Greenville Presbyterian Church

Opening of Building in Vavuniya, Sri Lanka

The Church stands as the central institution in history. It alone remains permanent amid the crumbling kingdoms of this world. Christ promised that the gates of Hell would not prevail against it (Mt. 16:18). The Church exists preeminently for the magnifying of the divine majesty in the public worship of the Triune God. To that end, the Lord provides a place for his people to assemble.

The opening of the new building in Vavuniya, Sri Lanka took place on Monday, June 10, 2019. Over 130 people gathered for this special occasion, which far exceeded the number anticipated. An array of visitors came from the local community, as well as those from the work in Mulateevu and other friends from as far away as Jaffna (2.5 hours drive).

The evening began with greetings and a ceremonial ribbon cutting. Immediately following, the crowd gathered inside the new building for the public worship of God. Mr. Beniel Jeyolashington led the congregation in the singing of Psalms, prayer and the reading of Scripture, all in the Tamil tongue. Rev. McCurley preached the sermon from Colossians 1, and Mr. Peter Gnanaranjan served as translator. The service was concluded with the pronouncement of the divine blessing.

On behalf of the Vavuniya congregation, Mr. Pirtheepan, home mission worker in Mulateevu. expressed thanks for a long list of people who helped in various aspects of the building project over the last many months. Following the service, the ladies served refreshments and many stayed for a time of extended fellowship.

The sacrificial giving of God’s people and many months of arduous labor have culminated in a meeting house that surpassed the expectations of many. It is spacious, well-designed and very attractive. Rev. Partheepan devoted a tremendous amount of skill and energy to this project, with the hope and prayer that God would use the building for his own glory in the years ahead.

The congregation serves as a beacon in a sea of darkness. Idolatry, superstition and false religion engulf the nation of Sri Lanka, while false doctrine and corruption cripple the limited testimony of Christianity. But the Lord has raised a torch in Vavuniya where the whole counsel of God and the glory of the Redeemer is being proclaimed. Let us continue to pray for the Lord’s richest blessing on this gospel testimony. May God gather glory to himself through the advance of the Kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ in Sri Lanka.

Learning to See Again

Jesus said (Matt. 19:14), “Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me: for of such is the kingdom of heaven.” What is it about little children that makes them a hardship for adults to bear? Why do adults sometimes feel they must ‘suffer little children’? Is it that children move so fast? Perhaps it is because they are hungry for knowledge. They have an appetite for answers that can exhaust those they question.

As young boys my friends and I would flit like tiny birds from one inquisitive hobby to another. For a time it was tadpoles, then various bugs, later egg-eating snakes. One day it was silkworms. I do not recall who first had them; it was not me. But my friend shared with me a few worms. It does not take much to excite a child, their eyes fill with wonder as they gaze each day on a world opening like a flower before the sunny curiosity of their minds.

Silkworms have soft, white backs that are a pleasure to touch. I recall feeling how I needed to refrain for fear that my tender attentions would polish their skin right off. My silkworms were tenaciously devoted to one thing alone: to eat. Their concentration was formidable, their appetite voracious. Nothing could deter them from their gastronomic obsession.

We fed them various foods, settling on leaves of mulberry and beet plants for a regular diet to swell their fat little backs. The former resulted in the worms spinning thread golden as the ray of noon sunlight, the latter in shades of dusky sunset. They were beautiful.

Why were they such avid eaters? What could motivate them to such culinary heroics? They ate with purpose. But the purpose was not their own. Made unreasoning creatures, not merely unwilling but unable to rise to the dignity of argument, they ate from compulsion. They ate because God produced in them this voracious instinct.

And then, suddenly, without warning, the worm grew quiet and sluggish, mastered by some new urge. Marshaling all its energy – the worm knew not why – for the trial, it waited some secret signal then acted without hesitation, building its cocoon with the same enthusiastic effort it had before applied to its nutrition. Worms don’t wonder why. Humans do.

