MISSION PARTNER NEWSLETTER FROM
SRI LANKA december 2006
We begin by sending you our good wishes for a blessed Advent, a happy Christmas and a peaceful New Year.
We must begin with the war – for it is nothing less – that is now underway in the North and the East. The situation has not improved since we last wrote – indeed, most people find it difficult to see how things can improve. Talks in Geneva broke up with no progress made. They were probably doomed from the start. Meanwhile both the Government and the LTTE continue to violate the 2002 ceasefire. Civilians are killed by both sides, either through suicide bombings or artillery shelling. The A9 road to Jaffna has been closed by the government and there is a severe shortage of food and medicines in the Jaffna peninsula. And yet, in Kandy, apart from checkpoints on the main roads – rather lackadaisically staffed – you wouldn’t think there was anything so disastrous as a war going on in the same small country. Sri Lanka is many countries in many, generally tragic, ways. The longer we are here, the more complex we discover is the country’s political situation.
Life at the Theological College of Lanka goes on. Exams for external courses have just finished bringing 30 extra faces into the community for a week. Soon the resident ministerial students have to hand in their assignments and sit for their exams, and Rosemary and the other Faculty members will then go through the laborious multi-lingual marking process. Somehow, alongside their revision and community duties, the students manage to fit in rehearsals for the Christmas Cultural Programme, a medley of carols and drama to be performed in Colombo on 9 December 2006. Rosemary’s music teaching has expanded and included the teaching of some western carols for the event. The drama’s theme is the ethnic division, its title, “A Drop of Water for a Burning Nation”, reflecting the lack of commitment to peace on both sides. Extra efforts are being made to publicise the event, so we hope for a success. If the TCL students can match the excitement and energy of a recent show by the Kandy Methodist Circuit youth group, then everyone will be happy. Some of the dancing then was sensational – the Bollywood dancing being particularly exciting, much more so than western disco dancing, a sample of which seemed very dull in comparison.
For those interested in such things, James recently completed version 1 of a simple library database using Microsoft Access. The librarian, our Mission Partner colleague, Maggie Mudilage, is now populating it. By the way, there is no software copyright law here is Sri Lanka, so there are thousands of CD shops selling films, music and software. Everyone depends on software that costs 50p rather than £100+. This has helped computerisation in Sri Lanka - but some are now dependent on something they might not in future be able to afford. There are regular rumours of copyright legislation but no action so far - no doubt, a standing item on the US ambassador’s agenda.
The new nursery building was finally opened at the end of September. Rosemary is now the Faculty member responsible for this side of the community’s activity. Her duties are fairly light and she is helped by Arlene (spouse of a colleague) because of language problems. Three nursery teachers take classes every morning.
Children on their way to the new nursery in an excited procession
Originally the nursery was free so that anyone could send their children. However, when a fee-paying nursery opened in a nearby village, children were taken away from the TCL nursery. There is a local view that, if something is free, it can’t be very good. So our nursery has started to charge a small fee. However, collection of the fees has been rather intermittent. Now, with the fresh start of a new building and new equipment, the Principal has told the staff that their wages will be paid from the still very low fees, the college meeting all other costs. Now the money is being collected! There are 30 children and another 20 will join in January. (There are reduced fees for the poorest.)
Another recent development has been the construction of a state-of-the-art biogas facility and a new cattle shed. A local NGO provided the expertise and labour free of charge while the college provided the materials and the students dug the – very big - holes. The NGO hopes that a demonstration facility on the main Kandy / Colombo road will help spread the word about biogas generated from cow dung. State-of-the-art here means the latest design based on wide experience. When the biogas comes on stream we should save money on gas cylinders and maybe also burn less wood. The smaller cowshed is designed to need less water for cleaning.
The biogas system under
construction
Living in a campus community means there is always something going on. Sometimes these are planned, such as the regular daytime and evening activities that punctuate our week, while others, like any form of ministry, are unplanned. Prayer Meetings take place for a variety of occasions and women are invited/expected! Intercom and telephone calls begin early - from 6.00am onwards. We have both felt very tired and under too much pressure of late. But there are good things still happening too!
The college was recently honoured by a visit from the world famous theologian, Father Tissa Balasuriya OMI, a Sri Lankan Roman Catholic. We had met him in Colombo in Sept. 2004 when we were in Sri Lanka for Rosemary’s interview. As patron of the college’s Basil Jackson Theological Society, Rosemary invited him to give a seminar. Not only did he do this, but he also took the trouble to try to get to know the students and challenge them to act about the war situation. We hope a petition will result. Father Tissa, known as the only Roman Catholic in history to be ex-communicated and then re-admitted by the same Pope (another story)– also celebrated Holy Communion with Rosemary in the college chapel. For those unfamiliar with Roman Catholic law, this is quite an event – to celebrate Mass with a Protestant and a woman!
Father Tissa Balasuriya and Rosemary
Another visitor, our special friend Jennie Johnson is, as we write, about to arrive for a ten-day visit. We look forward to showing her something of our life here. And we have just said “goodbye” to Helen Ledger, an Experience Exchange Programme Partner (EEP), who has been sorting out the archives of the Kurunegala Diocese for 3 months. We have much enjoyed her company on various excursions.
The rainy season began in October and there has been some very heavy rain around the island. We have written before about soil erosion but this year things seem to be even worse than last year. In the Hill Country around Kandy there have been numerous landslips. Along the 800 yard boundary between the college and the Kandy / Colombo road there have been three quite large landslips. One of these brought down a beautiful flame tree onto the main road and broke phone and power lines. A picture of the undersides of a house a little further along the road featured on the front page of a recent Sri Lankan newspaper, the Sunday Times. Up country, on the spectacular road to Nuwara Eliya, a huge boulder killed five people who had gone to look at an earlier landslip. The weather pattern seems to be different from last year. This year the rain has been much heavier, attended by dramatic thunder and lightning but less unrelenting, starting at about lunchtime and continuing into the evening/night. People complain that the weather is changing - our more senior friends at Kandy Methodist Church can remember a time when cardigans were often worn in and around Kandy. Nowadays people would think it most strange.
Finally, we are now learning Sinhala in a back room behind the Church Hall after each Sunday’s service. This is extremely convenient and we are very grateful to our excellent teacher, Devakanthi, who is giving her time so generously. Our Sinhala is still very basic. We feel we should have done better, although the locals appreciate our faltering attempts. And Tamil? We know about 6 words!
A local house perched precariously
As we prepare to spend our second Christmas here, we think of those for whom this time of year is difficult, due to the loss of loved ones, especially those spending their first Christmas without them. Both at sad times and joyful times, we feel a long way from “old” friends. However we do have “new” friends here and enjoy their company. Some Christmas cards have already arrived. Thank you. We appreciate all your communications. And at the end of this year, we do want to say how grateful we are to Janet and Robin Bull for all that they do for us.
There are more photos of our life here in SL on our website: www.rosemaryandjames.methodistchurch.co.uk which will be updated in the New Year.
For more about TCL see: www.tclsl.org
Please
consider the following prayer points:
Þ
For an
immediate stop to the fighting and a genuine commitment towards a negotiated
solution.
Þ
For the
relief of all displaced and frightened people so that they can return to their
homes in safety.
Þ
For closer
relations between the Roman Catholic church and the Protestant churches
Þ
For our Sinhala lessons.
More
Worship resources on our website.
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