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PERSECUTION.ORG
http://www.persecution.org

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Note: The following text is an exact quote (minus the photos):
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http://www.assistnews.net/Stories/s05050005.htm

ASSIST News Service (ANS) - PO Box 2126, Garden Grove, CA 92842-2126 USA
Visit our web site at: www.assistnews.net -- E-mail: danjuma1@aol.com

Monday, May 2, 2005

PASTOR'S HOME ATTACKED, CAR PETROL BOMBED, WINDOWS SMASHED, TAXI SERVICE CLOSED DOWN

By Michael Ireland
Chief Correspondent, ASSIST News Service

BELFAST, NORTHERN IRELAND (ANS) -- Pastor Jack McKee of New Life Fellowship in Belfast, Northern Ireland, has released more details on the attack carried out on his home by several men in which his car was petrol bombed and windows in his house were smashed in the middle of the night.

According to his ministry website, Pastor Jack, his wife Kathleen, and son Jonathan, were at home during the attack. The police have privately confirmed their belief that the attack was carried out by members of the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) a Protestant terrorist organization whose motto is 'For God and Ulster.'

An article on McKee's website says Jack's car was petrol bombed and totally destroyed. All of the windows at the front lower level of his home were smashed, it seems with baseball bats.

The article says the aim of the attackers was to not only destroy his car, but to throw paint bombs inside the downstairs rooms. However, although all the windows were badly damaged, the attackers could not smash through the inner section of the double glazed windows.

Less than a week earlier, McKee had buried his 76-year-old mother Maggie who had committed her life to Christ in 1998 during one of his services at New Life. His wife Kathleen, due to ill-health, had been taking time out from her busy schedule of looking after Hobby Horse pre-school playgroup that caters for children from the Shankill community, something she has been doing since 1989, when the attack on her home occurred.

REASON FOR THE ATTACK

Two members of New Life, who are full time taxi drivers, had approached Pastor McKee during September 2004 to see if he would consider starting a 'Christian Taxi Association.'

"At the time, we believed it was a good idea, but needed more thought. So it was left on the shelf. However, a few months later these same two men, along with eight other taxi drivers, had their taxis petrol bombed and destroyed by members of the UVF," McKee says on the website.

"These burnings brought the idea of a Christian Taxi Association to the fore. Having prayed and talked much about it, we decided as a church, that we should launch a new and exiting Taxi Company called LIBERTY TAXIS," he adds.

"It became quite apparent that we had a lot of positive support from within the Shankill community, but certain members of the UVF soon made it clear that if we started LIBERTY Taxis they would burn us out. This might well have been loose talk by some individuals, but was not to be taken lightly. However, we decided to continue with LIBERTY Taxis as a 'not-for-profit' community taxi company that would not only provide employment, but would also provide funds for community outreach programs."

Some people may wonder and ask, "Why be involved in these things as a church?" McKee said.

As Pastor Jack explained, "When Jesus declared that he would build his church, he was not simply talking about physical structures made with bricks and mortar and stained glass windows, but he was speaking of building a body of people who collectively would impact every aspect of community and national life. Some church leaders are content at building congregations, but Jesus is building a population. Some are content at building denominations, but Jesus is building a nation -- a holy nation -- a people who would impact every aspect of society.

McKee says: "New Life Fellowship is not just about the Sunday services, although these are awesome in themselves, but is about releasing people to impact the community at as many levels as possible and for as many days of the week as possible. We are not just building buildings or simply maintaining what was passed on to us, but we are building a city whose builder and maker is God."

AFTER THE ATTACK

The morning after the attack Pastor McKee went public on all of the local news channels and newspapers and made it clear that "he would not be going anywhere, nor would he be giving up on anything he was doing, and that LIBERTY Taxis would continue."

"That night the Leadership of New Life met to discuss the situation and decided to continue with LIBERTY Taxis as long as the drivers were willing to do so and as long as we believed they were safe," McKee said.

"We met with the drivers that same evening, only to discover they were all keen to continue. However, the following afternoon (Friday), Pastor Jack received a visit from the police to inform him that the leadership of loyalist paramilitaries had sanctioned attacks on the drivers. It became apparent that attacks on drivers, and possibly their homes, were immanent."

At that moment, Pastor Jack knew that it was not just about him taking a stand and putting his life at risk and that of his family, nor was it simply New Life taking a stand and facing the consequences, but that this was now placing drivers and their families at risk.

"It was for this reason, and this reason alone that we made the decision to close LIBERTY Taxis on Friday, April 15 at 7.30 pm.," he said.

"However, the end is not yet, praise God. For New Life is about more than LIBERTY Taxis and more than any other project. It's about proclaiming the Gospel of love and forgiveness 'in season and out of season'. We continue to look to God for wisdom and direction and as always covet and appreciate your ongoing prayer support," McKee said.

JACK McKEE'S TRACK RECORD

In 1982 God brought Jack and his family back to his home community in the Shankill Road Area of Belfast, seen of many troubles over the years.

The website says that since then he has done much to not only forward the influence of the church and of the gospel message, but to help many in need, including many connected with the UVF, the organization that attacked his home.

For example, during a major 'supergrass' episode when several UVF men had been arrested, Jack wrote letters to the Lord Chief Justice on behalf of some of the men requesting their release over Christmas. He letters were instrumental in helping to secure releases. Shortly after this the 'supergrass' trials collapsed.

Pastor McKee has also helped members of the same organization, albeit when they fell out of favor, escape to safety from punishment and sometimes from certain death.

Perhaps the most notable thing he did to help was during the UDA & UVF feud of 2000 when several men had been shot dead, others wounded and many forcibly removed from their homes.

During the feud McKee visited several who had been victims of the violence, and on one particular evening he, his son Jonathan, and Assistant Pastor Mark Armstrong acquired a large van and helped to physically remove people from their homes.

Surrounded by 16 armed British soldiers and under the watchful eyes of UDA onlookers wielding chains and baseball bats, they filled the van with furniture several times from several homes belonging to families connected to the UVF. The furniture was taken to the New Life Church where it was safely stored for several months.

The website article concludes: "Pastor McKee has certainly done his bit for all sides of the conflict, taking no side, but helping all, yet he and his family have been subjected to such an attack from one of those organizations whose members he has helped in times of need. Surely this is this is the gospel in action, with the expected demonic reaction."

** Michael Ireland is an international British freelance journalist. A former reporter with a London newspaper, Michael is the Chief Correspondent for ASSIST News Service of Garden Grove, CA. Michael immigrated to the United States in 1982 and became a US citizen in Sept., 1995. He is married with two children. Michael has also been a frequent contributor to UCB Europe, a British Christian radio station.
** You may republish this story with proper attribution.