But it didn’t have to happen this way. Pastor Adrian with A3 says flooding is common in Sri Lanka, which tempts some people not to take flood warnings seriously. That kept many from warning others and taking proper precautions for the cyclone.

Cyclone Ditwah on 27 November, 2025. (Photo by VIIRS image from NOAA’s NOAA-21 Satellite – NOAA View Global Data Explorer, Public Domain)

“In certain areas, the rainfall was about 400 milliliters of water within a single day,” Adrian said. “One of our churches went down completely underwater. And [that] church is situated about 50 feet above the river level. We had never heard of a flooding of this nature before.” 

Adrian serves as A3’s country director for Sri Lanka. He says that for churches in some regions, “I’m unable to contact them by phone or travel to these places because of the landslides. The bridges have been washed away. I don’t think even the government is aware of the scope of the damage that has happened due to the cyclone.” 

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs estimates that 1.1 million Sri Lankans were affected by the cyclone and that over 15,000 houses were destroyed.

Local Christians are working to provide immediate needs — like food, potable water, clothing and shelter. Then will come the long work of rebuilding homes, says Adrian. 

“It’s a huge concern, because our country and our churches don’t have that kind of infrastructure,” he says.

Find your place in the story

Pray for God to bring eternal good from the devastation across Sri Lanka. Pray for hope to be found in Christ.

Weligama, Sri Lanka (Photo courtesy of Devin Woody via Unsplash)

“We are also getting ready to carry out a strong prayer ministry, moving to every district, gathering the believers, praying, because I believe that this devastation has also brought about receptivity in the hearts of people,” says Adrian. 

He says they are also looking to establish medical camps, because waterborne diseases will arise. 

“We are inviting people to contact us and send us teams of doctors and nurses who could come and serve,” he says. “We are also asking churches to stand with us financially, because we will have to provide [much]. It’s almost with some people starting life all over again.” 

Learn how you can partner with A3 to help local Christians bring relief and true hope to Sri Lanka.

Header photo from Galle, Sri Lanka is a representative stock image courtesy of Fredrik Öhlander via Unsplash. 

Ministry partners in Sri Lanka, Papua New Guinea, and Pakistan will soon receive their container shipments, where ministries already have people ready to share the Good News.

World Missionary Press also funds printing in Indonesia and Myanmar, where importing resources is difficult.

The organization is careful with shipments to Pakistan, as it would be easy to bring those on the ground into harm’s way. The coordinator in Pakistan, however, has a good church and ministry there.

Helen Williams with WMP says,

“He’s careful. We are careful with him as well. But the requests keep coming. ‘How soon can I get this? We need the Bible studies as well.’”

“Sometimes (it’s) overwhelming, but it is so exciting to get these reports that say, ‘We have to have more, and when can you get it here?’ The pastors are just asking. They’re standing around waiting for the literature that (they) can use to reach because they see it works. They see what the Spirit does with the Word, and that excites them.”

Chiang Mai, Thailand, is also a major hub for the organization, with a printing house and distribution center serving several other countries and people groups in the region.

They provide material in about six or seven languages for the region, and provide resources to ministries in different countries such as Laos, Cambodia, Myanmar, Vietnam, and China.

With persecuted people groups moving to Southern Thailand, having this material readily available in multiple languages brings hope and creates new opportunities.

This site recently sent a request for 20,000 booklets of “Help From Above” and “Way to Our God” to reach the Karen people groups in Myanmar.

“The response (from partners) is always that we need more,” says Williams. “And they’ll give stories or generalities from the pastors and those that come and get the booklets and are continuing to use them. (The pastors are) not just getting something and then never coming back. They keep coming back. It’s a source for the pastors and the evangelists in these areas,” says Williams.

Unlike other areas of the world, when requests are received from this region, organizations need to move fast because the doors are not always going to remain open.

Please pray for church leaders across Asia to access and distribute materials wisely. Pray that WMP will communicate clearly with partners and will have the resources to continue to answer the calls around the world. 

Photo Image courtesy of Road Ahead on Unsplash

Public schools aren’t the only ones gaining attention these days. Greg Yoder with Christian World Outreach says parents in Sri Lanka are increasingly drawn to their after-school tutoring program. 

At first, “parents are a little leery that we’re trying to just convert their children, but then they learn that that’s not what we’re doing,” Yoder says. “They’ve grown to love what we do and [are] open to hearing that Jesus loves them, and wants nothing more than [for] them to love Him.” 

Run by volunteers, the program offers tutoring in math and English. “They use Bible stories and songs to share Christ, as well as giving them education,” says Yoder.

