Northern Ireland is a small country, and I have only spent time in two towns here; Coleraine and Enniskillen. The feel of these two towns is very different. Coleraine felt like a tourist town, a place that was friendly to foreigners. The Vineyard church that we had been working with there was well established, the people in the community were familiar with it and all the “weird” methods that the Vineyard employs to reach people with the love of God. You can’t really put the Vineyard into either the Protestant or the Catholic camp. In a word, they are “different.”
Enniskillen was a different animal. Walking around, it felt that people were suspicious of us. We were still working with the Vineyard church, but they have only been in Enniskillen for about a year. There was a definite tension, almost a distrust as we walked the streets. But our mission was clear: Love Enniskillen.
One of our team “themes” is on establishing foundations and rebuilding walls. The idea is that, as in a castle, the wall is the first and most powerful line of defense. However, if there is something wrong with the foundation, or if the wall has been built or repaired poorly, then obviously your defense is more easily compromised. If the foundation is weak, then in order to repair it, the wall must be taken down first, the foundation repaired and then the wall rebuilt. (See the Old Testament book of Nehemiah)
In Enniskillen and in Ireland as a whole, when it comes to relating to God, there are two ancient foundations which have historically been at odds with each other, the Catholic Church and the Protestant Church. Unfortunately, there is a political side to all this as well, which you can read about in the history books. But, when attempting to communicate a message about God, even one as simple as, “God loves you,” it is very difficult to do so without someone asking whether you are a Catholic or a Protestant. There are a lot of “walls” that protect the religious traditions that are deeply rooted here. Our hope is that we can break out of the traditional understandings of church, or religion, and start with a simple message – that the greatest things in life are to love God and love your neighbor. This is where life begins.
So, in our endeavor to show love in practical ways here in Enniskillen, there is confusion and oppostion – which is understandable, considering the past religious tensions here have turned violent. Something as simple as mowing a lawn for someone turned into an argument with threats. Offering to pray for people in the town square resulted in verbal assaults. But despite the opposition and through a simple message of unconditional love, people are finding hope here.
My time in Ireland is up! On to Ukraine…
