Why Belfast?

On Friday, August 31, I will be boarding an airplane to fly to Belfast, Northern Ireland to live and serve there with a ministry called Youth Initiatives. I will be journeying alongside youth from the most disadvantaged communities in Northern Ireland particularly in West Belfast to awaken hope through Jesus Christ. I have a two year visa, but I have no idea how long I will be there. My life philosophy is one year at a time. And sometimes only one day at a time.

It's been really fascinating telling people that I will be moving to Belfast. A lot of people have been really excited for me. Others are confused why I would work for free and fund raise my living. "You know it is ok to do ministry work that pays?" People talk about how beautiful it is there, and how they want to visit me. Advice is given not to get bombed. Yeah, that's my goal whenever I go to do inner city work, to get shot or bombed. My favorite is when people tell me that I am going over there to find someone to marry. Yes, exactly what I'm thinking about doing my first month in the country. Unfortunately I have to wait until Leap Year in 2016 to follow the Irish tradition of asking the guy to marry me, so I guess I have to wait a bit.

At the beginning of June, I was sitting on the porch of a family I had worked with a lot in Detroit. We were catching up on how everyone was doing. I told them that I had graduated, and I was moving to Belfast to do inner city work. They all looked at me as if I was crazy, and said "Why would you do that?" It made me chuckle a bit as I pondered the questions myself. Why would I do that? Why would I go to another place I had never visited to do very similar work to the work I had been doing in Detroit? Ultimately, why Belfast? I've absolutely hated being asked this question because I never knew what to say. Uh, God is opening a door. I think this is what I am supposed to be doing. uh...

Over the last few months, God has given me the grace to articulate myself better. Why Belfast? I try to live my life where the Spirit of the Lord leads, and for this season of life I know that it is Belfast. God has a particular reason and purpose for leading me there, and even though I don't know what it is exactly, I know that I will learn soon enough. There is a song written by Ed Conlin that says "you will lead oh Lord where only love can go. He is my life oh Lord, my life for you." I thought about this song often when I was in Detroit. There were so many things I was unafraid of because God's love went before me. I encountered extremely difficult situations yet through the grace of God I was able to deal with them and face them head on.

Since Easter 2011, I began sensing that God had something to show me in Belfast. I was serving alongside people in Michigan from Belfast, so I heard a lot of stories about it. Of course, I wanted to go and visit but I very clearly remember waking up that EAster morning and telling my friend, Magz from West Belfast that God had something there for me. At the time I didnt know if it was for a short visit or for a longer period of time, but I knew he had something there for me to see. The following year when I was back in St. Paul, the desire to see what God had for me in Belfast was still there. I was actually very resistant to looking into serving with a Chrisitan community there. No way could God be calling me there. I just wanted to go for my own reasons; it would be a cool adventure! Each time I looked into doing something here, it didn't work out or I would have very unsettling feelings. Logically Belfast did not make sense. There were a lot of other GREAT job opportunities opening up right before me, but in my heart Belfast was the only thing that felt right.

As I prayed about going to Belfast, God never said "go to Belfast" rather he told me do not be afraid and I love you. It reminds me of the words from the song again, " and you will lead oh Lord where only love can go." God promises that his love goes before me, so I do not need to be afraid. Of course, I am nervous about the unknown of next year, and I wish he would tell me what's going on, but I trust that he will show me in his time. I still dont't fully understand "Why Belfast?" but I do know that God's love goes before me ad I don't need to be afraid. I'm content with that. Maybe in a few months or a few years, I will have a more elegant answer but I've never been the most elegant of people!