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

Unpacking Suitcases

Geneva Orientation:

We arrived in Geneva on Tuesday, March 16^th at 11 a.m. after about 12 hours of travel. The only mishap on the flights happened as the plane was being pushed out of Chicago; something weird happened with the wheel so we were delayed a bit. Luckily we took off and landed safely! Waiting for us at the airport was Pam, a fellow BVSer also going to Belfast, and Kristin Flory, the BVS European Coordinator. Once we were in Geneva the goal of day one was to stay awake to begin to get over jet lag. Kristin had various activities planned for us. We headed back to the hostel to drop off our luggage and then went out to lunch. After lunch we toured parts of old town Geneva and heard more about the history of Switzerland and Geneva. We stopped for coffee every two hours…although we think that was more for Kristin than for us. After dinner, we headed straight back to bed. It was a tiring first day of transition!

The morning of the second day Pam and the two of us headed back to Lake Geneva to take a boat ride across. The true orientation began after lunch with a day full of information Kristin learned from her recent trip to our projects. Kristin informed us that our job description may be altered from what we originally anticipated. Although we never truly knew what to expect when we arrived since our job description was very vague, this was more of a change than expected. She told us that we may only be half time in the Ember (the home for the core members) and spend our other “half time” with various projects. Micah will probably focus his time in the garden that is started and they are hoping to start along the peace lines in Belfast. Lucy may be shadowing Faythe who is leaving in July. She is responsible for coordinating volunteers’ arrival and supporting them as they arrive. It was a shock originally to hear the drastic changes from our original impressions, but after letting it settle, we are excited about the possibilities and variety it may offer. We will know more after a meeting with the Faythe, Maria (the community leader) and Scott (the manager). That evening we headed to Kristin flat for a delicious soup meal.

The last full day in Geneva began with a visit to the United Nations and the botanical gardens. After finding our way to Kristin’s house, we watched movie after movie on Northern Ireland and the troubles. Despite fighting falling asleep, we learned some valuable information about the country and its past that we will call home for the next years. The afternoon was broken up with a nice stroll to France. (Weird huh?) You can see the pictures below of some lady’s cats we played with for a wee bit. The evening was capped off with a delightful cheese fondue dinner: a BVS tradition.

Our boat coming in. A view of the city across Lake Geneva.

Pam and Micah on the boat.

The United Nations.

Kristin and Micah shaking hands across the border. Micah is in France; Kristin is in Switzerland.

Off to Belfast:

On Friday, we flew from Geneva to Belfast. After much maneuvering to fit everything within weight limits, Micah was right on the money and Lucy was within a tenth of a kilo. Not bad. In the airport before leaving, Kristin led us in a game of symbols for Catholics, Protestants and both in Northern Ireland. Some examples would be: green is Catholic and orange is Protestant; Nike is Catholic and Reebok is Protestant; mustache is Protestant and Fu-Manchu is Catholic. Although they are not a concrete rule, it opened our eyes to the reality that theses sometimes “ridiculous” differences are still predominant and noticed today. Once in Belfast, Scott met us in the airport and we proceeded to drop Pam off at Quaker Cottage, her project working with mothers and children. High on the hill over Belfast, she has a panoramic view of the city, which was a remarkable welcome to Northern Ireland. We FINALLY arrived to the L’Arche community around dinner time where we found Thomas (a core member) waiting Scott’s arrival to run (very quickly as he would say). Thomas had to wait a bit longer because Scott gave us a tour of the Ember and the Ark. The Ember is the core members and volunteers home. It is the last unit in a set of row houses. Each core member and volunteer has a private bedroom with shared bath. There is also a “sleep over room” because each night one paid staff is required by law to be present. After touring the Ember we went on board the Ark where we will be living which is a wee walk down the street within the same set of row houses. The Ark is used for offices and a guest house. After hauling our luggage up the 40 stairs to the third floor, we arrived at our spacious bedroom overlooking a busy street and bus stop. (Just so you know its 27 stairs down to the bathroom.) Dinner and the rest of the evening were filled with getting to know the rest of the community that was present that evening. We slept well that night in our new home.

