God’s Trend in Sri Lanka

“Our young people have lost hope. They are desperate for answers.”

It is easy to lose hope in the face of disaster and, for Christians in Sri Lanka, disaster has been a common theme. In 2019, a series of suicide bombs targeted Christian churches on Easter Sunday. Two hundred and sixty nine people were killed and more than five hundred were injured. These terror attacks were followed by COVID-19, which was in turn followed by an unprecedented economic crisis.

The situation has driven many young Sri Lankans to leave the island. Others look for different ways to escape – whether through sex, drugs or losing themselves in a digital world.

The Methodist Church Sri Lanka is determined to offer an alternative option and is calling young people to explore “God’s Trend” instead.

In 2023, World Mission Partnership supported Sri Lankan Methodists to hold a camp for young people. The camp brought together members from all three of Sri Lanka’s main language groups, helping them to learn about each other and celebrate their common identity as Christians. It was also a chance to discover God’s purpose for them, and “to explore ways of serving their Church, society and nation by recommitting their lives to God.”

 Through World Mission Partnership, Irish Methodists gave £5,000 (€5,870) to support the “God’s Trend” youth camp run by the Methodist Church Sri Lanka.