wfn.org | [PCUSANEWS] Changed plans spared PC(USA) staffer from tsunami's

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Note #8603 from PCUSA NEWS to PRESBYNEWS:

05015
January 11, 2005

Changed plans spared PC(USA) staffer from tsunami's destruction

Sri Lankan Chris Nicholas, home for holiday, aids relief effort

by Toya Hill

LOUISVILLE - Office of the General Assembly (OGA) Budget Manager Christopher
Nicholas and his family had planned to be in the Sri Lankan beach town of
Weligama on Dec. 26.

"We wanted to spend the day after Christmas at the beach," the Sri Lanka
native said. "That was our plan."

But plans changed, and the family decided to remain further north in the
capital of Colombo to have lunch with a relative.

"That's how we are alive," said Nicholas. "The south of Sri Lanka was
completely taken over by the tidal wave."

The death toll continues to rise in the wake of the powerful tsunami that hit
 Sri Lanka and 11 other nearby Southeast Asian countries, including Thailand,
India and Indonesia. And in the aftermath, scores of relief agencies and
organizations - including the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)'s Presbyterian
Disaster Assistance - are scrambling to get as much aid to the broken
countries as quickly as possible.

On Monday, Nicholas spoke from Sri Lanka by phone with the Presbyterian News
Service about the experience he and his family endured. He also talked about
how the volunteer effort is uniting a myriad of faiths.

Nicholas, his wife and his grown daughter and son arrived in Sri Lanka in
late November to attend a memorial service for Nicholas' mother-in-law and to
visit with family members still living in the tiny country located just below
the tip of India.

Dilu Nicholas, Christopher Nicholas' son, also works for the PC(USA) in
Louisville, where he is assigned to the Presbyterian Peacemaking Program of
the Congregational Ministries Division (CMD).

Christopher Nicholas said he and his family had "no warning at all" that the
catastrophic tsunami was coming. He said he learned of its impact when his
brother, who is a pilot in Sri Lanka, called him about 10:30 a.m. on Dec. 26.

With no television in the house Nicholas and his family were staying in the
Sri Lankan capital, Colombo, "we were glued to the radio," he said.

Details trickled in, and it was actually the next day before the family got
more complete information, Nicholas said. None of Nicholas' immediate family
was killed in the disaster, but he said the devastation has still touched him
personally.
A former neighbor's "whole family was wiped out," he said.

Almost immediately after the tsunami, Nicholas and his family began working
in the relief effort, including delivery of food and supplies to some of the
hardest hit areas.

There were scenes of people looking out to the sea and weeping, Nicholas
said. And "bodies were being washed ashore."

Yet in the midst of it all, "we feel God had a purpose in our being here," he
said.

Nicholas also said he believes one of God's purposes has been to unite the
various faiths in Sri Lanka, something that has never been done before.

"I think this was a wake-up call to Sri Lanka," he said.

Since the tidal wave hit, Nicholas said he has seen Protestant, Anglican,
Buddhist, Roman Catholic, Hindu and Muslim clergy all working together, an
event he called "unique".

"There is a lot of friction that has been going on in this country," he said.
But now, "this has brought everyone together."

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