St. Andrew’s Church Palai: 125 years of Christian witness-by Dishan Joseph St. Andrew’s Church, Palai The Northern Province of Sri Lanka has been embellished with many churches. The Anglican Church (Church of Ceylon) has been active in Jaffna and other Northern areas for 200 years. The pioneer clergymen from the Church Missionary Society came and faithfully propagated the gospel. One of the lesser-known areas in the Northern region is the serene village of Palai, located 52 Km from Jaffna. In the 1860s, not many from Colombo would have ventured to this remote village. It is a village dotted with fields and ponds. The first person to visit Palai is Rev. John Backus. He was keen to mingle with the Tamil-speaking people and understand their culture. He began his work in 1868 and conducted worship services in a hut. The hut was 20 feet by 12 feet. The people slowly responded ...
Dec 3, 2020
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Tagged Rev. Sam Ponniah, Rev. Samuel Chelvanayakam, Ven. Donald Canagaratnam
