斯里蘭卡的國際青年福音事工領袖 Ajith Fernando 是我在三一的校友學長,他的兒子與我在三一同窗相熟。因為他們一直在這個對基督徒很有敵意的伊斯蘭環境下向年輕人傳福音。兩年前這一波教堂恐怖攻擊發生時我立刻問候他。
可倫波神學院院長 Dr. Ivor Poobalan 既是他們好友、也是三一校友。他受訪轉述了主日學班上的見證,卻在媒體上引起了軒然大波。
▍二、見證
Dr. Poobalan 分享當天倖存的兒主老師是他的學生,那天早上恰好在主日學強調生命回轉向神、為主犧牲的課題。
“All the children had responded [to their teacher’s question] by putting their hands up, and signaled their fresh dedication to Jesus by lighting a symbolic candle,” recounts a seminary leader. “For so many of those children, it would be their final act of worship.” [1]
“Within the Christian community there has to be moderation because by its nature it consists of two different ethnic communities. There’s a natural instinct for them to look at such religious and ethnic issues with deep compassion,” said Rohan Gunaratna, a religion and security expert and co-author of “The Three Pillars of Radicalization.”
But peace is not guaranteed.
“Sri Lanka must not take this Christian interreligious harmony for granted,” Gunaratna said in a phone interview. “The danger is that the Christian patience could break if there are more attacks, and that is what the terrorists want.”
About 7% of Sri Lanka’s 21 million people are Christian, and most are Roman Catholic, according to Mathew Schmalz, a professor at the College of the Holy Cross and an expert on Christianity in South Asia.
There has not always been universal Christian unity and restraint in Sri Lanka.
During the civil war that began in 1983, Christianity was divided, with members of the faith fighting for both the largely ethnic Tamil separatists and the mostly Sinhalese Buddhist government forces, experts say, and some tension still lingers.
The cost of Debbie and her aunt’s treatment is much more than the family can afford, even after collectively exhausting their savings. While the Catholic Church has helped the Catholic survivors, smaller local NGOs like the National Evangelical Alliance and Heal Lanka are trying to help the others.
Particles of the bomb still remain lodged in Debbie’s head, but Sri Lankan hospitals lack the technology and expertise for the surgery, her uncle Robert Antony Moses said.
A Canadian doctor has agreed to perform her surgery after examining her case, Moses added, « but it will require a lot of money, and we are trying to arrange that amount. » He left his job as an electronic engineer to coordinate and administer Debbie’s treatment.
Debbie’s parents were Sunday school teachers at the church and owned a book shop in the church’s premises. The bomb exploded a few meters in front of the shop, killing her parents and brother and injuring her aunt.
“Whenever the family feels sad about losing their loved ones, Debbie says, ‘Why are you crying? They are in heaven with Jesus, and he is taking care of them,’” said Vethany Moses, Debbie’s aunt. Debbie’s other aunt, 24-year-old Rebekah Arasarathanam suffers severe third-degree burns on most of her body. She has gone through several plastic surgeries, and some more are left.
“I was speaking to my mother on the phone when the bomb exploded, » Arasarathanam said. « I thought my phone had exploded. » After the explosion, she fell unconscious. « I could only see fire everywhere after I came back to my senses. »
Debbie wants to be a Sunday school teacher just like her mother. She says that when she grows up, she will spread the gospel to thousands of people. “Jesus has already made eyes for me,” she said. “He will give it to me when my time comes.”