The 2016 Belfast Peace Project Volunteers In Mission Team
Debbie Aldrich, Abby Maiellaro, Helen Maiellaro, Pat Thomas, Debbie Whitehead, Mike Thomas, Jack Whitehead, Rod Aldrich
Final Day in Northern Ireland
We had heavy hearts as we got up today. We knew the bus was coming to take us to the Dublin Airport. The day started with our Corrymeela friends getting up early to share breakfast together. The last day of the Belfast Peace project is always bittersweet. We are all eager to get home to loved ones yet we have fallen in love with this beautiful island. It is difficult to process all we have learned, the amazing people we have met and the sites we have seen.
How do you explain the heroic peacemakers who volunteer their time to meet with our group or the people of faith who truly walk the talk and live to make other’s lives better? How do define the feelings we get when we pack bicycles to go to Ghana, so children can go to school, refurbish furniture for the homeless, build planters for community gardens, share a meal with those marginalized who are homeless, mentally ill or ostracized by society. How can we reveal how it feels to get a hug or a smile from these people who accept us, yet are not accepted by society? I am not sure we know how to share these stories.
We are thankful for the members of this year’s team, Rod and Deb Aldrich, Jack and Deb Whitehead, Helen and Abby Maiellaro and the members of the Forthspring, Skainos, Woodvale and Corrymeela Communities.
We as members of a Volunteers in Mission Team are in a covenant of hope for our communities and the world. We do our best to help others through our work, our prayers and our caring for others. We have been asked to return next year to continue our work in these communities and we are already in the midst of planning now.
Submitted by Pat Thomas
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