Economic collapse in Sri Lanka has led Baptists in the region to put together a coalition to provide emergency humanitarian relief, as well as call for systemic change.
After three years of unprecedented inflation and near-depletion of foreign exchange reserves, the Sri Lankan government announced in April it was defaulting on local and foreign debt repayments due this year, reported to be about $8.6 billion.
‘Felt across all sectors of society’
“The economy has collapsed, and we are now bankrupt,” Roshan Mendis, director of Asia Pacific Baptist Aid, wrote in a recent email. “The impact of this is felt across all sectors of society, irrespective of social status.
“Many of our rural congregations are made up of families that depend upon subsistence agriculture. The failure of their last crop due to a government policy decision to stop fertilizer, combined with the shortage of fuel in the current crisis, has prevented these families from sowing their lands even when it is the sowing season. The impending food crisis is quite concerning.”
Fuel shortages have affected the ability of urban pastors to care for their congregants and made it difficult for members to attend worship services, he added.
Runaway inflation has made it difficult for Sri Lankans to purchase groceries and medicine, he stated.
“With official food inflation alone being in the range of 46 percent and overall inflation at 119 percent with no comparative increase in wages or allowances, pastors who earn a meagre income anyway, as well as many church families, are struggling to make ends meet,” Mendis wrote.
“In addition to that, the lack of medicines due to the lack of dollars to import needed medications has resulted in several patients with inherent medical conditions like cardiac issues, diabetes, cancer, thyroid, etc., being unable to obtain and purchase their regular medications. Some deaths have been reported from preventable causes, due to the lack of access to required medication.”
‘The church has risen to the occasion’
In response, Asia Pacific Baptist Aid assembled a coalition of partners who are providing dry rations for vulnerable low-income families in Sri Lanka, along with medicine and other supplies for a national pediatric hospital in Colombo, Mendis said.
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Baptist leaders in Sri Lanka have responded by offering tangible assistance and advocating for change, he noted.
“It has resulted in some theological reflection, as well as some reconsideration of practical theology. The church has risen to the occasion in fulfilling its prophetic role and spoken to both the rulers and to the citizens, representing what we believe God would want to be told the people of the land,” he wrote.
“ The church has taken a stand and expressed its concern and position on the situation in the country. … The church has also responded publicly, in solidarity with the young protestors, joining in the call for a system change and removal of those responsible for sending the country into this economic abyss. This has been demonstrated together with a heart of compassion in serving the needy through various forms of relief.”
Three weeks ago, the National Evangelical Alliance of Sri Lanka, the Sri Lanka Baptist Sagamaya and Asia Pacific Baptist Aid issued a statement condemning “the reprehensible actions of government to suppress the freedom of expression of peaceful protestors and the lack of appropriate measures taken to prevent the unleashing of violence against them.”
“The use of tear gas, water cannons and or any other form of force, violence, harm or harassment against children cannot be justified or excused under any circumstance,” the coalition statement continued.
One week later, the Asia Pacific Baptist Federation issued a call to prayer and sponsored an online prayer rally on Zoom.
Mendis made clear his own thoughts regarding the need for regime change in Sri Lanka.
“The economic crisis cannot be settled by a quick fix,” he wrote in an email. “A system and constitutional change is a must, to be able to move away from the autocratic and dictatorial presidential system that brought us to this state.”
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