The Saints in Sri Lanka

 

From: Bob Moore bobmoore1946@icloud.com The Saints in Sri Lanka I am asking your help for the church members in Sri Lanka. That nation is enduring a grave national crisis. The island nation declared bankruptcy on July 5. Because it is out of money, it cannot provide any imports. The nation began rationing gas in April and is now out. Even public transportation has stopped. This means no work for almost all people. It also means no medical supplies or care. Most grocery are open and can sell rice, dal, and vegetables, but the low supply and high demand have inflated food prices. The poorer people suffer the most. We have over 1000 saints in ten branches stretching from the Colombo area in the Southwest to Bandarawela in the East and Trincomalee in the North. Most of our members live in the poorer areas and work on tea or rubber plantations. Both have been closed since the end of April. We are raising money to help feed the saints in Sri Lanka and have chosen a goal of $10,000, which is only $10 per member. Please contribute by sending your donation to the Zarahemla Branch’s World Mission Fund. The money will be distributed by the Sri Lanka Church leadership to each pastor and each will buy and distribute the groceries. A History of the Church in Sri Lanka: The RLDS Church organized the church in Sri Lanka in 1998 through the missionary work of Sam Kumar, a Seventy who lives in southern India. The church in Sri Lanka left the COC in 2012 because it endorsed homosexuality. Rex Curtis and I went to Sri Lanka in January 2013. The National President of the church in Sri Lanka, who was ordained a Seventy in 1998, and the branch leaders met with us, agreeing to be part of the church represented in Restoration Branches. They had one woman who had been ordained, but once she had a child, she resigned. The Sri Lankan church agreed to abandon the ordination of women. They also rebaptized members who had joined the church on their previous baptism in another denomination. They accepted the Book of Mormon and we distributed selections from it that were translated into the two languages spoken in that nation. The church has grown from under 500 members in 5 branches in 2013 to its present size. A history of the economic situation in Sri Lanka: Sri Lankan leadership has been controlled for 22 years by the Rajapaksa family. When the current president took office two years ago, he made two bad decisions that led to Sri Lanka’s economic collapse. He dramatically increased spending, spending some on infrastructure improvements and some on increased salaries for his relatives who worked in Sir Lanka’s government. In some cases, he created new positions with exorbitant salaries. Sri Lanka borrowed money to finance its increased spending, some from China and some from the World Bank. The president also ordered new green deal initiatives, which included no fertilizer or herbicides for all agriculture. The next year, profits for farmers dropped between 30% and 50%, affecting the nation’s Gross National Product. The reduction in income was exasperated by a sharp decline in tourism. Tourism is a major source of income for Sri Lanka. It began in 2019 when Islamic extremists bombed churches on Easter of that year and was almost brought to a halt by the pandemic in 2020 and 2021. Many Europeans have historically vacationed there during the winter months and recently Japanese and Chinese have begun doing the same. In April 2022, the president announced a halt to all interest payments on its debts. It could no longer borrow money to finance imports, including food, gas, etc. The Prime Minister resigned under public pressure, but the president refused. Instead, he appointed another relative as Prime Minister. Public unrest escalated. Last Saturday, protestors stormed government buildings, including the President’s and Prime Minister’s residences, demanding they both resign. Both promised to do so on Wednesday, but neither did. Yesterday, the President fled Sri Lanka for Malta and left the government in the care of the Prime Minister. Today the president went to Singapore and intends to go to Saudi Arabia. The military leaders and the Inspector General of Police also requested the Prime Minister to resign, but he is not willing to do so. Meanwhile, no entity will loan Sri Lanka any money until the government is reordered. The legislature is scheduled to pick a new president next week, but he will not take office until sometime in August. We want to raise enough money to feed our members in Sri Lanka for the next month. It will be a desperate time without your help. You may send your contribution to Zarahemla Branch, 501 S 17 Street, Blue Springs MO 64015. When writing a check, please make it out to Zarahemla Branch and note that it is for Sri Lanka on the memo line. Thank you very much. Bob Moore