The first wave: Texas Baptist volunteers return from Sri Lanka_20705

Posted: 2/04/05

THE FIRST WAVE:
Texas Baptist volunteers return from Sri Lanka

By John Hall

Texas Baptist Communications

Sri Lanka looks like the aftermath of a fatal "car wreck." The bodies are gone, but the devastation remains a vivid reminder of the pain caused by a series of tsunamis that slammed the island nation, volunteers with the first wave of Texas Baptist Men relief reported.

Empty land along the coast is all that remains where people once filled villages, Matt Patterson said. Homes are damaged, as are many other structures. The industrial infrastructure is largely gone. Landmines that heavily cover some areas of the country are one of the few signs of civilization along the coast. People wear smiles, but pain lies just beneath them.

“People were killed, but people are smiling,” said Patterson of Hunters' Glen Baptist Church in Plano. “It's a feeling that is hard to explain because you don't feel it every day. You don't want to feel it every day.”

Texas Baptist volunteers regularly heard stories of children rushing to their deaths just before the tsunamis hit. As the waves neared the shore, water along the coast receded quickly and exposed pockets of fish that flopped on the sand. Children ran to grab them, only to be slammed by surges of water.

Another man said he went to town and returned to find his wife and children gone. “His heart will never be the same,” said Larry Blanchard, a member of First Baptist Church in Lindale. “We just loved on him, hugged him.”

That experience is typical of some of the help that Texas Baptist Men brought with them. Chaplains were part of the teams, but anyone who would listen was helpful.

“A lot of these people need a shoulder to cry on,” said David Beckett, a missionary in Sri Lanka who recently was named director of Children's Emergency Relief International's work in the country.

Texas Baptist Men also brought help in the form of supplies. After some initial struggles, volunteers perfected a way to clean wells that have been contaminated by saltwater. Ten water purification teams each cleaned about 25 wells a day.

As the teams moved across Sri Lanka, children and adults began leading them from well to well. They communicated with Texas Baptist volunteers as best they could, mostly relying on hand gestures. That was good enough. The Texans trained Sri Lankans to clean the wells.

A father and daughter wait their turn at a medical clinic near Eravur, in the Batticaloa district of eastern Sri Lanka. (Photo by Rex Campbell)

The teams gave pumps and supplies to local pastors who can use them as tools to share the Christian message. Recovery will move faster with more people cleaning wells, leaders said.

Texas Baptist disaster relief workers also set up a mobile kitchen that has fed thousands near Batticaloa. The teams attempted to set up a kitchen in a refugee camp, but the Sri Lankan government told them to stop because it wants people to return to their villages rather than staying in the camps.

Texas Baptist Men provided a washer and dryer to get a Sri Lankan hospital functioning once again. The institution had run out of clean linens to use for its patients and was afraid of spreading infections.

In the process of bringing relief, the volunteers are altering many Sri Lankans' image of Americans and especially Christians. Residents commonly told the teams they did not expect Christians to help without trying to trick them. Those conversations opened witnessing opportunities.

Much work remains. For the people to return to their villages, the wells must be cleaned. Homes will need to be built. The industrial infrastructure needs to be recreated. The challenge is great, but Texas Baptist Men is meeting needs, Blanchard said.

“There's literally thousands of wells to do down there,” he said. “You say, 'How could we make a difference?' Well, to those who needed water, we made a difference.”