S ri Lankan beaches are the most picturesque in the world. In December this beautiful island in the Indian Ocean was hit by a tsunami. In Sri Lanka alone, conservative estimates say that over forty thousand people died, , people lost their homes and over one million people were displaced. Those who survived lost their livelihoods and have not been able to regain their financial footing. Experts suggest that fifty-nine percent of the people in Sri Lanka have seen their income drop by more than fifty percent since the tsunami.
Nearly a year later, people still live in makeshift camps. During the past few years the Church has been accused of helping people in order to convert them.
More than two hundred churches were attacked when extremists carried out a hate campaign based on this non-factual accusation. However, the tsunami propelled the Church to the forefront of caring for the nation of Sri Lanka. Caring for people with no strings attached has silenced some of the extremists to a certain degree; more important, the people who were persuaded that the Christian Church would only help in order to convert the poor have realized the fallacy of this idea.
They have realized this because they have experienced the truth of what the Church has been doing to help those in need. Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth. The generosity of the global Church, who responded so sacrificially to the needs of the people. The loss of life and property within the nation caused the people of Sri Lanka to be deeply saddened.
However, the response of the local church to the needs of the people thrills the hearts of those living on the island. The generous, sacrificial giving of the universal Church confirms the truth that we are indeed the body of Christ. He is also senior pastor and president of Kithu Sevana Ministries, a church planting ministry in Sri Lanka. De Visser serves as vice president for partnership development for Asian Access , a ministry committed to developing leaders across Asia.
