Hi Folks,

It is Saturday evening, 6 Apr and I thought I’d better get an update out before the Lord’s Day. I apologize for not getting one out this week after letting you know we’d arrived in Sri Lanka, but it’s been a blur. I greatly appreciate the prayers. Our health is doing fine and we are tolerating the high humidity, no a/c, and no hot water but hot and spicy food. Here is a run down of the week:

– Tuesday: Parthee took us all over the north part of the island to see some historical sites related to the recent civil war between the Tamils (Parthee’s ethnic group, which makes up about 30% of the population) and the majority Sinhalese (70%). This conflict stems at least in large part from when the British pulled out as the colonizer and handed over Tamil land to the the Sinhalese. The Tamils were successfully labeled as terrorists for fighting for freedom from oppression.

– Wednesday: We had a much needed and welcome day of study, preparation, and some rest.

– Thursday: We joined the mid-week prayer meeting/Bible study for Parthee’s church plant. I did a lesson on excellence vs. mediocrity from Col. 3:23-24. It was so-so 😉 The family that hosted the meeting then gave us supper. The husband is Maran (pronounced mahr-an), and he was the pastor of a charismatic church, but after meeting with Parthee over time became convinced of biblical Reformed principles and resigned his pastorate because of his new biblical convictions. When he resigned he had no prospects, but the Lord is providing for his family through various odd jobs and working part-time for an NGO. He is a solid and faithful man and Parthee thinks he may be a future church planter. Attached is a picture of Rob and I with his family (boys aged 17 and 11).

– Friday: We each rode on the backs of motorcycles for about 15 miles over some really bad roads to a church out in the country for the first of two sessions of teaching on family. I taught on man as leader in the home breaking out five areas:

1. The man as an intercessor in prayer;
2. The man as a director of worship;
3. The man as a mediator of blessing;
4. The man as an instructor of scripture;
5. And the man as a judge in holy things.

It was well-received. A young man Parthee is working with named Ben (for short) has been hanging out with us much of the week, and he said it was really helpful to him as he was just married in January.

– Saturday: We went back to the country church and Rob taught biblical principle regarding wives and children. He did a great job clearly laying out from scripture what the Lord expects from wives and children. Afterwards the Pastor invited comments and questions. There were many positive things said, but one lady said that she had prayed for a long time for such clear teaching on family issues, that she and her husband had already talked a lot about the teaching from yesterday, and they were going to be re-arranging their priorities. She said we spoke the words of God to everyone. (pictures attached).

Afterwards, we went to a pre-school sports program sponsored by Parthee’s church as part of an outreach program to the Hindu culture. Rob and I were honored guests and were given some large flower things to wear around our necks (see pictures) which we comfortably wore for about 2.5 nanosconds. The kids competed in various events, Rob gave a short talk on “courage” and then we took turns handing out gifts to the kids (see picture).

Tomorrow Rob will preach twice at the church plant (which meets in Parthee’s apartment). Monday we will leave early on the 5:45 a.m. train to Columbo, arriving at 11 and having some lunch and opportunity for shopping for gifts, then we will check into an airport hotel around 2 pm and try to get some rest before having to leave for the airport at 11 pm to begin the long trek home.

Warm Regards,
Randy

If Buddhism touts itself as the national religion of Sri Lanka, why do I observe so few vestiges of it in Vavuniya?

While I knew that Buddhism dominated this island, I did not realize that the stronghold was mostly contained in the Sinhalese regions of the nation. The civil government promotes Buddhism, and Buddhist monks ensure high visibility for their religion. But Parthee interacts very infrequently with Buddhists, and feels little threat from them, because that religion exerts minimal influence in the Tamil sections of Sri Lanka. The Buddhists also use the Sinhalese language (and Parthee’s Sinhalese is limited, especially his religious vocabulary). The heavyweight title among pagan religions in the northern environs goes to Hinduism. So please take all that I wrote about Hinduism in India and cut and paste that into your mental image of Vavuniya and all parts north and east in Sri Lanka. Within the Christian religion, the Charismatics take the cake nation-wide.