To explain a bit more about our new community: L’Arche Belfast currently has four core members: Larry, Thomas, Jillian and May. May just moved in last week and is adjusting to life in the L’Arche community alongside us. In addition to us, there are three other volunteers, two from France and one from Canada: Cammi, Anna, and Naomi. Along with volunteers the house is staffed with five assistants who are paid members of the community: Goshia (originally from Poland), Neil, Sharron, Jenny (these three are from Northern Ireland), and James (originally from England). Each day at least three people, volunteers or paid staff, are present in the community caring for the core members, living alongside the core members and just being friends with the core members.

Saturday we woke up early, UNPACKED and rearranged our room before heading over to breakfast at the Ember. It was a great feeling to have everything unpacked and start to feel settled!! We entered into the activities of a weekend at the community. The main activity for both of us was a picnic at Lady Dixon Park. It started out as a sunny day (by the time we got to the park it was a bit cloudy and windy…we hear that is typical Belfast), but it was still a great picnic and walk. The park will be beautiful in a number of weeks when the roses bloom, but it was already green and colorful with crocus and daffodils. The afternoon was filled with our first experience with rugby. Neil played in school and explained the intricate rules to a very different game! Sadly Ireland lost to Scotland in a nail biter. Dinner was a Saturday night L’Arche Belfast tradition, fish and chips. After dinner Micah had quite an experience in city center. He accompanied Neil, Noah (Scott’s 10 year old son) and Thomas to see David Coulthard, a Formula 1 race car driver race through city center. As they were walking to find a good spot to see, Micah and Thomas got separated from Neil and Noah, which led to a problem later on. Thomas and Micah squeezed to try to find a place to see. Micah was able to see through the view finder of his lifted camera. Sadly, Thomas, who loves anything that goes fast, was unable to see because of other people. Although they didn’t have the best view, it was fun to hear the roar of the engine and see the smoke of the tires. Once the show had finished, Micah and Thomas headed to the car since the group had planned no meeting place. Micah waited for Thomas at the car. Luckily Thomas was really patient even though that is a little uncharacteristic. Later Micah and Thomas found out that Neil and Noah were wandering about the city center looking for the other two. In the crowd of 15,000 they were not having much luck, so they phoned back to the house to see if they had heard from Micah. This got Lucy and Sharron a bit worried thinking of Micah and Thomas lost in the city center and all the mess that could cause! Neil’s next step was to approach the police to see if they had seen Micah and Thomas walking around. They radioed their “mates” and used city cameras to try to spot them. After not having any luck, Neil and Noah headed to the car. Upon their arrival they found Micah and Thomas, who wanted to get out of the jammed car park “quick quick”. We were happy that we made it through the first full day in Belfast!!

Sunday was a bit slower in the community. We went to pick up a ginormous bookshelf from Scott’s shelf with the help of Neil and his dad. The bookshelf is for the newly renovated living room. We had a tiny trailer and a lot of rope to move a 6 plus ft square bookshelf through the small streets of Belfast. We only had to stop once to readjust the sliding shelf, and it made it in one piece! It looks great in the living room and organizes a lot of the books and games the house has! Later in the afternoon after Jillian returned from an afternoon with her father, we went out for a walk with Jillian, Cammi, and Anna. We walked to a nearby park where we came across a game of Gaelic football (a combination of rugby and soccer—we looked it up on YouTube before we came if you are interested). The weekend really wore us out. Although we had no real responsibility, we learned so much about the community and the members that we retired early!!

Monday was our first rest day (kind of). In the morning we had our weekly team meeting and prayer. This was the first time we met Maria (the community leader). It was a good time to continue to get filled in on routines and house structure. After lunch we walked up to a nearby mall to do some window shopping. The afternoon we had our first induction (aka orientation) meeting with Scott. We were able to find out some more logistical information and found out that soon we will know more about our job description and how we will be used. In the afternoon we planned to go for a walk…then it hailed…then it was sunny so we did. It was nice to see the neighborhood and area surrounding the community.

