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Sri Lanka Aug 2010!

I was very excited about the prospect of taking a small team to Sri Lanka this year, esp since we were going to get access to the north of the island! I havent had the chance to visit Jaffna in almost 5 years. 

 so the following is a bit of a report on the trip!

Arrived in Colombo on the Tuesday the 10^th and had a day to adjust and get some sleep.

• Wed early AM – flew to Jaffna by Sri Lankan Air force, Arrived in Jaffna in the morning. Hilarious flight on a thirty year old mini bus with wings. The team asked for an adventure I think we delivered!

Youth Camp:

Wed  to Friday Night : Youth Camp hosted by Calvary Full Gospel Church.

Calvary is passionate about investing in a generation that seen and been marked by the conflict in Sri Lanka. Most of the kids and families we spoke to have first hand experience of the devastation that war and displacement have caused. A proportion of the young people that attended the camp came where from the impoverished worn effected district of Vanni.  Shanti mentioned in passing that many of the children didn’t have appropriate clothing and didn’t want to come to the camp as they felt embarrassed, so the church had helped, by purchasing, especially the girls, clothes, underwear and nighties. It’s knowing details like this that helped us understand just how precious a time a youth camp is for some of these young people.  The whole camp was sponsored by City Church, seeing a community of nearly 200 fed and watered, and housed at the blind school was a tribute to Shantis organisational skills and the dedication of Leslies team. It was great to see senior Church leaders rolling up their sleeves to help cook, join the sports teams and get along side these precious young people.

Leslie Mathews said this recently

“Dear friends in Christ, we are well by the Grace of God, we had a wonderful youth camp in Jaffna, 164 youths participated, 10 youths gave their heart to the Lord, 65 youths rededicated their lives for Gods work.”

 

War Victims

Friday Afternoon we had the privilege of giving out a number of MP3 Dictaphones to young war victims that were desperate to continue their schooling and exams. Most of these young people had been blinded by the shelling of the villages in the northern districts, blinded by the use of phosphorus incendiary explosives, which I believe to have been band by the international community. The team found this exceptionally moving as one of the young men thanked us and spoke openly about the hope that these small gifts had given him and the others. The local newspaper covered the story. This is why we raised money and came to Sri Lanka. We may not be able to change everything straight away but for those that we met, we felt like we made a bit of a difference. I’m sure that this will especially encourage the pupils at St Machar that joined us on the sponsored walk.

Saturday Am

We met 50 families that had recently moved back to the area that had some significant challenges facing them. Most of them were impoverished families and with schools starting with in the next month the parents had no resources to buy school materials and some didn’t even have basic cooking utensils, clothing and bedding. Each family received 4500 rupees which is approx twenty five pounds. I know it doesn’t sound a lot but the average monthly wage would be around thirty pounds a month. So this would have helped them considerably.

Grace fund and Widows project:

We also gave 52,000 rupees into the grace fund that specifically helps widows and families that have lost husbands and dads in the conflict. With out a bread winner these families struggle to make ends meet and Shanti has a heart to see these women live with some dignity. Many of those that received gifts were looking into using the money to start micro businesses. A number of the women were pooling their resources to buy chicks, so they could rear hens and sell them and the subsequent eggs at the local markets. I was very impressed with their ingenuity and felt that this could be a project that we could really help with. Many of the folks there don’t just want hand outs, they want to rebuild their lives and become self sufficient…maybe this is an area that someone with the right experience and background could assist them in developing this particular ministry. The vast majority of the humanitarian work done is done through the “Grace fund” at Calvary. 

Darshan & Shamine's Wedding

Saturday morning we had all been invited to the wedding of Darshan and Sharmine’s it was a lovely occasion we took part in the service. I thought Uk wedding could get pretty big, but 600 came to this one! And they all ate as well!!!

Church Dedication at Manianthottam

On Saturday evening we drove out to an outlying district of Jaffna and had the wonderful privilege of being part of a dedication service for one of the very recent branch churches. This particular area had only recently been resettled by those that had left the area fifteen years previously, what a wonderful moment to see this little church community commissioned and blessed by the wider church leadership.

Sunday morning Services:

Sunday morning the team split up as we were all invited to ministry in the different branch churches of Calvary.

James, Gil and Beth stayed at Calvary central church, whilst Abi, Johnny, Andy and Martin all spit up to attend services in some of the outlying churches. They all had a great time, giving testimonies and sharing a short word from scripture. I think this was one of the highlights for the team.

Sunday evening we visited one of the local church leaders houses and had another amazing feast! These guys know how to do hospitality!

Gospel Meeting at Alarai Allawatty

Monday Pm we travelled out to an outlying district where the church was actively involved in evangelism. We were very excited about the prospect of being able to share with the local people and see Gods love break into peoples lives. This was predominantly a Hindu area and the church was seeing Gods power clearly manifest. The church had been fasting and praying for the meeting for a week, and the challenging thing was they do this once a month. Each meeting is soaked in prayer for a whole week in advance. Basically they do a 24 – 7 week before each of the evangelistic meetings. No wonder God turns up when they pray!

