By Dr. Ivor Poobalan, President, Colombo Theological Seminary

Background

Last April 21, 2019, Easter Sunday, a series of coordinated suicide bombings befell Sri Lanka. Known as the Easter Sunday Attacks, the incident left 257 dead, one of which a graduate of Colombo Theological Seminary (CTS) and assistant pastor of Zion Church, to which CTS is closely connected, and 500 injured. The bombings were done by nine suicide bombers (including one female), between the ages of twenty and thirty-six, from an organization called the National Tawhid Jamaat (NTJ). The NTJ is a small network of extremists committed to violence and terror based on certain interpretations of Islamic ideology

Encounters with Students and Families

Our first conversation was with Pastor Roshan Mahesan, the senior pastor of Zion. Pastor Mahesan has led Zion for the past 38 years. He had been on a ministry visit to Norway when the attacks took place. The challenges that he now faces are immense; with so many bereaved and injured church members, and massive loss to property. He is operating out of a rented property opposite Zion. By the time of our visit, the church property had not as yet been handed back to Zion by the government authorities. It was clear that Pastor Roshan is under severe pressure, but is full of faith and confidence that God will enable them to pull through so they could serve Him even more effectively. His wife and children are a great comfort and strength to him. He spoke several times about “Ramesh, my right hand man”, and indicated how closely and loyally Ramesh had served the Lord.

We next visited with Krishanthy, the widow of Ramesh. They have two children, a daughter of about 13 and a son about 11. They were very close, and Ramesh supported the family by doing a business as a small-time contractor. Krishanthy had been with Ramesh when he had escorted the bomber out; she had then gone into the sanctuary. Her grief and trauma is greatly compounded by the fact that she has been victimized multiple times by experiences of terror and tragedy. When she was a child her father had been murdered by the LTTE, and later in life her mother had been killed by the army. She had also lost immediate family members when the 2004 tsunami hit. Ramesh’s sister, husband and one-year infant also died on Easter Sunday. She is not employed, having taken early retirement from the health sector some years ago to volunteer at the church.

Kumaran is a member of the CTS prayer team and committee. He and his wife lost their middle child, Malchijah, who was thirteen. They have an older son and a younger daughter. Malchijah was great at Bible Quiz and a talented trumpet player. He was identified by the wristwatch he was wearing. 

Vathani is a CTS student. The catalogue of events that have unfolded for her was difficult to imagine. She has suffered severe injuries to her hearing. Her sister, Verlini died along with Verlini’s husband. Another sister, Rebecca, has been hospitalised in Colombo with head injuries, severe burns, and multiple limb fractures. Vathani’s nephew, a 13 year old basketball player, died. The boy’s father met with a motor cycle accident while making the funeral arrangements and has sustained neck injuries. Verlini’s daughter Debbie (about 6) has been injured but most tragically has lost her sight. One eye has been removed, and doctors at the children’s hospital are desperately trying to help restore the other. Debbie and her older brother are orphans.

Kasilda is a CTS graduate. She lost her youngest son, thirteen year old John Jeshurun. John and Malchijah were friends and they had gone arm in arm outside to have a drink of water when the explosion had occurred. John had many abilities, especially in web-design. He used to do a lot of work for his older brother who works as a freelance software developer. I shared with Kasilda how the Lord spoke to me through Isaiah 57:1-2 when my brother died, a young Christian worker. We prayed together and wept.

The family we were unable to visit was that of our alumnus Thamendra. His sister has suffered severe head injuries and was in the ICU.

A significant part of our emotionally exhausting day was the session we had with the CTS students from Zion, who had not been personally injured or bereaved. They are suffering a trauma of a different kind because everyone and everything is an intimate part of their lives, and yet there is less ‘permission’ for them to grieve. I asked them to share individually what questions troubled them and whatever they would feel like sharing to help us share the load with them. Each one spoke in turn. On everyone’s mind was the question why, but also that sure confidence that God was in control. Some were unable to eat, sleep, and even pray for days. Others suffered with post-traumatic stress symptoms such as being startled by small sounds or loud voices. One of the students was among the Sunday School teachers who had led the children in making their personal commitments to Jesus as their Savior. He and another woman Sunday School teacher are at a loss as to how to face their kids, and what they are to say. 

Another student Dinesh shared an amazing testimony. He was leading a branch church 30 kilometers away. But he couldn’t continue with the service for more than 10 minutes because he felt a great heaviness. So he stopped the service and switched on his phone and was inundated with texts and calls. He got on his bike with his wife to rush to the main Zion church. His wife was repeatedly asking him why God would allow this to happen. But he found that the Holy Spirit just kept bringing three CTS teachers to mind and the lessons they had taught on Church History and Christology. The former about how the Church over the centuries has experienced martyrdom and revival at the same time. The latter was about the incarnation of Christ, and Jesus’s participation in a suffering world. He felt that God was marvelously preparing him to face the days ahead, and feels truly confident that God is sovereign in this very situation. I silently praised God for the encouragement of the power of the taught-Word that becomes the resource that the Holy Spirit can use in a critical moment.

The visit enabled us to express our solidarity and concern for the suffering Christians in Batticaloa. It also gave us great insight into the nature of the needs and possible ways that we will be able to support those who are in need of material, emotional, psychological, and spiritual care. A program to provide meaningful support and encouragement has now been started and will continue in the weeks and months ahead. In addition to providing financial help for affected families, we are looking into the possibility of organizing a counselling and teaching retreat for all the students in the CTS Batticaloa Extension in June.

Thank you for your prayerful support and commitment to stand with the believers at this crucial moment. We thank God that he walks with us and that his people all over the world are the agents of His comfort and love.