After various successful elections at the provincial level, President Mahinda Rajapaksa has decided to hold a Presidential election nearly two years before he is obliged to do so. Given the fact that his massive popularity as the winner of the war can only decline as memories and emotions wane and the realities of daily survival loom larger for so many people, this is a good move as far as he is concerned. The main opposition party, rather too used to regular defeat under their current leader, have responded by finding their own war hero to lead a coalition of anti-government parties, namely, the former head of the Sri Lankan Army, General Sarath Fonseka. Fonseka, the man who led the army to victory over the LTTE, resigned his position in order to take on his previous boss and, like many before him, pledges to discontinue the French-style Executive Presidency and leave things to the Prime Minister and parliament. We’ll see - just winning will be hard enough. Our own very limited soundings have registered much dismay with the way the country is being governed with the President’s family in many positions of power, a muzzled press and a budget deficit that must one day come home to roost. Lots of government money is being spent to promote the President - posters are breeding and even the money itself has his picture on it. The new 1000 Rupee note has him raising his arms in a victory salute on one side while, on the other, soldiers raise the Sri Lankan flag in an arrangement which owes not a little to the famous photo of Marines on Iwo Jima.

An irony of the election is that the votes of the Tamils in the newly liberated North and East may well be crucial because the southern Sinhalese vote is likely to be split. One web-site wryly commented that the Tamils have to choose between the one who gave the orders to fight and kill and the one who very efficiently did it. A further irony is that these same voters were denied the chance to vote in the last Presidential Election (in Nov. 2005) due to an extraordinary agreement between Prabakaran, the LTTE leader, and Rajapaksa’s party. Prabakaran stopped the Tamils from voting because they would probably have supported Rajapaksa’s opponent. So he helped into power the very man who would be the death of him and the LTTE!

Meanwhile, the government has allowed many of the Tamils in the camps near Vavuniya to leave temporarily and under certain conditions. It continues to be almost impossible to obtain an overall view of the situation, in part because no-one will believe the government which has not allowed any independent observers into the camps. We do hear stories from the students, however. The families of two students have been released. One family is staying with relatives in Vavuniya and the other is staying in another camp where they can to come and go. So some progress is being made.

Progress is also being made concerning access to Jaffna. The road is now open for private vehicles but it is still hard for foreigners to get a pass. We hope that, by the time we want to go to visit various former students there, we will be able to travel more readily too. Again, we’ll see…

Meanwhile life at the Theological College of Lanka goes on. However, there are major changes in the offing mainly due to Faculty and staff members moving on. In January, the current Dean, Rev. Karunasekara, and Rev. Priyantha Wijegoonewardena are and their families are leaving. We will really miss Karu and Jancy. Then at the end of the Semester in April, our friend Maggie, who has been the TCL Librarian for 12 years, will cease to be a Mission Partner and will become part time here. We will return to England in June. Most importantly, the very experienced Principal, Rev. Dr. Albert Jebanesan (Jebi), will step down at some point before the middle of next year to take up his new post as President of the Methodist Church of Sri Lanka. His successor has yet to be appointed. All this change of personnel is causing some anxiety amongst the staff and students left behind, although new Faculty members have been found. And then there are the changes being proposed as a result of the work being done by James under the auspices of the Board of Governor’s Development Group. Some of this should help issues of staff continuity. James is hoping to offload most of his English teaching in order to concentrate on this work. He is also hoping to complete a computer system upgrade, so that much less maintenance is needed after he has gone.

Another change has been the introduction of an experimental "block system" into the timetable for the new semester. This means that one subject is taught intensively to each year group who must also complete their assignments and exams within the same four weeks. The idea is to make teaching by visiting lecturers more feasible. Rosemary is about to embark on the teaching of the second block of the semester. She will be teaching the "Life and Ministry of Jesus Christ" course to the first years.

Another student has been to Zambia for a 7 week exposure programme. This link is valuable because few Sri Lankans have experience of African cultures and African Christianity. Links with Africa will be strengthened greatly next year when a Mission Partner from Tanzania comes to TCL in June 2010– although sadly our paths will not cross.

Choir singing continues to be an off-campus activity. It helps keep Rosemary’s musical interests alive. Usually James, the chauffeur, sits on the veranda of the choir mistress’s home and works on his laptop while the choir practises within. There is a concert in Kandy on Dec. 19^th.

Every year we have attended the Nine Lessons and Carols in the beautiful chapel of Trinity College. This year the standard was especially high. We now accept the inevitable rain and general coolness when attending this event and also the singing of "In the Bleak Midwinter" which seemed so inappropriate when wearing sandals. However December is our coolest month and can be bleak when the clouds continually seem to gather rather than disperse. It is one of the times when Rosemary needs a cardigan here in Kandy.

We attended another rather grand occasion as guests of honour at the annual speech banquet in October of the Beacon Hill Academy (BHA) about which we have written previously. Amongst other things, BHA teaches leadership, computing and English to its students in Nuwara Eliya. We heard some interesting and amusing speeches by students for whom a visit to the Grand Hotel is an important step as they increase in confidence.

Last month we attended the joyful ordinations of former students Wasana, Wesley, Nishanthan and Arulnathan (Methodists) in Colombo, and Anuruddha and Sanath (Diocese of Kurunegala) in Kandy.

We mentioned Mr. Lappen (now 90) in our last Newsletter but sadly a happy resolution to his accommodation problems is still awaited.

We were fortunate in being able to make a brief visit to England in November to share in the 90th birthday celebrations of Rosemary’s mother. Marjorie had had a heart operation a week before but this didn’t stop her thoroughly enjoying a long weekend away in Suffolk with husband George, three children, their spouses and seven grandchildren.

While in England, Rosemary was "matched" in Round 1 of the British Methodist stationing system. From Sept. 1^st 2010 she will be Superintendent of the North Lambeth Circuit. We also had a day with Caversham Heights Methodist Church in their Centenary Year. Rosemary took morning and evening services. James gave a talk in the afternoon about Sundays in Kandy which enabled us to connect our two parallel universes in a small way.

As we are prepare to spend our fifth and last Christmas here, we are aware that there is much we will miss about life in Sri Lanka. Being out of Circuit has also meant that Advent and Christmas here have been very different experiences from the past. However, Rosemary is keeping her hand in as she will be taking a Christmas Day service this year.

Many Christmas cards have already arrived. Thank you for remembering us. We appreciate those of you who keep in touch with us during the year. At the end of another year here, we do want to say how grateful we are to Janet and Robin Bull for all that they do for us. Please remember them and others who struggle with infirmity or are caring for loved ones who are ill. We conclude by sending you our good wishes for Christmas and for the New Year.

We ask for prayers/thoughts for all the people and issues mentioned in this newsletter:

Newsletter back copies are on our website together with a large number of pictures of our life in Sri Lanka: see www.rosemaryandjames.methodistchurch.co.uk. Our postal address is: The Theological College of Lanka, Nandana Uyana, Pilimatalawa 20450, Sri Lanka.