RISING CHRISTIANITY IN SRILANKA - DO PRAY FOR IT

Sri Lanka Christians Face Attacks

Christianity is growing and gaining influence in the island nation that sits off the coast of India.

The number of evangelicals has increased by more than 200,000 since 1980. They are dedicated to evangelism, church planting, and even missions work.But Buddhism is the official religion of Sri Lanka. The growth of Christianity has angered Buddhist priests who see it as a threat.Some of those priests are encouraging normally peaceful Buddhists to go on the attack. They're pushing for laws to forbid religious conversions.

"In the last 1 year, possibly 1 ½ years, there have been 74 incidents of attacks on churches. Churches burned down, pastors beaten, some girls were almost raped, but thank God they were not.

Answers to Prayer
	The commitment of many missionaries over the years has seen the churches in Sri Lanka multiply. In the 1970s only 26 new churches were planted, but by the ‘90s this number had grown to over 330.
	Despite the continual warfare and military opposition to Christianity, the number of bible-believing Christians in Sri Lanka has grown from 50,000 to 240,000 over twenty years.

Challenges for Prayer
	The drawn out and bloody war between the Sinhala and Tamil has deeply wounded the country, killing many and forcing many to leave their homes and sometimes their country. Many young children have been brainwashed and used as child-soldiers – trained to kill ruthlessly. Pray for all the children and adults coping with the trauma of the experience of war.
	Most of the Christians live in the urban areas of the island, yet there are 35,000 villages that have no contact with any Christians. Pray that Sri Lankan Christians would develop a vision to see the gospel spread all over their nation, especially into the poorer rural areas and urban slums.
	Buddhism is religion based on non-violence and tolerance, so the violence of Buddhist extremists against Tamil Hindus and Christians has shattered the illusion. Pray that in this uncertainty people would begin to look for Jesus.