Sri Lanka (MNN)–Fear of another tsunami haunts the survivors of last year’s monster wave in Sri Lanka.
With this week focusing on the one-year anniversary, those thoughts are prevalent.
However, that hasn’t stopped the people from resuming life. World Vision’s Steve Matthews. “If you came here to Sri Lanka today and you didn’t know that there was a tsunami a year ago, a big tsunami, you probably wouldn’t know, with looking at the physical evidence–it’s not really here. What you would think as you drove along the coastal highways, is there’s an awful lot of construction.”
By recounting a discussion he had with a survivor they built a home for, Matthews describes the scope of Christian ministry and Gospel impact. “How do you feel, as a Muslim, about this Christian aid agency from the West, providing a brand new home? He looked at me as if I was asking some absurd question.”
It was the next statement that reveals where the seeds of the Gospel really fall. “Then he said to me, ‘I was curious about Christians.’ So he actually went to a local church a couple of times just to find out what Christians are all about. Thus, the relationships begin.”
World Vision plans to serve tsunami-hit communities for the next two to five years, implementing programs that first and foremost support the capacities and aspirations of the survivors, with a special focus on the needs of children.
