From Michigan to Sri Lanka:

Two years ago in January, the Rev. Bennett Constantine returned to visit his native Sri Lanka in sorrow.

The Dec. 26, 2004, Asian tsunami that left 230,000 dead had devastated the village of Mullaittivu, where the Eaton Rapids priest once lived.

Only an altar and bell tower remained of St. Peter Catholic Church, where he once was pastor.

There and then, Constantine made a plan to ask the people of mid-Michigan to help him raise $100,000 to build a new church.

It worked.

The new St. Peter church in Mullaittivu is complete, and Constantine plans to attend its dedication Jan. 28.

"I can’t wait to take pictures and come home and show them to the people here, for them to see what their money has done," said Constantine, pastor of another St. Peter Catholic Church – this one in Eaton Rapids.