This is Jaffna

Along the main street in the northern seaside town of Jaffa is small shrine set up beside an old stone church. These shrines are not uncommon, whether along the roadside or beside a church, they are regular sights in any area of Sri Lanka where there is a strong Catholic presence. Usually consisting of a lighted glass case with a statue of the saint inside, they offer a place for the devout to stop and pray as they go about their day. What makes this shrine unusual is that is has been erected beside an Anglican church. And the Anglicans had nothing to do with it.

For thirty years Sri Lanka was wracked by civil war. The war has had many definitions from many people: a struggle for freedom, for a homeland, against racist oppressors, a terrorist action, unjust, barbaric, unjustified. The war took place mostly in the north and east of the country, along the Jaffna Peninsula and the region just to the south of the peninsula, knowns as the Vanni. As with most wars, territorial gains swung back and forth between the government forces and the LTTE (the Tamil Tigers). The civilians were always the losers in this back and forth of territory.

The town of Jaffna is the most significant center in the north. A center of learning before the war, the standards of education in Jaffna were recognized throughout the country, with Jaffna school papers and exams being used for student preparation nation wide.

Jaffna was also subject to the conquest and re-conquest that were a part of the war. The town was captured by the LTTE in 1990, and re-taken by the government forces in 1995. The town was never captured without a long fight, which involved a significant amount of collateral damage. There were many houses and businesses inadvertently destroyed by the repeated shelling.

One of the buildings that was severely damaged in the battles was an Anglican church - Christ Church, Jaffna. Formerly the High Church of Jaffna, during the fighting the building reverted to one of the most ancient functions of a church building- being a place of sanctuary. citizens from the surrounding community would gather in the church during the worst times, in the faithful belief that such a holy place would be safe from the shells.

One night, as the masses were huddled in the church, desperately praying for their safety, two shells fell on the church. Two shells fell, and neither exploded, nothing short of a miracle. The surrounding community banded together and built the shrine that can still be seen outside the church. People who were there on that fateful night still come regularly and pray at the shrine.

Although no one was killed, the damage to the interior of the church from later fighting was severe. Several windows were blown out, the walls became pockmarked with bullet holes and shell fragments. Much of the roof was destroyed, as were the parish hall,and the mission house adjacent to the church.

The war has been over for a little more than a year now. The LTTE were defeated in a decisive military action, and peace has come to Sri Lanka. The people of Jaffna are beginning to put together the pieces of lives shattered by war, or perhaps more accurately, are learning to live in a time of peace. Thirty years is a long time, a whole generation. A state of peace is something new here.

One of the people most dedicated to this new peaceful way of life if Fr. Nesakumar, the Anglican Archdeacon of Jaffna and rector of St. John the Baptist. Fr. Nesakumar has big plans for Christ Church, Jaffna. The Diocese has already repaired the outside of the church, but the inside remains scarred by war. Shell marks and bullet holes still pock the walls. In one niche the head of a statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary still keeps watch over the church.

The plan for the inside is to repair the small side chapel, with wooden carving behind the altar depicting Jaffna as it was before the shelling. The nave of the church will remain unrepaired, and will become a center for peace. The plan, which is already beginning, is to hold conferences and workshops about peace in the middle of this battle scarred building.

Recently some school children from the south of Sri Lanka were visiting Christ Church. "This is Jaffna" they said. "It's painted and repaired on the outside, but the inside is broken and scarred".

As Christians we know that the church is the people, not the building. However, it is true that our building are reflections of who we are as a community. Christ Church, Jaffna, reflects the scars and wounds of the people of Jaffna, it reflects their work at rebuilding their town and their lives, and it reflects their deep desire for a lasting peace, and an end to war. Truly, this is Jaffna.