You're listening to the podcast Think Biblically, conversations on faith and culture.

I'm your host Scott Ray, professor of Christian ethics here at Talbot School of Theology,

Biola University.

Today we're with Dr. Ron Boyd McMillan, who is the director of Global Strategy and research for Open Doors International,

which if you're not familiar with Open Doors, is the ministry to the persecuted church around the world,

one of the most prominent parrochurch organizations that serves the persecuted church around the world.

Ron, thank you for being with us. We're delighted to have you with us on the podcast.

I'm delighted to be here and to spend some time with you too and just chatting.

Now our listeners may have picked and to spend some time with you too and just chatting.

Now our listeners may have picked up a bit of an accent.

So tell us a little bit about where you grew up

and for what your heritage is.

We're actually all Scots, but where I was raised in Northern Ireland

in Belfast actually at the height of the troubles in the 60s and 70s and then I

was educated in England and I lived in Holland and Hong Kong and Los Angeles and I've married an American.

So my accent is all over the place really and whatever you think it is you're probably right.

Can you tell us just for a brief moment I know this is not the subject of our

discussion today but I think our listeners would be very interested to know what that

was like to be raised in Northern Ireland in the 70s and during that time of such

tumult and uproar.

It was, as a teenager, I think you sleepwalk through history you just don't know what's going on

your world is small and you're only worried about what people think of you and so I didn't notice what was really going on. It was a world of

...