Our Hearts are Overwhelmed - Sri Lanka

Two weeks into our time in Sri Lanka and our hearts are overwhelmed with the goodness of the Lord.  So many experiences, impressions, emotions - we’re on sensory overload.  

We are overwhelmed as we reflect on:  

• Our great joy to be back in Sri Lanka after almost 5 years. Working with our ministry partners Deepthi and Layasing, we slipped back into fellowship and ministry as if no time had passed.
  
• The overabundance of beauty.  Sri Lanka Means Resplendent land - and it truly is that. Photos provided as proof.
  
• Gracious people who organize and host the eye clinics and services and prepare delicious local dishes for lunch: even toning down the spice level so as not to overwhelm our western tastebuds (although Gary has a missionary stomach  and can eat the spiciest of foods without concern).
  
• The extreme poverty and seemingly un-ending need. Sri Lanka suffered through 25 years of civil war, ending in 2009. The nation was beginning to recover, when the world shut down during the pandemic.  Sri Lanka experienced a severe economic collapse beginning in 2019 and their Prime Minister was forced to resign. Costs of basic necessities have increased 400% over the past 3-4 years. There is little help for the people, their suffering is real.
  
• Gratitude that we can come alongside and show the love of Jesus in a practical way – by giving eyeglasses to those who could never afford them.

Eye vision clinics provide a unique opportunity to serve the needs of people on both a physical level and a spiritual level. Local church workers, pastors, evangelists are involved, meet the people and follow up with them regardless of religion or church affiliation. 

First weekend: Deniyaya  By 5:30 Friday morning the van is loaded with eye glasses, exam equipment, overnight bags, drinking water.  We drive three and a half hours southeast, much of it on the country’s new E-01 toll-road which greatly reduces our drive time.  

Because of the potential for persecution by the Buddhists in this area, the eye clinic was very low key.  With the goal of developing positive relationships in the neighborhood, news of the eye clinic was discreetly spread by word of mouth.

During four and a half hours, sixty-six (66) people had their eyes examined with assistance and translation by local church workers. The local church workers had helped Deepthi and Layasing in another community a few months ago and were very organized and efficient. 

Fifty-six (56) people received glasses. Many had cataracts so severe glasses could not help. Younger people were experiencing eyestrain because of excessive time on their devices. They were given some basic eye care instruction and were taught exercises to strengthen their eyes.

Because of the very real danger of increased persecution, we only prayed with those who were already followers of Jesus; or those who specifically said they believed Jesus could heal them.  This helps to avoid the accusation of 'buying' conversions by giving free eyeglasses.

Sunday morning service at Diniyaya – Joyful praise to the Lord went up from the roof top terrace of a local hotel, rented for Sunday morning’s church service.  Gary shared the Word, communion was received.  What a joy to worship with our Sri Lankan family. 

Second weekend - Udugama & Hiniduma The last time an eye clinic was held in these two villages was October 2017 and my sister Cyndy was with us. Much has changed in the past seven years.  Click here to check out posts from 2017 - Udugama      Hiniduma a    Hiniduma b  

Udugama – is just two and a half hours from Moratuwa.  Friday’s eye clinic was held on an estate that produces palm oil, rubber and tea. Estates or gardens are basically plantations. Tea garden villages are built up over time, workers live and raise their families right where they work.

With three people doing the eye exams, and Pat dispensing glasses, we saw eighty-four (84) people in three hours. All but 6 or 7 were given glasses.   Tea and a local snack were served mid-morning.  A delicious and bountiful lunch followed the eye clinic.

Early evening we drove an hour further south to Galle to visit a brother from the Buttala Church who was in hospital for full checkup - high blood sugar.  Since we were right on a bay of the Indian Ocean, we found a seafood restaurant and enjoyed prawns, cuttlefish and seafood fried rice. Along with Sri Lanka’s most famous beverage – Elephant House ginger beer. 

The local Holiday Inn in Udugama provided basic accommodations (including air conditioning, but not hot water) for SLR 3,000 each; equal to US $10.  We seemed to be the only guests in this beautiful large facility, which apparently stays in business with income from their events hall.  

Hiniduma was a short twenty minute drive on Saturday morning. The eye clinic was held in  the Methodist church house.  People waited patiently under the shade of large trees or in the covered meeting hall where church services are held. 