At this stage in the trip, the compounded exhaustion begins to take its toll. We are drained. In the words of George Whitefield, “I am weary in the work but not weary of the work.” Today was brimming with activity. Randy conducted three hours of instruction last night, and I taught for four hours this morning. After all of the travel, we ended up with less than 30 minutes before being whisked off to a sporting event organized by Reformed Christians. Large numbers of Hindus attended the event, and we were presented as special guests. At one point in the ceremony I was called upon to bring greetings and deliver a few brief words. We have returned home and await supper, which is usually served between 8:30-9:30 p.m.

Tomorrow brings another blessed Lord’s Day. I am slated to preach in both the morning and evening services, with Parthee serving as interpreter. Conducting a Free Church worship service, albeit in Tamil, will be reminiscent of home, and, honestly, it only intensifies the longing to be back. I am now beyond eager with three days and counting remaining.

Nevertheless, I hope and pray to give my strength to serving the Lord and his people with an full heart, acutely aware that tomorrow officially concludes my labor in this wonderful country. We will certainly be remembering you before the throne of grace, seeking his divine presence and blessing on the public assembly back home.

On Monday morning we set our faces like a flint for home. The first stage in our long journey commences with boarding a train at 5:30 a.m., which will haul us back down to the capital, Colombo. Lord willing, I’ll fire off another post Monday morning with further details of what follows.

Every blessing,
Pastor Rob McCurley

(A note on the lighter side.)

As those at GPC will know, I met with the congregation via video Skype after the prayer meeting on Wednesday night (Thursday morning my time), which gave me much joy. In the course of the discussion, one of the young boys inquired about my motorcycle adventures in Sri Lanka. So I better include a word or two on that note for the children.

Do you remember what you have already seen and heard about the traffic? Well, riding on the back of a motorcycle takes life on the roads over here (already a harrowing experience) to a whole new level. The pot holes in the dirt roads now resemble craters — into which you descend without any certainty that you will appear over the cusp on the other side. Picture darting and weaving in between vehicles (all driving in conflicting directions) while galloping over bumps similar to a wash board that nearly bounce you off the bike. So far, so good. All of that remains standard fare in Sri Lanka, but apparently that provides inadequate excitement.

Now Partheepan enters the scene. The prospects of saddling up on the back of his motorcycle comes with a free grab bag of tricks and stunts (though relatively safe and responsible, of course). He never disclosed his goals to me on our initial spin, but I am convinced that he was either aiming at massive increases of faith for me or cheap entertainment for himself. Despite all my protests about his antics, however, I enjoyed every minute of it. To top it off, the police pulled us over for a routine traffic stop and caught Parthee with his license back at the house. After surveying the scene for a moment and discovering that we were pastors on our way to religious meetings Thursday night, the officer apologized and let us go with a pat on the back. I am pretty sure he just wanted to give the poor, wide-eyed, white guy a respite from the insane driving experience.

The venue for the conference held yesterday afternoon/evening (Friday) and today (Saturday) requires a 45 minute stroll by motorcycle each way. That duration combined with everything I described above provides fresh insight into the concept of being “saddle sore.” I get it now. Furthermore, last night we sped home under the cover of nightfall, thereby limiting visibility by more than half, and thus increasing the invisibility of everything without head lights, which constitutes 85% of everything on the road (Dogs, cows, bicycles and pedestrians suddenly appear just prior to near collision).

