Sword & Trowel 2015: Issue 1


VISIT TO SRI LANKA Report from Chris Laws, a Tabernacle elder


JUST eight days of ministry among the churches in March


2015 opened our eyes to the com- mitment of God’s people in Sri Lanka. Three days were spent visiting new church plants in the tea- growing highlands. The tea pickers in the area scarcely earn enough to pay for their food. Wizened men carry home loads of wood on their backs for fuel. Well educated pastors live in very basic accommodation in order to evangelise among the people. Pastor Joganathan lives in a terrace of a few tiny concrete, two- roomed houses served by a single cold water standpipe in the commu- nal front yard. One wall of his tiny


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kitchen outhouse had recently been washed away by a landslide. A fi rst church building had been made by modifying another basic dwelling. It seemed the whole village had turned out for the opening of the new premises, with colourful decora- tions and the ceremonial cutting of a ribbon. The children and adults lis- tened intently to the Gospel. Pastor Ranjith lives on the fi rst fl oor of a building, the ground fl oor of which is the church meeting place. A small building in the nearby hills houses a pre-school group to which children, with immaculate uniforms, come from all kinds of religious backgrounds in- cluding Hindu. The devoted Christian workers exist on small incomes, living in basic conditions for the Lord’s sake. Brother Yogorasa was a Tamil Tiger commander, converted during the recent war after Pastor Jeyakanth had (continued on page 24)


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(1) Tea-growing hill country of Pastor Joganathan’s new church plant. (2) The communal standpipe. (3) The fl edgling church. (4) Surrounding poor community.


3 page 22 Visit to Sri Lanka


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