Ministry in Sri Lanka. (Photo courtesy of Christian World Outreach)

However, not everyone in the community wants to hear the Good News. 

“There is some resistance to the Gospel [due to] Sri Lanka being mostly Hindu and Buddhist.” 

CWO works with dedicated local leaders in Sri Lanka who live out the Gospel while meeting educational and physical needs. Pray for one CWO partner facing persecution. 

“The Buddhist priest is trying to force this homeowner to stop renting to one of our leaders [who] has a house church,” says Yoder. “We’re working to help him find another place, if he does get kicked out.”

Yoder asks that you also pray for wisdom for CWO as they connect with local gospel workers. 

“Word is being spread that we’re coming alongside ministry leaders,” he says. “They’re coming to us and saying, ‘Hey, can we partner with you?’ So that’s a challenge, but it’s also an opportunity.”

CWO’s vision for gospel-centered ministry goes beyond mere financial partnership.

“We are encouraging them to find funds in-country. Some of them are doing that,” says Yoder. “They’re looking to their churches and saying, ‘Hey, we need to step up. If we want to share the gospel with our community, we need to invest in that.’”

CWO partners with ministry leaders who want to share the gospel, whether they’re doing a church plant, house church, or any kind of evangelism in their communities. Learn more about their mission and how you can be part of it here.

Header photo from Galle, Sri Lanka courtesy of Fredrik Öhlander via Unsplash. Cropped from original version. 

It was the first presidential election in the nation since unrest in 2022 forced then-President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to flee the country and resign.

After his inauguration September 23, President Anura Kumara Dissanayake dissolved parliament. He has called for a general election to be held in November of this year instead of in late 2025.

“Over the last two decades, we’ve had a trend of political parties being in power. For the first time, we’ve had new party totally coming in, so there is a new government,” says Pastor Paul*, a gospel worker with A3.

Anura Kumara Dissanayake September 2024 (Photo courtesy of Kasun kavinda gunasekara via Wikimedia Commons, CC0)

“What seems to be happening over the last few days [since Dissanayake took office] is very positive, but I think ,,,there’s a lot of fear in people.” 

There’s an anti-corruption movement with the new leaders, which is positive. But because of the PLF party’s history, no one knows if religious freedom will become a concern in the months and years ahead. (PLF is also known as Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna or JVP.)

“They represent the Communist Party, so they are non-religious,” Paul says. “The biggest challenge is no one knows what to expect, so there’s nothing to prepare for.” 

Pray for believers in Sri Lanka to listen to the Holy Spirit in the midst of uncertainty. Pray also for the upcoming election in parliament. 

“I think that’s what we need to pray for, that even through this, the Lord will establish His righteousness,” Paul says. “I’m very positive that God, even through this season, will do something that will transform our nation and bring it to a correct place.”

*Pseudonym

Header photo of Sri Lanka’s flag is a stock photo courtesy of Clker-Free-Vector-Images via Pixabay.

“They’ve decided to reach out down there. Some of that is because of some of the persecution and the difficulties in India. And they’re still trying to reach the Tamil speaking people, wherever they are,” says Williams.

WMP produces Scripture booklets that are distributed freely to make disciples around the world.

Williams says, “The book was so effective in India and in other places where they’re working, so they came to us and said, ‘Okay, we want to go to Sri Lanka, what can you do for us?’”

Scripture booklets from WMP have already helped another ministry in Sri Lanka for 25 years. The new ministries will support local pastors, train leaders, and send evangelists.

“Workers are going into the rural areas, and there is open response,” says Williams.

“So this is an opportunity that the Lord presented, and we’re just grateful that we can be part of it.”

While persecution still affects Sri Lankan Christians, lives are being changed by God’s Word. One man learned about the love of Christ when a pastor shared with him a Scripture booklet from WMP. He joyfully put his faith in Christ and shared the news with his sisters, who also wanted to learn more. Now he attends church with his sisters and parents.

A woman who received a Scripture booklet early last year shared it with her husband, and they have since began following Jesus together. She says:

“Through the Holy Bible I have found solace and answers. I firmly believe that the Word of God is the wellspring of life. His presence blesses us and I aspire to deepen my faith and understanding of His teachings. I am grateful that my husband and I embraced Jesus together, uniting us in worship as a family. My heart overflows with joy as I follow the living God.”

WMP is preparing to send a shipping container of resources to support the work. The resources will be distributed through the three ministries in Sri Lanka to share the Gospel with thousands of more people. You can give to the project here. For every dollar donated, WMP can print 21 Scripture booklets.

