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Sri Lanka is the 83rd least corrupt in a list of 168 countries according to the latest Corruption Perception Index released by Transparency International. Corruption affects all spheres of a nation’s life and erodes public trust in institutions and individuals.
Christians living in corrupt societies constantly struggle with maintaining integrity as they participate in the life of the society. The call to be ‘salt’ and ‘light’ in the midst of this is often considered idealistic and impractical. However, is this true?
The next forum in the InDialogue series offers Christians a platform to discuss and reflect on Christian perspectives on corruption in the private sector. The forum, titled “Cohabiting with Corruption: The Dilemma for Private Sector Christians“, will be held on 26th May 2016 at the Chamber of Commerce Auditorium from 5:30pm onwards.
The forum will bring together the following to engage with this issue as well as each other in a wise, reflective and creative manner.
1. Chrisso de Mel – General Manager, Export Shipping Department, Hayleys Plc.
2. Eran Wickramaratne – Deputy Minister of Public Enterprise Development
3. Eshanth Wijesinghe – Group Managing Director, Bartleet Group of Companies
4. Sumathy Rajasingham – Business Manager, SGS Lanka Pvt. Ltd.
Send an email to rsvp.indialogue@gmail.com to register for the forum
InDialogue is a joint initiative of the Fellowship of Christian University Students (FOCUS) and the Colombo Theological Seminary (CTS).
May 24th, 2016
Over 80 university students from around the country gathered together at the Retreat House in Pandatharippu, Jaffna recently to discuss God’s call for us in the university. The FOCUS National Student Conference is an annual event which links Christian university students nationally and provides a platform for reflection, mutual learning and fellowship. This year’s conference was held under the theme ‘Engaging the University’. We thank all those who supported us in so many ways to make this conference a success.
Click below to get a taste of the conference…
Special Supplement – FOCUS National Student Conference 2016
May 5th, 2016
The annual National Student Conference of FOCUS will be held from 9-11 April at Retreat House, Pandatharippu, Jaffna.
University students (state and private) from around the country will gather together as we reflect on the Uniqueness of Christ and the distinct call of God in the university. We will also look at how our faith and the university relate, how we can be incarnational disciples, and how we can communicate our faith to others. We will then explore the practical implications of what we have learnt, reflecting on the specific area that God has called us to and how he calls us as individuals, as fellowships and as a national network. The camp also provides you an opportunity to meet and form friendships with students from diverse backgrounds and promises to be a mutual learning and rewarding experience.
If you wish to join us please contact Paul Bright in Jaffna (0779258008) or Rebecca in Colombo (0755289053) and register for the conference. The total cost for a student is Rs 6,000 but the subsidized rate is Rs 2,500.
Those who wish to sponsor a student for the conference please contact Yohan (0776985250) or Sanjayan (0777492083).
Please keep us in your prayers!
April 5th, 2016
As we begin another season of Lent, FOCUS has re-launched its magazine newsletter.
The magazine will be called “Captive“, incorporating the twin ideas found in Colossians 2:8 and 2 Corinthians 10:5.
We pray that the magazine newsletter will help you to get a flavour of mission in the universities of Sri Lanka as well as be a catalyst for thoughtful reflection.
Download the magazine newsletter here –> Captive 2016 Volume I, Issue I
February 11th, 2016
Here’s an opportunity for you to partner with us in University Mission in Sri Lanka!
Join the prayer team and get regular updates of what is happening in the FOCUS ministry. Link with the prayer team by sending an email to Sanjayan .
Here’s the recent bi-monthly prayer letter – FOCUS Prayer & Praise Newsletter – January-February 2016
January 20th, 2016
December is a special time in the Universities in Sri Lanka with many students coming together to celebrate Christmas and the end of the year. This is also the most favourable time for the Catholic and Christian groups within the universities to publicly share their faith. The Catholic group which is the largest of the 2 groups usually organizes a carol service while the FOCUS affiliated Christian students join with them to witness to Christ’s love through singing, drama and acts of love. Below is a snapshot of some of the activities held this year.
Moratuwa University Appreciation Event
The Christian students at Moratuwa showed their gratitude to members of the service staff at the university as their Christmas event. They went as a group of students to informally meet service staff around the university, giving them thank you notes, and a piece of cake. They met with fifty members of the service staff in total, and spent time talking to them, learning about their stories and their struggles. Many of them were really happy to have been appreciated in this way.
