Thank You

First and foremost a big thank you to all those who were with us in prayer… the 2 days at delft island were days of great power!

I am going to try my best to describe in words the awesome weekend we had at Delft, and its So true that his mercys’ are new every morning because time and time again, no matter how many retreats and programmes you serve or participate in God seems to be doing something great each time. Who can fathom his infinite mercy?? Who can grasp the depth of the Love he has for his people.

About Delft...

Delft is an Island situated in the nothern tip of Sri Lanka. Among the other little islands that are located in this region, Delft (AKA Nedun - Theevu) is the largest of them all. The parish priest Fr. Amalraj is vested with the great responsibility of looking into the spiritual growth of Delft and also the surrounding islands. One can easily call this a remote island as its geographic location keeps it detached from the Jaffna Peninsula and creates considerable difficulty in transporting goods and services. However the thirst and hunger the people have for their God is by no means insignificant. And when the CRL visited them, it was more than obvious that it was by Divine appointment that we were there.

A Personal Encounter...

I am not going to describe about  how we got there and about the not so amazing boat ride (as it involved a lot of fainting, throwing up, dizziness and other casualties in which the very person who is writing this was involved too… hi hi…) so let’s fast forward directly to day one.

Personally I was really preparing myself for this retreat, I was not just excited about going to an island that was pushed away from the shores of Jaffna but in my hearts I knew that God was just preparing us to do something greater… way beyond what we could have understood. So the weeks of preparation got me thinking that I was a worthy and eligible candidate to be used by God for his mission in these 2 days…  this thinking only lasted till Friday morning… until God dropped a bomb smack on my face!! And it hurt real bad!!

I don’t know if many of you know that I myself along with my family were victims of the civil war that traumatized this country for the past 30 years. We had suffered severely and were pushed to start our lives from Zero! Although years had passed, in my heart I did carry a lot of anger and bitterness towards those involved - especially the Sinhalese . (I gave a lot of thinking before I could share this in public, but then it got me thinking that this has got to be the way out… if I don’t speak about how God healed me I’m actually stopping others in similar situation as mine from receiving healing  and there will be no end to this vicious cycle! Grace must be testified!!)

During the morning prayer thatha conducted for servers, God started showing me how -  inspite of my journey and serving; and inspite of working with a community that has a majority of Sinhala servers I was still carrying a lot of bitterness.. it shattered me completely. I know my anger is justifiable, I know the resentment I carry in my heart is completely normal and no one can point the finger at me for harbouring these feelings, but God asked me “What’s the point?, what’s the point of all the fasting you did? What’s the point of all the times of prayer? , what’s the point of all the praise the Lords that came out of your lips? What’s the point if you can’t release my love that I have blessed you with when u least deserve it to those who have hurt you” Lord taught me how wrong I was in carrying so much of bitterness in my heart! And I was HEALED!! The internal freedom that I received was just blissful.. and as I shared it with others the love that they extended made me look at things with complete new eyes..!!! Mercy amma confirmed the healing by saying that this is what the Lord is longing to do those people during the retreat. I must tell you there could not have been anyone more excited than me, because I knew what it meant to be healed so deeply….!! Praise the Lord…!

The retreats were ofcourse beyond amazing, what can I say.. just tooooo much to handle. The majority of the participants understood zero Sinhala so for the first time I got all eyes on me… ( ha ha… that’s my ego speaking!!)  - wait! I have a reason in making this statement! Under natural circumstances when you have a complete stranger, a Sinhalese of that! Speaking in an alien language one’s tendency is to overlook and ignore that alien person and embrace the known familiar person, but the love and care that was showered on thatha by the priest and the youth who thronged around him will negated this natural norm. It was proof of the presence of the supernatural….  The retreat did not witness any major super natural events in the sense there were no tornados’ that swept across or no bursting out of lavas or major miracles, but everyone knew in the depths of their hearts that God sent the golden thread of his love to tie all of us into one body. Love was all around.. in every eye, in every touch there was peace! A sense of unity that made us feel like children of one Father! And if I remember well… Love is the greatest gift of all!! And that was all that was ever needed!!

God wanted us to win this generation for him..!! and WE DID, not by fighting or through discussions… but by prayer!! We were the army that God sent to share the good news of his Love!! And the army was not formed by wealthy, influential, strong persons but by broken people like me.

When all else fails, His Love prevails!! And it flowed like a river in the Island of Delft!! and in the words of Fr. Brito it was a new chapter in History! a chapter written in Love!

Photographs

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