Three Cheers for Northern Ireland

I know this story isn’t hitting the news around home since it doesn’t fit the "if it bleeds, it leads" category, but it should.

BELFAST, Northern Ireland: Protestant leader Ian
Paisley, who spent decades refusing to cooperate with Northern
Ireland’s Catholic minority, was elected Tuesday to oversee a
power-sharing administration alongside his longtime Sinn Fein foes.

The unopposed election of Democratic Unionist Party chief Paisley,
81, as "first minister" of a new 12-member administration heralded an
astonishing new era for Northern Ireland following a 9-year struggle to
forge a Catholic-Protestant administration, central goal of the
U.S.-brokered Good Friday accord. link

I don’t pretend to understand the troubles, but it is extremely exciting to think that long-term peace in Ireland seems to be arriving. Along similar lines, in the past two weeks both the UVF and UDA have publicly announced that they are ceasing their paramilitary actions. In the UVF announcement they basically said, "We ending all arms dealings and putting arms dealers far enough away from locals that they won’t have access to any more guns."

Of course… this is all great news from Kristen and I as in 6 days we’ll be leaving for Northern Ireland. I know it’s just my theory, but I am certain that there is a correlation between these steps towards peace and the burgeoning "revival-like" movement of Christ in Northern Ireland.