All humor aside now, where do we find our safety, children? Answer: in our mighty Lord. You should affirm that truth whether you are sitting on your porch in South Carolina or sitting on a motorcycle in Sri Lanka. Even when we are not conscious of our dependence upon the Lord, the Lord’s upholding remains a reality. John Calvin began most of his worship services in Geneva with the words, “Our help is in the name of the Lord who made heaven and earth” (Ps. 124:8). Consider the display of divine power in speaking the universe into existence. By comparison, keeping us in the hollow of his hand, even in seemingly dangerous circumstances, is a small thing. We must place our trust in him and commit ourselves to his safe keeping and wise disposal.

“I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills,from whence cometh my help. My help cometh from the Lord, which made heaven and earth. He will not suffer thy foot to be moved: he that keepeth thee will not slumber. Behold, he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep. The Lord is thy keeper: the Lord is thy shade upon thy right hand. The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night. The Lord shall preserve thee from all evil: he shall preserve thy soul.
The Lord shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even for evermore.” (Psalm 121)

Soli Deo Gloria,
Pastor Rob McCurley

Poverty assumes more forms than mere monetary deprivation. Jesus spoke, for example, of the church being impoverished by a lack of ministerial manpower. In Sri Lanka, despite the financial straits of most, the need for men still trumps the need for money. They suffer from a shortage of laborers amidst fields teeming with opportunities. We must beseech the Lord to thrust reapers into this plentiful harvest.

Thursday night we assembled with several others for a Bible study in the home of Maran, a dear Christian brother, who formerly pastored a Charismatic congregation in the Vavunya district. His interactions with Parthee prompted the desire to attend the Sabbath evening worship services in Parthee’s congregation, which in turn spawned a lengthy series of personal Bible studies with Parthee. These patient, pain-staking labors eventually brought Maran to a persuasion of Reformed doctrine, and ultimately those biblical convictions necessitated his resignation from the pastoral charge of the Charismatic church, a decision that brought significant personal sacrifice.

To provide for his family, he now works as a field laborer, while also raising and selling chickens out of his backyard. Remember that all of the food in Sri Lanka is served fresh, including all the fish and meats. The people here consider even the thought of frozen food intolerable, whether meat, veggies, fruit or anything else. So when the recipe calls for chicken they amble down the road to a place selling chicken, point out the bird they want to buy, and then slaughter it the same day that they intend to eat it. You will find attached a picture of Maran’s chicken operation.

Maran’s family (wife and two sons) now attend the Free Church services fulltime while he pursues ongoing part-time studies with Pastor Parthee. If Maran continues to make progress in his theological studies, Parthee believes he may have future potential in serving as a church-planter.

At present, Parthee tutors three or four men in biblical and theological studies. He asks us to join him in earnestly crying out to the Lord to raise up, equip and send many more laborers into the Sri Lankan harvest.

“But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on them, because they fainted, and were scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd. Then saith he unto his disciples, The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few; Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth labourers into his harvest.” (Matthew 9:36-38)

Warm Regards,
Pastor Rob McCurley

Yesterday Randy conveyed a gift to Pastor Partheepan on behalf of our Free Church Presbytery in the U.S.

Ministers of the gospel in the third world face many challenges, including the scarcity of resources for study. This gift addresses that practical need.

A Reformed Christian developed the computer software, BibleWorks, as a powerful tool in assisting pastors with exegesis of the text of Scripture. Those that review software generally acknowledge that BibleWorks 9 (the latest version) takes the blue ribbon over against all its competitors.

We hope and pray that this tangible support will further equip Parthee in his ministry to his own flock and in his training of future leaders.

Please find below a thank you note from Pastor Partheepan.

Warm Regards,
Pastor Rob McCurley

Dear Presbytery,

I am greeting you all in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I heard about your churches through  one of your ministers, Rev Rob McCurley. I am remembering you in my and my church’s  prayers. And I am sure you also remembering  us.  I express my thanks to you for your loving gift which you all send me — the “Bible works 9”. I am really glad and very thankful. It is very useful to my study and increase my understanding of God and His will.

But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus. Now unto God and our Father be glory for ever and ever.

Thank you,
In Christ ,
Parthee