SRI LANKA: HOUSE CHURCH TARGETED BY LOCALS

Join us in praying for a house church in Sri Lanka, led by Pastor Sirimal* that has been targeted by a local buddhist monk who has orgANISED PROTESTS AGAINST THE CHRISTIANS IN THE AREA.

On the 14^th of July, around 50 people led by a local Buddhist monk marched in protest towards the offices of the area governors in a village in central Sri Lanka. For nearly two hours, people held banners and posters demanding an end to a house church in their village.

A growing church

The protest was directed at Pastor Sirimal and the house church he began holding in 2023. Pastor Sirimal felt God called him to begin a service in his own village—a village with a Buddhist majority. To begin with it was just his family: him, his wife and four children gathering in their garden.

Patiently and faithfully, they prayed together as a family for an entire year. By July 2024, they began to see fruit. Families from their village started attending the service, and within a couple of months, the congregation grew from to about 30 members.

This coincided with the construction of a new Buddhist temple on the same street as the pastor’s house. A new monk was part in charge of the temple and the Buddhists in the area.

Image: Children from a village in Sri Lanka

Good relations TURN SOUR

When the village monk arrived, he met with Pastor Sirimal and spoke kindly to him saying, “It is good thing what you are doing for this village. I appreciate it”. Astonished, Pastor Sirimal and his family couldn’t believe that this monk would be happy with a weekly church happening on the same street as his Buddhist temple.

Two weeks later, the monk formed a youth committee in the village, appointing Pastor Sirimal as one of the committee members. There was peace and harmony amongst the villagers despite their varying religious beliefs.

But this peace did not last. In the first week of July 2025, Pastor Sirimal was called to an unscheduled youth committee meeting. When he arrived the monk started scolding and insulting Pastor Sirimal. “He asked me to stop the service in the village, even the people around agreed,” said the pastor.

‘I haven’t done anything wrong’

But Pastor Sirimal defended himself, “I haven’t done anything wrong or disturbed the general public by having this service.” A heated argument followed, and the pastor was asked to leave the meeting with a warning: if he continued the service, there would be a protest in the village.

Just as the monk warned, a mob of protestors, marched toward pastor Sirimal’s church on the 14^thof July. On the same day, police officers visited Pastor Sirimal and asked him to stop the service.

Pastor Sirimal replied that this was his house and he had right to meet and conduct a service without disturbing the public, but was forced to stop the house church. But, courageously, they didn’t stop meeting for long. After a week they continued the service inside the house.

PROTESTS AND POSTS

The villagers didn’t just protest in the streets, they also posted offensive comments about Pastor Sirimal and his wife on social media. “We were very upset and disturbed about the comments. They have started hating us,” said Pastor Sirimal’s wife.

During this time, field partners met with and prayed for Pastor Sirimal. And just last month, Open Doors organised a special training event for the whole church to help them stand strong despite the persecution. “Thank you for your presence. Your prayers mean a lot to us at this moment of distress… It was a great blessing. All of our believers were in so much in distress because of this problem. But through the program, we have all became cheerful,” said Pastor Sirimal.

Please pray for Pastor Sirimal, his family and this church community using the points below…