Sri Lanka Report
by Josh Hamby SOC Director
Until recently the country was in a civil war, with the North and East being held by the Tamil Tigers, LTTE, and the South and West held by the Government. Transportation had come to a standstill and it looked like the conflict would never end but, in December the leader of the LTTE was killed and the nation was sent into peace.
Today the doors for missions is wide open and the ministers there are begging for missionaries to come and bring the gospel. It has been nearly thirty years since anyone ministered to the North West of the Island and now it is wide open. Emmanuel Acha and I went to Colombo hoping to get enough ministers to start one School of Christ. What we found was life changing.
Pastor Clendennen said the Lord told him in 1972 that the poverty he saw in the people of Kemerovo was the poverty He saw in His Church. That is exactly the way it was in Sri Lanka. The people were so poor spiritually you had to wonder how they even remained in the church. Minister after minister testified at the end of the meetings that they did not know what it was to pray. Some even said they were mad at God and only came to the meeting to hear what we would say. I will never forget one minister and his wife that stood up. They told of being from the North and laboring very hard but they were seeing no results. They said they had given up hope of God moving in their area, but during the meeting, they rededicated their life to God and they want to be soldiers for Christ.
One group of ministers said it was no accident that they had come to the meetings. They had been longing for the Lord for a long time and they were facing many problems, but in the message of Pentecost they found the answer and God had given them the opportunity to turn back and serve Him. One pastor said he didn't know what it was to pray and didn't know how the Church was to operate.
This is why we work so hard in the SOC to get the gospel to every nation. These poor ministers are on the verge of quitting and they need someone to help them lift up their hands and to strengthen their knees. Every church meeting had the same testimonies. In one church we gave the invitation to anyone who felt God was calling them to service. Seven young people came up. While we were asking if anymore would like to come, all seven fell on their knees and began to weep. In less than ten seconds all seven were filled with the Holy Ghost. This was not a Pentecostal church and we had not preached on Pentecost but God moved like in the book of Acts. Acts 10:44 "While Peter yet spake these words, the Holy Ghost fell on all them which heard the word."
By the end of the meetings we had enough ministers to plan two full-time schools in July. The head ministers of the denominations promised students from every district. Also, we have an open door to preach to the people who lost everything in the tsunami a few years ago. Until this year what I have just wrote would have been impossible, but today there is a door open. Revelation 3:8 "I know thy works: behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it." Please pray as we walk through these doors where no minister has ever been before. We pray that it leads to the greatest revival the world has ever seen. I believe in a few months people in every corner of Sri Lanka will be hearing the message of God's only begotten Son dying for them.
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