Habaraduwa,
Sri Lanka
AGAPE Community Care and Training Center
Sri Lanka’s beautiful beaches and welcoming tourism industry have long been a masquerade for a larger health problem in the country.
Dr. Avindra Jayawardene established the AGAPE Community Care and Training Center in 2016 to help the community of Habaraduwa deal with affordable health care, addictions and sexual abuse.
The ministry’s location near the Koggala free trade zone provides thousands of potential clients, many of whom are employed in garment factories or as fishermen and have not had good access to secondary education. The southern province of Sri Lanka — where only 1 percent is Christian — is also fertile grounds to sow seeds of the Gospel.
“AGAPE Community Care and Training Center is a Kingdom entrance point to the southern province, functioning as a training center for Kingdom architects serving in southern Sri Lanka,” Jayawardene said.
A new three-story building was opened and dedicated in 2023. The facility is used to see patients, counsel them and conduct health trainings.
Dr. Avindra Jayawardene
About the ministry:
Name: AGAPE Community Care and Training Center
Location: Habaraduwa, Sri Lanka
Director: Dr. Avindra Jayawardene
Partnership: 2018-present
Staff: 7
PMT: Dr. Wade and Kimberly Cobb; Kevin and Kim Ten Haken
Our mission:
Why I love being a director:
About Sri Lanka:
Population: 23.0 million
Size: 65,610 sq. km, or slightly larger than West Virginia.
Capital: Colombo
Borders: Located of the southern tip of India; Indian Ocean to the south; Bay of Bengal to the east.
Religious groups: Buddhist, 70.2%; Hindu, 12.6%; Muslim, 9.7%; Christian, 1.3%
Primary language: Sinhalese
Literacy (age 15+): 92.3%
Physician density: 1.0 doctors per 1,000 people.
Population below international poverty line: 4.1%
Life expectancy: 77.8 years
Infant mortality rate: 8.4 deaths per 1,000 live births.
Major exports: Textiles and apparel, tea and spices, rubber, precious stones, coconut, fish
Climate: Tropical
Terrain: Mostly coastal lowlands; flat to rolling plains; mountains in south-central interior
