Week 3- Update

Happy Ascension Sunday and International Mother's Day 2013!

Quick (as much as I can be :P) update:

So I have spent this past week at Lanka Hospital (formerly Apollo hospital).  I would write a more specific post later.  But to summarise, this is a semi-privatised government hospital.  I have been working in many different specialty  including Paediatrics and Radiology- both of which I have really enjoyed :D  A lot of Tamil patients also come to this hospital from all over the country- so I have been able to take a history for the first time, and get some really great teaching. 

Out-of-hospital- I have been to my first Healthcare Fellowship meeting yesterday :D  I met all the doctors I have been in contact with who have helped me set up this elective.  I had a really great time.  I've been reading a book by TL Osborn about Healing the Sick- and I was very encouraged to hear one of the doctors speak about an amazing full healing  she has had, whilst unknowingly applying the steps he talked of.  I felt very encouraged.

I have now 1 more week at the government hospital and then I'm due to start at Navajeevana East, the week after.  I have been told it should be more flexible timewise.  So Ill be attending the Christian Medical Student Conference then too- located three hours away in Kandy.  Im hoping to spend some time working at a more rural hospital there- who is a Christian Paediatrician.

Currently need to ensure that my VISA  is renewed without any problems- slightly concerned it is  not sorting itself at quickly as I want.

I'm generally happy so far.  I'm very frustrated that I have not been able to see any of the sights since I have been here.  My aunt and uncle have small children(5 and 10) and either way I feel bad asking from them, considering they are letting me stay at their house for free- which is saving me a lot of money.

I've started to be bored for the first time in the entire trip.  Seems you can only stay in a city for so long before the shiny newness of it start to wear off.  This is not helped that everybody is like 'you've been in Sri Lanka 3 weeks and you have not gone to see ANYTHING yet??' and to be fair to them, in comparison to what a lot of students do whilst in Sri Lanka- I really have not done any travelling.  

I'm much more confident travelling on tuktuks(rickshaws) on my own, and using the bus myself.  Unfortunately, I feel incredibly restricted by my relatives here and my parents especially are not helping.  

I am actually enjoying my time here, I'm trying very hard not to micromanage everything and trust God.  God willing by next week I will have seen more than just the house and Colombo.  I'd also really like to learn Sinhalese, but have no one to teach me.  

Pray for Sri Lanka + Week 2 update

Apologies for the lack of more recent news.

So last Sunday, after much upheaval I managed to get to Church.  This was a Methodist church nearby- got there by rickshaw(or tuktuk as there are known here)  The services are all held in the three main languages.  Got there for 8.45am (ludicrously early- but normal here, to avoid the midday heat).

The church is I'd say a fairly normal Methodist church.  We sang many traditional hymns as well as some more modern ones (I have to say that I was relieved about that- the older hymns that were chosen for this week were well hard- felt really sorry for the men trying to reach those notes)

Either way I really enjoyed my first service in Sri Lanka :D  Really enjoyed the preaching- which is what I wanted to expend more about today.

The sermon today was about reconciliation- the Church's view of what it means- and Sri Lanka's government.  I must say I was surprised to have a sermon of a political slant on my first ever day.  This made me painfully aware that despite my current problem free trip in Sri Lanka- this country still has many problems.

There are some increasing problems towards the Church, especially in the Southern parts- which is more Sinhalese based and unfortunately also were some of the more extremist Sinhalese groups have started targeting churches.

Something very similar to the situation in China is playing out.  China will soon have an increasing influence as well due to strong ties forming following its help during the civil war.

Many southern churches have been forced to shut down, unless they were officially 'registered'- this means people cannot meet as non-family members to pray without this being considered a 'religious meeting'.  I am unaware as to the extent of this problem. But Christians and Muslims being the minority religious groups have become increasingly targeted especially in the more rural parts.  This of course like much Christian persecution is not reported in the mainstream media.  The problem is currently just simmering but like most things in Sri Lanka, it will not take much for things to get out of hand quickly- especially for riots to spread in Colombo especially.

I was painfully aware as I sat in Church, that more than any other time in my life, I was in danger from simply being in a church building.  I was also surprised by the incredible boldness of the message preached.  Whilst I did not agree on some points, the preacher did emphasise that the Gospel is what will bring true salvation to our country.  Being in the midst of a united Sri Lanka- with both Sinhalese and Tamil speakers in Church- made that especially apparent.  He emphasised the need for individual groups to reach out to the 'opposite side'.  Too often the church here, he says, has become very dormant and inactive in the face of persecution.