Pray for the Scripture booklets to soon reach the pastors and evangelists in Sri Lanka. The new Sri Lankan ministries have also asked for prayer over their leaders.

“Two of these [ministries] are establishing new works, and that needs godly leadership on the ground. That’s always a challenge in some of these places,” says Williams. “We’re glad to provide the material, but there has to be a structured, Spirit-controlled, Spirit-directed plan, and an oversight, and accountability when any of these ministries start in a new field.”

Pray for God to protect and direct the faithful leaders sharing the Gospel with the unreached peoples of Sri Lanka.

Photos courtesy of World Missionary Press.

It also happened to be Easter, making it an especially pointed attack. Christians are a minority in Sri Lanka, making up 1.7 million, or 7.7%, of the population (source: Joshua Project).

(Screenshot)

In the years since then, the government has largely met calls for thorough investigation with inaction and silence. A trial of suspects in the bombing began in late 2021 but to date no one has been convicted or punished for the killings. Many people gather each year to protest this silence.

Greg Yoder with Christian World Outreach (CWO) says, “It is a time to remember. Being a believer is not not necessarily a safe thing. It’s a battle, and I think that’s part of what was going on (in Sri Lanka).”

The gospel continues to be opposed in Sri Lanka, but Christians are resilient.

“There’s been physical attacks on Christians, (people) attacking them if they do open a church, if they do any kind of evangelism,” Yoder says.

“But what’s impressed me is the desire (of) those who know the Lord to not let any of that deter them from sharing the gospel, and especially discipling others — helping them grow in their faith so that they can share the gospel with others.”

Since 2021, the CWO team serve kids and families by offering education programs and meeting tangible needs. (Learn more here.) They do their work with sensitivity to the culture, in order to build relationships where they can then share the gospel. 

“We’ve had parents of some of our children in the after-school program (whose) concern was, ‘You’re going to make our children believe the way you do.’ We’ve reassured them, ‘No, but we use Bible stories to help the kids learn to read,’” Yoder says. 

Ministry in Sri Lanka. (Photo courtesy of Christian World Outreach)

“So they’re relieved by that, but then that opens the door because they want to hear, ‘Why do you want to love us? Why do you want to help our kids, if you’re not going to push the gospel on it?’ It just opens that door, and so people are willing to listen in the ministries that we do there.”

Now that you know more, will you pray? 

“Pray for the believers in Sri Lanka as they openly share the Gospel, as our staff there disciple others to grow in their faith so that they can share the gospel with others, share the love of Christ,” Yoder says.

Pray also for those still grieving for the people who were killed in 2019. Ask God to bring His perfect justice to those responsible for the attacks. 

Header photo of Sri Lanka is a representative stock photo courtesy of Vinnath Satharasinghe via Unsplash.

Greg Yoder with Christian World Outreach says, “Even today, there’s Hindus and Buddhists trying to gain power in the government, that kind of thing. So there just seems to be a lot of division.”

“In a lot of ways, they can’t even speak to each other because they speak a different language…. I actually visibly watched two guys try to communicate with each other. One was Tamil, one was Sinhalese, and they couldn’t talk to each other. They were using hand motions, trying to figure out what the other one wanted. So even that can cause a division in a physical way.”

Ministry in Sri Lanka. (Photo courtesy of Christian World Outreach)

Christians are a minority in Sri Lanka – only making up about 8% of the population. Yet, in one church, you’ll see Tamil and Sinhalese believers worshipping side-by-side.

CWO works in Sri Lanka with three staff members on Gospel outreach initiatives. Yoder says, “Two of the men, one is Tamil and one is Sinhalese. So that division that’s there, we’re crossing that boundary with these two guys working together, sharing the Gospel together, evangelizing, and discipling believers.”

The ministry also supports widows and runs an after-school program for kids in the name of Christ!

You can support CWO’s Gospel work here and be an encouragement to the Church in Sri Lanka.

Then, pray for Sri Lankan believers to win others to Christ by their example of unity and peace.

Also, “Pray for safety,” Yoder asks. “It’s not necessarily safe. I mean, there have been Christian leaders that have been told to shut their churches down. They have received some threats because of being open to sharing the Gospel. So pray for the safety of our staff as they do the work that God has called them to do.”

Header photo courtesy of Christian World Outreach.

Rajeeve Sathianathan with Christian World Outreach says, “The government uses the military to control the protests a lot. They arrested so many people. So that has gone down. They have allocated certain spots in the capitol for people to go and protest. So those are the only places that they’re allowed to do.”

