With the media attention of the western world trained on the disasters in the Ukraine (a crisis which Teach All Nations continues to assist with), most of us are unaware of the troubles that are unfolding in other parts of the world. Following two years of pandemic shutdowns and an ongoing history of nepotism and governmental mismanagement, the island nation of Sri Lanka has found itself lacking the basic goods to sustain its people. As we feel the bite of an inflation rate of about eight percent (the highest in four decades), we have just a little taste of how seriously a thirty-percent inflation rate – as Sri Lanka is experiencing – can devastate a country where the people were already living on the edge economically. The people have been pushed to the end of their ability to cope and have taken to rioting in the streets, protesting that the leaders be replaced. At the time of this writing, the president’s cabinet and at least forty members of the parliament have resigned; yet, the people are calling for a thorough purging of the government from the president down – leaving the nation in not only economic but also political turmoil.
When one of the pastors we work with called to report the tumultuous situation in the country, we talked of all the areas of need where Teach All Nations could help in this disastrous time. He, of course, spoke of the immediate needs such as funds to pay his staff, the need to help feed people in his congregation, the need to help the children in his church with their school fees, and the lack of funds to continue his community evangelistic outreaches, but he also shared his vision of the “big picture” solution – a center to disciple young men and women with Christian morals and principles to step into leadership roles in this Buddhist nation and make a permanent positive change.
Allow me to share the vison in his own words:
Thank you for encouraging what I shared regarding the dream to start a discipleship center at our church premises for a time such as this. Raising and making disciples of our Lord has always been and will always be one of my highest passions in life and ministry. I have attached some pics taken during our current weekly discipleship Bible study, it’s a mixed age group session that I teach every week; we also have other discipleship groups for teens and youths. There is no proper place of discipleship in our whole region, and I have been carrying this in my heart and in prayer for many years. I believe that now is the Time to birth a school where believers of all ages will be educated, trained, imparted, empowered, and sent out as true disciples of Jesus to reap the harvest. All great things begin small; so, we’re thankful to the Lord for the small beginnings we’ve had during the recent years. I understand that the launch of the school’s first stage will also be on a small scale, but our dream for this school is that it will be very big – not only in size but in impact for the future generations in our nation.
It is this kind of vision that your prayers and gifts help support – a vision to not only help with present needs but also bring God’s eternal solution to pass.
