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
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