That evening the girls sang a couple of songs and James preached and Leslie led a response time. We saw around 15 people ask to become followers of Jesus, it was really moving. The team, alongside Pastor Amos’ team prayed for the sick and we saw the presence of Jesus come and deliver a number of people from oppressive spirits, it felt like we were right on the forefront of seeing kingdoms collide and the definitive authority of Jesus manifest. What a learning curve and what a privilege!

Baptism at Kashorina beach

Tuesday was wonderful, a whole bunch of folks from the church had taken some time out to go to a local beach and celebrate the baptism of seven members! We sang under a big tree, read scripture together and sought Gods blessing for each person. Then we went out onto the beach and baptised all seven in the Indian Ocean! What a great way to begin your faith journey. After the service it was family time! Swimming and playing footy on the beach, wow it was hot and a couple of the team got pretty cooked, even wearing factor 50! Later that afternoon, we said our good byes as we would be flying back to Colombo in the morning.

Turbulent times ! Flight back to Colombo!

Yes there was a little bit of wind on our return journey to Colombo. I think everyone felt a little nervy as the mini bus with wings was pushed around, it was nice to step out onto terra firma!

Kandy ! and a well earned rest…

It took the best part of the day to travel up to Kandy as the traffic was brutal. A normal three hours took almost five, we were all pretty tired and ready for a rest. However it was Beth’s 18^th birthday so we had a surprise stop at the Elephant orphanage so the team could see first hand the elephants feeding and playing in the river. We had booked into the hilltop hotel for a couple of nights Rand R and the team thoroughly enjoyed using the facilities, and having a break from the curry three times a day!

Evangelism training:

Justin Fonseka had organised a full morning’s evangelism and mission training for a small local church on the Thursday morning. All the team members had the opportunity to share something of their stories with the congregation; we all felt this had been a wonderful time of encouragement for both the church and ourselves. The folks were so hungry and we all sensed a real affinity with this little church.

Kids club with a difference:

That afternoon Johnny, Beth, Abi and Gil all went off with Justin to run a small kids club for around 50 children in a local slum area. All of the kids were from untouchable casts, very impoverished with next to nothing. The team were deeply moved by the conditions they were living in and commented if we were ever to come back we should defiantly invest in this community in some way. The cast system holds people in bondage and its very difficult to break out, these kids have very little hope, but Justin believes in them and has such a vision and heart to see thousands of these children come to know Jesus and be given every opportunity to excel and develop as all kids should! May be this is another area that we as a church could be looking to invest in.  Justin is the national director for Child Evangelism, he has a number of staff working across the country and over the last couple of years they have seen hundreds of children encounter Jesus. He believes the only way to win his country is to win this current generation of kids.

Friday morning with Church Leaders:

Martin and James spent a whole morning on the Friday with a group of leaders from a local church in Gampola. They had a great time swapping stories and they did some teaching on leadership styles and the importance of character.  The rest of the team had a well earned day off to chill out and use the pool!

Bethshaloam Centre!

It was great to see the centre and 8 out of the 16 boys that live there. Some of the boys were away visiting relatives as it was their school holidays. The Team mucked in and hung out with the lads. Justin and Rushani share their lives and their home with a bunch of boys that have either lost parents, been rejected by their families or simply they come from such poor back grounds that their parents couldn’t cope. That’s were Justin and Rushani come in. With Justin being a national director of an organisation that seeks to win the next generation, his home is where that vision also is lived out. Where 16 boys not only are given a roof over their heads but a family that loves and cares and believes in them. They want them to have a fresh start, a new beginning and a far more positive future.  These guys embody the vision that the Lord has given them..they really are living it out and its powerful to watch. The team loved being part of the extended family. We had brought a lot of school materials with us, clothing and a play station that went down well!!!

Another Wedding! So back to Colombo!

The whole team had been invited to Shanti’s nieces wedding. And once again it was a privilege to take part and see another young couple tie the knot.

New life church services:

Sunday morning and evening were spent with the new life church family in Colombo. Martin preached at the morning service and James and Abi shared some thoughts with the youth in the evening. The team had a number of words for individuals and prayed for a whole bunch of them, it was good to catch up with Debbie, Stephan, Sanna and Dashni.

Monday  - Sigiri and ancient city.

We travelled up to the world renown ruins of Sigri. A kingdom that was built by King Kassapa 1 (AD 477 – 495), built on a jungle plane with the kings palace on top of a huge granite plug that looks over the entire valley. It was good to see some ancient culture and be taken round the ruins. This is also the home to some of the oldest intact frescoes in the east.

What a way to conclude our trip to the tear drop island. I think all of us have been marked in some way by the trip to Sri Lanka. For some it has been hearing the stories of hope amongst some tough situations, others the generosity of the people, the kindness and power of God at work. Seeing a Church committed to a holistic gospel that introduces people to the transforming freeing power of the cross and yet is seeking to provide practical solutions to their current plight. I commend the work of Calvary Full Gospel Church to you all.