When Cyclone Ditwah made landfall on Nov. 28, killing at least 474 people and leaving hundreds missing, two of the three congregations in the Presbytery of Lanka found themselves vulnerable. The Presbyterian churches in Colombo and Kandy — both in the hardest-hit districts — now face yet another crisis in a country already struggling under the weight of economic collapse, political instability and the lingering effects of a 30-year civil war.
For the Rev. Saman Perera, moderator of one of Sri Lanka’s smallest denominations and pastor of Scots’ Kirk in Kandy, the cyclone underscores why partnerships with churches like the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) matter more than ever: “We very much value and appreciate the ways that the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) have partnered with us over the last year,” Perera said during an interview at the World Communion of Reformed Churches General Council in October.
Video URL: https://vimeo.com/1139494540?fl=pl&fe=sh
Those partnerships have proved critical as Sri Lanka has lurched from crisis to crisis. The World Bank declared the nation bankrupt in 2022, and the country now operates under International Monetary Fund restructuring requirements that have driven up costs for basic necessities.
“There are a lot of taxes imposed in various things,” Perera said. “The water bills, electricity bills are highly increased. This affects a lot of our poor community.”
Video URL: https://vimeo.com/1139494572?fl=pl&fe=sh
The human cost is visible in Perera's congregations. Senior members struggle to afford prescribed medications. Families need help with school expenses. Some parishioners cannot afford bus fare to Sunday worship. “As a pastor, when I look at my church, I see a lot of people who struggle,” he said. “As a church, we need to move with our community. We need to look after them properly.”
A year ago, the Presbytery of Lanka received a grant from the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) for its Climate Resilient Food Security Support for Rural Poor project. The grant, secured through collaboration between Perera and the Rev. Cathy Chang, one of three Global Ecumenical Liaisons supporting Asia and the Pacific, has over the course of 2025 assisted 60 families in 10 locations across Sri Lanka with home gardening, livestock and livelihood development supplies.
Chang expressed gratitude for the ongoing activities of the Presbyterian Hunger Program and this past year’s climate-resilient food security project through Global Ecumenical Partnerships, calling them demonstrations of “our collective impact of improving the lives of Sri Lankans.”
The Presbytery of Lanka celebrated its 180th anniversary in 2025, tracing its origins to 1845, when Scottish missionaries established a church in Kandy. Unlike other denominations focused on evangelism, the Church of Scotland initially functioned primarily as a chaplaincy service for Scottish planters who came to Ceylon, as Sri Lanka was then known, during British colonial rule. In 1954, the congregations in Colombo and Kandy formed the Presbytery of Lanka, creating a distinctly Sri Lankan Presbyterian identity with its own local leadership.
Only after the 1970s did local Sri Lankans join in significant numbers, transforming the church’s mission and identity. The Presbytery of Lanka participates in wider ecumenical relationships through the National Christian Council of Sri Lanka and the World Communion of Reformed Churches.
Today, with only three established congregations, Perera finds the church’s size makes global connections essential rather than optional.
"We feel a little bit isolated because we are not part of a closely connected partner church,” Perera said, noting how Methodist and Anglican churches in Sri Lanka benefit from wider world communions and international identities. “More than that, always we appreciate if we could have somebody with whom to just relate and to discuss our issues. Those are very important in our context.”
The value of such partnerships became especially clear last fall during Perera’s time at the WCRC General Council in Thailand — the first such gathering in several years following pandemic-related postponements. Nearly 10 days of deep conversation with Reformed Christians from around the world provided both motivation and direction.
Video URL: https://vimeo.com/1139494592?fl=pl&fe=sh
“It gives us a kind of motivation and direction for the next seven years,” he said. “It will enhance what we are doing in our own context. It will help us to frame the work that we are already doing.”
Videographer Randy Hobson contributed to this report.
Beth Waltemath, Communications Strategist, Presbyterian Life & Witness (Click here to read original PNS Story)
Let us join in prayer for:
Jashalund Royston, Research Associate, Research Services, Administrative Services Group
Carol Rusciano, Foundation Trust Officer, Operations, The Presbyterian Foundation
Let us pray:
Holy Spirit, you bring us life both as we receive Christ’s love and as we give it to a world that needs it so desperately. May others see Jesus in us, and may we see God’s face in the faces of those we seek to serve! In the strong name of Jesus, we pray. Amen.
