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

Hi Folks,

I’d dash off a note to you and let you know how things went at the slum church, Hope Fellowship on Sunday, our last day in India. Church is held under a covered area outside the church planting pastor’s (named Ravi) home, who lives in the slum area as well. There were about 60-70 in attendance. Sunday being a regular work day, many have to work or they don’t eat. The larger service is actually on Tuesday, because the electricity in the area is off that day, providing an opportunity for everyone to attend..

They asked Rob to preach a simple message from John 20 on the resurrection. He did a great job preaching, weaving in the gospel clearly. About half in attendance were unbelievers. Several times a year, Logos gives the widows some food which will last them about 4 months. One of the pictures shows the contents of each gift bag, and another show them carrying the 50-lb bag away on their heads. Widows are not supported in the Hindu culture. Most of them that were there are still unbelievers, but many were incredibly touched by the love with no strings attached. Ravi says he is careful to not immediately share the gospel so as not to be perceived that he is trying to bribe them. He wants to be sure they see it as a no strings attached gift of love given in the love of Jesus.

It was a powerful and challenging time listening to Ravi share afterwards about his early struggles and his vision to have at least one believer in each family in the slum area. I am not sure how many families that entails, but I would guess a few thousand.

We arrived last night at Rev. Parthee’s home, the Sri Lankan pastor in Vavuniya (pronounced “Vav -oon-ya” with the accent on the middle “oon”) last night about 9 pm. Rob and I had been up since early Sunday morning, having had to leave the hotel just after midnight on Sunday night for the airport. Our flight arrived mid afternoon and then we had a 6 hour drive. The weather here is mid-90s, very humid, and no air conditioning, so our I get to experience it as though it were a hot July in St. Louis before the advent of a/c. Part of our coming here is also a pastoral visit for Parthee, who was trained at my denominational seminary, the Free Church of Scotland (Continuing), and is sponsored by them as a mission work for church planting.

There will be two days of training, on Friday and Saturday. I will take Friday, which will be regarding men as leaders in their home. Today as is recuperation day, though Parthee is going to show us some historical stuff. Wednesday is TBD and Thursday we will have a prayer meeting, at which I’ll give a 45 minute talk on something. The three main rules in short-term missions are flex, flex, flex, so we appreciated continued prayers for being a blessing to Parthee and his wife, and the work here, as well as for our physical coping ability.

Thanks for your notes and prayers,
Randy

Two primary people groups comprise the nation of Sri Lanka: the Sinhalese and the Tamils, the latter occupying only 25% of the populace in the northern and eastern regions of the island. These two groups represent two conflicting cultures, with totally different languages and histories. As some of you will know from the international news circuit, the clash between these two groups erupted into a bloody civil war, which culminated in a crushing defeat of the Tamils in 2009. The wounds remain tender among the Tamils, as the unofficial war continues through the oppressive persecution and political subjugation of the Tamils, including such heinous crimes as rape and murder by the military. The Tamils still yearn for freedom from the Buddhist-run, Sinhalese-controlled seats of civil power.

The lead organization on the Tamil side of the conflict was the L.T.T.E. — Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (land), better known as the Tamil Tigers. All of the official literature describes them as terrorists, though Parthee considers them patriots, while also making clear that he rejects some of their tactics and philosophy. If you want to provoke Parthee into an animated frenzy, then probe him with questions about all of this. He was born and raised a Tamil, speaks and preaches in Tamil, and devotes most of his labors to the Tamil people, which he insists are the true Sri Lankans, in contrast to the Johnny-come-latelies who now exert dominion over them. He speaks some Sinhalese, however, and nurtures a sincere love for them, desiring the gospel to thrive among them.

But the pervasive military presence throughout the Tamil occupied territories stares them in the face on a daily basis. We passed through a military road block along a normal road on Tuesday, requiring me to vacate the vehicle, brandish my passport and sit at a desk where a soldier conducted an interview of me — basically playing a round of 20 questions. I’ll save those interesting details for another time. Since Parthee planned for us to see a couple sites related to the Tamil Tigers, I teasingly told him upon our return to the vehicle that I had explained to the soldiers that we were touring LTTE sites that promoted the overthrow of the Sinhalese government. Parthee blithely called my bluff, noting that if that was true, our dejected faces would be gazing out the back of a military truck on our way to some bleak new accommodations.

For Parthee, as for many thousands of Tamils, this conflict was brought close to home when his father was killed in a bomb explosion as a civilian. Parthee was fourteen at the time. Without a hint of bitterness, he quickly affirms that the death of his father served under God’s gracious Providence as the key event that ultimately led his family out of Hinduism and into the Christian faith. He rejoices that the Lord brought beauty out of ashes and joy where there was mourning.

I have consumed excessive space describing the political setting for two reasons. You cannot comprehend the needs without knowing something about these struggles, and secondly, Parthee wishes more people knew the true story behind the official story. Like many Christians throughout the world, Parthee’s loyalty to Christ removes an unqualified allegiance to any of the current political options available. The crave for Tamil independence must be accompanied by a commitment to Tamil dependence upon Christ.

And unlike the Tamil Tigers, Parthee has been tamed by the power of the gospel, enabling him to boldly assert that without a spiritual change no political change will suffice. The reign of King Jesus is paramount, and therefore, he intends to give his strength to proclaiming the only gospel which makes men free indeed. Pray that this roar will resound throughout the length and breadth of this land.

Warm Regards,
Pastor Rob McCurley

P.S. For your peace of mind, Parthee gave his stamp of approval to everything written above, knowing that this would be posted on the Internet. He insisted, typical of Parthee, that we should not fear telling the truth and that I could send even more details, if I wished. I will have to explain some of the pictures after I return home.

Please find below a brief update on the schedule.

Due to some unforeseen events, Parthee has been forced to alter plans for this week. Life here requires maximum flexibility. To better inform your prayers, the teaching schedule includes Thursday evening, Friday evening (3 hours), Saturday morning (4 hours), Saturday afternoon and sermons for the two Sabbath services. On Tuesday he showed us a portion of the surrounding area while filling us in on the present needs and future goals of the work here. At our request, we stayed at the house yesterday to study, prepare teaching material and rest. Both Randy and I took much needed naps, and I am glad to report that the combined effect of the day brought an increase of strength and energy.

He also adjusted the teaching topics to accommodate the changes. The primary focus of the instruction will be on biblical family life (husbands, wives, parents, children, etc.). They face a dearth of material on this subject in the Tamil tongue. So please pray for Randy and I as we strive to fill that gap with biblical teaching.

Another indispensable part of our labor includes ministering to Parthee himself. As you can imagine, his situation is fairly isolated. So we have discussed a wide array of topics, covering the gamut of both the practical and the theological. We delight in serving and strengthening a faithful minister of the Word. I am especially keen to lend support and counsel to him on the specific pastoral problems he finds most challenging. I still cherish the benefits I received as a young pastor from those further along in the ministry. So please pray that the Lord will make profitable these edifying conversations.

Thank you for your persevering prayers of Pastor Parthee and his ministry in Sri Lanka.

“Continue in prayer, and watch in the same with thanksgiving; Withal praying also for us, that God would open unto us a door of utterance, to speak the mystery of Christ, for which I am also in bonds: That I may make it manifest, as I ought to speak.” (Col. 4:2-4)

“Finally, brethren, pray for us, that the word of the Lord may have free course, and be glorified, even as it is with you” (2 Thess. 3:1)