On Tuesday we were present in the Ember for the first time during the weekday routines. We are not observing or learning the core members’ daily personal routines yet (that will happen in our third week here) so we worked at the same sorts of work: getting breakfast ready, cleaning around the house after breakfast. The difference was at about 9:30 the core members headed off for various activities. From 10 to 12 on Tuesdays we have staff training and formation. This week it was fairly informal and more of a team building experience. We went to Holywood (a neighborhood of Belfast) and took a walk by the Irish Lock and then had a cuppa tea (you may think that drinking tea is talked up in Ireland, but we have come to find out it is quite true, drinking 6-10 cups a day!!) We were dropped off on the way back with the other volunteers down Ormeau Road (our road) to go into various second hand shops look around and just see the neighborhood some more. The core members arrived back at the Ember at about 4ish. Tuesday evenings is the house meeting and prayer, which is lead by one of the core members. Our fearless meeting leader, Thomas, checked in with each person about their past and next week and we closed with the L’Arche prayer. The big news of the meeting was that Micah is a business major, which answered one of Maria’s prayers. L’Arche is in the VERY beginning planning stages of launching what will eventually be a soup catering business, “Root Soup”. The gardens mentioned earlier near the peace walls and the catering business will all be intertwined and Micah will probably be helping to write a business plan along will doing some market research. But much more will be known in the near future! Also at the house meeting Scott informed everyone that he met another organization leader who is looking for groups to use their new industrial kitchen: another answer to prayer. Exciting times! From the beginning of the house meeting to the end it seemed to go from a hopeful idea to a real possibility that needs a lot of work, but we might see some real progress in during our time here. After the house meeting the people present in the Ember began cooking a pasta dinner together. The cooking soon became a dance party to 90s music for the girls much to Jillian’s delight who has awesome rhythm! The evening thereon out consisted of talking and beginning planning our “to-do” list of travels within Belfast, the Emerald Isle and beyond.

Today was another rest day that gave us a chance to explore Belfast and begin our to-do list. We had a brilliant plan but due to weather made a change this morning to an indoor activity! We left this morning to visit the Ulster Museum. On our rainy walk to the museum we encountered some kind of a random check point for cars. As we walked along the footpath, a nice smiling lady officer with a large machine gun told us “good morning”. Oh the experiences! Once we arrived at the museum, safe and sound although a bit wet, we were amazed at the size of the free museum. The topics inside ranged from history of Northern Ireland from prehistoric to recent history to dinosaurs to birds to geology to art. It was quite a place! We were also glad to find something to occupy Micah’s dad for at least three days during their time with us later. J The rest of the day has been a true fulfillment of a rest day.

Our first week in Europe has been filled with lots of different adventures, but we feel that this is where we are supposed to be right now. After seven months of planning, dreaming and praying, being able to experience this is truly seeing God at work in our lives. We see good things happening in this community and are excited to be a part of them. They have been so welcoming to us and have big plans for us as we begin our life here. We are so thankful for safe travels, health, the community, and a good beginning. We would ask that you pray with us as we continue to find our role in the community. We are both excited and anxious as we find out more about how we will be used. God is good!!

promised pictures

Not much new to write.

We are leaving a week from yesterday on a 5:30 p.m. flight to Geneva, Switzerland for a 4 day orientation before we are off to Belfast, Northern Ireland

For now we will share a few more pictures from orientation to show you a bit more about our experience.


BVS Unit #287


Micah cooking with food group member David.


Lucy's food group at the store.


Service Day in Orlando: Packing food and medicine at Second Harvest Food Bank


One of Micah's epic games of ping-pong!!


Work Day at Camp Ithiel: Washing the walls of the dining hall! One wet job!!


Lucy's group on "Drop off Service Day"


Micah's group on "Drop off Day"


Lucy's group on "Drop off Service Day". Picking up Trash.


Micah's group being turned down by Camp Freedom on "Drop off Day"


Micah and John Reimer (from Lucy's home congregation) contra dancing after the delicious potluck!!


Lucy and Micah helped in the writing of this classic rap. This rap summarizes our experiences at camp Ithiel. Listen carefully and enjoy!