Since we started the church in Sri Lanka ten years ago, I have dreamed of launching a work in the northern part of the country among the Tamil-speaking people.  There are a number of Tamil churches in the tea plantation areas of central Sri Lanka, but the northern regions have been restricted areas due to the twenty-five year civil war between the Tamil Tigers and the Sri Lankan forces.  Unlike the Sinhalese majority who are Buddhist, the Tamils are mostly Hindu.  The civil war came to an end in May of 2009, when the Sri Lankan government overran the last rebel outpost in the northeast.  The north of Sri Lanka is completely devastated from the war and large areas remain to be cleared of landmines.  There are many who have been crippled by war injuries and many orphaned children.

Pastor Dishan, our national leader in Colombo, proposed a project in cooperation with the Sri Lankan government, to build a school for the Tamils in the community of Pooneryn.  This rapidly growing community is about thirty miles from the major port city of Jafna.  I was reluctant to invest in this project because we would not be given control of the property or ownership of the building.  I understood the need and importance of developing a relationship with the Sri Lankan government, but I felt it was a distraction to my agenda of church planting to invest in that project.  But Seacoast Church in Charleston, South Carolina has worked well with Dishan in the past and they stepped in to help with the school project with $12,500.  The Colombo congregation sacrificially gave $14,000 to finish the project. I am so grateful to Pastor Jason Surratt who had the foresight to serve as a catalyst for this humanitarian project.

The construction was done by the Sri Lankan military and the government has posted a sign on the building giving credit to Bethany Church of Colombo for the donation of the building.  This has given us a wide open door within the community and has earned favor with the national government.

Bev and I plan to start a church-planting project this month that will complement the work already done by Seacoast Church and our Colombo church.  Dishan has selected a couple from our model church to send as pastors, and I will begin sponsoring them with $500 per month for three to five years.  $300 per month will be for the couple’s living expenses and $200 per month will be used for travel expenses.  I generally consider monthly support to be for a three-year period.  But in this case it will probably take us at least five years to reach self-supporting status due to the extreme conditions of the rebuilding effort.  The couple, Moorthi and Alaga, are Tamil and have been a part of our Tamil speaking congregation in Colombo.

Our plan is to send someone from Colombo to visit them every other month and for them to visit Colombo on alternating months.  The area they are going to is an extreme hardship and we will need to insure that they are adequately cared for, overseen, mentored and encouraged.

Bev and I will be in Sri Lanka during February and March, and we are looking forward to the launching of this new church.  Not only is this an area of extreme need, this work represents a level of partnership we could only dream of five years ago.  The Colombo Church has come so far in such a short time, and we are grateful to the Lord for the growth he has given us.

Thanks for standing in faith with us.

Rick, Bev and Shane