From the Heart: Stories of the local church and its members

Cortland: Homer Avenue United Methodist Church
From Susan Sigourney and Stephen W. Sigourney, Pastor

I, Susan Sigourney, met Malini Chandralatha Vithanage and Navindu Promode Wigesinghe through my job working for the social worker at Randall Elementary School in Cortland.  Malini brought her son Navindu to the U.S. to get speech services which were not available in Sri Lanka.  They came to Cortland because they were acquainted with a family from Sri Lanka who had settled in Cortland, and the family agreed to let them stay with them temporarily.  Eventually the social worker was able to find another family for them to live with.  They came to this country on a temporary visa,and Malini was not allowed to work in this country so her husband sent her what money he could and she had to rely on the generosity of strangers to help her make ends meet.  This was a big sacrifice for them because Malini had to take an unpaid leave from her government job back home.  But she felt that her son would have a very limited future without speech and medical services which were not an option in Sri Lanka.

Malini had only the clothes she brought for herself and Navindu from Sri Lanka so I gave her some sneakers and boots and brought her to our church while we had a rummage sale.  Our church offered to her any clothes that she wanted for herself and Navindu, and she found some warm clothes for herself and Navindu and boots for Navindu.  She started bringing Navindu to our Sunday school and she stayed for our adult class and they both stayed for church.  In May, Malini asked to be baptized into the Christian faith with Navindu.  They were of the Hindu faith back in Sri Lanka, but she found a loving peace through the Christian faith that she had never experienced.  

Her husband Percy back in Sri Lanka heard of this wonderful grace and has asked if he ever comes to America that he also be baptized into the Christian faith.  Malini has since moved to 15 Walton Shores Court, Destin, Fl. and has joined the Good News UMC in Santa Rosa Beach, Fl.  Right after the tsunami hit, she called us to inform us that all of her family were safe.  Praise God!