‘All I could see was fire’—Sri Lankan bomb survivor’s face glows with the joy of Christ

On Easter Sunday, April 19,2019, Rebekah woke up, excited to go to church and sing the song she had practiced with her sister Verlini—a song, she says, that’s all about Jesus’ suffering and love for us. She was standing in the church bookstore, when the bomber detonated the bomb in his backpack in Zion Church in Batticaloa, Sri Lanka, killing 30 people and injuring hundreds of others. That day, in a coordinated operation, Islamic extremists targeted and bombed two other churches and three luxury hotels in the island nation.  

Recently, Open Doors CEO David Curry spoke with Rebekah about that day and her faith as she continues to follow Christ in the midst of so much grief. Rebekah’s young nephew was killed; and her niece was blinded in the blast. Third-degree burns completely cover the left side of Rebekah’s body and parts of her right side. She spent 60 days in the hospital.

Like so many of the persecuted believers Open Doors talks to and serves, Rebekah shows us what resilient faith looks like. She shares what went through her mind in the chaos:

“All I could see was fire … Even though my sarai had caught fire, I didn’t dwell on the fact that I was burning,” she says.

“I knew I was going to die and go to Heaven. My only aim was to meet Jesus.”

Rebekah’s story reminds us that we have so much to learn from our persecuted family.

“I didn’t take anything negatively,” she shares. “I began to think, I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength. So I thought to myself, I can.”

Today, almost two years later, Rebekah continues to sing—and pursue her faith. She asks us to pray for her in that.

“I need to draw closer to Jesus,” she says, “so pray for that for me.”

Since the attack two years ago, Open Doors has been walking with grieving and traumatized families, like Rebekah’s, who have lost so much in the attacks.