Send Magazine - 2nd Quarter 2009

BRIDGE OF HOPE

FOR ASIA’S

CHILDREN

Mathy sits in a pink plastic chair drawn up to a wooden table, her dark hair pulled back in two ribboned braids, her eyes glowing.

At age 13, Mathy is grateful she can now read and write well. Her father has stopped his heavy drinking and fighting at home. He has a job, there is food on the table—and her family knows Jesus, who brings peace to their Sri Lankan household.

Four years ago, the picture was not as bright for Mathy or the other children in her community. The 2004 tsunami had left their lives as fragmented as their houses. Dazed, grieving families were repeatedly

relocated from the piles of rubbish that once were homes to overcrowded refugee camps, and from the camps to slum-like permanent housing on the city’s fringe.

Parents were not properly caring for their children. Jobs were scarce, and sometimes families went without meals. Children faced constant illness, and many were not attending school.

Alcohol and drug addictions also ran rampant in these families, depleting meager earnings and making it even more difficult for parents to provide for their children.

A Daunting Task

Starting a Bridge of Hope program in this neighborhood would be a daunting task, project manager Jayana knew. But even more obstacles lay ahead.

Christian organizations had attempted such works before with little success, so residents initially rejected—and even opposed—the notion. Some shouted insults at Jayana. Others disturbed the classroom by throwing stones on the community center roof or demanding the meals intended for the children.

But Jayana knew these children needed help. She prayed fervently for the community and began visiting homes, taking time to tell parents about the program and how it would enable their children to attend school and receive personal tutoring at the Bridge of Hope center. Slowly the parents began to trust her.

More families started enrolling their children in the Bridge of Hope program. But now the children caused trouble. With little structure and discipline in their lives, they would run around in the classroom and instigate fights. Some even made false accusations against Jayana to their parents, who would then angrily confront her.