Adults must ‘suffer little children’ because it is needful for them to know the truth. They seek it with appetite and energy, in satisfying their curiosity, that is shameless, and seemingly bottomless. Nothing is beyond the reach of their curiosity. The healthy child feels a near insatiable urge to know. Delighted to have floods of information pour into their minds, they exhaust the adults around them with torrents of questions and observations. It is to the advantage of a parent to know that it is natural, in a healthy child, to inquire. We must be willing, therefore, to create circumstances to exercise their intense curiosity in order that they may come to Christ.

It is striking that adults who were once children — though few remember it — have often lost the childlike zest for life. At what point do children grow up and become adults with more enthusiasm for antidepressants, Botox, and antioxidants than for the marvelous arrangement of God’s reality? Even a child who knows pain remains open to the pleasures of God’s creation. But adults often seem jaded and more consciously self-focused. God’s word reminds us to cultivate a spirit of inquiry and wonder at the glorious creation. He points us frequently to the wonders of creation, and creation’s God.

We need not be worms, though we can learn from them. Simple creatures as the ant, stork, dove, and so on (Prov. 6:6; Jer. 8:7) teach us to strive to fulfill the meaning of our lives, to come unto the Lord and serve Him. If we want to see better then we need to recover again the eyes of a child. “Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children” (Eph. 5:1).

Living Between Two Worlds

“In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah came Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon unto Jerusalem, and besieged it . . . and the king spake unto Ashpenaz the master of his eunuchs, that he should bring certain of the children of Israel . . . (Dan. 1:1-3).

Daniel stands on the crossroads between two disparate worlds.

imax_jerusalem_cityBehind him he casts his mind’s eye to the Holy City, the source of his identity and citizenship. Signposts of God’s previous acts of deliverance mark nearly every step of the way traversed into exile. The Temple, a symbol of God’s gracious presence, and all of the holy ordinances slip over the horizon. His dreams of a life in Jerusalem crumble as enemies of God haul him away in shackles, a captive slave under a foreign regime.

Daniel gazes upon the bastion of pagan unbelief sprawling before him. Ancient Babylon had ascended to the world stage, a superpower, a proud city, a city of pompous ostentation. He enters through gated walls so wide horsed chariots gallop on top of them. The city streets brim with the best wares the world has to offer. Exquisite gardens, delectable cuisine, famed academic institutions – they are all within reach.

Rather than being confined to the meager status of other captives, Daniel’s intellectual gifts draw the attention of his masters, and they assign him a place of potential prestige, along with the related comforts, thereby pressuring him to adopt their corrupt conduct. Daniel did not know the full implications yet, but his life was about to be squeezed between the incongruity of Jerusalem and Babylon.

Though living in Babylon, Daniel’s heart is synchronized with Jerusalem time. Even under the impending threat of death, he continued to pray with his face gazing through a window toward Jerusalem (Dan. 6:10). When well advanced in years, he would retain the sight of the evening oblation in his memory and mark his daily schedule accordingly (Dan. 9:21). Even as he conducted his outward affairs in Babylon, Zion continued to captivate his mind and heart.

This collision of ideologies continues to exert an influence upon believers throughout history. Notably, the Lord portrays a cosmic conflict in the book of Revelation as war between Babylon and the New Jerusalem.

Like Daniel, we are citizens of heaven living amidst competing forces. Wherever God has assigned our national residence, the believer remains an exiled alien with a heart fixed on the homeland, compelling us to “set our affections on things above, not on things on the earth” (Col. 3:2). If we fill our day in secret communion with God, then love for God will spill over into the priorities we pursue, the money we spend, the lifestyle we adopt, the attitudes we exude, the friendships we forge, and overflow every other area until life becomes a sea of godly living. Daniel reminds us to persevere in the world while refusing to belong to the world.

During this pilgrimage God puts a melody in our mouth – the Lord’s song, raised within the foreign land of temporary exile. In Psalm 137:5-6, penned alongside the banks of Babylonian rivers, we cry, “If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning. If I do not remember thee, let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth; if I prefer not Jerusalem above my chief joy.”

