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WHERE AM I GOING?

The short answer to this question is ‘only 50 miles up the road’. Thanks to the M50 and M1, Dundalk is less than an hour away from Dublin 15. His Grace the Archbishop of Armagh has appointed me Rector of a newly formed group of parishes – the Parochial Group of Dundalk and Heynestown Union, Ballymascanlan Union, and Creggan – which covers north County Louth and part of South Armagh. The parish is varied: town, village, and outlying townlands, sea and mountains, and a very settled community, together with new building attracting incomers. There are five churches – all of them historic and in good repair.

St Nicholas’ Church, Dundalk, known as ‘the Green Church’ because of its tall copper spire, dates partly from the 14 th century, but was rebuilt in the 18th and 19th centuries. Situated right in the centre of the town, it has a robed choir to lead worship and its own National School nearby, with 83 pupils currently on the register.
St Paul’s Church, Heynestown, is a small church about four miles south of Dundalk (on the old Dublin Road, though it can be seen from the M1). It is beautifully maintained. There has been a church there since the 12th century, and the remains of a Norman keep adjoin the churchyard.
St Mary’s Church, Ballymascanlan (originally the Church of the Assumption of the BVM), is three miles north of Dundalk, overlooking Dundalk Bay and surrounded by the Cooley Mountains. The building, with its very ornate interior, is at least 600 years old, as it was repaired in the early 1600s.
St Andrew’s Church, Rathcor (Bush), is in the heart of the Cooley Peninsula, only three miles from the medieval village of Carlingford (whose Anglican church is now closed). Built in 1845 as a Chapel of Ease, St Andrew’s is set against the Cooley and Mourne Mountains that shoulder Carlingford Lough.
Creggan Parish Church is the only one of the five churches situated in Northern Ireland. Overlooking the valley of the Creggan River, on the edge of the village of Crossmaglen, the historic church site includes a vault full of skulls belong to the O’Neills, as well as an exhibition on ‘The Poets and People of Creggan’ based in the old stables, which was compiled as a cross-community project.

I am looking forward to the challenge of this new post. It will be difficult for me to leave you in these parishes as my four years here have been so rewarding, but I do feel that this is where God is calling me to serve now. My institution as Rector will take place on Friday 13th May (the Eve of St Matthias’ Day) at 8 p.m. in St Nicholas’, Dundalk. I hope to see you there. Please keep me in your prayers, as I will keep you all in mine.

Sandra

POST TSUNAMI EMERGENCY RESPONSE BY CONCERN

A WINNING ATTITUDE

Learn to accept and enjoy responsibility

Commitment has its reward

IN BANDA ACEH, INDONESIA
by Ted Shine

INTRODUCTION
This article describes the situation in the Aceh Province of Indonesia post Tsunami, and the work carried out by CONCERN in the region. Indonesia is an archipelago in South East Asia, 5,000 kilometres long, consisting of thousands of individual islands. The population of Indonesia is in excess of 200 million and is predominately Muslim. Banda Aceh, with a pre-Tsunami population of about 400,000, is the capital of Aceh Province on the island of Sumatra.

THE EARTHQUAKE AND TSUNAMI
The Indonesian archipelago lies along an Earthquake Zone and a Fault Line runs through the middle of the city of Banda Aceh. The Plates under Aceh had become stuck and had not moved for 160 years, and when they finally dislodged, they moved 10 meters in one seismic event. The Earthquake measured 9 on the Richter scale. The movement occurred over an area measuring roughly 1200 kilometres long by several hundred kilometres wide, and 10 metres high. This movement pushed a massive volume of water upwards and outwards in all directions causing the Tsunami. The Earthquake hit Banda Aceh at 0830 on 26th December and many large concrete buildings collapsed. The local population prefer to live in timber built buildings as these are more flexible and cope better with earthquakes. Twenty minutes later, at 0850, the Tsunami struck over a coastal region of 350 kilometres of Aceh province, causing massive damage.

