TOUCH Community Services International (TCSI) Mission/Humanitarian Trip – Sri Lanka
Background to the Trip
31 volunteers went on a mission trip to the northern province of Mullaittivu, Sri Lanka from 6 to 13 December 2012. The youngest in the team was 7 years old and the oldest was 51 years old.
Mullaittivu (Northeast Sri Lanka)
Sri Lanka has been scarred by a long and bitter civil war arising out of ethnic tensions between the majority Sinhalese and the Tamil minority in the northeast. Beginning in 1983, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) waged an intermittent insurgency against the government for 26 years in a fight for an independent state, leaving more than 100,000 dead.
For many years Mullaitivu was controlled by the LTTE. It was also the scene of a fierce final land battle fought between the Sri Lankan military and the LTTE. Thousands of civilians were killed in the final months of the conflict as they were caught in the cross fire either as "human shields" by the LTTE or indiscriminate shelling by the Sri Lankan military.
TCSI first began work in this area after the 2004 Boxing Day Tsunami where we helped to build houses for affected people. Our engagement there stopped as the war escalated and picked up again after the war ended with the defeat of the LTTE.
Currently, we are working with the mission station of PCAG to bring humanitarian relief and community development to recently resettled communities.
What did the Team do in Mullaittivu, Sri Lanka?
The team was divided into sub-groups with each group undertaking a major task:
- Teachers Capacity Building
As the war ended, thousands of children needed to be schooled urgently. Due to the war, vital education infrastructures and resources were destroyed or disrupted including the recruitment and training of teachers.Education informs the population and contributes to employability. Therefore it is not only an important step out of the poverty trap but a crucial piece to rebuilding long lasting peace.
Teachers are the gateway to a good education. TCSI works with the local education ministry to help train teachers over a 3-year period. Not only do we impart skills, we also hope to impart the right values that a skillful teacher should possess. For the pilot phase, we were able to train 40 teachers.
- Deworming + Children's Activities
Due to the poor hygiene and living conditions, thousands of school-age children are at risk of being infected with parasitic worms. These infections are chronic and widespread, harming children's health and development and limiting their participation in school.
Deworming is universally recognised as a safe, simple and cost-effective solution. The benefits of deworming are both immediate and enduring. Regular treatment can reduce school absenteeism by 25% and increase adult earnings by over 20%, at a cost of less than US$0.50 per child per year.
TCSI volunteers use advanced equipment to test for parasitic infection in the stools of the local children. The evidence collected points to a high parasitic infection rate – 29 out of 30 samples in a resettlement tested positive for worms.
The volunteers administered deworming medicine to the children as well as taught them the importance of good hygiene through games and magic tricks from Project SMILE.
- Water Filters for Resettled Communities
TCSI has also identified the lack of safe drinking water as an urgent need in this area.
Resettled communities, especially children, without safe water constantly face serious threats to their health. Unsafe water makes children sick. Water-related illnesses include cholera, dysentery, typhoid, guinea worm, and hepatitis. Any one of these diseases can devastate a community's young population.
Together with the locals, the volunteers built and commissioned 2 water filter systems in 2 different resettlements that can serve safe drinking water to up to 300 families daily.
- Encouraging and Blessing the Local Church
Beyond the humanitarian work, our objective is also to bless the local church.
The volunteers had the privilege of worshipping at a local church where we prayed for the widows, victims of the war, congregation and the Senior Pastor and his family.
Pastor Kennedy personally experienced the war himself. Like thousands others, he was forced to flee when the Sri Lankan military pressed in. Trapped between the advancing forces and the ocean, many of them took to the Indian Ocean to escape. He and his family were adrift without water and food for 4 days before being rescued. He also survived 2 years living in squalid conditions in the refugees' camp.
Yet his face was radiant as he told us about the work he was doing for Christ and how Christ had filled his life with meaning and purpose even in difficult situations. He also shared about how God had given him a vision of people of different colors and tongues worshipping together in a rebuilt church. So when we (first foreigners ever) visited his church, he thanked the Lord for the fulfilling of the vision.
One of the verses he shared with us was taken from Philippians 4:12 (NIV), "I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want".
Impact on Volunteers – Reflections
A grateful heart and a true spirit of thankfulness—to God for all His blessings here in Singapore is one of the most distinctive impacts on all the volunteers:
"Worshipping the Lord together with the Sri Lankans was an incredible eye-opening experience. Even though I didn't speak their language, I could feel we were one body in Christ. Even though I didn't understand anything that was being sung, I felt everything – from God's splenduor and goodness to the Sri Lankans' sincerity and honest hearts. It was like a glimpse into heaven when every tongue, every tribe would join in and worship together. I was in awe. Even in adversity and what many would think of as abandonment, they still sang praise. Their passionate love for Jesus and the church transcended their circumstances. It reminded me of how I feed my spirit with things of the flesh and not of God... I realised that I need to quench my heart that is parched. And more than anything, how unbelievably blessed I am to look within myself and realise this before the One that is in me can start to shrivel." – Rozenne Choo
"God has shown me the power of the community, even within the team – despite our different backgrounds, families, cell group culture, He bound us together in love… I was so moved that such an empty room (church in Mullaittivu) could be so filled by the Holy Spirit's presence, but perhaps it is precisely the need to empty ourselves of all the frills and worries of day-to-day life that creates the space for God to do his work… Before coming to Sri Lanka, I was going through a period of spiritual stagnation, and I know God has begun the restoration inside me through the trip." – Dawn Quek
"It (Mullaittivu church) stripped all of our cosmopolitan city dwellers' trappings, to the core of simple worship that was so profound it reduced us to sobbing children. Yet it was tears of joy and celebration we shed. A great uplifting of the spirits and a light hearted reminder of the presence of God. A whole library of books can't begin to capture this experience. It made us realise how poor we really are." – Edwin Loy
"My final takeaway was that a lot of times people think that serving is a chore, or an act of self-sacrifice but being given the opportunity to serve is indeed a privilege. Sure, some things may have to be given up, but what we learn, the bonds we forge, and the memories we take with us far outweighs what was given up. Thank God for this opportunity, the fantastic team, and His wonderful provision during this trip." – Alex Wong
"As I recalled the worship at the church (Mullaittivu), it brought tears to my eyes. I was really moved by how thankful they were, given how little they seem to have. It really brings us back to how much God has blessed us with, and yet we are still giving half-hearted worship – something to really reflect on." – Eileen Quek
"The question "How hungry are you for me?" surfaced on numerous occasions, I teared. I realised that sometimes in Singapore, we are so caught up with the system that we lose the hunger to know God, or sadly we have no time for God and this breaks His heart and I know that God is calling me back to Him, to know Him more than I ever could imagine." – Joel Koh
"This will also serve as an example to my children on how they can serve the Lord. Being a parent and yet serving on a mission trip sounded daunting when I first signed up, especially for my wife, as she had to take care of the children when I am not around. I hope that this trip provided her with the experience as well as confidence to see that God honours those who serve Him." – Keith Liew