News 1 Update

Sri Lanka
Outreach Team Update: Feb. 1, 2005
Mobile in Sri Lanka +94-077-698-2124; www.srilankaoutreach.com

Dear Friends:

It has been almost three weeks since our team
arrived in Colombo, Sri Lanka, to assist with the tsunami recovery efforts. I cannot easily tell you all that we have seen, the tears that we have shared, or the destruction that we have encountered already. We have toured as much of the country as possible; travelling south along the coast, and east through the mountains. The damage is great, and the help is too few and far between.


In our fist week, we connected with a Non-government Organization (NGO) called Sarvodaya, and have spent the last week and a half unloading a 40ft. container of food and supplies into a Methodist church, organizing it, and redistributing it to non-government based camps around the country. Now that this load is coming to an end, our team is taking a more personal route.

Vegas and I plan to be the mediators for volunteers in the United States to organized efforts here in Sri Lanka. We have set up a base of operations in Colombo, where we can house volunteers. Through the connections that we have made with USAID, the Methodist Churches, Assemblies of God, Sarvodaya, and other such organizations, we can welcome volunteers and help them get started, show them the ropes, get them the proper transportation, etc.

Tomorrow Vegas and I travel to Kaluthara to clean rubble and dig toilet and well holes. From February 8th-16th our team will be in Komari, cooking food and helping rebuild a housing development. We plan to do this sort of “grunt work,” as much as possible. At this moment, our visas expire April 15. If we can get them extended, we will.

How you can help:
We need prayer and financial support (in that order). Our cost of living is about $600 a month. This includes food, phone, travel to and from camps, lodging, etc. If you can support us financially, please directly deposit money into Wells Fargo account #3977701774 or mail a check made out to Sarah Turner to Attn: Sri Lanka Outreach, 1100 Wyoming Ave., Reno, NV 89503.