“Your prayers keep us strong in our faith”: hope for Sri Lanka bombing victims

Six-year-old Debbie was caught up in the Easter bomb attacks in Sri Lanka last year - sadly, she lost her parents and her eyesight. But your prayers and support have been sustaining her and her family as they recover and heal from their trauma - thank you. 

Thank you so much for your continuing prayers for little Debbie and her family, who were caught up in the 2019 Easter bombings in Sri Lanka. Debbie lost her mother, father and cousin in the blast; she also lost her eyesight. 

Thanks to your ongoing prayers, Debbie and her family are learning to smile again

Debbie and her brother Rufus are being taken care of by the rest of their family: their Aunt Rebekah, Uncle Verl and their grandparents (L-R: you can see Rebekah, Debbie's grandmother, Rufus and Debbie in the photo above). Rufus was unharmed during the bombing, but he misses his parents every day. He insists the proper place for everything is where his mother used to place them. If anyone misplaces an object, he asks them to put it back. 

Remembering lost loved ones

Thirteen-year-old Jackson, Verl’s son, was also killed in the blast. Rebekah has very fond memories of her nephew and the mischievous antics he would get up to at Christmas time.

“Every year, from 1 December onwards, he would come and ask everyone for money to buy food. But he would use that money to buy firecrackers, which he loved to set off. He would never explicitly tell us he was going to buy crackers, but we all knew that’s what the money was for,” she laughs.

“Thank you for everything you've done for us”

Christmas 2019 was a very quiet affair for the family. But despite everything, they remain steadfast in their faith. “Thank you for everything you’ve done for us,” Rebekah says. “Thank you for praying for me, Debbie and our family. It is because of your prayers that we have been able to be strong in our faith.

“I know God does everything for our good. I have so much peace in my heart. I know God does everything for our good because I have experienced it in my life.

“Please pray for Debbie’s eyesight. Debbie has great faith that God will restore her sight. She does not place her hope in doctors, but only holds on to the hope that God Himself will heal her. She is just like her mother in that way – Verlini was a woman of great faith, and she has passed that on to her daughter.

“Debbie is very sad that she will never be able to read the Bible her mother gave her. So please pray that God would give Debbie the chance to see again.”