Thanks to all of you who attended our banquet, and participated in the startup ministry of Mission Focus with giving, praying and encouraging. God has blessed us with some amazing opportunities, and we are looking forward to sharing it through some powerful film and photographs when we get back.

 

I am writing from a small internet cafe in Colombo, Sri Lanka.

 

The ministry we are working with for the next couple of weeks is called Asiana Education Development, and it is pretty amazing. They are building schools all over the country, and are working with orphans from the tsunami, the still raging civil war, and the impoverished conditions prevalent in this mainly Buddhist country.

 

After initial meetings with the leadership, including the founder, executive director, and board members who are all here from the states . . . we determined to tell this story by interweaving the lives of four children from different backgrounds who are cared for at their orphanage.

 

Today we interviewed a 11 year-old boy named Chanaka who saw his father and mother dragged away from their hut and murdered by rebels who are trying to form a separate state. He was amazing . . . very articulate in his own language, and poised for someone who is still shaken by memories.

 

Later while I was playing football with him and his friends, he told me in broken english that I was his best friend.

 

We also interviewed little 12 year old Kanchana who is still fearful of the ocean that sits across from the orphanage. She told us the two hardest things for her are explaining to her 7 year old sister why they were spared from the Tsunami, but their father died . . . and holding out hope every night that her mother and brother will be found.

 

Our interpreter Varuna told us that the chances of them still being found is slim to none.

 

Please continue to pray for us . . . bombs went off in Colombo yesterday, and our vehicle is frequently being stopped to be searched. We travel to other projects in the next few days as well as conduct more interviews, including with the minister of education here. ~ Brian Denton