Growing up during The Troubles
Born in Belfast, Northern Ireland, Billy's childhood occurred in the 1960's, a violent stretch of Irish history called "The Troubles." His father and extended family of more than 50 cousins were loyalists living in the Shankill Road district - where over half of the bombings, shootings, and riots occurred. His father rose in the ranks of the loyalists.
It was Billy's grandfather that first introduced him to Christ. Eventually, Billy's mother, sister, and even father came to know the Lord. However, his father's salvation meant an ultimatum from his fellow loyalists - leave Northern Ireland and never return. The family moved to Seoul, South Korea.
Eventually, Billy came to the United States, met and married Mindi, and found his way to John Brown University to study business. As he neared graduation, then JBU president John E. Brown III offered him a job as director of international programs.
In 1994, Billy was invited to bring a team of JBU students to Northern Ireland and that was the start of over two decades of work in Northern Ireland and the development of the Irish Studies Program.
Stevenson’s work has enabled him to travel to more than 70 countries. Speaking engagements take him on the road nationally and internationally. He is called upon to discuss topics as diverse as international travel risk management, conflict resolution, cross-cultural leadership, Irish Politics and society, as well as to share his personal testimony.
Featured on the "BBC Sounds"
"Assume Nothing: The Shankill Gold Rush"
In the summer of 1969, weeks before the Troubles would ignite, children playing in the rubble of a demolition site struck gold! While searching for treasure hundreds, maybe thousands of gold sovereigns, hidden and forgotten years before, tumbled to the ground from a chimney stack. More than 50 years later, author Glenn Patterson visits the Lower Shankill Road to find out who the coins belonged to. Why were they hidden? And where are they now?
Listed to this five-episode audio production and learn about Billy's discovery of gold on Shankill Road.
From the GFU Bruin Blog
When Billy Stevenson was 6, his father handed him a gun. He was ordered to protect his mother and sister, but from whom?
Just days before, in his little house on Shankill Road in Belfast, Northern Ireland, the IRA opened machine guns on their doors and windows. Stevenson’s grandmother jumped on top of him to shield him from the blast. “She says that she saved my life that night . . . but honestly, the sheer weight of her almost killed me,” he recalls.