Three years ago there was a terrible flood in the Matara area. Many people died in that flood and thousands lost their homes and possessions. Our church in Matara, which was quite small at the time, about 30 people, really reached out with gifts of clothing, food and household goods that were donated through our diaconal ministries of our very small denomination in Sri Lanka. We helped clean out wells that were contaminated and churches in Austrailia donated money to build 10 houses which were finished recently. We helped many people and they saw the love of Christ first hand. The church grew to over 150 people in attendance most Sundays and they were able to start a Sunday School. In October Colonial Church Missions people visited the church and donated supplies for the Sunday School. It is a Miracle that this church was not badly damaged in the tsunami, only the things inside were damaged as you can see from the attached pictures.
You can see how high the water reached just under Jan's shoulder.
The
church was flooded and everything in it ruined as
The
clean-up for the church was able to continue past midnight
The Christmas offering has been left locked-up in the church, but somehow the water did not carry it away, even though the offering box was destroyed. Our pastor and his family lost everything, but were not hurt. We just praise God for that. We are still waiting to here about other members of the church, but know we will hear many other stories of God's protection. This is another opportunity to reach out to the people of that area who are primarily Buddhist and Catholic with the love of God. Our church will be involved through our ministries in reaching out to people of that area in particular, but may also provide aid as needed in other areas. We have many donors in Austrailia and South Africa, but will be happy to receive aid from our friends in the U.S. as well. Donations should be made out to Daystar U.S. with a separate note stating that the money should go to the Navamanie Sri Lanka Mission. The following is a list giving a prilimary idea of what some of the long term needs will be: * The big problem is going to be rebuilding and resettling. The DRC (Dutch Reformed Churches) has not decided on a course of action yet but will probably do something similar to the Matara/Hambantota floods earlier. Since the Australian and South African churches will provide money, we may opt to build as many homes as we can. Also, help to equip these home with furniture and utensils. I will work on figures later but rough estimates: $1000 can build a basic home; $250 for a gas cylinder & cooker; $150 will probably be enough for necessities to equip a home. * Cash is the most flexible form of assistance since it is easy to give and can be used or converted to meet needs as they are known. This is what relief agencies are requesting. We can use whatever money (especially if it is not a lot) is donated through our friends/churches together with what we get from Australian and South African churches to maximize its impact. Last time they gave about 1 million rupees or roughly $10,000. These figures are given as guidelines for you. Thank you for your concern and help. So many people are asking us what they can do to help. If you want to have your contributions to the disaster make an impact for Christ's Kingdom, you can contribute through Daystar directly to aid the Dutch Reformed Churches relief efforts in Matara and Galle. |
Donations can be made by check or credit card. Please designate your donation: Navamanie Sri Lanka Mission. By check, send to: Daystar
U.S. By credit card: |