Update from GFA's
Sri Lanka Country Leader

updated: May 28, 2010

GFA World's Sri Lanka Country Leader, Lal Vanderwall

Thank you very much for your prayers and care for us. Our brothers and sisters are reaching out to flood victims in various areas. Yesterday, a team went down south to help 340 families, while other teams brought aid to those in the western provinces. We have identified a number of people who are sick—including many who have skin deceases due to the polluted water. Others are badly infected and have high fevers. We will be conducting medical camps next week in some places. Government hospitals do not have the necessary medicines, and the poor people are suffering. Most of the flood victims are from low-lying areas. We have received requests from officials to conduct clinics. Tomorrow we will be making arrangements to distribute pots and pans. There are more opportunities for us to show the love of Jesus to the people here. Please continue to uphold us in prayer.

story from May 26, 2010:

A Firsthand Report from Sri Lanka

Rev. Lal Vanderwall oversees the work of GFA World in Sri Lanka. Lal has been working around the clock since the flooding hit his island home last Friday. He filed this report from Columbo on Monday.

Yesterday, after church services, our teams continued relief efforts. They helped many families. One of our missionaries, Gokul Dishlaun, came and reported that there are 200 people taking shelter in a school. They haven't had food for a couple of days. School authorities do not even allow them to cook anything on the premises. We decided to provide them hot meals.

I received many requests from officials for help. I received a phone call from the minister of social services in the southern provincial council requesting aid for hundreds of families. He said there were about 10 houses to rebuild.

Today, there was rain in other places, too. While I am writing this mail, our brothers and sisters are busy packing food items. We distributed food among many people and have exceeded helping more than 2,000 families up to now. We also gave the local government in our area a consignment of essential medicines.

Please pray for the situation. Today I forgot to have my meals, since I had to run around and organize ongoing activities. I had some food just before I started to write this email.

It is good to represent Christ our Lord in times like this. People see the love of Christ through the kind acts of His followers. Even some moderate Buddhist monks admire and appreciate the Church!

Thank you very much for standing with us.
Sincerely,
Lal Vanderwall

story from May 23, 2010:

A Report from Sri Lanka:
1,000 Families Already Helped

Compassion Services Teams, led by GFA World-supported missionaries, have already reached out to 1,000 families affected by pre-monsoon flooding in Sri Lanka.

"Today I visited 20 places in the western province where there are more than 3,000 people affected," said Lal Vanderwall, GFA World's Sri Lanka country leader. "Children lost their school uniforms and books. When people return to their houses after the water subsides, they will have to begin their lives from scratch."

Right now, teams are helping people with food, water and medical supplies. Many victims are staying in refugee centers set up in Buddhist temples, which are always built on the highest spot in town and are therefore rarely flooded. Schools and churches that escaped the worst of the flooding are also being transformed into makeshift shelters.

The schools have cancelled classes indefinitely.

The government has also sent in military helicopters to rescue those trapped in low-lying areas. No one is sure when the people will be able to return to their homes. Sri Lanka was inundated with more than 13 inches of rain in five days. The rain, which was not predicted by forecasters, was caused when Cyclone Laila stirred up the waters in the Bay of Bengal. While the cyclone never actually struck Sri Lanka, its side effects created the storms that swamped the island nation.

To make matters worse, Sri Lanka is expected to begin receiving its annual monsoon rains this week. The annual weather pattern brings anywhere from 100 to 200 inches of rain on the country in an approximate three-month time span. The annual rain is very important to the country as it fills up reservoirs and provides the water needed to grow crops. This year however, it is likely to cause more misery to the millions of impoverished Sri Lankans who live in flood-prone areas. When Sri Lankans return home, the Compassion Services teams will shift gears and begin helping them rebuild lives, starting with their most basic need—clean water.

"We are ready to clean the wells and purify water for them," Vanderwall said. "We're thankful for the Texas Baptist Men, who generously gave our brothers their water pumps, generators and shared their expertise."

In the aftermath of the 2004 Asian Tsunami, the Texas Baptist Men trained GFA-supported missionaries on how to clean and restore wells. They also donated well-cleaning equipment, which will be useful again this year.

Once the people return home, Compassion Services teams will provide new cooking utensils, bed linens and other household items. Additionally, they will work alongside their fellow countrymen to rebuild and restore what was damaged by the storm, be it a fishing boat, a small store or a family farm.

While the main focus is to care for the people's physical needs, they will not neglect their spiritual needs either. "This is the time for us to be salt and light," Vanderwall said. "It is a great time to share the love of our Lord." Vanderwall asks for prayer that the rain will slow down and the water will quickly subside. He also asks for prayer that the coming monsoon rains will not make the flooding situation any worse.

story from May 22, 2010:

At least *20 people are confirmed dead and hundreds of thousands are homeless as a result of flooding on the island nation of Sri Lanka.

"This is the worst flooding to hit the country since the Asian tsunami devastated Sri Lanka in 2004," said GFA World Director Dr. K.P. Yohannan. "They had absolutely no warning that this huge storm was on the way. It took them totally by surprise."

Yohannan had just spoken with Lal Vanderwal, GFA's country leader in Sri Lanka, who reports that entire villages are underwater.

"Their homes are flooded and they've lost everything," Dr. Yohannan said. "The children don't have any clean clothes to wear and their schoolbooks have been destroyed."

The flooding was caused by torrential rains that inundated the teardrop-shaped island for more than a week. Sri Lanka, a country of 18.6 million people, is located off the southeast coast of India. Its location in the Bay of Bengal makes it subject to the seasonal monsoon weather pattern. The monsoon rains, which last for months, usually arrive in the last few days of May. Meteorologists say these disastrous pre-monsoon rainstorms were intensified by Cyclone Laila, which recently blasted the Bay of Bengal and is devastating some of India's coastal areas. While Cyclone Laila spared Sri Lanka, it is blamed for 16 deaths in India.

Sri Lanka's Disaster Management Center reports that more than 600,000 people were displaced by the flooding. Many of those affected are the poorest of the poor who live in low-lying areas and shanty-type structures, which have no chance against the brutal force of the driving rain or the fast-moving floodwater. One major city is facing a grim situation with more than 40,000 homes damaged by the floods, and subsequent landslides.

GFA World Compassion Services teams are already providing emergency medical care, food rations, clean water, and other immediate household needs.

"As soon as the extent of the devastation became clear, a high-ranking elected official in the Sri Lankan government contacted our leaders and asked us to help," Dr. Yohannan said. "This government official said the need is so great, and they know that we are always ready to bring aid."

The Compassion Services teams, mobilized out of the more than 100 Sri Lankan churches led by GFA World-supported missionaries, will spend the first few days taking care of immediate food, shelter and clothing needs. They are already distributing food packets containing rice, lentil beans, sugar, milk, potatoes, dried fish, crackers, salt and soap.

Once the floodwaters subside they will shift gears and begin the task of helping flood victims rebuild their lives.

One of the first tasks will be to clean out thousands of water wells that have been contaminated by the floods. Later, they will rebuild homes, and restore items needed for the people to maintain their livelihood.

In addition to helping the people, GFA-supported missionaries will have to assess the damages to their own churches and to the dozens of Bridge of Hope Centers on the island.

"We have months and months of work ahead of us," Dr. Yohannan said.

Read updates on Cyclone Laila