Rebuilding Lives in Post-War Sri Lanka
October 9, 2009
Gospel for Asia-supported workers are seeking permission from the government to minister to the thousands of Tamil people in Sri Lankan relief camps. The missionaries ministered to thousands of Sri Lankans, including the ones shown here, after the tsunami of 2004. |
Even though the decades-old civil war is over in Sri Lanka, the suffering has yet to end. Gospel for Asia-supported missionaries are now reaching out to the survivors, many of whom were displaced from their homes by fierce gun battles during the final weeks of the fighting.
So far government-enforced security measures have prohibited visitors—including missionaries, aid workers and journalists—from entering some of the relief camps where an estimated 400,000 displaced people are being held. But rather than retreat and ignore the desperate needs of the people in the camps, GFA-supported workers are reaching out in small, yet practical ways.
"We sent books for the children who are in Menik Farm IDP (Internally Displaced Persons) camp and sent rubber slippers (sandals) as per the request of the social services ministry," reports Lal Vanderwall, GFA's Sri Lanka country leader. "Last month we visited two IDP camps in Batticaloa in the eastern province and distributed food items with the help of some visitors."
Vanderwall says GFA personnel in the country have petitioned the government for permission to do more.
"We are interested in helping IDPs, and up to this time, I have visited two government ministers to get approval for long-term projects," Vanderwall comments.
Amnesty International reports that many of the people are being held against their will in the camps. Numerous news articles have reported rampant malnutrition and disease in the camps. Menik Farm IDP camp suffered massive flooding earlier this year as well. In spite of the deluge, however, water for drinking and cooking is severely rationed.
There are a reported 41 camps, of which Menik Farm is the largest with an estimated population of at least 250,000—twice as many as was intended when the camp was set up.
The majority of displaced people in the camps are Tamils, a minority people group in Sri Lanka. A fringe rebel group, the Tamil Tigers, waged a civil war with the Sri Lankan government for 26 years until meeting defeat in May. According to a BBC report, the government will not allow any Tamils to leave the IDP camps until until they are interviewed individually to determine if they have any connection to the Tamil Tigers.
Lal Vanderwall shared the following prayer requests for Sri Lanka:
- Pray for the desperate needs of the Tamils living in the relief camps.
- Pray that Gospel for Asia would find favor with the government and be allowed to minister to the people in the camps.
- Pray that the missionaries and churches in Sri Lanka would be able to bring peace and eternal hope to the people scarred by war.
- Pray that those who hold elected office within the Sri Lankan government would set aside their individual agendas in favor of making the country stronger for its 21.3 million residents.
