What is happening in Northern Ireland and what role are evangelical Christians playing in helping to bring Christ into this situation?
Recently the BBC reported a police raid in Belfast. As part of an operation against the loyalist east Belfast Ulster Volunteer Force, six guns, ammunition, two pipe bombs and two smoke grenades were discovered at a house occupied by brothers William and Robin Baker. They were arrested and charged with possessing guns and explosives with intent to endanger life. There have been many other such examples over the past few months.
For those who thought the ‘troubles’ (as they were known) had come to an end after the signing of the Good Friday Agreement in 1998, the recent spate of violence may have come as something of a surprise. Evangelicals Now asked David Smyth, Head of the Evangelical Alliance in Northern Ireland and Rev’d Willie Nixon of Drumbeg Parish Church, Belfast, for their assessments of the situation:
