BY RICK McEDWARD
The following article first appeared in the Adventist Review on April 14, 2005. For an update on the Adventist work in Sri Lanka, click here.
VEN BEFORE A TSUNAMI RAVAGED ITS coastline on December 26,
2004, Sri Lanka was often described as the "island of tears." Some
19 million people live on this lush tropical island off the southern tip of
India. They have endured more than their fair share of hardships, including
poverty, political unrest, and a civil war that has raged for more than two
decades, killing more than 67,000 people.
But in the space of just a few moments, Sri Lanka lost another
39,000 of its citizens as a series of waves broke on its southern and eastern
coastlines. This nation, which has been defined by war for so long, was thrown
into shock and mourning. Suddenly "island of tears" became more descriptive
than ever before.
Television viewers from around the globe tuned in to see the
unbelievable destruction revealed by the receding waters. Sri Lanka's coastline
has been forever altered. Flattened landscapes have replaced villages. The remains
of houses, broken toys, and brightly colored saris are still strewn over miles
of beachfront property. In the days following the tsunami, it was not unusual
to find a man or woman, sitting on the foundations of their former homes, weeping.
There was not much more they could do: no work, no home, no family.
Religious Tension
For the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Sri Lanka, the tsunami disaster marked
the close of an already turbulent year. At the beginning of 2004 the outlook
was grim for Christian organizations in Sri Lanka as a series of attacks prompted
the country's president to order police protection for many churches and Christian
aid organizations.
The persecution was touched off, in part, by the death of a
prominent Buddhist monk, mistakenly blamed by some on Christians. Newspaper
articles chronicled evangelistic strategies of various churches and spurred
on young rioters who burned churches and stoned prayer houses.
Sri Lanka Mission auditor Norman Jansz, 70, was distributing
Sow 1 Billion literature one Sabbath when a group of men approached him. Following
a short exchange they took him to a temple to force him to worship at a shrine.
When Jansz refused to bow down, the young men began beating him, then took money
from his pocket and offered it at the statue. Finally, bruised and shaken, Jansz
was taken to police, who said he must not distribute any more literature.
In March a zealot from another religion attacked one of the
many new Adventist groups in the country. He cursed them and tried to draw the
group leader into a confrontation. The wife of the Adventist leader was attacked
and spent three days recovering in the hospital.
As this wave of anti-Christian sentiment swept Sri Lanka, a
new anticonversion law was proposed. The concept of "conversion" is
sometimes associated with the belief that Christians provide enticements such
as food, jobs, or shelter. This mistaken understanding forced many churches
to put projects of compassion on the back burner for a time.
Growth Through Adversity
In the midst of this religious tension, Adventists contemplated their plans
for participating in the worldwide Year of World Evangelism. Suddenly the idea
of church members sharing their faith, publicly or privately, seemed hazardous.
But as the national elections came and went in April 2004, the
religious and political landscape of Sri Lanka began to stabilize. Even as debate
on a nationwide ban on conversions continued, Adventists pressed forward with
their first test on this issue--a public evangelistic meeting with Alberto Gulfan,
president of the Southern Asia-Pacific Division. "We thought we would cancel
this meeting in light of recent political troubles," says mission secretary
P. P. Dhanaraja, "but our pastors and lay members wanted to go forward."
Their faith was justified. Gulfan's meetings had a nightly attendance
of up to 300 people and were well received. Church members saw that the door
of evangelism was still open. "Once we saw the success of these meetings,
we had no worry and saw it was time to move forward," says Dhanaraja. During
August and September the church organized 11 more evangelistic meetings with
local pastors and visiting evangelists from India.
In the village of Koslanda, Daniel Devadhas, secretary of the
Southeast India Union, conducted reaping meetings. This village, situated among
beautiful tea estates, lies 6,000 feet above sea level. Organizers faced an
unusual problem--wild elephants often roamed the village after dark, terrifying
the local population. To avoid the elephants, each meeting was concluded before
6:00 p.m., and there was special prayer every evening that God would protect
everyone as they made their way home. In 10 days of the meetings, no elephants
were sighted.
On the final evening, Devadhas gave a call for baptism. "We
all had our eyes closed, and we expected about 10 people to respond," he
says. "Suddenly the chairs rattled like thunder, and we looked up and more
than 25 people made the decision for baptism." These new believers were
baptized in a cold mountain river during a rainstorm.
More than 200 people were baptized in 2004, and five new churches
were organized. The number may not seem large, but it represents a significant
increase over previous years and brings hope to church members that a new day
is dawning in Sri Lanka. In 100 years of ministry in Sri Lanka, the church has
some 3,500 members, many of whom live abroad because of the war. "Having
more than 200 new members join the church in one year really gives the church
fresh energy as we enter a new century of ministry," says W. D. Anthony,
president of the Sri Lanka Mission.