Economy

Economically, people continue to suffer. The government has allowed fertilizer back into the country so that farmers can grow food. But those crops have not yielded yet.

Severe fuel shortages continue as well. Sathianathan says, “My father has a vehicle, a car, and he can get only 20 liters a week. That’s it. And our CWO mission person has a motorbike. He is allowed to take only four liters a week.”

“The price has gone up, but people did not get any increase in their pay, right? Their pay is still the same.”

Many kids can’t go to school because even though schooling is free, textbooks and other supplies are not.

CWO work

Sathianathan says CWO reaches out to kids in the villages they serve.  “We are helping them with books and their school stationery. That is a huge thing. Also, a lot of kids cannot go to school. So we help them after hours, teaching them to read and write.”

CWO works in remote Sri Lankan villages, and getting there is a challenge. One ministry worker waits hours to catch a bus.

In the coming months, CWO hopes to start growing food for the impoverished people they serve.

CWO also helps local Christian communities with discipleship and leadership training. They work in villages throughout the country. Ask God to touch many lives.

Protestors in Sri Lanka’s capital on July 9, 2022. (Photo courtesy of Supun D Hewage/Pexels)

Some turn to home gardens to survive. A 2010 survey of northern Sri Lanka found:

On average, each gardener cultivated nine plants on less than an acre of land, providing a steady supply of “fresh and nutritionally rich” produce, such as eggplant, okra, green chile, and long beans, sometimes additional income.

Sri Lanka faces its worst economic crisis since gaining independence in 1948. According to the World Bank, the national poverty rate nearly doubled between 2021 and 2022. Months of protests against high prices and shortages of food, fuel, and medicine led to President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s ouster in July.

Aid recipients helped by FARMS Lanka.
(Photo courtesy of FARMS International)

Pastor Clarence leads FARMS Lanka, a FARMS International partner. “[People are] suffering because prices of essential food items and other things are higher. Many people lost their jobs,” he says in broken English.

“[Some people have brought] their jewelry to [sell at] the shops to survive.”

Years ago, FARMS Lanka introduced a microcredit program to help believers work out of poverty. “We started many income-generating projects with people around the country [through the] churches,” Pastor Clarence says.

Today, “we have lost many projects because the cost of living [has gone up], and the cost of poultry food, piggery food; also fertilizer. We have asked our creditors to cut down the projects to a smaller level that can be [maintained].”

With program plans reduced by the national crisis, FARMS Lanka shifted focus. “Churches [are] playing a big role at this time, and we are taking more responsibility” for our neighbors, Pastor Clarence says.

“Jesus said, ‘Bear one another’s burden.’ This is a good time to be good stewards toward God and our fellow citizens.”

In partnership with local church networks, FARMS Lanka distributes food aid to needy families. Pray people will come to know Christ as they see His love in word and deed.

Header image depicts a woman harvesting fresh tea leaves in Sri Lanka. (Photo courtesy of Elina Sazonova/Pexels)

Economic woes

Galen Burkholder with Global Disciples says, “The United Nations says that more than a quarter of the 22 million people in this island country, which is just about the size of West Virginia, are struggling just to get enough food to survive.”

“Other hotspots are dominating the news like Ukraine and others. Yet the desperation keeps growing in Sri Lanka.”

The Sri Lankan Global Disciples team finds themselves caught up in the food and fuel shortages. People often wait for hours in line to get basic necessities.

Still, their team’s most urgent request is prayer. God does the impossible when His people pray.

Pray for Gospel opportunities for Global Disciples in Sri Lanka.  As believers continue to show God’s love to their neighbors, Burkholder says, “It’s becoming known to many Sri Lankan people that followers of Jesus don’t just look out for themselves. They care even when there is very little to provide.”

Burkholder has heard some amazing stories of this provision. “People are moving around their communities, simply trying to provide assistance, often as simple as a bicycle tire.”

Growing Church

Burkholder says many people are becoming Christians across Sri Lanka, both in the predominantly Muslim North and Buddhist South.

In southern Sri Lanka, a Karate master became a Christian and went through Global Disciples training. Burkholder says, “He started doing karate classes, and a whole group of young Buddhist monks came and joined the karate class. He noticed one of them was struggling, and he talked to him.”

The young monk eventually became a Christian and began sharing about Jesus while still wearing his traditional robes.

Ask God to strengthen the followers of Jesus in Sri Lanka. You can also support them financially through Global Disciples.

Sri Lanka is highlighted in red. (Photo courtesy of Pixabay)