This week I visited Holy Trinity Church, Pussellawa. It was spectacular. The priest there is a younger fellow and is someone I respect very much. He is the closest I have come to someone my age, with a similar education. The other Fathers are great too, and several stand out in particular as very wise individuals. The Sri Lankan education system really sifts through the people so only the really smart (even gifted) people pass through. It is extraordinarily difficult, and you can be assured the people who reach tertiary education are extremely gifted.
In Pussellawa they do not have internet yet. I stayed in a 150 year old bungalow, for the night, after a long day of a 2 hour bus ride, walking to the Church, being urged to donate to a Hindu
temple, and arriving in about an hour before the 8 oclock service (do the math, I left Kurunegala around 5 am...).After the service we visited the tea plantations. Yep, the people
who pick our tea. It was truly insightful. The day's visit was truly incredible, in the sense the circumstances and situation was truly mind boggling to a foreigner.The multinational corporations offer job stability, but the pickers, who are more or less born into the system, receive only about $1.70/ day (200 Sri Lankan rupees).
The Father I was visiting is from this Indian Tamil community, and somehow got out to pursue his higher studies and now is wanting to provide a link to them.
During the visits to the tea plantations Father Shelton who was recently transferred to Holy Trinity conducting his first Sunday of official duties, checked the premises of one of the churches belonging to his parish. It is an old building built on the tea estate itself by the planters for the Church of Ceylon, and now is disused. Thought it was fixed up and repainted for a Diocesan Anniversary, the location of it, at the very centre of a tea estate, makes it difficult to serve the needs of the people on the estates.
Basically, due to the reality of the situation, it is too financially draining for the Diocese to meet the needs of the estate people.
Families without transport after the service, in front of their provided quarters.
Limiting factors include time and fuel cost.
ch. The reality of the situation is the Diocese is stretched in terms of personnel and resources. Father Shelton's vicarage is adjacent to Holy Trinity Church, which is on the main road in town. In contrast, this small church building lies at the centre of a tea estate, accessible only after an expensive ride on a trishaw. The people on the tea estates, have no money...
This is the reality situation.
The Diocese of Kurunegala (Anglican) has no money.
Who will serve their needs?
In the absence of the Church of Ceylon's (Anglican) shrinking capacity to reach these people, there are several Hindu temples. There is an Assembly of God Church with a pastor, and the Diocese remains challenged as to how to reach these people.
The Church of Ceylon, with its historic presence as a domestic church, is not able to meet its mission and requires outside assistance for its survival.
2 comments:
We were expecting a call at 7:30am but it came in an hour early. I guess that Sri Lanka does not observe Daylight Savings time.
I spoke with Jeremy while Joan got a cup of coffee. I was able to write down Pusalwa (phonetic) and the two Tamil phrases he wanted to teach me. I took them to church and asked Dharmini what Bathroom engay and Pear enna meant. She was surprised when she heard me speaking Tamil to her. She responded that the bathroom was located around the side of the building and that her name was Dharmini. I guess that experiment worked. The call was much shorter than usual so we are anxiously awaiting a more complete update.
Hi again! Dad figured out how I can leave the comment on the Blog instead of copying and pasting it to send in an email. Hope all is well today. We are so anxious for you to come home so we can hear more and more about what you have been doing.
Love, Mom
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