Texas Baptist volunteers showing Sri Lankans they’re not just tourists_62705

Posted: 7/01/05

Texas Baptist volunteers showing
Sri Lankans they're not just tourists

By John Hall

Texas Baptist Communications

COLUMBO, Sri Lanka—Texas Baptists are showing residents of eastern Sri Lanka kindness they never expected, said David Beckett, director of Children’s Emergency Relief International work in the South Asia nation.

Beckett, who heads the Baptist Child & Family Services’ ministry in Sri Lanka, said Texas Baptists are exemplifying Christian faith that provides a stark contrast to other religions in the region.

The majority of relief workers from around the globe are Christians, Beckett noted. Workers from nongovernment relief groups such as Texas Baptist Men and Children’s Emergency Relief International are caring for people in eastern Sri Lanka regardless of faith background.

That attitude differs from the one Sri Lankans see among European tourists who spend money and leave. The Christian aid workers care for the people of Sri Lanka.

Christian compassion is drawing new interest about the faith along the eastern coast, Beckett said. People are converting to Christianity. Others are asking questions about Jesus.

The surge in new believers is coming despite the continuous threat of persecution, especially in smaller villages, Beckett said. Some people are shunned for converting to Christianity. Churches have been burned. Leaders have been attacked. But Sri Lankans continue their interest in Jesus.

Sri Lankans “see a light in a dark place,” Beckett said. “People are drawn to the light when they see something so different like that. I’ve heard so many times over the past months, ‘You people are not like we expected; you treat us differently than the way other people have treated us.’”

Increased Christian presence in the island nation has led followers of other faiths to try to explain why followers of Jesus are traveling from around the world to help them. Though some are meeting them rationally, rumors are swirling. One common rumor is the United States dropped a bomb near Indonesia that created the tsunamis. Christian Americans came to help because they feel bad about what they did.

The thought is unfounded, but significant, Beckett said. “What it shows is Christian Americans have had a huge impact on this island. So big, in fact, that people are trying to find ways to explain it. It’s just been amazing.”

Sujatha Rajadurai, a Sri Lankan working with Children’s Emergency Relief International, reinforced Beckett’s words. Christians around the world are inspiring Sri Lankan believers to be faithful. Locals are working together to improve living conditions even as political leaders continue fighting.

“It’s exciting me what (Texas Baptists have) done for us,” Rajadurai said. “They’re coming here. They’re sharing their love. It’s a different kind of love. I’m thinking if they’re coming again and again to share, everything would be nice for us to build up our life.”