BANDA ACEH IN JANUARY
Banda Aceh City stretches for approximately 20 kilometres along the coast and as the wave moved inland to a distance of 3-4 kilometres in places, the area of complete destruction measured more than 60 square kilometres. This damage was equivalent to the damage which would have been caused by at least ten Atomic Bombs similar in size to the one dropped on Hiroshima. One third of the city was completely destroyed; the second third was covered in mud, water, and the debris of the first third, mostly timber. The final third was untouched by water and had mostly fully functioning banks, phones, shops and supermarkets. The city Power Station was largely undamaged but the water supply was effectively destroyed by the earthquake.

CONCERN’S ACTIVITIES
The Government of Indonesia reacted quickly and sent the Army into the region to begin the clear up. Along one stretch of coastal road 350 km long, 80% of the road surface had disappeared along with 123 bridges. The Army, with assistance from Japan and Singapore, plans to have the road and replacement bridges open by the end of March.

As the government were concentrating on clearing the Business District with hundreds of pieces of heavy, earth moving plant and trucks, CONCERN decided to begin with school clearing in the suburbs. We decided to hire teams of labourers from refugee camps to start the clearing. This activity ensured that money would circulate in the camps and schools could reopen, bringing back a sense of normality. Hiring a JCB for a day would cost $300, but the same amount would pay for 60 labourers. Pre-Tsunami, there had been 120 schools in Banda Aceh City; post-Tsunami, there were only 52 left standing. We started our school clearing in debris-filled suburbs that were completely deserted for square kilometres and the only signs of life were many distressed stray cats and dogs. After several days, some people started to return to the area and began to clear their households and gardens. After several weeks, we had cleared eight schools, and children went back to school on 26 January. In addition to clearing the schools, we organised the replacement of equipment which had been destroyed or was never available, such as Lab Equipment, Computers, Uniforms, and Drinking Water Tanks.

THE ISLANDS
Many of the survivors of the Tsunami from the Islands North of Banda Aceh moved into temporary camps throughout the City. The living conditions in these camps were poor, with inadequate shelter, sanitation, and water. The Government started a programme to construct a series of large barrack type camps, to house the displaced for 2 years, until their replacement housing came on stream. CONCERN were of the view that, in relation to the islanders, it would be better to get the displaced to move directly back to the islands and skip the barracks camp phase. We started discussions with the leaders of the islanders and brought them back to the islands to finalise future plans. These islands are located on the extreme North Western part of the archipelago, and pre Tsunami they had power, water, schools and clinics, indicating that Indonesians, even in remote areas, had a high standard of living. We agreed to distribute food, clothing and shelter materials, replace damaged jetties, clear blocked roads, land trucks and plant by landing craft, clear flooded paddy fields, provide replacement seeds tool and rotavators, and rebuild schools, clinics and houses. The islanders are proud people and have a system of collective unpaid work, so we had to be particularly sensitive to their wishes and careful not to interfere with their structures and culture. The handing over of expensive items such as trucks requiring long-term maintenance was the subject of detailed planning and discussion. In relation to fishing boats, we agreed to provide their own boat builders with the tools and hardwood to build replacement boats.

SIMUELUE
CONCERN’S next project was on the island of Simuelue, which was closest to the epicentre of the earthquake (50 km). Post-Tsunami, the Northern part of the island has risen 2 metres out of the sea and the Southern has sunk 2 metres into the sea. Even though it was the first land hit by the Tsunami, only eight people died, as the island had been hit by a Tsunami in 1907 and the folklore had it that the ancestors said, that if the sea ever went out again, all should run for high ground immediately. When the islanders saw the sea recede up to 4 kilometres, they ran, and many lives were saved. Because many of the bridges on the coastal roads were destroyed or damaged, CONCERN agreed to assist the local authorities in building temporary bridges from palm trees, which could take a 5 –10 tonne truck loads of food to the badly affected areas.

THE CASUALTIES
In January there were 3,000 bodies per day being buried in the city. When I left in late February there were still 600 bodies per day being buried in mass graves. As devout Muslims, the dead would normally be buried in shrouds, facing Mecca, and before nightfall on the day they died. Because of the enormous number of dead, Muslim Clerics issued a Fatwa which made it acceptable to bury the dead without shrouds and in mass graves. Groups of volunteers searched the suburbs, looking for bodies, and carrying them to the main roads for daily collection by truck. Initially, bodies found in the debris were removed for burial by volunteers. After 26th January, however, the Government said that this was slowing down the clearing effort and in future if bodies could not be removed quickly, they would be dumped into the flooded areas along with the debris. This is what subsequently happened. In contrast to Thailand, where many Westerners died, and efforts to identify remains are still ongoing, in Banda Aceh there was no DNA sampling, no dental checks, no photography, no electronic tagging, no searching for ID and sometimes even no counting.

