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John Tesh Travels with Operation Blessing
to Aid Tsunami Victims
Songwriter and musician John Tesh traveled to Sri Lanka last week with Operation Blessing
to aid tsunami victims. As host of "The John Tesh Radio Show," Tesh said he
hopes to use radio broadcasts and other media outlets to raise awareness of Operation
Blessing and our relief efforts.
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From: Connie Sellecca
Connie's Last Journal Entry "America good!"....she said when she
learned where we came from.
"America good!", I responded.
Rahumadumma lost her daughter, her granddaughter and 50 members of her extended
family.
"Take me to your house", she begged. I need a place to sleep....take
all of us."
The refugee camps that had been set up in schools are being cleared out for school
to start on Monday. There is no place to go.
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1-14-05
From: John Tesh
We are getting ready to make our way back from Sri Lanka to the United States, and
I must be honest…it’s a bittersweet feeling. I know the aid has begun
to arrive, and the medical teams are working well to treat the sick and wounded,
but it is so heartbreaking to leave the kids, who are still haunted by those nightmares
every single night. It’s the wave…they are convinced the tsunami will
return.
I must say that I know that the news reports have probably warned you of these stories,
and now we’ve got the politics of who should be able to stay in the countries,
and some American faith-based groups going too far in largely Muslim areas, but
I’m here to encourage you to not let that dampen your spirit of getting involved;
don’t let it harden your heart for these families (who I’ve seen up
close) who have no control over the bureaucracy. You heard me say it a million times,
I work with the guys from Operation Blessing…I’m out here with them…and
I’ve seen first hand how awesome this relief team is. That’s all for
now.
Remember, you can follow our progress…you can follow our travels…on
this web site, and read our journals and see pictures right here... |
1-14-05
From: Connie Sellecca
We walked amidst the rubble on the beach in Akkarabattu.
Staring out at the sea…impossible to imagine the wall of water rising up and
taking everything away.
Two women who had been neighbors walk slowly, veils of sadness thickly laying on
their faces. It took fifteen days to find the courage to come back and see whatever
might be left of what was once their homes.
One ‘lucky’; lucky to have found the body of her 4-year-old daughter…the
other…not so lucky…still searching without hope to find her 1 _ year
old baby. I watch as she finds a piece of clothing belonging to her child. She clings
to it…I weep silently. |
1-13-05
From: Prima Tesh
Today we visited another relief camp. It was a school. I saw a lot of damage,
and that the Sri Lankans really want to learn English. I saw a lot of pictures of
instruments and objects with English words on them, so the teachers could point
to them. I also did an interview with Operation Blessing about how I felt God would
reward me for working here and how I was now going to appreciate what I had at home.
I played with the kids today and we talked to some young adults and they talked
about their stories and the family members they lost. We had a translator. I think
that this part of the trip was a great experience. It made me be thankful for what
I have. |
1-13-05
From: John Tesh
Today we visited yet another of the relief camps set up by Operation Blessing for
the people in this country rendered homeless by that deadly tsunami. It is a surreal
picture in this elementary school, where I stand right now, where kids should be
learning long division and running for recess. But the fifth grade classroom…it’s
the nursery for infants who have to be covered with screening to protect them from
the mosquitoes. Kindergarten is the field hospital and treatment center. And the
second grade classroom, that’s a makeshift soup kitchen.
But still, the families that I’ve met, they have supreme hope here that soon
the relief workers are gonna bring cement and lumber, so that they can work with
them to build new homes and somehow reclaim their lives. It is difficult to predict
when that might happen, since Ampara is so far removed from the capital city of
Colombo. The expression ‘one day at a time’ is very real for everybody
who lives in Ampara. However, from what I’ve seen, you would be encouraged
to see the strength of the men and the women…the little boys and girls…who
should’ve lost hope a long time ago. Go to our web site, tesh.com, look at
the pictures, and maybe you can see what I’m seeing in these eyes. Those are
the faces of families that will make it, and they know it. They’ll make it
through this. |
1-13-05
From: John Tesh
You know, since we began this trip, I’ve been doing quite a few interviews
with news media around the world, and the question always comes up, ‘Why
would you bring your family to this place? Why would you expose your children
to such a horrible tragedy?’
You know, before we started out on this trip, I didn’t have a good answer
to that question. It just felt right for all of us, so we came.
But now, watching the impact that this mission trip has had, not only on the Sri
Lankan relief camps, but on the whole family, it is easier to find the answer.
You see, I can speak to a ten-year-old, and I had to do that, but I can’t
speak that special language that my ten-year-old daughter Prima can. I can also
goof around with the little boys in the relief camps, but I can’t get them
to chase me the way my 23-year-old son Gib can. And I can pray for the woman with
the broken heart, but without my wife Connie, there would be no one to weep…to
cry with her for the children that she lost. I love my family, they are warriors,
and as for me, I now have the answer as to why I came here.
|
01-12-05
From: John Tesh
Today I witnessed something that I cannot wait to share with you. While my family
and I were in this refugee camp helping distribute food and supplies with the folks
from Operation Blessing, we kept hearing the same stories over and over again. As
the kids grew more comfortable with us, the word ‘Kanawu’ kept coming
up, which I found out (translated from Tamil) means ‘nightmare.’ More
specifically, these children, who lost brothers and sisters and moms and dads, were
talking about the tsunami. Their ‘Kanawu’ was the tsunami.
