We arrived shortly after 7.30am to find the bright church already full of children and young people in their colourful best (girls one side, boys on the other), singing Tamil hymns very melodiously, accompanied by a beautiful young woman on a keyboard out of which was coming the sound of a tabla (traditional South Asian instrument). The older people had chairs to sit on towards the back of the church behind the youngsters who either stood or sat on the floor. A row of dog-collared clergy at the front: a woman in a pale yellow sari, Ruth in a bright pink blouse and three men, very striking in their white suits and black shirts - which is the formal clerical attire for male (not female) Methodist ministers in Sri Lanka.
The service followed the same order as an English Methodist service, except that the prayers seemed to be almost all ex-tempore - and very much longer and declaimed with very much more animation than in England! Ruth preached a sermon about Trust which was translated as she went along by one of the Reverends. At the end of the service the rest of us introduced ourselves and led the congregation in “He’s got the whole world in His hands”, and we were then presented individually with a huge number of beautiful homemade cards. Following the service, over cups of hot sweet tea, there was a discussion with the Reverends about how Beacon Hill United Reformed Church might help the community in Thirukkovil in a practical way, perhaps with a piece of machinery which could be used cooperatively (which would be of particular interest to the engineers in our congregation back home).
On the way back, as we travelled along the narrow slip of land between the beach and the lagoon, we stopped to look at the Tsunami memorial and the gravestones which were all along the beach, each stone marking the grave of fifty or more of the thousands who were drowned along that part of the coast. The ruined, roofless and empty houses are still there; Dan later said that not only have the people gone, but nobody is allowed to live so close to the sea anymore; he then added that in some cases hotels have moved in and taken over the plots of land - meanwhile, there are people displaced by the Tsunami still living in camps.
We returned to the hotel to find that, far from relaxing all morning, Karen and Pam had most nobly spent hours and hours sorting out all the resources from the Sports Direct bags! And Dan, who had lovingly and painstakingly prepared a sermon which he thought would be just right for the church he was attending, wasn’t asked to preach after all!
As the others were relaxing in the afternoon, Pam and Karen spent the afternoon unpacking and sorting 160+kg of resources, from toothbrushes and toothpaste through glue sticks and glitter to mega bags of mega bricks. Consternation when no owls were found - a vital element in our preschool sessions. Contingency owls were hastily put in place, but happily the originals turned up.
From total mayhem to impressive organisation took Pam and Karen a mere 5 hours. Then the team from Calthorpe school arrived and the whole process was repeated.
Sitting down together for a welcome meeting provided an opportunity to relax and listen to messages from both U.K. and Sri Lankan schools and team members. Then it was off to sample more of the excellent Sri Lankan cuisine!
(Today's blog was written by Kathy and Pam)
No comments:
Post a Comment