MISSION PARTNER NEWSLETTER FROM
SRI LANKA JUNE 2007
Recent newsletters have all started with a summary of the country’s “situation”, the euphemism used for the near civil war being waged between the Sri Lankan Army and the LTTE. This time, however, we’re going to write about our own visit to an area where the war is very real, Trincomalee, on the northeastern coast. Trinco is famous for its vast harbour, one of the biggest in the world, where the Royal Navy once had a huge base. Now the harbour seems to be almost empty except for the occasional ferry and ships carrying flour to the terminal where all Sri Lanka’s wheat flour is imported. Our reason for travelling was to visit some TCL students doing fieldwork as well as to see our friends Suji and Chrishanti, and their baby daughter, Henosha, Rosemary’s newest godchild.
Suji is now the Methodist minister at Mutur just across the harbour (40 min ferry ride). Last April / May the LTTE took the town, stayed for two days and then left. The army then shelled the town causing much damage and causing the people to flee. The Muslim population returned to the town after 20 days but the Tamils were only able to return after 4 months or so. They returned to damaged houses many of which had been looted. This was probably done by the army but the prior return by the Muslim community, of course, fuels suspicions. (We are rather dismayed at how often we hear negative generalisations by Christians about the Muslim population in Sri Lanka.) The Methodist Church’s Peace computer training centre lost its seven new PCs (the Army is suspected) and its water system had been damaged. Reconstruction and re-housing is taking a long time and there is the ever-present danger of renewed fighting. The Methodist Church compound is the home to 58 IDPs (internally displaced persons) and the Catholic Church has even more. Three of our students were doing their fieldwork there and also at the much bigger refugee camps.
Erecting a tin shelter in the Methodist Church Compound in Muttur to make things cooler for some of the 58 refugees living there.
The A6 to Trincomalee was a very empty road. On either side, the jungle had been cleared for 100-200 yards for mile upon mile to help prevent ambush of convoys. Every quarter of a mile there was a sandbagged emplacement of which half were staffed. There were many checkpoints although going to Trinco was much easier than leaving it. The terrain was different from other places we had seen.
In Trinco itself the army is everywhere, quite literally on every corner. Lots of camouflage and many guns. We were something of a curiosity and were stopped by soldiers largely out of boredom. We never felt unsafe, however, and our little Sinhala made most people smile. But we realize that this is only one of the many privileges accorded to a white skin. Even on the ferry to Mutur there were police, and a small navy launch was alongside for the part of the journey that was near the naval base.
Typical roadside terrain on the way to Trincomalee
There are many, many NGOs in the area, Red Cross, UNICEF, UMCOR, UNHCR, Oxfam to mention but a few. We dropped in on the office of one of them and met their finance manager. His most pressing concern was a letter he had received from the breakaway group from the LTTE, the Karuna faction which is now friendly with the government. This letter, received by many NGOs, asked for their financial details (bank accounts, partner NGOs etc) to be provided by 31st April (!), otherwise the Karuna faction cannot be responsible for their safety. This situation had been highlighted in the Colombo press but the government had said nothing while the Karuna faction bigwigs said that it is not their doing, just someone posing as Karuna faction. At another NGO, we learned that some relatives of NGO workers had received letters detailing their bank balances etc with requests for donations… Apparently this has happened before and, after customer protested by removing funds, the relevant bank branch sacked its entire staff. We don’t know what has happened about this since our visit to Trinco.
We visited two other students who were doing fieldwork in a couple of villages one hour north of Trincomalee. This was a predominately Sinhalese area where the students were given the instructions “Peace and Evangelism” by Suji’s Superintendent Minister. To some this might sound good but these are actually contradictory terms in a multi-faith area. This can bring the Methodist Church into conflict with others and is the sort of thing that has led to the promotion of the anti-conversion bill by Buddhists in parliament. We visited the local temple with the two students where the hospitable monk was very open, even criticizing a nearby colleague (ex-Army and incapable of listening or forming relationships). Suji was impressed with this openness – but one of our students asked too many questions and was told off by Suji afterwards. Asking about the number of families in the area may seem innocent (it certainly did to us) but if someone suspects an evangelistic enterprise then they will be even more suspicious. Openness and transparency without hidden agendas are essential pre-requisites for harmonious relations between the different faith communities.