I have realised that there is still a huge amount of healing needed for our Christian brothers and sisters here, but also among the diaspora. In Sri Lanka, a 'Tamil' or 'Sinhalese' church is unheard of.  The churches may have different services but people generally worship as part of one congregation.  Some churches have made the unifying decision of having one service in all languages(one being translated vice versa).  Unfortunately this is very often not the case abroad.  This artificial division means that the prejudices of each side are transported within the church itself.  This cannot be let to be so.  Not only this but the attitudes are transplanted into the next generation. Many of which such as myself, have not had much experience from their home country except what they have been told by their parents and relatives.

With the increasing amount of violence amongst young Tamil and Sinhalese boys in the form of gang crime across London and other capital cities, it is imperative that the Church abroad takes the same unified stand against this.  Many of you know that last year, one of my friends' brother was killed in such an accident.  The church has to be salt and light in this situation.

There is a huge amount of prayer, forgiveness and healing that is needed with regards to this.

On a positive note, churches here are increasingly thriving.  Revival is definitely happening in Sri Lanka.  Newer evangelical churches are appearing all over the place, and evangelical crusades are seeing thousands being healed and coming to faith.

Churches in Sri Lanka have always been very traditional and whilst this new surge is welcomed- there is a great deal of suspicion as well.  The country is very open to people feeling prey to 'mixture' in terms of what they are getting preached.

Please pray for the discernment and wisdom of the Christian leaders in the country, as well as for unity among all denominations.  Pray for revival to continue but also for all ground that has been claimed to be built on and established. Please pray for people to get access to worship and other equipment.

Above all, pray for the protection of the congregation in the Churches here, but also for boldness in preaching the gospel.  Pray that the authorities in charge will not hinder but help the church here grow.

In Christ.

Day 5- Investigations and First Trip to the LRH

So, this morning due to the big confusion regarding where I was meant to be- and no one being able to understand me- I was waiting around a bit, before being sent to investigations.

This was fun and I had a lot of good teaching and lots of reading to do when I get home (the list is increasing at an alarming rate everyday!)

I did a little bit of time in Endocrinology and then I was sent to Children's Government Hospital (Lady Ridgeway) to see the director to ask his permission to spend some unofficial time there.

Popped to the PGIM library (Post-graduate Institute of Medicine??)

• Lack of English there sooooo frustrating!
• Cant borrow books, but need card to get in- a bit useless dont know if Ill bother to get back or not yet- kicking myself for not thinking of bringing my Endo notes at least :(

The director was not in, and I decided to go down and get lunch and come back at the appropriate time.     I was too scared to buy anything- as having a case of food poisoning in a very hot country was seriously not on my list of priorities.  The hospital was away from my usual go-to food places, so I was a tad stuck.  However, I found lots of bookstores :D  Bought a ludicrously cheap version of a medical textbook I coveted and will most likely get some more (within reason- although I suspect my lack of money may hinder me more there) I tried to find a really good Sinhalese via English phrasebook and failed miserably- not very impressed. Nobody has the stores book supply on the computer system according to what I could understand.  Which means they would not have been able to check within the masses of books there anyway.

Additional Notes:

• Lots of bookstore Sri Lankan value education
• Got food from small short eats its(what little cafes selling hot snacks are called) bad idea
• Return to LRH still no director, time, doctor canteen- guy could not speak words of english, menu in sinhalese- food disappointing- could not order from the menu as it was all in Sinhalese- so I could only point at what I wanted to eat.  The local guys just found the entire situation hilarious
• +ve LRH is great did not meet expectation as I thought it would be in Sri Lanka

The Lady Ridgeway is a lovely paediatrics hospital.  It's a large hospital, and everything painted in pastel with cartoons and things all over the place.  It is clean.  It is very different to what I expected especially following some of the comments I'd read about it online.  I got there I believe after the rush hour- the front entrance where the outpatients is would usually be packed.

I've taken to use the stairs as much as possible- at least to go down. The majority of the hospitals have at least 5 floors up- so waiting for a lift can sometimes just be pointless.  This was a bad idea in this case- which I took some pictures- but the staircase at this section of the hospital, was basically used to dry clothes (patients'families??)  It had tons of stuff waiting to be unpacked.  I don't think it ever occured anyone that the stairs would actually be used by someone wishing to go up/down- except a foreigner like myself.  As always appearing inconspicuous has yet to be my forte.