Sri Lanka (MNN) — Sri Lanka is giving public workers an extra day off during the week for the next three months and encouraging them to grow food.
The island nation faces its worst financial crisis in decades. More about that here. Officials struggle to pay for crucial imports like food, fuel, and medicine.
The government information office said in a statement, “It seems appropriate to grant government officials leave of one working day … to engage in agricultural activities in their backyards or elsewhere as a solution to the food shortage that is expected.”
“Economic and political crises have broken down a fairly stable environment,” International Media Ministries Executive Director Denise Godwin says.
Believers in Sri Lanka partner with IMM for content, media training, and more.
“Sometimes, they get the footage to us, and we can help them get it on the air, or different social media platforms, so the Gospel of Jesus Christ can still go forward despite the chaos.”
Until COVID and government changes delayed them, IMM partners worked on a production called The Gospels. “That’s putting the story of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John into cultural context because if you go to the Far East, Asia, these people don’t have a context for Judeo Christianity,” Godwin says.
Pray the faith of IMM’s partners will grow as they learn to trust in God. Their project, as well as their country’s future, is surrounded by uncertainty.
“They were buying time on a national channel, so all those things are impacted now,” Godwin says.
“It’s important to us to make sure they’re okay, and then figure out how can we help them continue to share the light of the Gospel despite the challenges.”
Header image depicts a woman harvesting tea leaves in Sri Lanka. (Photo courtesy of Elina Sazonova/Pexels)