Rev. Robert McCurley, minister of Greenville Presbyterian Church, Free Church of Scotland (Continuing), in Greenville, South Carolina.   

Fellow Laborers

We now draw this saga to a close with a final installment. If we are spared, my feet will be planted on South Carolina soil the next time you hear from me.

These reports brought news from a distant land, but I hope they also erected a bridge connecting you to your field of labor. I prayed that each post would function as a hewn beam, contributing to the structure of that bridge. I am convinced, therefore, that these series of reports best culminate in directing our attention to all of you back home, 9359.6 miles away from where I sit.

You are engaged in a mountain of service, my friends. You embraced the sacrifices of sending two of your own to the other side of the planet, heaping up support and lending your prayers for the endeavors. You have personally invested in the cause of Christ in India and Sri Lanka, and, consequently, you share in the work here as much as anyone. Your own hand sows the seed with the expectation that both sowers and reapers will rejoice together on the Last Day. For those at GPC, this ought to cast light on what we learned from the end of Philippians 4. Epaphroditus merely tied the knot that linked the hearts of those in Philippi to Paul in Rome.

Thank you for entering into these labors out of devotion to Jesus and zeal for the promotion of his glory. I hope and pray that your engagement in the service of the last three weeks has heightened your passion for the priority of foreign missions — and that you will persevere in prayer for the world-wide spread of Christ’s glorious gospel.

Now for some final logistical details. We are scheduled to arrive at the Colombo airport a few minutes before midnight tonight (Monday) to catch a flight leaving at 3:15 a.m. (Tuesday morning). Since we will spend the whole of Tuesday traveling west to return home (i.e., “into the past”), Tuesday will contain 34 hours for Randy and me — 21 hours in the air and 13 hours on the ground. What do you think of that, children?

Three long weeks have passed under the bridge of time. Now the next stop is home sweet home, which leads me to my final prayer request: Please pray that all the flights and connections (Colombo, Dubai, JFK, Charlotte, GSP) go smoothly. Few things compare to the misery of chomping at the bit to be home and experiencing cancelled or missed flights that extend the delay. I will submit to the Lord’s will and providence, regardless of what happens, but it would be a huge blessing to zoom home with as much speed as possible. If the Lord wills, I could be passing through my front door at about 30 minutes after midnight tomorrow night.

I conclude this series of posts with the words of an inspired missionary hymn:

1 Lord, bless and pity us,
shine on us with thy face:
2 That th’ earth thy way, and nations all
may know thy saving grace.

3 Let people praise thee, Lord;
let people all thee praise.
4 O let the nations be glad,
in songs their voices raise:

Thou’lt justly people judge,
on earth rule nations all.
5 Let people praise thee, Lord; let them
praise thee, both great and small.

6 The earth her fruit shall yield,
our God shall blessing send.
7 God shall us bless; men shall him fear
unto earth’s utmost end.”

(Psalm 67, SMV, 1st version)

For Christ and his crown rights,
Pastor Rob McCurley

In the Trenches

Sandals hold a universal status as the footwear of choice in warmer climates, a trend that seems to cross the barriers of time and locale, as is evident to those who crack open the Bible. As one might expect, the people of India and Sri Lanka shod their feet exclusively with sandals when outdoors. The old adage, “when in Rome, do as the Romans do” is appropriate when dealing with matters that are indifferent. Consequently, my ten toes have not seen the inside of a pair of shoes since prior to leaving home three weeks ago. The only exception to wearing sandals comes upon entry into a private building (e.g., home, church, etc.), at which point everyone heaps their sandals into a pile outside. So for the last two Sabbaths and during the conference last week I had the unique experience of preaching in bare feet, which served a small taste of what it was like for the early church.

At the conference last week we were asked to address the topic of “The Godly Family,” in which we covered vast swaths of ground, expounding the Bible’s instruction for husbands, wives, parents, and children. Admittedly, I entered the work unsure of how my material would intersect with the people in this culture, but I took confidence in knowing the universality of sinful human nature and the full sufficiency of the Word of God. The same problems and same solutions exist the whole world over. The impact on the people proved the truthfulness of this assessment.

