FAIR Blog

Love Trust (Sri Lanka) is a non-residential Fellowship Child Sponsorship program that provides preschool and other education opportunities for children, as well as support for their families in several rural villages within Sri Lanka. The following newsletter contains updates about child sponsorship and related ministries in one of the villages, Valathapity.

Grace Preschool and Academy in Valathapity

The Village

The people of Valathapity are predominately Hindus who were displaced during the violence and riots in 2000. A total of 400 families live in this village, and eight to 10 of these families are Christian. The preschool here is the only one in the village and was the first initiated by the Love Trust ministry. Currently six teachers are educating 44 children. The school has paved the way to a good relationship within the community and is ranked number one amongst preschools in the region.

Vacation Bible School

In February, a three-day Vacation Bible School was offered in the village. They focused on a number of Bible stories including the Good Samaritan, the prodigal son, and teaching on debt forgiveness. The team did a great job in interacting with the children and there was great enthusiasm amongst the children and teachers. Parents were present as the Gospel was shared. Please pray that the lessons taught would sink into the hearts of those who were present and that lives would be transformed.

Children's Exhibition

During a recent visit from Ronald, accompanied by a short-term mission team from Canada, the preschool children put on an exhibition. Ronald Jeyaseelan remarked, “Our eyes could not believe what was displayed by the pre-school children. All hand-made prototypes, using local, often rejected materials. The creativity and the effort needed high dedication. We also salute the parents for all the support they provided to the children for their projects.”

Graduation Ceremony

Graduation from the preschool is always a big event. The entire community was involved in this celebration. Not only were the graduates of the UKG (Upper Kindergarten) cohort honoured, but also those who received government scholarships for post-secondary education.

The students received a new school bag and a savings account of 2,000 rupees for the UKG graduates and 3,000 rupees for the scholarship students. (1,000 rupees is worth about $4.21 CAD.) The ceremony was well-planned, with a beautiful procession of the graduates. The procession was ushered in by senior students, performing a traditional dance called “Kolattam”.

The public acknowledgement, recognition, and endorsement, of Love Trust by all the local governing bodies was one of the highlights of the event. This could only be possible by God's grace alone. All glory be to God.

Spiritual Development

Our Director of Operations, David Kanapathipillai who is an evangelist and local preacher, provides family and spiritual counsel during his visits to the school. We have been praying earnestly to establish a local church in which we will be able to provide ongoing spiritual counsel for the villagers.

Community Meal with Widows and Widowers

The elderly are highly regarded in Sri Lanka. However, they are too often in great need. In light of this, the team from Canada and the preschool teachers prepared a lunch for the community widows and widowers (about 100 participated) on makeshift stoves on the ground. We also gave each woman a saree, and each man a sarong. They were spiritually encouraged in the Lord by brother David and Ronald.

Please pray that the love shown to the children, families, and seniors in Valathapity will create opportunities for reconciliation, and positive social change, and that many would come to faith in Christ.

You can help provide holistic care to children in Sri Lanka by sponsoring a child with Love Trust today.

Learn more here.