What does the future hold for those who suffer for their faith? 05/04/2012
Lalani was cooking an evening meal one day in 1988, when two men walked in and shot her husband Lionel dead in front of her. Their eleven-month-old son had been playing with his father just moments before.
What had Lionel done to deserve such a fate? His only ‘crime’ was to tell the people in his home village in Sri Lanka about Jesus. And for that, he was brutally murdered.
Working together is the key
Last week I heard Lalani tell her story. And of course, this isn’t the only devastating story I’ve heard over the 34 years I’ve been in this work. Religious persecution can sometimes seem a dauntingly huge problem, but it’s clear that working together with others is the key for the future.
Lalani was speaking at the fifth annual consultation of the Religious Liberty Partnership (RLP), this year held in Sri Lanka. The RLP unites organisations from all over the world who are fighting for religious freedom, to reap the benefits of working in partnership.
Cutting off persecution before it gets started
It’s often clear to see countries moving along a scale of religious liberty violations: it usually starts with discrimination, and moves through harassment all the way to full-fledged persecution. With this in mind, the RLP has been working on developing a groundbreaking early warning system, so that we can anticipate when religious freedom is likely to be violated in a given country or region. This initiative, led by CSW Board member David Taylor, will hopefully help us develop appropriate strategies to cut off persecution before it gets started.
Forty delegates from fifteen countries met in Columbo and enabled us each to share what we’re working on, avoiding duplication of work; develop best practices for our work; and use each other’s skills and resources to best effect. The whole really is more than the sum of the parts! We can do things when we work together that we couldn’t do individually.
Life out of death
Lalani’s story didn’t end with her husband’s death. In fact, it was only the beginning! Her life is an incredible testimony to the power of life over death.
After Lionel was killed, Lalani took it upon herself to pastor the church he’d started. It grew rapidly, and now numbers around 300 members, with over 1,000 converts in church plants in the region. She’s been threatened and stoned and bombed, but has always stood firm.
Out of Lionel’s death came hope for many as the blood of this martyr for Christ really did become the seed of the Church. Christ’s resurrection power over the grave means that death never has the last word. Happy Easter!
Mervyn Thomas
CSW Chief Executive
More from Mervyn Thomas
The Pope attends Mass in Cuba. But who’s missing the service today? 29/03/2012
The importance of perseverance 22/03/2012
Praying for the persecuted 16/03/2012