! Micah went with Larry and James (a Tottenham fan) to watch Tottenham play Arsenal. After a 2-1 upset in Tottenham’s favor, Micah all but decided who to follow, but he needed his wife’s approval, because this means they will need shirts and will be attending at least 1 game.

Thursday began with a lazy morning. We began the process of signing up for National Health Service (seems pretty easy!) Then Lucy listened in on some phone interviews for potential volunteers as Faythe conducted them. In the evening, we went with Faythe, James and Larry to watch Jill in a dance performance at Queen’s University. She danced beautifully in their interpretation of a flock of birds!

Yesterday Lucy was present in the Ember. She learned Thomas’s routine. Micah did garden work outside the Ember with Scott before heading to the allotment. He really enjoys getting away from the noise of traffic and the city life. Thomas came to dinner at the Ark. Most meals have about 10 people and can be pretty overwhelming so it is nice to have opportunities to get away and have smaller group settings. The evening was a special event. Neil’s band was headlining in a gig at a pub downtown to support Habitat for Humanity. Lowly Knights has played with Belfast’s own Snow Patrol!!! It was a lot of fun to have an evening out with Larry and Thomas and the other assistants!

Today will be another lazy day of recuperating and rejuvenating. Tottenham is playing a crucial game today, so we all know what he hopes to be doing!

These past days have cleared up our role in L’Arche and we are looking forward to jumping into our new responsibilities. Keep us in your prayers are we adjust to new job roles and expectations. Also, Micah will be traveling to Scotland (poor thing) with Maria for a social enterprise conference. Pray that they will be able to make it with the volcanic ash drifting over Northern Ireland. We hope the change in weather is treating you all as well as it is us!!

The Ark

Our bedroom in the Ark

Dining room into Living room of Ark

Kitchen of Ark

The Ember: about 10 houses down from the Ark

The allotment! It will be growing soon!

Protestant Paramilitary Mural in East Belfast

Protestant Mural #2 (of many)

Catholic Mural about Israel.

Catholic Mural #2 about racism. (We did not stop the car at the catholic paramilitary murals because of the area of town and time of day so these are more social justice murals.)

A small part of the many peace walls that separate Catholic and Protestant neighborhoods in Belfast. It is about 30 ft. tall (including fence on top).

Dry dock where Titanic was built.

Belfast Castle

Our niece has a room at the Belfast castle!!

Kansas Avenue on the way to Belfast Castle!! Micah felt right at home!

View from the walk around the Belfast Castle.

On a walk around the ground of the Belfast Castle.

Micah conducting the train at the Transport Museum.

The Folk Museum.

Neil singing with Lowly Knights!!

Lucy and Thomas at Neils gig

Cami, Micah and May at Neil's gig.

Holy Week and Dublin Trip

Holy Week here at L’Arche was affected by bad weather especially on Thursday. The tradition on Holy Thursday is to go to the North Coast to spend time at the Giants Causeway, Corrymeela, and wash each other’s feet. But due to snow along the trip route the trip was cancelled for the first time in nine years. The community was really disappointed, but we still enjoyed ourselves here. We began the day by meeting at the Arc and washing each other’s feet. It was in remembrance of Jesus washing the disciples’ feet soon before being crucified and also as a symbol of our living and working together as a community wherever “our feet take us”. Afterwards, we shared a meal together in the Ember that was followed by a walk in Belvoir Park (pronounced Beaver Park).

On Good Friday, we met again as a community in the morning to participate in a walk around North Belfast (we live in South Belfast). The purpose of the walk was to remember the connections L’Arche has made in the past year and dream about where L’Arche Belfast is moving in the near future. The connections included potential housing for people with disabilities, for the elderly, and for anyone else that experiences loneliness or wants to live in a community. The next stop on the walk was a 24-7 ecumenical prayer center that will hopefully be opening soon. After that we saw potential garden space on both sides of a peace wall. A Catholic Community Center was the next stop. They will be leading the garden project on the Catholic side. They work with youth from the community giving them alternatives to drugs and violence. Finally we headed to a Protestant community center that has offered a café space to L’Arche and other people with disabilities to work in and run. It was an overwhelming, confusing and cold day, but it opened our eyes to a lot that L’Arche will be involved in during our time here and a lot of other projects that are working at social injustice in different ways than L’Arche. After the walk we headed back for a traditional L’Arche Good Friday lunch of minestrone soup and bread. In the evening (after an afternoon nap) we had another typical Good Friday meal at L’Arche…hot crossed buns. Then, we went to a Good Friday Service at a nearby Presbyterian Church that Jenny attends. We went with Jenny, Cami, Larry, Matthew and Jillian. The most memorable part of the service was at the end when a lady came up to talk to Jillian and said “You’re singing was…” and Jilllian interjected with “LOVELY” (a typical Jillian response). So funny!

