Anytime
I am traveling to a place for the first time there are always a few questions I
am seeking answers to during my time there. What is the spiritual climate like?
What is God doing there? What is unique about the culture and how do the
natives view their culture? And, what is the history of the place and its
people? We did a lot of driving (about 28 hours) over the course of my 6 days
in Sri Lanka, so there was a lot of time for questions and discussion with
Maxi, the local Sri Lankan pastor traveling with us. Here are some of my
takeaways.
The
history of Sri Lanka has had a tremendous on impact on the culture and
spiritual climate, so this is where we must start. I was shocked to discover
that Sri Lanka had been locked in a civil war that lasted for 26 years and just
ended in 2009. I had no idea! I would encourage you to read more about this
online, but here is the short of it. When Sri Lanka (known as Ceylon at the
time) gained their independence from Great Britain in 1948 there were, as there
are now, 2 major ethnic groups, one being the Sinhalese and the other being the
Tamils. Under British rule they operated harmoniously in the government, but
when they gained their independence the government was taken over by the
majority (about 70%) Sinhalese. This left the minority (15-20% at the time)
Tamils in a vulnerable position. After years of political tension the
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam formed and began rioting and fighting against
the government. As in all conflicts, both sides committed atrocities and did
terrible things over the next 26 years. The war resulted in an estimated
60,000-100,000 deaths with up to 40,000 Tamil civilians being killed. In
addition to the deaths, the war displaced nearly 300,000 peoples. Pastor Maxi,
a Tamil, was nearly blown up by a bomb on one occasion and was shot at on
another, so the war had really impacted his life personally.
Eventually
the Sinhalese controlled government defeated the Liberation Tigers and the war
ended. However, the ethnic divide is still very strong in Sri Lanka, which is
very evident in the culture. In the minds of the Tamils, they are treated as
second-class citizens. Prejudice and racism are rampant. Geographically and
socially the Tamils and Sinhalese do their best to not mix. This is where the
church in Sri Lanka has an incredible opportunity to model unity and peace to
the culture. I did see Tamil and Sinhalese pastors meeting together and
fellowshipping as best as they could, although they do speak different
languages, so this can be hard. This is the type of breakthrough the nation
needs.
With
so much war and political unrest over the last 3 decades, the church in Sri
Lanka has really struggled. Any efforts to plant new churches or partner with
other churches around the nation have been severely hampered by the war. But
with peace comes new opportunity. There is receptivity to the gospel amongst
the traditionally Hindu Tamils. The church in Sri Lanka is growing and
multiplying like never before in their history. Everywhere we visited we met
pastors who are planting new churches and are working together to evangelize
their cities. It was very encouraging and gave our team great hope for this
nation.
All
in all, this was a great trip. We did SCP envisionings in 3 cities: Jaffna,
Batticaloa, and Hatton. There were about 65-75 pastors present at these
envisionings and they all seemed to be encouraged by the teaching. From this
groups we will be selecting individuals and inviting them into a coaching
relationship. Once we coach these pastors we will task them with taking
ownership for seeing their cities evangelized. This will mean training and
partnering with the other pastors who were part of the initial envisionings as
well as the other churches in their area. In the future we are hoping to begin
some new envisionings and trainings in the nation’s capitol Colombo.
As
always, your prayers are so appreciated and impactful.
·
Thank you so much for your prayers for Leeza, Tripp and I while
I was traveling. Everything went pretty smoothly at home and God was definitely
with us as we traveled around the island.
·
Please pray for the church in Sri Lanka, especially for unity
and strength to press on towards the outcome of seeing every man, woman, and
child have opportunities to respond to the gospel.
·
Please pray that God would continue to draw the lost in Sri
Lanka to Himself. Pray for the Buddhists and Hindus to turn from their idols
and follow the one true God.
·
Lastly, we are 6 weeks into our church planting effort in
Bangkok. We are making adjustments on the fly and one of those things is to
really commit ourselves to the emphasis of decentralized house churches over a
centralized gathering (although both are necessary). Please pray that God would
give us wisdom in decision making, bless our efforts as we seek to grow our
people in our 5 discipleship values, and let us see some of our unbelieving
friends come to know Him.
We
love you all and we cannot thank you enough for your support, love and prayers.
The
Belchers
