Crisis leads Sri Lankan Methodists to shun Christmas celebrations
Survivors in Batticaloa, Sri Lanka, work to restore their
village after the Dec. 26, 2004, tsunami. A UMNS file photo by Paul
Jeffrey, ACT International.
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By Anto Akkara
Jan. 8, 2007 | BATTICALOA, Sri Lanka (ENI)
Almost all the churches in Batticaloa in eastern Sri Lanka shunned
Christmas celebrations due to a refugee crisis in their war-stricken
region.
Tsunami survivors walk through the rubble in Batticaloa, Sri Lanka. A UMNS file photo by Paul Jeffrey, ACT International.
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"This Christmas was no occasion of celebration for us," said the Rev. A.
Jesudasan, pastor in charge of the Methodist church at Chenkalady in
Batticaloa.
Thousands of ethnic Tamil refugees had poured into Batticaloa from
the rebel held Vahari region, Jesudasan told Ecumenical News
International on Jan. 5. "Christians could not be insensitive to the
refugees," he said. "So, we did not have even any decorations."
The United Methodist Committee on Relief has been doing
tsunami-related relief work in the Batticaloa area, in cooperation with
the Methodist Church in Sri Lanka.
Batticaloa's unprecedented refugee crisis began before Christmas with
nearly 25,000 Tamils fleeing intense shelling by government forces
trying to take control of the Vaharai region held by Tamil rebels known
as LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam).
Jesudasan said that those who dared to attend the midnight Christmas
service had to face "special fireworks," as he referred to actions from
the army. Many churchgoers, said the Methodist pastor, had to run for
their lives during the simultaneous firing of shells and rockets from
the army camps dotting Batticaloa town, even as the Christmas service
ended.
Near Batticaloa, Sri Lanka, the Rev. Jedarani Peter, a
Methodist, carries tsunami relief supplies. Due to the refugee crisis in
the war-torn region, most of the churches in the area shunned Christmas
celebrations. A UMNS file photo by Paul Jeffrey, ACT International.
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Christians account for nearly 20 percent of the population in Batticaloa.
As a mark of concern for the refugees camping in churches, schools
and open grounds around Batticaloa, on Dec. 22, the entire Methodist
parish of 70 families pooled their savings for Christmas celebrations
and prepared food-packets for 1,200 displaced people.
When the ENI correspondent traveled to the Roman Catholic St.
Teresa's church Valachenai, 24 miles from Batticaloa, he found hundreds
of new refugee families in the grounds of the Ceylon Pentecostal church.
The Rev. J. Alagudari of St Teresa's said over-stretched church
institutions were the first port of call for soldiers to dump civilians
fleeing fighting in the rebel areas.
One woman, in a camp at the Sri Murugan high school run by the Jaffna
diocese of the Church of South India, said she had been on the run for
five months since government forces launched attacks to evict the Tamil
Tigers from bases in the east.
"We decided to get out [from the rebel area] after our shelter was
hit," said the mother, who gave her name as S. Shanta. She still has
shrapnel embedded in her body although doctors had removed another piece
when she was hit by shelling while on the run in September.
Shanta said many of the refugees had trekked up to 60 miles for days
through jungles, sometimes wading through neck-high water to cross over
to the government-held territory. Her son was injured in the attack
while they were fleeing, and is with her, but there is no trace of her
husband, who got separated from them during their escape.
*This story was distributed by Ecumenical News International.
News media contact: Linda Bloom, New York, (646) 369-3759 or newsdesk@umcom.org.
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