On Saturday, we got up and Micah went for a run and Lucy for a walk. (Micah is training to participate in the Belfast marathon with 4 other employees of L’Arche. He will be running 5.3 miles of the race!!) Afterwards we headed down to St. Georges Market (ranked 6^th best market in the UK). The market was filled with booths of food, food, crafts, food, and a small petting zoo. It was fun to walk around and look at the different booths. We did a lot of “window shopping” but did try some Nepalese curry and bought three loafs of bread for 5 pounds!! We look forward to going back and trying some different food soon!

On Sunday we were present. We woke up at 5:20 to attend an inter-church dawn service. The rest of the day (after returning to bed for a few hours) was spent in the kitchen cooking and hanging out before our Easter feast! We began with hors d'oeuvres in the sitting room followed by roasted chicken, roast beef, baked potatoes, veggies, salad and stuffing. We let it settle while we played a few games: charades and signs. Then we headed back for a dessert of fruit salad, chocolate and caramel mouse, and squirty cream (known to people in the U.S. as whipped cream).

On Monday, the two of us plus Pam (a fellow BVSer also in Belfast) headed to the train station at 6:15 to catch a 6:50 train to Dublin, Ireland. After arriving in Dublin, we eventually wandered to the North Star Hotel and Micah chatted with the two guys at the information desks. He really got them riled up when he asked them if it was going to rain today. We then hopped on a bus to city center where we picked up our tour bus. We visited Malahide Castle and Dublin Bay. It was our first time in an Irish Castle!! Lucy was happy to learn the name of the yellow flower that grows like crazy on the hillside here: Gorse. In the afternoon we went on a hop on-hop off city tour bus and saw a lot of the sights around Dublin. We “hopped off” at the Dublin Castle, St. Patrick’s Cathedral (where we saw a woman get arrested), St. Jameson Distillery, Smithfield Chimney, and Trinity College. We then had dinner at a pub in the Temple Bar area before heading back to our hostel where the real adventure began. We had booked a four person room thinking that with three people we would have it to ourselves. We walked in and saw a nice pin-striped sport coat, a brand new pair of white Adidas tennis shoes, and 2 very large suitcases in the closet. Our minds began to race to try to figure out who this person was. We decided to head down stairs to play a couple games of cards. After a long day we headed to bed early, we were woken up when “Joe” came in and out a couple times before finally settling in for the night. At 4:30 a.m. we awoke to the sound of doors slamming and people yelling and cussing just outside our door. Someone was apparently trying to steal and their roommate put the “thief’s” suitcase in the hallway, which is what began the whole argument and the police being called. Quite an alarming wake-up!! After a little sleep we got up with “Joe” at about 7. “Joe” ended up being a friendly guy who just got a job in Dublin and was staying here while he finds a place to live. For his sake, we hope he finds one soon!!

To make up for the little sleep, we took advantage of the continental breakfast and gorged ourselves with lots of bread before heading out. Tuesday was a lot slower pace than Monday. We stopped for a cup of tea and coffee at a café on the walk to the Guinness Storehouse. The Guinness Storehouse is a museum covering the history, brewing, advertising, and anything else that has to do with Guinness. It was interesting to learn the importance of Guinness to Dublin and Ireland. The afternoon was spent walking about and relaxing in a café before we got another train back to Belfast.

The last six days were a whirlwind of activity so today was spent relaxing and rejuvenating! We hope that you all had a great Easter with friends and family!!

Jillian washing Lucy's feet.

Micah, Naomi, and Cami being dare devils!

Jenny and Larry walking in Belvoir Park.

