Hands of Compassion

The ladies in Women’s Fellowship go out often to tell other villagers of the hope they’ve found in Jesus.

Reaching Out to Sri Lanka’s Flood Victims

Amit held the phone with trembling hands. His leader’s voice, on the other side of the phone, seemed a world away.

“This is probably the last time I am talking to you,” Amit told him. Outside, each pounding raindrop brought the possibility of a watery grave nearer.

Gospel for Asia-supported missionary Amit had waded through the four-foot floodwaters to call his supervisor, who lived in another village, and asked him to pray: If the rain continued for just a few more hours, a nearby dam would give way. This would seal the fate of all who lived in Amit’s village.

Rain of the Century

When the rain had started pouring down more than two months earlier, elderly villagers said it was the most rain they’d seen in 40 years. Even that was an understatement. The storm, spawned by the same 2011 La Niña weather pattern that left much of eastern Australia underwater, brought the heaviest rain Sri Lanka had experienced in 100 years.

“It rained like hailstones,” Amit recalls. “When I saw the rain, I thought the world was going to end.”

So did everyone in the village. Amit remembers people panicking and crying as the water rose, blocking any way out of the village—or any way in for rescuers. The villagers were trapped with only one place to go: up.

Amit’s house was situated next to a public school, which was on slightly higher ground. As people’s homes flooded, those who could took refuge in the school.

Amit fought his fear and spent his days helping out in the temporary refugee camp. Besides being drenched and terrified, people were hungry. Their food was ruined, and stores had no way to bring in more groceries.

Thankfully, Amit’s leaders managed to bring some relief supplies. With the food packets Amit had to share, he helped more than 100 people each day.

But death was still just around the corner. The rain painted the sky a stormy black, and the flood waves knocked down power lines, shutting off all electricity. With no way to charge cell phones, the suffering villagers were isolated even further. Then the floods ruptured a tank of human waste from the area hospital. Suddenly, disease-infected refuse was swirling among the already dark floodwaters.

Saved from Death

The day the dam was about to burst, Amit prepared his heart to leave this earth.

“People were going to die, including me,” he recalls.

As Amit made what he thought would be his last phone call, he heard reassuring words from his leader: “We are surely going to pray.”

And then something happened that Amit will always remember. After weeks and weeks of unrelenting rain, suddenly, it just stopped.

And although the villagers still had a long recovery ahead of them, the Lord had a plan for them to experience His great compassion through the loving help of Pastor Amit.

Walking around in disbelief as the waters receded, Amit surveyed the devastation. Even weeks after the flooding, the scars were everywhere. People still sunk several inches into the mud when they walked around. Numerous families lost their homes, whether just a wall or the whole house. People were still in dire need of food and clean water, and there was no nearby medical care.

But Amit didn’t recede into despair. With the assistance of his leaders, he jumped into action to bring relief to people who had suffered alongside him—people like Sarita.

Food for the Helpless

Weeks after the rain stopped, Sarita’s twin baby boys still lay on their sticky, muddy floor. She was too poor to afford to buy the mats that other families slept on.

Sarita’s husband had left home to find work in another area of Sri Lanka, so she was home alone trying to keep her five children alive.

She was struck with excitement and hope when she received a visitor one day. Amit’s wife had met Sarita’s children in Sunday school, and she could see that the children were needy. During her visit, the Sunday school teacher was devastated when she realized just how deep that need was.

Sarita and her husband had lost their home in the 2004 tsunami, but because they were away at the time, they did not qualify for the government rebuilding program. So they found a home in a tiny shack on the edge of someone else’s property. Sarita would pick through trash piles, trying to find rags and empty bottles she could sell to supplement the money her husband sent her. But then the flooding started.

Although she had four mouths to feed (not counting the twins because they didn’t eat solid food yet), Sarita usually could only cook enough food for two people. Once in a while, neighbors brought leftover food, knowing the family was desperately poor.

During her visit, Amit’s wife saw that the children were hungry. When she found out they hadn’t eaten anything that day, she went to a shop and bought them some food.

“Our hunger vanished because of happiness,” Sarita remembers.

As soon as possible, the missionaries brought Sarita additional grocery packets that would provide good nutrition for her children.

Responding to Love

After experiencing Christ’s compassion through Amit and his wife, Sarita decided to give her heart to the Lord.

“One thing I understand is that if I go to the Lord, He will take care of my every need,” she says. “He will take care of me and my children.”

Sarita isn’t the only one who has found the love of God through the flood relief efforts, says Pastor Amit. He knows of 50 others who also have chosen to follow Christ.

In the weeks and months that followed the flooding, Pastor Amit and other GFA-supported missionaries continued to reach out to their suffering neighbors, supplying food packets, praying for the sick, repairing and rebuilding homes and checking in on the elderly.

This outpouring of compassion is still having an eternal impact. And as Gospel for Asia’s worldwide community continues to work together, Jesus is showing His love to the world through His Body here on earth.