About my father : George Perera

George Perera was an Arts graduate from University of Peradeniya. He and his wife Aruni were active members in GCF in the 80’s and 90’s . George passed away in 2013. This article was written by his daughter who was a  FOCUS student at that time and published in the FOCUS student magazine.

I am grateful to God for all the people he has made me encounter in life but to me more than anyone else Thathi has inspired me and his life example has been the greatest encounter I have had with any human so far in my life.

My father was not a perfect man, yet he was honest about  his weaknesses and relied on God mercy to live his best daily. I remember him praying everyday during family prayers asking God to forgive us for our weaknesses. He went out of his way to help people, felt for people intensely in his extreme sensitivity of heart. Numerous are the times he would stop the car for a total stranger waiting for a bus to offer a lift. Many times our car ( a Maruti) was packed with more than 7 people in our Thathi’s attempts to give a ride to as  many as possible in church who didn’t have a vehicle. This happened frequently in  outstation churches which he visited to preach. And yes we were very embarrassed and perplexed seeing our car being put to that state!
He love people intensely, like nobody I have seen in my life. He spoke for the voiceless and the weak and advocated for the affected, by all means he could, refusing  to go with the popular opinion.  He always tried to do the ‘’right” thing as he himself put it. He spoke the truth uncoated and very straight to the point where some even thought of him as eccentric. Yet he h ad full devotion in his head to God to do the right thing. 

My father was a qualified, knowledgeable man (The most intelligent and informed man I have ever seen) He held a high position in the government sector while being a visiting lecturer in many universities. Yet looking at the way he lived and the type of people he predominantly associated with, it was seldom or never that one could guess who he was. He was not just academically qualified  but know how to deal with people coming from diverse backgrounds in life. He felt for the poor, for the less privileged in life and never showed partiality for the highly influential people One advice he would frequently gave me was never to make others feel their inadequacy by showing off what we have.

Receiving the opportunity to enter state university both for my brother and me was a dream come true for my parents especially for Thathi who was very keen on making us exposed to people coming from diverse backgrounds in the country. He wanted us to have an experience that will enable us to understand and feel for the common , ordinary and vastly less privileged in this country as opposed to receiving a higher education exclusive for a selected high class segment in society. Even, with all Thathi’s good intentions behind me, dreaming and even praying regularly for us to have University entrance in this country, there were many times that I was absolutely disgusted with that culture once I entered university, but  I looked at people’s actions from their point of view, from the background they were coming from. Today I  know that all these experiences have made me wiser, salient and mature, all because my father was a man with exceptional character, strength and above all with the fear of God that made him have a commitment to do the right thing.

He has a passion for the Word of God and was engaged in a number of institutions to help grow in the Word of God since his youth. After his retirement one of his deep desires was to be able to lecture in a seminary.

Even as his only daughter, the youngest child, his confidante in many ways I know that  many deeds of my father done particularly at the point of someone’s need that I am unaware of. Many of  his deeds are not known to us but one  thing I do know is that all His life he stored up riches in heaven and his reward is great in eternity. He lived 62 years giving 22 years of exceptional inspiration and value to my life while giving it to all around him all his life.

Today more than ever there are many things that I can be grateful to God about, for my father’s life and all that he was to all around him. The work that he started in my fathers life will not be stopped and many including me will carry forward these values in life. For the way his death took place where he didn’t suffer physically but entered glory in the most amazing way I can think of, for the hope we have in meeting him in eternity and in God’s presence and for the assurance in this life that God will be a father to us the fatherless and a husband to our mother ( Isaiah 54/5, Palm 68/5). One great thing we continue to experience and depend on is Gods sufficiency for us in life and in death and his faithfulness which has never failed us. His grace has truly been all sufficient and has carried us through what literally is a nightmare and has given us hope and victory in life and death. We have powerfully experienced that nothing can separate us from His love not even death.

Nadini ( Kruthagna) Perera