Our Ministry Trip

1998

Belfast

The center of Belfast. All the streets lead to this government building. All the city was very subdued on this day, as it was only the day after the bombing of Omagh. Much tension showed in the faces of the people on the bus and fear was obvious. Our engagement to preach in Belfast was canceled due to the funerals of the victims of Omagh.  The saddest stories were on TV and I watched as much as possible of it in our hotel room.  I did take some photos from the TV but they just were not clear enough to put on the site.  Our hearts were broken for the people of all of Ireland.

The largest protestant church in Belfast. It has 8000 members and the Wednesday night service we attended had 2500 people in attendance.  It is very active in the community and very friendly. The pastor asked Jim to speak 'a few words' when he realized we were there and were from America. What a privilege that was.  It is a fast growing church.

The sign above the chandelier says BELFAST - Christ Centered! This lighting fixture hangs in the middle of a huge staircase that leads up to the second level. This building sits at the bottom of the hill from the Belfast Castle and is visible in one of the photos below.  The church is visited by people from all over the world.

This is the view from The Belfast Castle Hill. You can see in the distance the church I was speaking of. It is a huge building. 

We took a taxi to the castle the day we were leaving Belfast. It was a beautiful site from t he hill. Jim had walked there the day before from our hotel room and wanted me to see it, so he hired a taxi to take us and then we went to the bus station and caught a bus to Dublin.

One of the protestant preachers in the city. Most of these people are in danger from the 'other side' of the story.  It is very difficult for the protestants here as the catholic movement is coming in more now.  It isn't really, to me anyway, a religious war. It appears to be that the people just have political differences because of a history filled with violence and unforgiveness. I pray for Ireland.

Traveling by bus from Belfast to Dublin we passed through Dundalk, the city where some of the 'terrorist suspects' lived. This is the mall that contained one of the stores owned by one of the leaders of the group and it was padlocked the day after the Omagh bombing. There was a lot of news on the Irish TV stations about this but not on the US ones. When our bus stopped at the Mall to pick up and let off passengers, all other passengers were told to 'sit on the bus, do not leave the bus at this stop' .  The driver and passengers were a little nervous.

The clouds even depicted the kind of day it was at one of the cemeteries where funerals were being prepared for.

A beautiful street in a small town in route to Dublin. I wanted so badly to see the real beauty of Ireland and her people. Flowers are everywhere and so beautiful even in very small yards.

There are gothic type churches all over Ireland and we were riding along the coastal areas and there were towns sitting on the river near the coast. This was a lovely town. Bright and cheerful looking from the bus.

I thought this picture said it all about Ireland, even the smallest windows had flowers in them. A people with a strong character and a loving spirit.  It reminded me of the one woman whose son was killed in the bombing and she came on TV the next day and begged all of Ireland to forgive and told how she did not hate the people who had done this terrible thing. She taught the world that forgiveness is what it will take to have peace.

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