How One Man’s Healing Brought
an Entire Village to God

ANURADHAPURA, Sri Lanka — Thanthirimale is a tiny village in the Anuradhapura area, way out in the bush and close enough to an area under the Tamil Tigers’ control for us to be warned about the danger of encountering landmines.

But it is a remarkable village for another reason: all seven families living there have converted from Buddhism to Christianity.

Wild eyes

Father Titus, the local Anglican priest, tells the story: “One day while visiting this area, I met a sick man with a wild expression in his eyes. He was introduced to me as Anand. His hands and arms were stiff and saliva was flowing from his mouth. I offered to take him to a doctor but he wanted me to pray for him instead.

“I prayed for him all night, and the next morning at 9 o’clock, he said: ‘I am thirsty.’ Someone gave him water, and at 10 o’clock, his arms were no longer stiff. By 11 o’clock, he looked almost well and asked for a biscuit, and by noon he was feeling well enough to eat some lunch.

“This incident left the villagers awestruck and they all wanted to know more about my God and Saviour. Over the next months, I taught the villagers about Christ, and one wonderful Sunday they were all baptised.”

Today the entire congregation is gathered in the prayer house which Anand and his wife Chandralatha donated following his miraculous healing. Father Titus leads us in prayer, then opens his Bible and reads the words of Jesus from the Gospel of John, chapter 17:7-8:

“Now they know that everything that thou hast given me is from thee, for I have given them the words which thou gavest me.” (RSV) He closes his Bible and preaches on this text with genuine warmth and love.

Chosen people

“These are the people you have chosen,” he says, “so let them through your word be a living testimony of your love.”

Under the CBS Memorial Gift Project, members of this congregation receive Bibles, and the children are given Christian comic books and suchlike. After lunch, a Christian youth group from Anuradhapura joins us to perform some wonderful songs and a play bringing to life both the blessings – and the difficulties – that befall anyone living a life in Christ. (WR 357/13 - 1/2.01)