So precisely how does an old tumble dryer motor get to be the catalyst that changes lives and ignites hope?
Ask anyone who knew John Karunaratne and you’ll hear about a fully-fledged, living and breathing answer to the question. Thirty years ago he had a dream to provide jobs for unemployed young men around Colombo, Sri Lanka. Along with the dream he had a seemingly insignificant bit of scrap metal – the tumble dryer motor. A local pastor had given it to him when his dryer packed in and John knew precisely what to do with it: he made a woodworking lathe. Soon Gospel House Handicrafts was born and his dream of tackling unemployment was brought to life.
Tearcraft heard of the project and placed an order for the simple wooden products. Overnight Gospel House was an overseas exporter.
Sadly, John died of cancer in 1983, but he made it clear that he wanted the work to carry on. ‘God’s people may go, but his work must continue,’ he told his family. So his wife Noeline and sons Shiran and Modestus took over the business and still run it today. Shiran says, ‘If by making a particular decision I can give work to even one more person, then that is what I will do.’
Now exporting its toys and games to 22 countries, Gospel House has received several awards for innovation and business success. This, together with their strong faith, has won the family many friends around the world. When they leapt into action to provide emergency assistance in the wake of the Asian Tsunami, support came from all quarters. As a result of the trust and respect built up in the community and with other organisations, the brothers have been trusted with significant international funds. They are now building a village of 50 houses with a school and a community centre, refurbishing 120 more houses, and providing pumps, boats and equipment to help rebuild shattered lives.
All this came about because a man with a passion to serve God had a vision to put an old motor to new use. Noeline recalls, ‘The words “nothing is impossible with God” were in his mouth always.’