DALLAS (ABP) — Sri Lanka looks like the aftermath of a fatal car wreck — the bodies are gone but the devastation remains as a vivid reminder of a series of tsunamis that slammed the island nation — according to the relief volunteers who have returned.
Empty land is all that remains along a coast once populated with villages, said Texas Baptist Men volunteer Matt Patterson. Homes are damaged, as are many other structures. The industrial infrastructure is largely gone. Landmines that cover some areas of the country are one of the few signs of civilization along the coast. People wear smiles, but pain lies just beneath them.
“People were killed, but people are smiling,” said Patterson of Plano, Texas. “It's a feeling that is hard to explain because you don't feel it everyday. You don't want to feel it everyday.”
Volunteers regularly were told stories of children rushing to their deaths just before the tsunamis hit. As the waves neared the shore, water along the coast receded quickly and exposed pockets of fish that flopped on the sand. Children ran to grab them, only to be slammed by surges of water.
Another man said he went to town and returned to find his wife and kids gone. “His heart will never be the same,” said Larry Blanchard of Lindale. “We just loved on him, hugged him.”
That experience is typical of some of the help that Texas Baptist Men brought with them. Chaplains were part of the teams, but anyone who would listen was helpful.
“… [A] lot of these people need a shoulder to cry on,” said David Beckett, a missionary in Sri Lanka who recently was named director of Children's Emergency Relief International's work in the country.
Texas Baptist Men also brought help in the form of supplies. After some initial struggles, volunteers perfected a way to clean wells contaminated by salt water. Ten water purification teams each cleaned about 25 wells a day.
As the teams moved across Sri Lanka, children and adults began leading them from well to well. They communicated with TBM volunteers as best they could, mostly relying on hand gestures. That was good enough. The volunteers trained Sri Lankans to clean the wells.
The teams gave pumps and supplies to local pastors who can use them as tools to share the Christian message. Recovery will move faster with more people cleaning wells, leaders said.
Texas Baptist Men also set up a mobile kitchen that has fed thousands near Batticoloa. The teams attempted to set up a kitchen in a refugee camp, but the Sri Lanka government told them to stop because it wants people to return to their villages rather than stay in the camps.
The men's ministry organization provided a washer and dryer to get a Sri Lankan hospital functioning again. The institution had run out of clean linens to use for its patients and was afraid of spreading infections.
The volunteers are altering many Sri Lankans' image of Americans and especially Christians. Residents commonly told the teams they did not expect Christians to help without trying to trick them. Those conversations opened witnessing opportunities.
Much work remains. For the people to return to their villages, the wells must be cleaned. Homes will need to be built. The industry infrastructure needs to be recreated.
“There's literally thousands of wells to do down there,” Blanchard said. “You say, ‘How could we make a difference?' Well, to those who needed water we made a difference.”
Workers from Texas Baptist Men also are building a model frame for houses that can be duplicated across the island. The metal frame will be approved by the Sri Lankan government, and residents will be trained in how to weld them together.
Initially residents will be able to throw tarps across the frames for temporary housing, but over time they will be able to build walls out of cinder blocks or other materials, Smith said.
Training Sri Lankans gives residents skills they can use later, Smith noted. It also provides a continuing boost to the economy as Texas Baptist Men continues buying supplies in Sri Lanka.
“I think we've just touched the surface of the opportunities available to us,” said Dick Talley, TBM logistics coordinator. “We need to stay faithful in everything we promise we are going to do.”