My first trip to Sri Lanka with Spearhead was just after the Tsunami in early 2005. That trip was a truly enlightening experience as my emotions were torn between sorrow for the plight of the victims and elation at what God was doing in the lives of the local population. It was with some degree of uncertainty that I returned once again, not knowing whether I would be re-living memories and experiences of that heart rending first trip or whether God had something fresh and unexpected for us.

The team this time consisted of 5 men folk with ages adding up to around 275 years between us, you could say that we were more ‘useful’ than ‘youthful’ but our enthusiasm was undaunted. It wasn’t long before the planned schedule was departed from. A combination of ever changing circumstances, and the leading of the Holy Spirit contributory factors, but hey! This is fertile ground for the amazing and unexpected!
 
It felt like we visited the four corners of the island as we traversed the width and breadth of Sri Lanka. Trincomalee, Jaffna Colombo sharing our experience of God, Teaching in churches, at the bible colleges and to groups of leaders as well as at evangelistic outreaches.

I also visited Matara on the southern tip to visit Pathum, a boy who I am sponsoring through Kingscare. Pathum is now 14 years old and was just 12 when the Tsunami struck his village. Sadly he was unable to save his mother who was trapped in the house when it filled with water. He also lost other family members but was taken in by an aunt and his situation seems to be fairly stable. Please pray for all the traumatised youngsters who will never forget that awful day.

The team visited many churches and homes during the time we were there. We had many opportunities to preach and minister in the area of healing and speaking the power of God into people’s lives, we saw many amazing responses to God’s grace. One memorable outing for me was while we were in Jaffna in the north. Some of the youngsters from the Calvary church (pastored by Leslie Matthews) took me in a ‘tut tut’ (a sort of three wheeled motorcycle) to a remote spot to minister to a group of children. After travelling for what seemed like ages along mud tracks and through fields we met in a large grass hut with open sides and told stories and sung praises to about 20 enthusiastic children, it was so typical of the enchanting simplicity of this beautiful country. God is certainly at work in the hearts of young and old in Sri Lanka. All too soon it was time to come home to England. As always, I am left with the feeling that there is so much to do and that we barely scratched the surface. One thing I do know is that we were a great encouragement to both the leaders and their flocks out there and if we achieved nothing else, that single contribution is very important. Will I go back sometime in the future? Try and stop me! By Tony Davies Team Member

Sri Lanka is a beautiful country; its awesome sunsets and endless landscapes are second to none. Beauty can also be found in the faces of its people, the smiles and open arms that welcomed us everywhere we went. And all this found in one of the poorest and oppressed places in the world......it just doesn’t add up.

Driving down the streets felt like the windows were television screens as sights filled my eyes that I had only seen on the news from the comfort of my living room. Such poverty and illness everywhere we looked, but there were little pockets of hope that were really starting to grow. The first that we encountered was a church in Colombo. We were taken into refugee camps and local churches, and also down to Matara, a place badly effected by the Tsunami. We prayed for many people and saw miraculous healings, but we also heard laughter and shills of joy from the children that we played with which seemed like a miracle in itself.

Next it was a plane ride up to Jaffna. The oppression of this place could be felt the moment we stepped on solid ground. There was a heavy military presence but that wasn’t the main cause of the oppression, temples were everywhere, with awful images carved on their building to scare the people into worshiping their Gods. But despite all this there was an expectant buzz about the people we encountered, and as a result hundreds of people gave their lives to the Lord, Churches doubled, trebled, no quadrupled in size overnight. There were also so many healings we lost count, and I'm sure there were many more we didn’t even know about.

The last leg of our trip was in a different church back down in Colombo. We really saw a move of the Holy Spirit. The people of the church were like sponges as they soaked up everything we had to teach them. The front of the church was crowded every service, full of people waiting to be healed, not just believing in the power of God but knowing that he could heal them. We were taken to a drug rehab center, wall to wall with men who had been utterly transformed by the grace of God.

So by looking a bit closer at this county we could see that their situation wasn’t hopeless, just in need of more of God.

Report by Hannah Davies - Team member