^{Buddhist converts: "We were lost, we have found faith and hope in Jesus " 
by Melani Manel Perera}

For both Wickremasinghe Wasantha and Dhammica Perera, the encounter with Christianity arrived in the difficult moments of life. A long journey of faith, undertaken thanks to their families. 

Colombo (AsiaNews) - "The exemplary lives of our brothers and impact of the words of some priests have made us understand and believe in the death and resurrection of Jesus, and led us to become Christians," strongly affirms Wasantha Wickremasinghe (v . photo) and Dhammica Perera, two Sinhalese Buddhist converts to Catholicism. Both, until a few years ago, were Buddhists. Fundamental in their new journey of faith, their respective spouses. "My wife - Wasantha tells AsiaNews - is a strong pillar in my life as a convert." For Dhammica "Jesus chose my husband to draw me to Him".

"Until six years ago - says Wasantha - I was a lost man. I suffered from alcohol abuse and even though I had many friends I did not feel peaceful, or happy. " 43, he is the father of two young children, a boy of 7 and a girl of 4.

Wasantha first met Christianity thanks to his girlfriend at the time, Shirani Perera, 42. Now she is his wife. "Tired of my life, I decided to move to Colombo, where I worked as an entrepreneur. Shortly thereafter, I met the father of my wife and I started working with him. We immediately connected, my life was finally taking a different turn. One day, he suggested I meet his daughter, I was a young man, he said to me, and I was the right age to marry. I remember thinking that a romance would complete my life, so I went to his house to meet his daughter. We fell in love almost immediately, and as her suitor I had to take her to church. Then when we got engaged, which created a problem: the father wanted his daughter to marry in church. Impossible for me, mine being a deeply Buddhist family. " "But I said 'I love you: if my family is against it, I will marry you the same'."

Wasantha and Shirani became husband and wife on December 26 of 1997, with mixed rite. Since that day, he also started to participate in activities organized by her church, the parish of Kadawatha. "I began to hear - he says - that this religion has something different from all others."

For his journey of conversion, another important person was the parish priest, FrLinton Joseph: "The day he called me 'Puth', son, I was happy. In his sermons, he taught me who Jesus is, why we follow him, who are we to him I understood all this and I saw how wonderful it is to lead a 100 percent Christian life, " At Easter 2007, Wasantha was baptized.

Even Dhammica Perera, 42, mother of three grown children, converted to Christianity a few years ago. Like Wasantha, the figure of her spouse was important. "Our family was going through a difficult period, so I started going to church and mass: I listened to the words of the Bible in search of comfort and peace of mind. Eventually, I found faith. " Dhammica now serves as a preacher in her parish of Kithudana Pubuduwa.

Wasantha and Dhammica agree that "faith and hope" tied their new lives as Christians. "We have experienced the love of Christ with us every day. He lives with us. And we believe that Christians would not be as they are, without the crucified and Risen Christ. "