CONCERN’S FUTURE ACTIVITIES
CONCERN will stay in the region for at least three years but may withdraw after that because Indonesia is not among the poorest 40 countries in the world. While massive amounts of money are available for Indonesians, Sri Lankans and Indians, we should not forget that there are children in Darfur, Sudan, regularly walking cross-country for miles to food distribution centres in their bare feet, over Acacia thorns up to one inch in length which will penetrate the hardest walking boot. CONCERN will continue to assist the poorest of the poor wherever and whenever they may be found.

EASTER VESTRY MEETINGS

The Easter general vestry elects one of the Churchwardens and Glebewardens and the Select Vestry. Being a Select Vestry member is an important role in parish life: collectively they have to make important decisions about fabric and finance; but even more than this, they are expected to be at the forefront of all parish initiatives and plans. They are to provide leadership to the parishes and to seek God’s will for our future direction and vision. They will be present at parish events and show by their commitment of time and energy that they support parish life to the full. If you know of anyone who might make a good vestry member, why not propose them for election at the forthcoming meetings? Forms are available from the Churchwardens or at the back of the Churches.

The Parochial nominators and Diocesan Synod members are elected every three years. 2005 is an election year for these positions.

Parochial nominators choose a new Rector, in consultation with the diocese, in the event of the present Rector moving on. So they may have nothing to do for many years, but their role becomes very important in the event of a vacancy. They need to be people of prayer, wisdom and discernment.

Diocesan Synod members represent the parishes at the annual Diocesan Synod held each year in October. This synod hears reports from diocesan committees and tries to seek God’s will and way forward for the diocese as a whole.

Clonsilla Vestry: Sunday 3rd April 11 a.m.

Castleknock Vestry Sunday 10th April 12.30 p.m.

COFFEE MORNING

The Neary Family

are having a

Coffee Morning

at 10:30 a.m. on Saturday 16th April.

This is to raise money for our work in Zambia and Madagascar this summer with the organisation Habitat for Humanity. We'll be building homes for needy families there.

SAINTS DAYS AND OTHER HOLY DAYS IN APRIL

The following information about Saints’ days may be useful in your personal prayers. The details have been compiled from a number of sources, including Commemorating Saints and Others of the Irish Church (ed. Brian Mayne), A Calendar of Saints (ed. James Bentley), and Exciting Holiness (Canterbury Press).

9 April: Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Lutheran Pastor, Martyr. Born into an academic family in 1906, Bonhoeffer was ordained into the Lutheran Church in Germany, but lectured in Spain and the USA and, in 1931, Berlin. A leading member of the Confessing Church which was opposed to Hitler’s Nazism, he was banned from teaching; yet bravely returned to Germany at the outbreak of war in 1939 from a lecture of the USA. Arrested in 1943 for his opposition to Hitler led him to a more radical theology. He was executed by the Nazi police in Flossenburg concentration camp on this day in 1945.

11 April: George Augustus Selwyn. 1st Bishop of New Zealand. Born in 1809 and ordained as curate of Windsor after Cambridge, Selwyn became the first bishop of New Zealand in 1841 and remained there for 27 years. Before the roads and bridges were built, travelling around was difficult for him. In the wars between the colonialists and the Maoris, Selwyn bravely stood up for the Maori rights, at the cost of fierce personal attack. He later became revered as a founder of modern New Zealand, and his Constitution for the local church influenced other churches in the new Anglican Communion. He later returned to England as Bishop of Lichfield, where he died on this day in 1878.

16 April: Magnus of Orkney, Martyr. At the end of the 11th century, the Earldom of Orkney was divided between cousins – Haakon Paulson, a war-like Viking chief, and Magnus Erlingson, a man of peace. The joint rule lasted only until Haakon claimed sovereignty, calling a council at Easter 1116. Magnus refused exile or to fight, and faced his death heroically and with faith. The shrine of his remains, in Kirkwall Cathedral, was erected only 20 years after his murder.

