Bishop's Letter April 08

CEYLON 080428-1 April 28, 2008

[The Church of Ceylon (E-P) - Ceylon] Last evening's bomb explosion in a bus at Piliyandala, which killed twenty-four civilians and left many injured, is an act of vicious violence and must be condemned. Once again, the finger points to the LTTE.

The recent killing of a Roman Catholic priest, Revd. Fr Karunairatnam in Ambalkulam in the Vanni, was another tragedy in this never ending conflict and must also be condemned. His killing could well have been the work of a military deep penetration unit, now known to operate within these areas.

Reports of fierce military confrontations and aerial bombings in the Vanni have caused and continue to cause very heavy casualties amongst soldiers and cadres on both sides. Every life destroyed is a totally unnecessary death of a son or daughter of our soil. Whether soldiers or cadres or civilians, these are our people who are being killed in a senseless war being fought by those with little political will to resolve our crisis through negotiations.

I express the condolences and prayers of our Church to all Sri Lankans in the North and South who grieve at the loss of loved ones. May the risen Lord, who shares human grief, sustain us through life.

The impact of the conflict also has serious repercussions on the cost of living, which has now reached a crisis stage. The modest and the poor simply cannot make ends meet, and the Government must hear the cries of the people and bring immediate relief. Good governance has everything to do with ensuring the dignity of people and feeding and protecting them. It calls for steering us away from death to life.

Most Sri Lankans view these happenings with utmost concern. We sense a daily worsening and widening of the crisis but are helpless to intervene or conditioned not to do so.

I once again plead with the President and leadership of all political parties to put an end to our differences and to address the sufferings of all our people. We still have able leaders and the necessary skills to work for peace. Please think and speak differently and initiate and nurture practical non-violent steps towards a lasting solution. All communities will walk with you and our children will call you blessed.

With peace and blessings to all

The Rt Revd Duleep de Chickera
Bishop of Colombo
26th April 2008

Parishoner Story of Kidnapping and Death Threats

This evening, Sunday April 27th I have received a phone call from one of my housebound communicants. 'X' and 'Y' are an elderly couple both in their 80s, they have no children, she has a chronic bowel problem and he has heart problems. Having run a children's home for 'differently-abled' children they decided to retire a few years ago. They are now in the process of selling the home and land. The matron of the home arranged for them to meet a 'broker' and between them using threats of assault and violence forced 'X' to sign a document which said that the broker would receive 500,000 rupees (est £2380) from the sale of the land. 3 days ago the broker visited their home to demand they sell for less than half of the asking price. 'X' is unwilling to do so as she has medical bills and other expenses. The matron has refused to leave the property, despite never having had to pay any rent and being given adequate notice, and so 'X' has had to purchase land and build a house for her, as potential buyers were being harassed.
The broker has threatened 'X' that if he sees her on the street he will kidnap her. 'X' had already gone to the police, but as she has signed a legal document, there is not much they are willing to do anything to help. Subsequently this elderly couple are now living in fear, imprisoned in their home and relying on friends to accompany 'X' for her doctor's appointments and shopping.

Please pray for this situation, 'X' and 'Y' are very frightened of what might happen to them if they do not comply with the broker's demands.

CMS meets USPG

The USPG (United Society for the Propagation of the Gospel) General Secretary, the Rt Revd Bishop Michael Doe is currently on his first visit to Sri Lanka and was invited by the Colombo Diocese Cathedral Institute to give a lecture on 'Anglicans Around the World'.

The lecture was well received and gave a thorough analysis of the present situation concerning the future of the Anglican Communion and the drawing up of an 'Anglican covenant'.
Bishop Michael reflected further on what it meant to be 'in Communion' and indicated that there was a need for Unity through hospitality, Authority through Inter-relatedness, Truth through scripture illuminated by traditon and reason and finally that covenant meant 'travelling with differences'.

Myself and Bishop Michael outside of the Cathedral of the Living Saviour in Colombo.

'Sing -a long' fundraiser

To raise funds for the Anglican church's Denipitiya Medical Mission based near Weligama, a 'sing-a-long' fundraiser was held. Participants were encouraged to join in with renditions of 'Down by the Riverside', Amazing Grace, 'Roll out the barrels', and many more both English and Sinhala favourites.

The medical mission was began in 1918 and has provided medical provision in an area where there are no hospitals or clinics. Income is also provided through selling a small crop of rubber trees and coconut. Next to me is Mrs Marlene Jayewardena, one of the medical mission committee members and a member of my parish.

A good night was held by all, to note too that the evening was strictly teetotal!

Suffice to say yes I did go dancing!

Bus Bomb Blast 26th April 2008

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/7368434.stm

Sorry to report yet another bomb blast on a government run bus. 24 people killed, 40 injured.

Happy New Year

A New Year's Card depicting some of the games played at this time of year; tug-of-war, climbing an oiled pole, pillow fighting, bashing the claypot filled with water or paint whilst blindfolded, women sitting around a huge drum and beating it in time.
Other games include passing the egg, hunting for marbles, coconut-scraping, bun-eating and instead of pin the tail on the donkey- draw the eye on the elephant.

The Sinhala and Hindu New Year began at 6.54pm on Sunday 13th April at which point people lit fires outside their homes to boil milk in a claypot, the idea being that the hot milk overflows the pot, a symbol of prosperity and good fortune. It is a time when families come together in reconciliation, repentance and resolution. Children and young people show elders a sign of respect by kissing their feet, family conflict's are set aside and gifts of new clothing, food and money are given to one another. No transactions carried out or food can be eaten between a particular time. The first food to be prepared is 'kiribath' or milk rice which is cooked on the new fire on the hearth - or gas-ring. There is an auspicious time for a ritual of anointing to be carried out and people who are looking for work and those currently in employment are prescribed certain times to look for employment and the colours to wear.

A Gruesome Discovery

To celebrate the New Year I was invited to go away for a few days to a beautiful beach resort just South of Colombo. Sitting on my sun-lounger facing out towards the sea I was enjoying the view; the palm trees with their spiky leaves, the squirrels running up and down their trunks, the butterflies dancing over the sand. The children on the golden sand enjoying splashing in the blue turquoise sea. A group of young men on surfboards came into view, paddling across the top of the surf, they seemed to be in a hurry. The pool attendant noticed the group too and with a look of concern on his face dashed quickly onto the beach. Indeed there seemed to be people coming from all directions, a few curious tourists, and the various uniforms of the different hotel workers merging onto the sand. The surfers were now in the shallow surf and between carrying their surfboards they appeared to be dragging something. In fact it was a man's body, face down they dragged him out of the water and laid him down on the beach. It was immediately apparent that a doctor was of no use. Covering the body with a tarpaulin, the hotel workers and security staff began to speculate as to the man's identity. It transpired he was a solo guest from one of the big hotels, he had taken breakfast that morning and then he had gone out for a swim. The pool attendant arrived back and relayed this information to the stunned guests, some of them totally unaware of what had just happened on the beach behind them.
5 hours later I went for a walk on the beach to discover that the body was still there, guarded by a member of hotel security. An arm was hanging out from under the covering, a child commented 'why has the man got blue fingernails?'.
Fortunately a few minutes later a van arrived with a police man and a board and I witnessed the by now stiff and bloated body being hauled onto the stretcher and taken off. Saying a silent prayer as the van moved away I can only hope that his next of kin would be informed as soon as possible.
A word of warning - don't go swimming when a red flag is showing and always tell someone where you are and what time you are due back.