Evangelisation
 
Sri Lanka Under the Spell of God's Word
 
Fr Augustine Mundackatt V C

Sri Lanka is a small island rising in the Indian Ocean on the south east of India. Known as Ceylon in olden days, it is the Lankapuri of the Puranas. A flight of about 37 minutes from Trivandrum took us to its capital, Colombo. This city that lies to the south west of the country, is under heavy surveillance of the army and security guards. All over on the road, are canons and machine guns ready to spit fire and armed soldiers waiting to forestall attacks from the Libration Tigers of Tamil Elam ( LTTE) .

It was on the invitation of the Tamil prayer groups and the Bishop of Trincomalee and Batticoloa that we arrived there to preach the word of God. Having reached Colombo on the 5th of February, I made my way the next day to the north eastern province of Sri Lanka by road. Three of the organisers accompanied me for half the distance. I reached Kurnegala where another priest was waiting with the car to take me to the Trincomalee--Batticoloa province.

Having completed a three-days' prayer service in Trincomalee, I reached Batticoloa after a six-hour journey. Batticoloa is the seat of the Tamil Tigers. All along the way were barricades and heavy patrolling. All travellers were subjected to minute examination. By God’s mercy, during the ten days’ programme in Sri Lanka, his angel protected us from all harm and crises. In Batticoloa all the main roads are blocked by 5 o’clock. By 7 pm no traffic or people should be seen on the roads. All the same, hours before the Bible Proclamation and Healing service began, people assembled in the Church of Our Lady at Batticoloa. I was reminded of the words of Christ. They were like sheep without a shepherd. In a place where uncertainty, anarchy and unrest were rife, the dear children of God, came together in groups, yearning for the word of God and absorbed it whole- heartedly. Several healings, signs and miracles were worked by the power of God. Overriding the curfew imposed, the services went on till 9 pm but the guards on duty relaxed the rules for the benefit of the people of God returning home. This was the first time such a ministry was conducted in this area.

Any moment attack and bombing could take place from the side of the military or the LTTE. Sharing the word of God in such circumstances made our hair stand on end. When the word of God was sown in abundance, a festival of miracles and signs ensued. Numerous were the people in Sri Lanka, who had lost their near and dear ones in these hatred and strife-ridden areas for over a decade and a half. There was a huge crowd most of whom were widows, orphans or bereaved parents-all with pent up feelings of sorrow and loss. Into their hearts the word of God entered giving grace and peace: "Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest" (Mt 11:128).
 
 

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When they kept looking at the sacred face of Jesus and drank in his word, waves of consolation began filling their memories. In minds darkened by thoughts of revenge, repentance and fraternal love began taking root. Several were those who were going through a living death, having been rendered disabled, crippled or maimed for life through bombing and shell and mine explosions. Many had lost their family members.

The word of God healed their inner wounds. "With weeping they shall come, and with consolations I will lead them back, I will let them walk by brooks of water, in a straight path in which they shall not stumble; for I have become a father to Israel, and Ephraim is my first born" (Jer 31:9). "On that day, says the Lord of hosts, I will break the yoke from off his neck, and I will burst his bonds, and strangers shall no more make a servant of him" (Jer 30:8). These words became for the Sri Lankans, a soothing balm, bringing harmony, reconciliation and peace.

On the last three days, the services were in St Lucia's Cathedral square in Colombo. If there were 5000 people on the first day, it was tripled on the third day. There was not much publicity given to this programme, but still people came in huge crowds. Tamils and Sinhalese sat together forgetting their differences and enmity and listened to the word of God.

They began to experience and witness to the mercy of God, his saving love and his healing touch. The servcies were held in Tamil on three evenings and in Sinhalese on the whole of the last day. When the people listened to the word of God with tears, the Lord began to shower his miracles and signs. On the last day the congregation would not disperse even around midnight, rending the heavens with cries of Alleluia.

When the Tamil Bibles were distributed at concessional rates under the joint auspices of the Divine Retreat Centre and Wet Bible Project, the people received them with a burning thirst. Thousands have already begun to ask for more Bibles. Efforts are under way to get the Bibles printed in Sinhalese at the Divine Retreat Centre. There are several people from Sri Lanka coming to Divine to listen to the word of God. In the first week of March, about 25 young priests, under the leadership of the National Youth Chaplain, came to Divine to make their retreat.

The word of God has yet to reach the interior and the coastal areas of Sri Lanka Among the Sinhalese, the majority are Buddhists and among the Tamils, chiefly Hindus. There are a good number of Muslims too. Only 7% of the entire population is Christian. We must all pray that the remaining 93% may know and accept Jesus as their Lord and Saviour. Even the Bishops, priests and sisters there are constantly under the threat of being murdered. The LTTE wrongly think that priests and nuns leak information about their movements to the army. On the other hand, the army and the government believe that the Tamils, though they may be priests and nuns, will certainly side with the Tigers. "We are in constant agony between these two warring categories of people," said a priest. He continued, "Once a priest, seated in his presbystery in Batticoloa, busy with his office work, was brutally shot dead for no reason at all. I was attacked while driving a van, the keys taken by force, the vehicle filled with ammunition and driven off. The bombs were taken to the army camp, and the camp was bombed and captured. As I was looking at the van discarded by the Tigers, the army arrived, poured petrol on the van and burnt it. While I watched this scene, hidden in a little hut, my body was trembling with fear. If the army recognised the van as mine, it would have been instant death for me. I kept praising God. He strengthened me. He is my refuge and fortress. Though the army searched my hideout, God concealed me miraculously from their prying eyes." As he was saying this, Fr Bastin’s (for security reasons his real name is withheld) eyes sparkled with wonder and gratitude.

Let us pray that the seventeen million people in Sri Lanka, may, some day, be anointed in the Spirit and the word of God!