TBM volunteers offer relief in Sri Lanka_12405

Posted: 1/21/05

TBM volunteers offer relief in Sri Lanka

By John Hall

Texas Baptist Communications

BATTICOLOA, Sri Lanka–God's Spirit is washing over areas of Sri Lanka that were worst hit by the tsunamis, revealing a changed topographical and spiritual terrain, a missionary in Sri Lanka ob-served.

God has arranged “divine appointments” that enabled the Christian disaster relief efforts to move more swiftly, said David Beckett, a Gospel for Asia missionary working in Sri Lanka and member of Currey Creek Baptist Church in Boerne.

A Canadian helped connect Texas Baptist Men to the water board of Batticoloa in eastern Sri Lanka. The parties then swiftly devised a way to clean wells contaminated by saltwater.

Texas Baptist Men volunteers and a team from Baptist Child & Family Services worship with a group of Christians in Sri Lanka. (Photo by Rex Campbell)

“We are exhausted and weary, both mentally and physically, though our spirits are high and our spirit rejoices with praise and wonder at seeing God's mighty and compassionate hand at work,” Beckett wrote. “He is doing so much to love the Sri Lankan people who are suffering from the tsunamis' destruction.”

Each TBM water purification team is cleaning 25 to 30 wells each day. Texas Baptist Men volunteers also are repairing the city water pumps and chlorination systems for Batticoloa and a more southern city, Kalmunai. This equipment supplies water for as many as 150,000 people along the country's eastern coast.

While cleaning the wells, Texas Baptist Men volunteers are showing Sri Lankans how to do the work themselves, thereby speeding up the recovery process. People cannot return to their towns until they get clean water.

TBM volunteers are feeding several thousand people a day in Batticoloa. TBM workers were constructing kitchens closer to Kalmunai, where more than 10,000 people live in refugee camps, but were asked to stop by the government.

Victim Relief Ministries chaplains are meeting the emotional and spiritual needs of many of those who lost loved ones. Kevin Dinnin, president of Baptist Child & Family Services, expressed amazement at how God's people are acting faithfully in the midst of disaster. His organization has committed to build two shelters for Sri Lanka orphans.

“How do you pick up the pieces when everything you have is gone and many of the people you loved best are dead?” he said. “There are faces and voices none of us will ever forget. There were examples of Sri Lankans living their faith that will inspire us as long as we live.”

The efforts already are making an impact in the largely Hindu and Muslim areas. One Sri Lankan pastor is getting a chance to minister to those who persecuted him.

Through Texas Baptist efforts, the pastor was able to provide a medical clinic for his village. He prayed with a man who once beat him because of his faith. The pastor serves those who repeatedly burned down his home.

“They're having a huge impact in so many different ways in Muslim and Hindu communities,” Beckett said. “You're hearing story after story of people breaking down and crying.”