About seven years ago Bev and I took a trip up into the north Sri Lankan war zone.  The devastation in that area was difficult to comprehend or understand.  We grieved over the useless loss of life and the vast destruction of property.  We heard automatic weapons fire every night and saw, from a distance, guerrilla outposts.  But in spite of an ongoing war, people continued to farm and fish and go about their daily business.  The real tragedy was that innocent civilians and often children were caught in the crossfire of battle and injured by land mines.  It’s estimated that over 100,000 people were killed in this 25 year conflict.

The civil war ended in May of 2009, but the rebuilding effort has been frustratingly slow.  We are making progress, though.  Last year our Colombo church, with the help of Seacoast Church in Charleston, South Carolina, built a school for a Tamil community in Pooneryn.  Pooneryn is a village area in the extreme north and is located in one of the most war-torn areas.  Earlier this year a medical team from Seacoast visited the school for its dedication ceremony and held a medical outreach on the school grounds.  I am so grateful to Seacoast for all they have done to help in this project.  It is their initial investment and interest that is allowing us the opportunity to now establish a church.

In January, Bev and I began supporting our first Tamil church plant in Sri Lanka.  We had a young pastor in our congregation, Ashok Kumar, who was from the Tamil people group.  Ashok has a vision to reach the Hindu multitudes in the Tamil region and is courageous enough to act on that vision.  He and his wife, Velujayaanthi, with their infant girl, are moving to Pooneryn and will be directing our Tamil outreach.

I asked Ashok if he had any concerns about taking his family to the north and he responded … The only personal fear I have are the land mines that are still scattered about the land.  Over 3,000 of them have been located and defused in our area.  The people are devastated by the war.  They’ve lost their homes, and they are jobless.  They are suffering mentally as well as physically.  They’ve lost all their wealth and resources.  Some are living in tents, and food is scarce.  I don’t know of any Christians in the area.  There may be some, but they are not making their faith public.  We plan to start with social works to form relationships with the people.  Once we have their trust, I will begin a small prayer group and eventually, a church.

We are supporting Ashok and his family with $500 USD per month.  The Colombo congregation is also helping in this project.  Someone from the Colombo church will visit him once a month.  Ashok will be making monthly trips to Colombo, about a 14 hour bus ride, to give reports and for ongoing training.  What he is doing is an extreme hardship for him and his family, but I believe there will be great fruit in the faith venture.  Bev and I are very encouraged over this project, but most of all we are encouraged over the fact that the project was initiated by our Colombo congregation.  That church is celebrating their ten year anniversary this month.  What an amazing ten years it has been!

Thanks for all you have done to help us reach the north of Sri Lanka.

Rick, Bev & Shane