HUTCHINSON, Kan. (AP) - “Ghandi once said, ’be the change you wish to see in the world,’ and that’s what this project is all about,” said Racheal Beattie, Northern Irish counselor at the closing ecumenical service for the Ulster Project of Greater Hutchinson.
This quote along with words like “hope,” ’’agents of change,” and “bridge of faith,” all were voiced on a recent Sunday night as Ulster Project teens said goodbye to not only each other, and their new lifelong friends, but also to the family they had lived with for 30 days, The Hutchinson News (https://bit.ly/1OLpJ7A ) reported.
The group of half Protestants and half Catholics from Northern Ireland and America spent time together to help promote peace between the two faiths in Ireland and develop the teens’ leadership skills.
With things coming to a close, American Counselor Andy Beugelsdijk said the teens had grown, and that they now can see, think and live life from a new perspective.
The teens were able to work through their differences and approach those differences as mediators - a concept that counselors hope the Northern Irish will take back home with them.
At the service, Beugelsdijk also told the teens, “you’ve learned to listen, not to hear, but to listen to understand, and that sometimes when it comes to making and bringing peace to divisions in societies - people, persons, countries - one of the most important things is just to listen and to understand.”
Jodi Wilson and her family hosted Anna Ferguson, who Wilson says has many similar qualities just like her children. She said Ferguson has become a part of the family.
“Our house will feel empty for a while after she leaves,” Wilson said.
Her daughter, Hannah, has made a lifelong friend, and will be vising Northern Ireland next summer, Jodi said.
Although Sunday’s service allowed for goodbyes to be shared among the group, the Northern Irish aren’t leaving until this morning - where the Americans will ride with them to the airport.
“I really don’t want to go home,” said Northern Irish guest Zoe Cumberland.
She said the trip had widened her eyes.
During the service, Trinity United Methodist Church Rev. Kim Biery brought a piece of stained glass which was broken and pieced back together. The picture was of a bridge, to represent the “bridge of hope.”
A bridge takes us from one place to another, and “I propose that you all are bridges,” Biery said.
She added that the teens had not only learned about their differences, but also their similarities: like worshipping the same God and believing in Jesus.
“Your experience will turn you into a bridge of hope when either you return to your homes or you stay here and you begin to model what unity looks like - and that’s hard work - it takes courage and strength, but you can do it,” Biery said.
In unity, and in tears, all teens closed the night by singing “Lean on Me.”
Tears, strong embraces, and kisses on cheeks were all shared in a lighting of the candles, where the teens would grab a candle to light, and would pass that candle onto the host parents and exchange hugs afterward.
It symbolized that the teens sharing the light they’ve learned with the world.
“Go out and make a future that you want to be a part of,” Beattie said. “You have the potential to be great leaders, so go out and create unity amidst diversity.”
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Information from: The Hutchinson (Kan.) News, https://www.hutchnews.com
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