Haystack message from Jaffna College, Sri Lanka

by Global Ministries | published on Oct 10, 2014

It is but right that the Haystack bicentenary should be celebrated with highest devotion and regard. We in Jaffna have the unique privilege of having the only one in that group of five, Rev. Dr. James Richards, arriving Jaffna in 1816. He lies buried at Tellipallai, Jaffna, Sri Lanka which came under heavy fire in the Tamil civil war, but the graveyard remains intact. There are photos of this graveyard available still. When the Jaffna Diocese of the Church of South India, the successor to the American Ceylon Mission, celebrated the 150th anniversary of the founding of the ABCFM, this venue in Tellipallai was the centre of our celebrations. It is good to know that there are efforts to celebrate this event. Today, the descendants of the ABCFM spread around the world are involved in gathering Christian communities into churches in almost every major city in the world. There is no doubt that the faith of the Haystack Five with their resovle “We can if we will” has borne fruit by the thousand-fold during these two hundred years. May god bless their memories, now in eternal life in the communion of saints. We hope that the present leaders of the JDCSI will arise to the occasion.

Rajan Kadirgamar
Principal Emeritus
Jaffna College founded by the ABCFM missionaries in 1823