Trip to the East...

Well from the 12^th till yesterday the17^th I was in the East based in a little town called Valaichcenai about 7 hours at least from Colombo. Its a town that really got hit by the Tsunami.

The Pastor from Colombo and his wife go to the East every month nearly to go and visit the 7 churches that they have there and the pastors, and they went an extra 2 days in order to do a little teaching also this time.

We got there at lunchtime on the first day, to one of the pastors house, he was the first one who got my letter and rang the chairman who then got in contact with me. In fact it was a miracle that they ever got

them at all!! The address that I had written to was an old one from years ago, like the late 1990's, but because the postman remembered him and knew where he now lives, well he gave it to him, but I mean, for here its a miracle that he ever got it!! and the same for yet another pastor, I sent it to the old address but somehow he got it too!!! so it was really nice to meet them.

I used the time during the teachings to pray and to read and to play with the 6 year old daughter and her little friend, and cricket with the rest of the pastors children when they would get back from school, and a couple of guys!! that was really fun as you can imagine, I didn't even let my skirt restriction stop me!!.i dont think that women play like I do...actually,they don't play at all in fact!! But I can't help it I was in my element and so we had great fun!!

For someone who doesn't like to be noticed too much or likes first encounters, I had so many introductions! The thing is that most of the time they didn't speak english and I don't yet speak Tamil and so it was rather embarassing just standing there whilst the others just talked about me, but then I got used to it sort of, just did a lot of smiling!!!

They all treated me well, some even had made seperate curry dishes with less chili in for me, and I was given all sorts of different foods to try,a special curry cooking lesson, a little trip round a vegetable garden, I felt very special!!! I was even the special guest at the opening of the Kids Church at one of the churches, and I got to sit up front with the other pastors, and I got a mention and a clap!!!

But the people were just so hospitable. so so nice. They have gone through so much, persecution from the Hindus, then the Tsunami, the war...but they really have faith and they carry on working for the advancement of God's Kingdom, and they are bringing people to God.

One of the pastors her and his wife even adopted a little baby boy that had lost his parents in the Tsunami, they called him Wonderful because of the miracle.

There are a lot of little one or two room houses that have been rebuilt to house people by foreign housing organisations, one of the pastors got given one, but it's not like the huge rebuildings in Galle and the tourist areas, It's very obvious the scar of the disaster that the tsunami and the war have left. We went to the beach on saturday, and it's deserted, there used to be so many hotels bording it, but they have all disappeared except for a few ruins that remain. The town is nothing like Colombo or Galle, it reminded me more of Africa; you have the dirt roads with the holes in, even mud houses, fences made with palm leaf trunks,its very much more primitive, but more my style than living in a hustly bustly town!!

There are soldiers everywhere,
lining the road, lots of check points. but there was nothing that happened when we were there, the soldiers have pushed back the LTTE fighters out of the area though I think that they come back suddenly from time to time, hence why there are so many soldiers everywhere...and people haven't invested as much in the area as it was too dangerous to really do anything there.

On the ride out there we were talking and it turns out that the pastor and his wife want to open an orphanage but they dont have the time or people to do it, and some Sri Lankans can be rather mean to the children sometimes and use them a little like slaves etc so they had't really continued...and when I said that I have the desire to open a childrens home they said that I could do it under them and be in charge of the children and the workers etc

.... I didn't tell them I had the desire to open a children's home before. So, I said I would think and pray about it. But during this stay over there, whilst I was praying I felt that it would be the next thing to do. I didn't know before but here you have to be under some organisation to do an orphanage and I wouldnt be able to do it outright on my own, and so I guess god has put these people on my path to do that for me. I will be under the Christian Family Church, but will have total freedom. I will also have to get most of the funds I think, and buy the land, build if need be, and I think that it will be the case if I go East. I also need to get a visa for a few years to do this I am going to need a sponsor and the pastor has the power to be that. I still have to ask him about that bit but they seem to be quite open and willing to letting me do this Children's Home. Seems like even though we only met a very short while ago God has planned it along time ago and the pieces are continuing to just fall into place. The only thing is that they wanted to have the childrens home in Colombo, and I didn't want to!! But I was praying and I said Ok God I will do it wherever you want me to do it, even if it is in

Colombo, but you have to give me the joy about it, and then he did give me joy! And in the next couple of days before I said that I would do it, they became more open to not having it in Colombo and wherever I feel God is leading me!! And they will ask the lawyer if its ok to open one in the East. So if God tells me to do it in the East then they will let me! The children are needier in my eyes over there at the moment in my eyes. The man where we were staying told me that if you open a home over there there then you have the ages ranging from about 8 to 14 or something which is an age that I really like to work with, so that works well. He also said that they are perhaps not orphans, but they have been neglected by their families and these ones are real targets for the LTTE who just take them as the children soldiers and then brainwash them into killing. These are the children that I felt that I wanted to work with also, so the opportunity is starting to arise....The reason we have to check with the lawyer is that the Orphanages that are there are all closing and there are none that are opening as they were not allowing anymore as the LTTE was taking the children and it was risky...but then the children just get taken....so........

That is a little update on what happened! I didn't know what would come about this trip East, I just had a growing desire to go there, and I guess that God wanted me to go and look and also to have the talk with the pastor and his wife. So the question of the Children's Home came up, I now have a church to have it under, I also have their support and the support of some of the people that we met, and I will have a sponsor also which will let me stay here longer....and also I had yet more time to just pray and ask God about it. And so I think that that was a successful trip. Though now is the tough bit!! Raising the money, buying the land, building...paper work, but now on to the next little step!! Now I know why I am here!! After 1 month I finally think I know what God has brought me to do to start with in Sri Lanka!!!!