home
missions
belize
sudan
uganda
kenya
england
mexico
short-term
archives
|
Spring 2005
Sri Lanka ~ A Risen Hope
In the wake of the torrid waters that tore through Southeast Asia, Saving Grace and Safe Harbor join together to bring hope to the hopeless
|
Viewing the train that was thrown by the violent waves in Telwatta, Sri Lanka
Subasinghe lived a quiet life by the Indian Ocean in Sri Lanka. He had a beautiful home that he lived in with his wife and two of his five grown children. It was a good strong home, built in 1915. He lived 50 feet from a beautiful lagoon where he and his children swam. His wife cooked in their kitchen that was black from the smoke that came out of the oven. Daily she ground peppers on a granite slab to make curry. Life was slow and did not change much, until one morning when the screams of people around their neighborhood broke the silence.
Suddenly water began to pour into his yard like a river that had burst through a dam. Subasinghe had to think quickly. Where could his family go? The lagoon that had always been so peaceful was now a river of water filled with debris. He jumped on his roof and pulled up his wife and children. He saw the second wave coming toward his house. Could his old house withstand the force of the water? He decided to try to make a run for it. Perhaps his family could make it across the lagoon to get to higher ground. They jumped down and ran toward the lagoon. Subasinghe’s children ran ahead and made it across, but before he and his wife could make it the third wave hit. They grabbed nearby trees so they would not be swept away, but the water rose higher and higher.
| Omar Vazquez (left) of CC Saving Grace,
and team member Ted Miyake (right) of
Safe Harbor, remove rubble |
Sunitha, Subasinghe’s wife, tried to reach for a higher limb, but her long hair became tangled in a tree. Within seconds the water was over her head. Subasinghe screamed for her to come higher up the tree, but Sunitha could not break free. Subasinghe took a deep breath and jumped into the water. After trying feverishly to free her hair, he ran out of breath and had to go up for air. When he reached the surface he looked back down into the water. His wife looked up at him with terror in her eyes. Within a moment, he could see the life leaving Sunitha. He jumped back into the water and pulled on her body as hard as he could. The branch broke free and he brought Sunitha to the surface. He carried her across the lagoon to their children. They laid Sunitha on the sand, but she wasn’t breathing. Subasinghe tried to push on her chest to resuscitate her, but only water and sand came out of her mouth. She was dead.
| | Subasingha's family, his late wife in the gold dress |
“This is how my wife died,” Subasinghe explained as tears came down his face. He looked at Pastor Trent Douglass and asked, “What will I do now? My wife is gone. Everything is gone.” It had been weeks since the terrible tsunami swept over the island of Sri Lanka and killed Subasinghe’s wife but he was still having nightmares. “We have come to help,” replied Pastor Trent.
| | "We Will Rebuild" |
Senior Pastor Trent Douglass and his brother Pastor Rob Douglass, Director of Saving Grace World Missions, were part of a 10-person crisis team that went to Sri Lanka recently to help the victims of the tsunami. Pastor Trent is the pastor of Calvary Chapel Saving Grace located in Yorba Linda, California. Saving Grace Calvary Chapel partnered with Safe Harbor and a local 5,000-member Church* in Sri Lanka to bring aide to the people there.
| Missions Pastor Rob Douglass of CCSG helps
restore electricity to homes in a village |
The Saving Grace team quickly got to work on Subasinghe’s house after entering his small village. Debris covered the area. Everything inside the home was destroyed and needed to be removed. Throughout the day as the team worked, Subasinghe wept as he carried each item from his home and thought about his wife. The translator, Anupam*, a member of the Local Church in Sri Lanka, began to talk to him about Jesus Christ. Subasinghe was a Buddhist and his wife, Sunitha, was a Christian. Subasinghe was interested in what Anupam had to say. He asked Pastor Trent if he could pray with his family, as he wanted to receive Christ. During the prayer Subasinghe also asked for his nightmares to go away.
| | Pastor Trent ministers to Subasingha |
The next day the Saving Grace team moved on to another house down the road, but Subasinghe found Pastor Trent and asked him to come tell his children about Jesus. Pastor Trent went back to Subasinghe’s house and found his son and daughters weeping for their mother. When Pastor Trent shared with them about the love of Jesus Christ and their need for salvation, they told him they wanted to know more. Pastor Trent told them they could have a Bible study the next day. When Pastor Trent spoke to the translator about meeting with the family the next day, he was concerned about the safety of those involved, since the government of Sri Lanka had laws that forbid converting people from one religion to another. The Catholic Church had also put out a warning that members of the crisis team were there helping people only to try to convert individuals to Christianity.
After much prayer, the crisis team agreed it would hold the Bible study because Subasinghe’s family had asked Pastor Trent to come to their home. When the team arrived the next day they found people waiting for them to pray for a boy that was deaf and dumb. Pastor Trent prayed for the boy, and then taught Subasinghe, his children and their three friends how they could be saved. After the message, six people there said they wanted to receive Jesus as their savior! After Pastor Trent led them in the sinner’s prayer, he spoke to them about how their mother’s death had now brought the life of Jesus Christ into their family. Even though they would mourn for their mother, they would no longer mourn as those with no hope.
After leaving Subasinghe, Pastor Trent tried to find a Bible in Subasinghe’s own language, but it wasn’t easy. The pastor from the Local Church who had been working with the team finally agreed to give Subasinghe his own Bible. By this time, the team did not know how to contact Subasinghe, as he was no longer living at his old house. As the team was in the village a few days later, Pastor Trent decided to go back to Subasinghe’s old house.
As he arrived, Subasinghe came out from under a tree he had been sitting under. He greeted Pastor Trent and then started writing in the sand. He wrote 9:30 in the sand. They didn’t have a translator, but managed to communicate that his wife had died one month ago to the day at 9:30 am. He had came back to remember his wife on this day. Pastor Trent told him, “One month ago you lost your wife, and now God has brought you His Word that will bring life to your soul.” Finding the words, Subasinghe replied, “God has sent you to me.” Pastor Trent then explained to Subasinghe that he should start reading the book of John and then the gospels that talk of Jesus’ life. The team had never seen someone with as much interest and excitement to read God’s Word as this man. It was obvious that he had never seen a Bible before.
The team said their good-byes with Subasinghe holding back the tears. He put his head on Joe Horner’s chest and said thank you. He was a different man than the day the team first met him weeping inside his home. His eyes were full of joy and anticipation. As the team walked away from Subasinghe’s home, they looked back one last time to wave goodbye. What they saw was an image that will be forever etched in their minds. Subasinghe was sitting on the front step of his home reading the Bible the team had just given him! The sun was shining down on the Bible and reflecting back into his face. He was oblivious to the fact that the team was waving at him, because he was so absorbed in reading this treasure he had just found. Joe looked at Pastor Trent and said, “This is what missions is all about.” As they walked down the path, it was like their feet didn’t touch the ground. The team found themselves yelling praises to God with arms outstretched!
*Names have been omitted for the protection of the individuals/organizations
An untold number of children were orphaned by the tsunami
|
|
