Feature

by Lisa Hezmalhalch

Back to Table of Contents | Back to Main Index
Previous Features | Send mail to The Voice

Ireland Challenges
MBC Student's Worldview

Lisa Hezmalhalch teeters across the Carrick-A-Rede rope bridge 80 feet above the Atlantic Ocean in the North Antrim County of Northern Ireland. There are no reports of anyone being injured from falling off the bridge, which was formerly used by salmon fisherman. --Lisa Hezmalhalch, photo

Katie's eyes were full of tears as she explained to me that a 15-year-old Catholic boy had been killed in Ballymena, Ireland, last May. Authorities suspected a Protestant gang of boys, one of whom Katie knew, to be involved in his death.

She told me that she didn't feel safe, that Ballymena was a dangerous place to live.

I was in Ireland with Youth For Christ for three weeks last summer. My group trained in Belfast for a week, after which my team drove 30 minutes north to our assigned town of Ballymena. There I met Katie.

Several hours before we left Belfast, a friend invited me and two others on a short tour around the southern part of the city to see murals painted during the Troubles.

The Troubles is the name of a historical conflict that began shortly after a treaty between the United Kingdom and Ireland.

The United Kingdom ruled over Ireland for 121 years, but pressure on the British government to grant independence to the island increased until the great war of 1914-1918. Great Britain granted Ireland a limited independence.

This independence caused Protestants in the north, who wanted to maintain union with Britain, to mobilize private armies against total Irish independence.

Prime Minister of Great Britain Lloyd George presented a compromise treaty that liberated 26 Southern Ireland counties and retained British control in six Northern Ireland counties.

The decision to partition the island led to civil war between those favorable to the treaty and those who rejected it. By 1923, those in favor of the partition achieved a bloody victory, and the Irish Free State was formed.

Sporadic fighting between the two groups continued until 1968, when the Troubles' intensity and violence ignited again.

Because of the fighting, Northern Ireland became a treacherous war zone between the Protestant loyalist paramilitary and the Catholic nationalists known as the Irish Republican Army (IRA). Bombings, shootings and death became a part of everyday life for the English, Scottish and Irish people living in Northern Ireland.

Fighting subsided when both sides declared a ceasefire in 1994.

With our cameras hidden, we walked down the streets of Belfast, stopping occasionally to study the faces painted on the sides of buildings. Some faces served only as a memory while others bared weapons and shouted messages of warning to the opposing side.

We had to wait for a few locals to leave the otherwise desolate street before taking photos. The murals remind people of a shameful time in Northern Irish history. They dislike photographing the harsh reminder.

Although most fighting has ended, tensions still float under the surface of everyday life. They erupt in people's religious affiliations and favorite soccer teams. I learned the latter in Ballymena when I bought a scarf from a local sports store.

The scarf was bright green with yellow and white stripes under a large clover surrounded by the words "The Celtic Football Club." When I showed it to my American team members, they thought it was cool, but the scarf appalled Northern Irish team members.

Only Catholics cheer for the Celtics. My Northern Irish team members told me not to show the scarf to the youth and warned against wearing it around town.

They said I might get attacked if anyone saw me wearing Celtic paraphernalia. They told me Ballymena is mostly Protestant, so I should wear scarves and jerseys to support the Rangers -- the Protestant favorite.

I bought a Rangers jersey but refused to wear either the scarf or the jersey while I was there. I was there to preach the gospel, not to choose any particular sides.

And preach the gospel we did! For two weeks we led a "drop-in," or youth group, where we played, talked, acted and joked with teens -- always talking about our passion for the Lord and His passion for them. By the end of our mission, a handful of kids re-dedicated their lives to the Lord, and a few others accepted Christ for the first time.

Katie did not. We prayed for her and talked to her about Jesus, but she remained unresponsive.

The time finally came for our team to leave Ballymena. Our two weeks of ministry were over. I desperately longed to leave Katie with not only the knowledge that God loved her, but also with an understanding of His desire to protect her and free her from a life of fear.

Katie passed around a small notebook to collect our e-mails and addresses. This was my last chance; I scribbled more than just my e-mail.

I told her I would be praying for her, but I also wrote and told her about the God who has the power and love to protect her from all kinds of Troubles.

Back to Table of Contents | Back to Main Index
Previous Features | Send mail to The Voice