Several people expressed their gratitude, affirming that the application of the Word had spoke into their particular situations. Others added that this was their first exposure to this kind of material. I am called to feed Christ’s lambs, praying that his sheep will hear his voice and follow him. We glorify God for the gracious work of his Holy Spirit on every occasion in which that transpires. To his name be the praise.

Yesterday (the Sabbath) I preached on Zechariah 4:10a in the morning service, taking up the theme “a day of small things,” and in the afternoon service I expounded Jude 1b on the description of the Christian. The Lord brought unbelievers to both services. The unaccompanied singing of the Songs of Zion in the Tamil tongue  sweetened the service. A few of the tunes matched those in our own Psalter, enabling us to sing along quietly in English. Pastor Parthee read the designated passages from the Tamil Bible and translated as I expounded the Word in preaching. We enjoyed a blessed day in worship, rest and fellowship with the Lord’s people. I attached a couple pictures of the Tamil metrical Psalter, which is yet incomplete.

After the second service we walked to the house of a paralyzed Christian man. The home bore all the marks of significant poverty, but the atmosphere of the home carried the sweet fragrance of the presence of Christ and his grace. I shared some of the morsels gathered from my own experience of suffering and also gave him a summary of the second sermon. Pastor Parthee visits this man week by week, feeding him in person with the Word proclaimed in the assembly.

Randy and I have stood amazed at the colossal amount of charitable work that the Lord is enabling Parthee to carry out in his community. Since I have to leave some things to tell you in person, I’ll save those accounts for when I return home.

This morning we caught the 5:45 a.m. express train from Vavuniya to Colombo, which left 30 minutes late. We have joked about being on “Sri Lanka time” throughout our visit. Whenever time is mentioned it implies: “give or take an hour.” Parthee, Randy, and I were the only passengers in our box car, which was the only air conditioned compartment on this train. The last time we experienced the feeling of AC was the whisper of coolness that trailed behind us as we exited the airplane a week ago.

But here the fun begins. As we bounced down the tracks toward Colombo the rear of our particular box car caught on fire. We were less than an hour our of Vavuniya. Flames peered at us through the back door as the compartment filled with smoke. A bit of panic ensued as the staff scrambled to dump jugs of water on the fire, while one of them dowsed it with the fire extinguisher, but the fire persisted longer than anyone hoped. I dutifully hung my head out a window in search of fresh air and to escape from breathing the toxic smoke. From what I can gather the generator overheated, spilt fuel and caught fire. At least we did not have to leap from a moving train like in the old cowboy movies. The Lord showed mercy yet again.

The express train was stripped of its express credentials, as the train obviously came to a stop to address the drama. Apparently the personnel spent an hour searching for a replacement car, which proved non-existent. When the train finally lurched forward again we were without a generator, which meant no electricity . . . which meant no more AC. The Lord gives and the Lord takes away, blessed be the name of the Lord. We submitted to the Lord and went back to “Soakdom”, that abode of perpetual wetness. The late departure combined with all the other exciting activity resulted in arriving in Colombo two hours behind schedule.

Parthee’s brother picked us up at the train station, took us to a store and then to get a bite to eat. Then we bade farewell to our  beloved brother, Parthee, and drove one hour in a taxi/van to our hotel, arriving just a short time ago. It is now 5:00 p.m. on Monday. All that remains before leaving for the airport at around 11:00 p.m. is a hot shower, finishing these posts, and some brief sleep.

I have much more to convey to you, but if I include everything in the posts, then I will have little to report when I get home.

Sri Lanka has captured my heart. The Lord has instilled a deep love for this people and their land, and that affection will fuel my prayers in the days ahead. I hope that even this remote connection enables you to say the same.

Warm Regards,
Pastor Rob McCurley

picture248 picture232 picture255 picture252 picture132