16 April: Isabella Gilmore, Deaconess. The sister of William Morris, Isabella was born in 1842 and trained as a nurse at Guy’s Hospital, London. The Bishop of Rochester asked her to pioneer work as a deaconess in his diocese which, after she overcame her reluctance, established women’s ministry in an Anglican Order of Deaconesses. She later trained many head deaconesses for other dioceses. She died on this day in 1923.

18 April: Laserian, Abbot of Leighlin. Often affectionately called Mo-laise, Laserian was abbot of Old Leighlin, a cathedral sheltering among the hills of County Carlow, a place of peace and beauty. Laserian may have trained in Iona, as his name is also honoured in Scotland (Arran) as well as other parts of Ireland, such as Inishmurray on the coast of County Sligo. He died on this day in the year 639.

19 April: Alphege, Archbishop of Canterbury, Martyr. Originally a monk in Gloucestershire, Alphege withdrew to Somerset to be a hermit. But he was eventually persuaded to become Bishop of Winchester in 984. He became Archbishop of Canterbury in 1005, where his austere life of prayer and generous almsgiving made him a revered and much-loved father in God. In 1011 when the Danes overran south-east England, Alphege was taken prisoner, with an enormous ransom of £3,000 on his head. Alphege refused to allow anyone to pay this, and was brutally murdered by his captors at Greenwich on this day in 1012.

20 April: Beuno. Abbot. Educated at the monastic school at Caerwent in Wales, Beuno later established a monastery near his home at Llanymynech. When the English invaded, Beuno moved on to found a monastery at Gwyddelwern near Corwen, finally settling at Clynnog in Arfon, which became the centre of his cult. He was the greatest of the missionary saints of North Wales and he and his followers built many churches. He died on this day (Easter Day) in the year 640 and it is said he had a vision of heaven on his deathbed. He was buried at Clynnog.

21 April: Anselm. Abbot of Le Bec; Archbishop of Canterbury; Teacher of the Faith. Born in Northern Italy in 1033, Anselm travelled widely. On a visit to the abbey of Le Bec in Normandy, he was influenced by Lanfranc, and later embraced monastic life. He remained 34 years at Bec as monk, prior, and finally abbot, teaching others, and writing theological, philosophical and devotional works. On Lanfranc’s death, he was made Archbishop of Canterbury and was twice exiled for championing the rights of the Church against the authority of the king. Yet because of his personal austerity, he was admired by the Norman nobility as well as by his monks and the people. He died in 1109.

23 April: George, Martyr, Patron of England (and also Venice, Genoa, Portugal, Aragon, Lithuania, and Georgia). Probably a soldier living in Palestine in the early 4th century, George was martyred at Lydda (now Lod, Israel) in 304 at the beginning of the persecutions under Diocletian. He became known throughout the east as ‘the Great Martyr’ and by the 5th century a monastery was dedicated in his name in Jerusalem. Churches were dedicated to George in England before the Norman Conquest of 1066. The story of his slaying of the dragon may be due to him being mistaken for St Michael in contemporary iconography where he usually was depicted wearing armour. After the Crusades, with the influence of returning soldiers, George replaced Edward the Confessor as patron saint of England.

25 April: Mark, Evangelist. John Mark was a Jew and, according to Paul’s letter to the Colossians, a cousin of Barnabas. He accompanied Barnabas and Paul on their first missionary journey. Later he went to Cyprus, and then to Rome with Paul and then Peter. Mark’s gospel is generally regarded as the earliest and was probably written in Rome, based on Peter’s preaching of the Good News and Mark’s own memory. Mark’s gospel has a sharpness and an immediacy about it, and he does not spare the apostles in noting their weaknesses and lack of understanding that Jesus Christ would suffer for the world’s redemption. Sharing the gospel was, for all, in essence both excessively generous and ultimately sacrificial.

27 April: Assicus (Tassach), Bishop of Raholp. A close friend of St Patrick, and as Bishop of Raholp (near Saul, Co. Down), Tassach attended Patrick on his deathbed. Tradition ascribes to him the skills of a brass-worker and copper-smith. He died on this day in 470.

The Church of Ireland Diocese of Dublin Welcome to the Parishes of Castleknock and Mulhuddart with Clonsilla