in the delirium of the 4am drive back from S.O.S pub ministry I guess we had. The first Tuesday was my team, on the ride there Joe told us about the neighborhood and that the homes there had been set to be demolished because the positioning of the doors to the furnace would make it impossible to escape should there be a fire , but the money had run out and so the houses remained and all the residence live in fear. Many of the residence, we were told, are elderly and live alone,
people don’t know there neighbors and they are lonely. Our visit was the seventh Tuesday since the outreach started. We arrived and set up tables, chairs, coffee and Tea. As the residence made their way to visit, we talked with them and shared a lunch of Irish stew and sandwiches all made by their neighbor Deborah. Many of those who visited were elderly and their children and grand children would make brief stops by. It was obvious that Hill Hall is a tougher neighborhood, after lunch and a little more chat we packed up and said good byes and made our way across the street to work with the kids in the community center, I ended up painting faces for most of the time.
This last Tuesday team Shofar went to Hill Hall while L’Chaim worked the Fisherwick kids camp, I thought it was a good opportunity for them but part of me felt guilty for not being there. On Thursday night L’chaim was set to go to mission week with the Edge in Ballynahinch. A few hours before Joe showed up and invited 3 of the 12 of us to go to a community dinner in Hill Hall. Kevin wanted to go to mission week and as there was only room for six Syd asked if any of us would like to go, I volunteered. I cooked dinner, mashed potatoes and the chicken and steak that Derek had brought for us, at 6:20 Joe picked Me, Jeremiah and Kim up in the S.O.S. shuttle and we went down to Hill Hall, he pulled up to a bar called the Highway Inn, he left us in the car to check the set up and then returned and asked if we would like to play host while he went to pick people up.
We went in and met with Anne and a few other people from the neighborhood, they were all dressed in their best and looking lovely, we weren’t but they didn’t mention it.
We had a delicious second dinner of ham and mashed potatoeswith the mayor and then he invited
us to have tea with him later in the week.
After dinner we went down stairs with the residence where a singer was performing. It was only the first song and Adel wanted to dance, so Adel and I danced and after that the dance floor was never empty. Adel is in her 70s but she didn’t sit out until she got dizzy, Martha who is in her 80’s danced almost every dance,
including footloose and living on a prayer. After being shamed at pool Jeremiah got pulled over to dance with the old ladies and Kim who is a sometimes dance instructor danced with all of he adorable older men.
The thing about Hill Hall is they treat us like they have always known us, like members of the neighborhood. Its so great to be loved.
