The four previous encounters between the Hindu man and the young Sri Lankan pastor had been violent. Each time, Balram [a pseudonym] led a mob attacking Vijyaraj, the young pastor. Each time Vijyaraj was tied up and severely beaten and his church set ablaze.
And each time, the congregation of Heavenly Mission Harvest Church rebuilt and Vijyaraj kept preaching about Jesus.
But when the two men met for a fifth time, in the horrific aftermath of Sri Lanka’s tsunami, Vijyaraj lived out a sermon on forgiveness.
In four years since becoming the first Christian convert in his rural fishing village of 300 people, and despite the fierce persecution of the militant Hindus, Vijyaraj has led his church to grow to include 27 families. They all were worshiping on the morning of Dec. 26 when the tsunami swept onto the coast of Sri Lanka. While many church members lost homes and fishing boats, not a single Christian from the village drowned, though as many as 10 of their neighbors died.
When a disaster-relief team from Baptist Child and Family Services of San Antonio, Texas, arrived less than two weeks later, two volunteers — medical doctor Andrew Bentley and psychologist Richard Brake — went to the village to set up a clinic.
“We were told not to mention Gospel for Asia [the group Vijyaraj’s church is part of] because of the hostility,” Bentley said. “And I imagine that’s why the clinic was at the pastor’s house instead of at the church. The idea was to help the entire community.”
“I noticed an old man with a glazed look,” explained Bentley, from Tyler, Texas. “…The translator told me the man had lost his entire family — and that, by the way, he’s the one who has been persecuting the pastor.”
When it was obvious the wait would be long, Vijyaraj invited the Hindu man into his house and fed him. “It was amazing that Vijyaraj was not making any difference” between Balram and the others seeking help, Bentley said.
“The man … was already dazed, primarily from grief over losing his family,” Brake said. “But I think he was further stunned by the way he was welcomed and loved.”
Bentley agreed. “I don’t think he even realized he was going to Vijyaraj’s house. The word was just out that there was a medical clinic in the neighborhood. Then when he got there and was met with love instead of fear or animosity, he wasn’t sure just what to do.”
Brake, the psychologist, counseled the man extensively while he waited to see Bentley. Then Bentley treated him “for some cuts and bruises that were already healing” and confirmed that the soreness in his chest was not life-threatening and likely “from being beaten up by the waves.”
The two Texans know they performed only “minor ministry” that afternoon when compared to Vijyaraj.
“I flew halfway around the world to share my faith and help needy people. And then, as I watched Vijyaraj do exactly what Jesus said and love his enemy and forgive those who persecuted him, I thought, ‘Wow, I just got nailed,’“ Brake added. “In America we have trouble forgiving the jerk who cuts us off in traffic. And here this Sri Lankan pastor basically says, ‘Jesus said to love, so I guess I have to do it.’
“When I told him how impressed I was, he just kind of looked down at the ground and didn’t make a big deal out of it. And that’s what Jesus told us to do too.”
“We never knew for sure that the man accepted Jesus because of that afternoon,” Bentley said. But he added he is confident Balram either became a Christian then or will in the near future.
“I just feel in the deepest part of my heart that the truth of the gospel reached him because of Vijyaraj’s willingness to be faithful to his God and to God’s Word.”
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Robert Marus contributed to this article