The month after Easter sees existing students doing fieldwork and research while new students come for one month’s orientation. They then all have a month’s vacation. The new academic year, which began on June 15th, sees a 50% increase in the size of the student community because the smallest ever “batch”, just one student, has been replaced by the largest ever batch of eighteen students. Both Rosemary and James did some teaching in the orientation period and were pleased to get to know the new students. One student is disabled and uses crutches to get around. This won’t be easy on such a hilly campus but he is determined to be treated just like everyone else.
Now that term has started Rosemary’s duties include being the Faculty Secretary, teaching “The Church and its Ministry” (i.e. a NT course) and part of the “Women and Church” course, teaching two music classes, leading the “Justice Issues” interest group, leading a weekly singing group, and being responsible for the college nursery. Due to the increase in numbers, James is now teaching English as a member of the English teaching staff, as well as computing. He is looking forward to weekly drama sessions with interested students. We also still show films.
The record breaking new student batch
We continue to worship on Sundays at Kandy Methodist Church. Rosemary plays the piano once a month and preaches there about twice a quarter. We usually have our Sinhala lesson after church, as our teacher attends the same church. Rosemary has been put in charge of the Circuit Local Preachers’ Meeting. By virtue of her being ordained, she also attends Church Councils (still called here the Leaders’ Meeting) and Circuit Meetings (called here the Quarterly Meeting).
Preparation for the refurbishment of the classroom block and men’s hostel took much of James’ time at the beginning of the year. The work was virtually completed as the new term began. The classroom block now has a bright new tiled floor instead of the old pot-holed cement one. There is plenty of light in the previously gloomy classrooms, lecturers use whiteboards rather than dusty old blackboards, and the roof has been fully protected against termites and topped with brand new tiles. The work was funded by the local churches in partnership with three foreign donors, the largest being Evangelisches Missionswerk (EMW) of Germany. Pictures on website.
Like last year, we spent the long TCL vacation (one month) back in England. We mainly went to see Rosemary’s parents, George and Marjorie (both in pretty good health), but enjoyed seeing other family and some close friends. It was especially good to see James’s Auntie Rina who coincidently happened to be in London from California on her way to join a cruise in Southampton. We were very fortunate also in being able to celebrate our 10th wedding anniversary (one month early) at Jennie and Simon’s house in Farnham with many of the people who shared our special day ten years ago. We thank everyone who made our visit back to England so enjoyable. We do miss loved ones. We thank all those who keep in touch.
The Family Photograph Sunday June 3rd 2007
We
love to hear from you and to have your comments on our newsletters, as well as
being reminded of a world outside TCL. Congratulations
to Janet Corlett, Win Roe and Allan Williams, who correctly identified the moth
in our last Newsletter as an Asian Lunar Moth -
Actius selene. We send our best wishes to you all.
Rosemary and James. The Theological College of Lanka, Nandana Uyana, Pilimatalawa, Sri Lanka There are more photos of our life here in SL on our website: www.rosemaryandjames.methodistchurch.co.uk For more about TCL see: www.tclsl.org
Please
consider the following prayer points in addition to issues raised/people
mentioned in the newsletter:
Ž For an immediate stop to the fighting and a genuine commitment towards a negotiated solution.
Ž For the relief of all displaced and frightened people so that they can return to their homes in safety.
Ž For inter faith relationships in this complex land
Ž For the work of Rev’d Suji in Mutur in the Trincomalee Circuit For Chrishanti and Henosha.
Ž For Rani, Rubesh and Rajith, the family of Fr. Rex, lecturer at TCL, who died on May 12th.
Ž For the work of Kandy Methodist Circuit, especially its various projects supporting those in need.
More Worship resources on our website.
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