One Hundred Years and Counting
When Adventist missionary Harry Armstrong landed in the port of Colombo in 1904,
Sri Lanka (or Ceylon as it was then known) was in the midst of a nationwide
Buddhist revival. This had been sparked, in part, by a famous debate between
Christian and Buddhist clergy--a debate that was decisively won by the Buddhist
monks.
Harry Armstrong conducted health and evangelistic meetings and
distributed literature in Colombo and other parts of the country. Years of hard
work passed before Armstrong and his fellow missionaries saw the first person
become a Seventh-day Adventist. The first Adventist church was organized in
1922 in Colombo, and the Lakpahana School was started near Colombo in 1924.
Over the years several schools, a hospital, and a publishing
house added strength to the work of the church in Sri Lanka. "The work
in Sri Lanka has never been easy," says Anthony. "It takes real dedication
to reach even one person, and some of the Adventist pioneers really endured
hardship to establish the church."
In October 2004 the church in Sri Lanka celebrated the commitment
and achievements of these pioneers and gave thanks for God's leading. Grand
plans were laid for a celebration that would present a clear picture to the
Sri Lankan public of a positive, vibrant faith community. Sri Lanka Mission
leaders chose the largest convention hall in the nation in which to hold a special
celebration. They contacted former missionaries and invited national dignitaries
to attend. Jan Paulsen, president of the world church, accepted an invitation
to participate in the occasion, the first visit to Sri Lanka from a General
Conference president since 1984.
Despite a general reluctance among journalists to cover Christian
events, Paulsen's visit and the centennial celebration were featured in several
newspapers with both stories and photos. On Sunday, October 24, more than 1,500
church members took part in a dramatic "walk of witness" through the
streets of the capital city, Colombo. People lined the roads while church members
handed out health and gospel literature.
Tragedy and Hope
Just two months later, tragedy replaced celebration. For all Sri Lankans, 2004
will be forever defined by the tsunami and its aftermath.
ADRA Responds
When the tsunami hit, Alan Wright, country director for the
Adventist Development and Relief Agency, went immediately to his office. He
called in a team of water purification specialists from South Africa, and then
sat down with his small staff and a few volunteers. As they discussed various
approaches, Wright stayed focused: "Our job is to save lives; and we cannot
do everything, so let's do what we can do."
The team began an around-the-clock relief effort that continued
for the following three weeks. The small four-person office became a command
center for more than 100 volunteers, staff, and incoming disaster-response teams.
For more information on ADRA's work in Sri Lanka, please visit
www.adra.org.
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In the eastern city of Kalmunai, Pastor P. Jeraman got up early
Sunday morning to go work on the construction site of the new Adventist church.
As he worked, hundreds of people suddenly started running past. Jeraman and
another church member joined them and did not stop running for six miles. They
stayed and waited. "We were afraid to go back home because everyone was
saying, 'Another one is coming,'" says Jeraman.
In the evening they went back to the church and found no damage.
But when they went to Jeraman's home, they were shocked at the sight. "There
were dead bodies lying in the road, all the houses leading up to mine were gone,
and I just could not recognize the neighborhood at all," says Jeraman.
"It took me 30 minutes to locate my house."
In the evening they went to the hospital to check on church
members. The hospital had been transformed into a makeshift morgue, with more
than 800 bodies stacked in rows. Jeraman and his friend Balakrishna broke down
and wept.
Among Adventists the losses were significant: seven confirmed
dead, 17 houses destroyed, 40 houses in which contents had been completely lost,
and many family members displaced. The church has received funds from around
the world to help members rebuild. "We appreciate the brotherly love that
the world church has expressed to us in our time of greatest need," says
Anthony. "The compassion of our brothers and sisters has meant so much
to us and to those most affected during this time."
Three Adventist churches in Sri Lanka were used as refugee camps
for varying lengths of time. In the town of Valaichchenai, Global Mission pioneer
Noel Kumar responded to the disaster by throwing open the doors of the small
Adventist church to people of all backgrounds. The church had been built the
year before as part of a Global Mission-funded project. Kumar cared for more
than 30 refugees, providing shelter and food and praying each day with them.
For many, this was their introduction to the Adventist church and its members.
Kumar's outreach continues. While most refugees were able to return to their
homes within a week, two families, as of this writing, continued to obtain shelter
at the church.
The Sri Lanka Mission is also ministering to the emotional and
spiritual needs of the public. Soon after the disaster, Martin Feldbush, director
of Adventist Chaplaincy Ministries for the General Conference, and his wife,
Martha, conducted a training seminar for pastors to assist people to cope with
trauma and grief. Each pastor was trained in how to listen as people tell their
stories, and how to assist them in emotional healing from the tsunami.
As the Adventist Church in Sri Lanka looks to the future, its
mission is clear. "The need for building hope for people who have suffered
is still present," says Anthony. Despite challenging circumstances and
limited resources, he says, "we need to tell people about the God of love
that gives hope for the future."
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Rick McEdward was the director of Global Mission for the Sri Lanka Mission when he wrote this article.