Jillian and Lucy walking together.

A peace wall in North Belfast. Also a possible garden space.

A mural: UVF is Ulster Volunteer Force--A Protestant paramilitary.

Easter Dinner!

Easter Dinner continued...

Larry and James during charades.

Malahide Castle

Dublin Bay--See all the gorse??

Inside Guinness Storehouse.

Did you know that Guinness was good for you? It is nourishing and builds strong muscles!

Falling into Routine

Belfast has turned into rain, rain, and more rain it seems! If you don’t believe us check out the Belfast forecast.

The exciting part of Thursday was we finally met the final members of the community: Faythe and James. They had been on holiday since we arrived. They invited us over to dinner when they returned. It feels as if we are switching places with them. James was accepted into the peace studies program at Notre Dame in South Bend, IN (about 40 minutes from Goshen) and here we are. They will be moving in early August.

Friday was a big and long day in the Ember. Jillian was home sick AND we painted May’s room a beautiful shade of light purple. It was a lot of fun to get May’s room painted. It made her room look so much bigger and so much brighter! It will be fun to see the room come together as she gets carpet and furniture! We are sure the process of making the room hers will help in her feeling more at home in the Ember! At dinner that night, Larry was asked to pray. “Thank God for Coke, beer, and DVDs. Amen.” He is so honest!

On Saturday we were present in the Ember again. Micah and Neil spent most of the day putting a 3-D puzzle together. Jillian, Naomi and Lucy went on a long walk to Ormeau Park. It was awesome to see the flowers in bloom even amongst the intermittent showers and sunshine! This day began to show us the multiple dimensions of the core members’ personalities. Just like all of people, they have days when they are needing and ready to be busy, like Jillian and Larry was on Saturday, and days when they are ready to be lazy, like Thomas was on Saturday. So finding the balance within the community of everybody’s (core members and assistants) needs and wants is essential and challenging. By the end of Saturday we were ready for a rest day on Sunday.

On Sunday we headed across the street to a Presbyterian Church. In the afternoon we went to city center. We rode the Belfast Wheel (a Ferris wheel next to city hall). It gave us great views overlooking the city! We stopped in at a little café before biking back home that claimed to be the oldest coffee house in Belfast and when we walked in we heard multiple Toby Keith (a country singer) songs in a row. Quite a nice surprise especially for Micah!

On Monday we were present in the Ember. We had our team meeting in the morning. May is off college this week. (College is a little different here. It is schooling between secondary and university.) Since she is home during the day, we baked some coffee cake in the afternoon with her. Then it was time for dinner and in the evening Lucy went to choir with Jillian. Jillian LOVES choir. She was so excited to go and was smiling the entire time we were singing! Lucy’s favorite part was to hear her sing “Downtown”! It was such a treat! Micah stayed at the Ember and went to get a coke and a car magazine with Larry. Larry LOVES coke and cars. We are starting to feel like we belong to the community and activities of the core members.

On Tuesday we had a partial rest day. We had a training meeting, but the rest of the day for rest. We did not end up having the expected meeting with Faythe, Scott and Maria to discuss our job description in more detail. Conflicts arose so it will be rescheduled after the holidays. So instead, we walked (in the rain) down to some charity shops to look for some more layers!! We think they will be quite necessary! The rest of the day was spent drying out and drinking tea.

Wednesday we were working in the Ember. Lucy was present. Micah did “house maintenance” with Scott. For Lucy, the highlight of the day was when one of the French volunteers, Anna was trying to call her and Naomi pests but instead called them plagues. Quite humorous!! Other than that the day consisted of the typical cleaning, walk to the local grocery store, cooking of a delicious stir-fry dinner and hanging out with the core members. Micah had a new experience of doing house maintenance instead of being present. He was supposed to go to the garden today, but due to another rainy/snowy day plans changed. He did all sorts of tasks from fixing a drippy toilet and smelly sink to reorganizing an office to replacing light switches and fixing loose banisters. Micah was quite tired after the day as assistant maintenance man!!

Thursday through Sunday are important days of holy week in the community so we have a lot of community activities that we are looking forward to doing! We will update you soon on all of those!

We hope you all have a happy Easter!

This is the Belfast Wheel