Peradeniya Chapel Carol Service 
The Peradeniya Chapel Carol Serice was completely organised by members of the Pera DC. The service consisted of a drama, carols and a message. Around 80 students, including several non-Christian students and staff participated in this event. The event also helped build the fellowship: new freshers were identified, and organising the programme brought a new leadership team to the forefront at the Pera DC. More than that, the end of the programme saw students joining together to have conversations on how to understand serious issues from a Christian perspective till 4AM! We are grateful for what God has done through this event.
Peradeniya University Medical Faculty Christmas Festival
The Peradeniya Medical Faculty held a Christmas Festival titled “Joy to the World†on the 17th of December with over 400 people attending. Those present included academic staff, non-academic staff, and the families of non-academic staff. The trilingual program was organised jointly by members of the Pera DC and the Catholic union and did not meet with the strong opposition that it faced last year. In fact, the new Dean was extremely supportive, and asked the student union of the faculty to lend their support. It featured a Kandyan worship dance in praise of God as well as stage décor done by the Buddhist Brotherhood!
University of Jaffna Christmas Program
The JUSCF jointly organised a carol service with the Catholic student union of the University of Jaffna on the 9th of December. Over 350 people attended including students, academic staff and non-academic staff. The members of the JUSCF had prepared a drama for the service called “In Search of Lightâ€. It was about how we search for “light†in all the wrong places and pointing to God as the source of true light. The process of coming together to work for the service and practice for the drama brought the students of JUSCF closer together and helped to integrate the Sinhala students into the fellowship as they took part even though the drama was in Tamil.
Other Christmas events
Christian students of the University of Sabaragamuwa went around carolling for Christmas joining with the Catholic union. They visited the University hostels and other important places close to their university singing carols to those around. Meanwhile students of the Eastern University also had a Christmas program with the Catholic union on the 30th of November. The Christian medical students at the South Asia Institute of Technology and Medicine (SAITM) had a Christmas event on the 17th of December. The well-planned event was organised enthusiastically by the students, and a Catholic priest came to deliver the message. Dr. Neville Perera shared his experience of faith at the program as well. Students there had fasted for one day, and intend to give the money they had saved to charity.
December 29th, 2015
This is a question that we have been struggling with for sometime. Despite being in the majority, the Sinhalese speaking people in general seem to feel or be made to feel somehow inferior. What are some of the historical reasons for this? What are some of the consequences?
A group of FOCUS students and graduates met at the Peradeniya University Chaplaincy recently to discuss this worrying trend. Mr Lal Wijesinghe, Publishing Manager at the Colombo Theological Seminary, led the discussion and helped the participants to recognize this tendency within all of us. He outlined some historical and cultural reasons for this and outlined the need for the Church in Sri Lanka to recognize and recover a vision of the Jewish Jesus of the Bible as opposed to the Anglo/Roman Jesus that we usually follow.
The group also discussed how our family and societal backgrounds seem to encourage ways which are alien to one’s own culture simply for reasons of social mobility. They agreed that we need to reverse the trend of Sinhala-speaking persons morphing into other identities such that they look down on their own culture and disassociate from it completely. The identity that we receive in Christ and how it gives value to all our other identities was also discussed.
This is the first of a series of discussions that FOCUS intends to host in the coming year to identify and to proactively engage with issues that are relevant to the Sinhala speaking world and Church.
November 3rd, 2015
FOCUS will be holding a night of Contemplation and Prayer to pray for the FOCUS ministry and other IFES ministries around the world. The night will feature times of biblical meditation, silent reflection, group discussion, singing and prayer. Click here for a snapshot of the schedule for the night.
Date: 16th October
Time: We start at 7:00pm with a light dinner and go on till 5:00am (the schedule is attached).
Venue: 5A, College Avenue, Mt Lavinia
Dress: Casual… you’ll be sitting/kneeling on the floor!!!
We hope to see you there!
October 14th, 2015
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Sri Lanka is the 83rd least corrupt in a list of 168 countries according to the latest Corruption Perception Index released by Transparency International. Corruption affects all spheres of a nation’s life and erodes public trust in institutions and individuals. 