Well, my wife has this amazing (and what I thought at the time was risky) idea.
Ask all 300 kids in this camp to draw a picture of their ‘kanawu.’ So
we set out into town for paper and crayons, and then the children showed us what
was on their minds. The pictures were of people standing on top of houses…pictures
of fishing boats smashed to pieces, and of children running. But as they went about
their task of creating these haunting pictures, they laughed and they giggled, and
they competed with each other to see who could come up with the masterpiece. Of
course, we all stood there with tears streaming down our cheeks, watching what only
my wife (the mom) knew would happen. The children of Sri Lanka were facing their
deepest fears. We have all the artwork and we’re bringing it home so you can
get a close look at the precious hearts of the children of Sri Lanka. |
01-12-05
From: Connie Sellecca
I couldn’t hold back the tears, but there were none in their eyes.
A responsive smile…then the death mask stare following me. I asked Kumar Perisamy
(Operation Blessing’s heart in Sri Lanka) to translate. “Everything,
the sea took everything from me. Three children, my boat (he was a fisherman), my
house.” He needed to tell his story. I needed to tell him that we are here
because we care.
Not enough. What could possibly be enough to rebuild the devastation
we saw today? Lost lives, lost dreams, lost hope. But still smiles.
Survival. And then the children in the refugee camp. Hungry for
fun…for laughter…hungry to forget the waves…the
missing parents…missing siblings…missing friends. Grateful
that we are there.
|
01-12-05
From: Connie Sellecca
I couldn’t hold back the tears, but there were none in their eyes. A responsive
smile…then the death mask stare following me. I asked Kumar Perisamy (Operation
Blessing’s heart in Sri Lanka) to translate. “Everything, the sea took
everything from me. Three children, my boat (he was a fisherman), my house.”
He needed to tell his story. I needed to tell him that we are here because we care.
Not enough. What could possibly be enough to rebuild the devastation
we saw today? Lost lives, lost dreams, lost hope. But still smiles.
Survival. And then the children in the refugee camp. Hungry for fun…for
laughter…hungry to forget the waves…the missing parents…missing
siblings…missing friends. Grateful that we are there. |
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John's wife Connie Sellecca comforts a woman who lost her 10-year-old daughter.
Children learned songs and English phrases; bringing them joy for the first time in
weeks.
John and his son Gib made lots of new little friends.
John's daughter Prima keeps survivors smiling with her gentle spirit. |
01-11-05
From: John Tesh
When my wife Connie, my 23-year-old son Gib, and our 10-year-old daughter
Prima joined me for this trip to bring disaster relief to Sri Lanka,
I never really expected what I would find. This is what I found today…our
guests from Operation Blessing took us directly to ‘ground zero’
in Ampara, Sri Lanka, and it was basically the remains of a town.
Since the town is basically unlivable, Operation Blessing and other
relief agencies have set up camps for the survivors with food and
medical supplies. When we visited the first camp in Ampara, fifty
kids jumped at my son Gib immediately, and he had to twirl them around
for hours and do magic tricks for them. My wife Connie found herself
helping the medical team, and just putting her arms around moms who
had lost their kids. My ten-year-old daughter Prima vanished in a
sea of elementary school kids who demanded that she teach them English!
The whole scene just melted our hearts, and for hours (to a translator)
we told the kids and the adults that the whole the world was weeping
for them, we hadn’t forgotten, and not to worry because the
whole world would help them rebuild their homes and their schools.
We told them to hang on because the world is holding fundraisers and
concerts, and sending medicine. It was an amazing day.
|
01-11-05
From: Prima Tesh
‘ Colombo to Ampara’
Right now I’m on a seaplane and it’s really freaky. I
was not expecting to be on such a small plane. It feels really crowded
and you can see everything below you. There’s only one pilot
and that makes me really insecure. I don’t see any damage yet,
but I see a lot of coconut trees. I’m listening to my iPod to
pass the time but there’s no way to change the batteries and
the people here are very considerate about their electricity.
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01-10-05
From: Prima Tesh
We are in the London airport right now and getting ready to get on
a plane to go to Colombo. It will be a ten-hour flight. It will be
hard to get used to the Sri Lanka time because it is fourteen hours
ahead. We had a five-hour layover in London and we have been talking
about what we might see in Sri Lanka. I have heard that it will be
very rough to see the passed away bodies and the destroyed houses.
I am not bringing a lot of clothes, and we have to spray the clothes
with bug spray because there are mosquitoes there and they have disease.
I have heard that there are kids in an orphanage and I am looking
forward to meeting them.
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01-10-05, 9:20am
From: Connie Sellecca
As I sit with my ten-year-old daughter in the airport lounge at London’s
Heathrow Airport, I wonder if I am prepared to handle her reaction
to the devastation she is about to witness. I wonder if the math homework
I am working on with her (prepared by her fifth grade teacher) will
be anywhere as important as the life lesson she is about to learn. |
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