Sri Lanka (MNN) — The government of Sri Lanka has halted fuel sales for non-essential vehicles for the next two weeks. Only trains, buses, food trucks, and medical vehicles can fill up. All citizens have been told to work from home.
The island nation has struggled to pay for fuel imports, and for months people have waited in long lines to get gas. With fewer trains running, people squeeze into compartments or even sit on the roof.
Sri Lanka’s prime minister said the economy has “completely collapsed.” He asked the International Monetary Fund and global partners to help Sri Lanka’s economy.
Parliament has limited President Rajapaksa’s powers in an attempt to appease protestors.
CWO
Greg Yoder with Christian World Outreach says, “Our main guy working there in-country is named Bavan. And because it’s difficult to get fuel, he can’t get to the village where he’s ministering. Just pray that he’ll be able to get the fuel he needs for his motorcycle. And pray for safety in traveling.”
The government also instituted a 4-day work week for public workers, allowing them extra time to grow their own food in gardens. Yoder says, “I think a lot of the people in the countryside already do gardens and grow things around their homes. So that won’t be much of a change for them.”
But in some ways, Yoder sees the 4-day week as a positive for Christian World Outreach. “Because we’ve been looking at the possibility of doing an agriculture project with the widows that we work with, and the elderly.”
Here’s how it will work. CWO will help people till their ground and plant gardens. Once they start generating extra, food, CWO will buy it from them so they generate income.
How to pray
Pray the kindness of CWO would reveal the love of Jesus to many people in and around the rural villages where they work. And pray for an end to the crisis.
You can help this ministry go forward here.
The header photo shows people waiting in line to get gas before the cessation of fuel sales. (Photo courtesy of AntanO, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons)
