Dear Friends, Family, Colleagues, Supporters, and Congregation members,

I will start out by saying that this is possible the hardest letter I have ever written in my life. To be able to convey my experiences and thoughts in anything short of a small book will be difficult. I hope that by the end I have been able to express my time so far in a just a simple letter.

I want to thank everyone who is reading this letter. I initially want to thank everyone who is supporting my through prayer and every other means. I am eternally grateful for everything you have done to help me on this journey. I also want to thank everyone for you letters and emails. Especially the youth at First Pres. of Grapevine whose encouragement cards came at a perfect timing that only God could have worked out.

To begin my reflections I start with the days of training at McCormick Theological Seminary in Chicago. The PCUSA volunteers joined with the ELCA volunteers to do joint training, which also continued to the cooperation of the two organizations at many of the sites. Being surrounded by 54 other missionary personnel was an extraordinary experience. Before leaving home I, at times, had a hard time explaining why I was leaving to do this work and it was uplifting to be around others who knew exactly why I was there and the goals and hopes associated with that. The mix of training, worship, and personal discovery I feel gave me a sense of security and helped prepare my mindset for going out into the world.

Here we go, the beginning of my year in Belfast Northern Ireland began the 28th of August. First let me introduce you to my fellow co-workers. There are five others in the group. There is Gordon Pace of Mississippi, Dave Dillard of Washington D.C., Rob Moore of North Carolina, Marie Kessler of Georgia, and JC Cadwallader of North Carolina. These people have been my constant source of strength and encouragement. There is one more person who is very important to the group and that is Doug Baker who is the site coordinator. The key word for me is family. These six other individuals have become the embodiment of the idea of the community/family of Christ and that is one thing that makes me lay awake at night and give thanks to God. Since arriving I have lived with the three males, which makes for a perfect situation in which I have continuously had to look at my self and think about what makes me and the others tick. Just so no one is worrying we each do our own food shopping and yes I am eating healthy.

The work that I am doing keeps me busy everyday except Saturday, which is everyone's personal time. I work with two main organizations here in Belfast the first one being the Fort William Park Presbyterian Church. Through here I do their youth group and bible class on Sundays and I am involved with several other activities during the week. The other organization being the 174 Trust. With them I work with several clubs and after school programs. Fort William is situated in a parish that is now mostly a Catholic area. This reality has put the future of their existence in limbo. The reality of their situation is that the Presbyterian Church of Ireland has looked at them as a possible site for closure. The Rev. Lesley Carrol is my mentor/boss/friend at Fort William and her dedication to the process of peace and reconciliation has led to the creation of many programs in the community at large for both Protestants and Catholics. The 174 is set in the old Duncarin Presbyterian Church building in what is now a completely Catholic area of North Belfast. The areas surrounding the Trust and also where I live are predominantly working class Catholic families. The Trust serves the community by housing many important programs and events, which benefit the community. The Rev. Bill Shaw who is a Presbyterian Minister is the overall Director of the Trust and he is also the person I work with there. The vision of the future of the Trust is one that uses an old Presbyterian building to work with Catholics and with that building upon this to begin developing programs, which are centred upon cross-community work. Cross community interaction is only one of the important facets of working to bridge the divisions within the society. The involvement in the community of these two places is where I feel the future of peacemaking and reconciliation beginning and building from.

As much as I try to think about my time here so far nothing comes across as strong as one reflection I have. All the preparation I did before arriving at looking and trying to understand what is going on here was overall not as important of just learning by being here. During the first week or so another volunteer and I were returning to out house and experienced something that isn't that uncommon for the people in our area to have know or experienced. We were walking up the street and I was the intended target for a midsize piece of concrete, which thankfully didn't do any physical damage to me. While this was taking place a Chinese take-out shop was being vandalized by the owner's car windows being broken in and the shops windows also being smashed. We were just in the wrong place at the wrong time. This act was carried out by youths no older than 14 who were under the influence of alcohol. This affected my idea of what mission and ministry really means. It is one thing to just go around and be there but it is one more to actually try and understand the culture you are in. I am not saying that being in the wrong place at the wrong time give you perspective but it did remove the shiny veneer of the area I live and work in. I do want to make clear that I feel no fear about where I live and have since then travelled the same spot many times with ease. The best description of my reflection this letter is perspective. Through the past month I have gained something that I think will help me greatly. Perspective to where I live and the realities associated with working with people in the community.

In summary of this month's letter I hope in the subsequent letters to take one program I work with and describe in more detail what it is that I do with that group /program. I also will be setting up a website hopefully in the next few days to where I will put this letter and subsequent letter but also a place where I will have pictures of my wonderful experience. If this letter wasn't received through email and you would like to receive a copy and future letter through email please email me at Brenton_NI@yahoo.com Also anyone who wishes to mail anything to me my physical address is

Brenton Thompson
31 Thorndale Ave.
Belfast, NI BT14 6BJ

And makes sure you mark airmail or it takes a really long time to arrive.

Once again I want to thank everyone for your prayers and continued support in the many ways done so. Please, if you have any question or just want to see how I am doing feel free to email me at the before mention email address.


Peace,

Brenton Thompson