The Ties That Bind

A letter from Doug Baker serving in Northern Ireland

November 2015

I hadn’t planned to celebrate Communion until 8 pm the final evening, but it kept happening unexpectedly.

We were having a retreat in Northern Ireland for the four PC(USA) Young Adult Volunteers currently serving in Belfast, the four YAVs serving in Glasgow, four young adults serving in Glasgow and Arbroath through a Church of Scotland program, and my Scottish partners who coordinate those volunteers.

The celebration of communion definitely started as soon as the Belfast and Glasgow YAVs caught sight of each other in the airport arrival lounge.  Having been through the intense discernment process together in Arkansas in March and then an even stronger experience of Christian community during a week long orientation at Stony Point, New York, in August, this was the first time they had been able to be physically together for two months.   Joy abounded!

Belfast and Glasgow YAVs

As we left the airport I began to discover more about the volunteers working through the Church of Scotland in Arbroath.  I knew one was from the U.S. and found out about that program while studying in Scotland last year.  When I asked Chris where his home was he told me, Allentown, Pa.  I replied that I had been there several times.  He responded, “I know, First Presbyterian is my home congregation and several people have told me to be on the lookout for you.”  His home church is a faithful donor toward our sending and support costs.  I immediately felt a strong connection to Chris and we were both reminded of bonds in Christ that stretch across oceans.

Two days later I was literally standing next to Chris near Northern Ireland’s famous Giant’s Causeway when my cell phone beeped: A message from Jane Long, mission committee member at First Presbyterian, Allentown, with two requests.  The first was to pray for three members battling cancer.  The other was to tell me what a wonderful guy Chris is and, I quote,  “if it is true that you might be seeing him soon,” tell him to send his mother and Jane the link to his blog.  I told him—immediately!

Our accommodation during the retreat was a large house near Ballycastle recently renovated by an acquaintance for such purposes.  She had asked a friend to be there to look after us, should we run into any building problems.  That friend turned out to be someone from a very rough part of Belfast who had been a young volunteer at the Corrymeela center when I joined its staff in 1979. The next year he took a bold step for someone from his background and went to work at a children’s home in Germany.  When I mentioned to our group that Pat and I went way back, his very first comment was, “After a conference you attended in Germany in 1980 you visited me, and it meant so much to have someone from home to spend a couple of days with.”  Memories flooded back of how Pat, an Irish Catholic, and I, a Presbyterian from the U.S., shared a time of communion in Germany because of our common bond in the Christian message of reconciliation learned together at Corrymeela. Bonds in Christ that transcend nationality and denomination.

Look who I found!—Doug and Chris Palmer

The next day our whole group was in a little harbor café, where we had stopped to get a hot drink after a long walk.  When I went to pay and pointed out the various tables we had been occupying the waitress told me, “Their bill has already been paid.”  She was referring to one table of YAVs.  When my face showed that I didn’t understand, she went on to say, “The couple at the next table insisted on paying for them.”  I went over and asked the volunteers about it.  They told me the couple had asked what they were doing in Northern Ireland.  When they told them they were volunteering in churches and community projects, the couple told them they had a daughter also serving as a volunteer in a church in Belfast and a son currently serving at a church in Atlanta.  They wanted to affirm these four YAVs and insisted on paying for them.  Bonds in Christ that lead strangers to offer gifts in Christ’s name.

There were also the bonds forming with my counterparts, Lynn and Martin, as we shared our joys and concerns as supervisors.  More than once we were reminded that we are not in this ministry alone.  In fact, we are privileged to be part of a large community of site coordinators, staff, donors and those who pray for these volunteers and for us.  People like you reading this now. Bonds in Christ that enable us to do together what we could never do alone.

By 8 pm on the final evening celebrating Communion seemed the most fitting thing possible.  The bonds we have been given in Christ had permeated our days together time and again, and so we gave thanks joyfully.

Elaine and I also joyfully give thanks for your prayer and financial support, which enables us to serve in Christ’s name.  However, we have been reminded that a considerable gap still exists between what has been designated and what it actually costs World Mission.  Therefore we would encourage you to prayerfully consider whether you or your congregation might increase your designated giving for 2015 and 2016 and perhaps advocate with neighboring congregations to do so.

Faithfully yours,
Doug

The 2015 Presbyterian Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 322