Eighty eight (88) people were seen in just under four hours, and most were given glasses.  Sister Deepthi also checked several children and youth and taught them exercises to do for vision convergence - which happens when we are on the computer or devices for long periods of time. 

Mid-morning we were served coffee made from locally grown Sri Lankan coffee beans. It was enjoyed with a local dessert crepe rolled around a honey coconut filling and slices of lovely chocolate layer cake, all on very pretty China. 

The church ladies prepared and served a bountiful  lunch, featuring a  special local vegetable.  In Sinhala it’s called “paththra koku” which translates as ‘newspaper hooks’.  Two teenage girls went out and foraged some plants to show us how it looks before cooking; turns out it is a variety of fiddlehead fern. Another new taste experience. 

Plans are to be in Nurawa Eliya for our final weekend. Our last visit there was in February 2016 – click to read Cyndy’s account of that drive. (note this was before the toll road was constructed).

Look for future posts on Sri Lanka and Adara Sevana – a school for the differently-abled. 

Each of you – have a part in the ongoing work God is doing in Sri Lanka.  There is a ripple effect as hearts are opened to hear more about Jesus, families are changed, communities are healed; the long term impact that we will only know in eternity.

~ The Journey Continues -  Pat & Gary

On To Hiniduma

The rain kept pounding down  intermittently during Saturday's eye clinic in Udugama, but paused for our walk from and back to the car! 

The van couldn't traverse the last little bit so we got in a nice little hike down to the meeting hall. 

In 3.5 hours, we set up (& later packed up) 2 exam stations - one each for distance and near-sighted testing - and a dispensary for diagnosed strengths of glasses, examined the eyes of 53 people, and gave out 38 pairs of eyeglasses.

With the continuing rains, our Sunday plans were jeopardized, from a safety standpoint. Since Sunday's location was just further up the main road another 15 km, we booked it up there to say hello to the pastor and see the mission house and church location.

Rain persisted the entire drive up and back, and the water level in the river kept rising, with water across the road in a couple places. (Fear not - it wasn't over the tiny tyres on the van.)

In comparison to the murky high water pictured, this river is normally more of a trickling flow. 

The turquoise mission house pictured has a second story on the right side. This is the house I mentioned yesterday that flooded in May up to the second story roof, where the family was rescued. 

Just before the flood in May 2017, Buddhist leadership organized opposition to this church in Hiniduma being built. In response to the flood, the church pastors and people offered much needed aid to others in the community, and that was the end of that round of opposition. 

Many homes along the way had also been  flooded out at the same time. Some buildings and roads are still undergoing repair. This station for the #10 bus route was flooded to right below the roofline. Since May, it has been repaired and repainted. 

BUT today, prayers were answered with clear skies, both at our hotel in Hikkaduwa and up in the hills at Hiniduma. 

Even one of the little local orphan dogs is enjoying the clear view.

Breakfast was on time & delicious, and we are on our way with high expectations for both the morning service and afternoon eye clinic. 

Then we head back to our main base in Moratuwa, to prepare for next week's clinics in Trincomalee.

Off To Our First Clinic In Udugama

Our plans today to depart at 7:30 AM to our first eye clinic in Udugama were slightly delayed - on our side, by the hotel kitchen's laid back interpretation of time (breakfast at 7:00 AM became the initial fruit plate arriving at 7:30...) On the destination side, heavy rain and subsequent flood warnings required our key contact waiting in Udugama to drive back home and transfer his family to safety and move furniture up to their second story rooms. They live further away from the clinic destination, down near the river. When severe floods occurred in Sri Lanka this past May, their home quickly was under water past the second story and they were rescued off the roof.

As of our departure time of 8:35 AM, we were assured that the area we are headed to is safe, being at a higher elevation in low-grown tea country. If rain continues at the current rate, plans may not go as scheduled for today's second eye clinic and tomorrow's scheduled church meeting and eye clinic, due to safety warnings of potential mudslides and also because the people who would come to the clinics would be occupied with moving to higher ground.

BUT there is a bit of sunshine peaking out, so we wait to see what God has in store either way. 

Side Note: Low country tea is different from high country tea, which is perceived as a finer quality product. I noticed right away that the terraces are not as steeply vertical nor the plants as strictly pruned as on the high country estates we visited near Nuwara Eliya in 2016.

We also drove through palm oil and rubber tree estates - love seeing the real world source of a common item off ingredient lists. Kind of like putting a face to a name.