"...more important than anything else is your prayers for us"

This summer I visited the work of the Danish European Mission in Sri Lanka. I saw with my own eyes how the persecuted church in Sri Lanka is helped through the projects supported by the donors of the Danish European Mission.

Persecution of Christians is new in Sri Lanka

I asked Sharon, who is a Christian lawyer, what it is like to be a Christian in Sri Lanka.
Sharon says: Growing up, it was easy to be a Christian here in Sri Lanka, as easy as if you belonged to any other faith. When I was 12, I read a book about how Christians in the former Soviet Union were persecuted - how having a Bible, worshipping God or praying was punishable.

Images top and right: The crowds, led by extreme Buddhist monks, also destroy guitars and computers.

It opened my eyes to a world that was very different from the one I was living in. I never imagined that there would come a time when Christians in Sri Lanka would experience persecution, discrimination and ridicule - like the Christians in the Soviet Union did.

Currently, it's difficult for Christians in Sri Lanka, especially those living in rural areas. They face attacks, threats and discrimination. Even in the big cities, Christians are feeling tensions.

How does the church respond to persecution?

The church reacts in two ways. On the one hand, it feels feel threatened and Christians feel like inferior citizens of the country. Fear is gaining ground among Christians to some extent. In some parts of the country, Christians no longer meet for worship on Sundays because of fear or threats of attack, so they have to pray secretly or in small groups. They can't meet as a church. That's one side of the story.

Image right: Destroyed church in Sri Lanka

On the other hand, we also see that the church is still viable. People are not losing faith, and there are many examples of Christians who have refused to renounce their faith, even under attacks and threats from the mob. In fact, they have testified and shared their personal experience of Christ - so we see these two very different responses to persecution.

The children showed the way - look at Jesus in the midst of persecution!

I visited a church that had been completely burned down. They couldn't meet for worship, there is no roof, only walls. But the children met there for Sunday school and it was very encouraging to see how devoted they were and how focused they were on learning about God. I visited them once when it was raining heavily. Therefore, they couldn't meet outside and instead they were gathered in a small dark room where the floor was wet and plastic mats were scattered on the floor, where the children were painting and learning about Moses and the burning thorn bush.

I thought about how I was aware of the humidity, the smell, the rain and the wet floor, but the kids didn't see it. They were so focused on learning about God. It reminded me of the story of Peter walking on water. As long as he looked at Jesus, he succeeded, but when he took his eyes off Jesus he drowned. It taught me how important it is to keep our eyes focused on God, and it was so encouraging to see how these kids were so focused on Jesus.

Is the church growing in this time? I'm not just thinking about size, but also whether people are growing in faith and will devote themselves more to following Jesus Christ.

Since the time of the Roman Empire, we have seen that Christians have continued to believe despite persecution, and we see that in Sri Lanka too. We also see that persecution generally cleanses the church from superficial faith and that it encourages people to grow deeper in God, have a deeper understanding of and a deeper faith in Jesus, so in that way persecution has a positive effect on a person's faith in Jesus.

Despite the persecution, there are still people who want to seek Christ and are attracted to Him, so the church is also growing in numbers.

What can we as Christians in Denmark do to serve the church in Sri Lanka?

We appreciate what Christians in Denmark are already doing to encourage and support those facing persecution by providing Bibles to poor Christians, legal aid to Christians facing discrimination and self-help for poor pastors.

But more important than anything else is your prayer for us. When you talk to someone who has been beaten up, who is completely broken, people who have lost everything, and you ask them: What do you want us to do for you? - they will answer: Pray for us. Prayer is something very special and it touches Christians very deeply in our country.

So what we ask of our Christian brothers and sisters in Denmark is that you will pray for us. You must also be a voice for Christians who do not have a voice. You are free in your country to speak, also about freedom of belief for those who do not have it in other parts of the world.

Watch video from Sri Lanka here:

[clip url=”https://vimeo.com/102912855″]

Give Bibles to poor Christians in Sri Lanka now: