Witnessing to Christ in North East India

Marina Ngursangzeli

• Publisher: Regnum
• Year: 2016
• Print ISBN: 9781911372042
• eBook ISBN: 9781912343454
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Christian Ministry

The Church in India has a far closer connection to Edinburgh 1910, as F S Downs points out, that one of the Indian delegates was Rev Thankan Sangma, a Garo. This little known fact is illustrative of how, on one hand, the Church in North East India is ignorant of this legacy and continues to view ecumenism poorly and suspiciously, while on the other hand the challenges faced by the Church in the region and the social, economic and political milieu it is placed in, have been largely ignored, neglected, or worse still, identified with what is generally portrayed as what the Church in India is... The book's contents deal with the nine study themes of Edinburgh 2010, spanning the ethnic, tribal and denominational diversity of the region.

SECTION ONE

FOUNDATIONS
FOR MISSION

THEOLOGY OF MISSION: THE MIZO PERSPECTIVE

Lawmsanga

Introduction

Mission has been integral to Christianity from its beginning. Stephen Neill rightly says that, ‘Mission, the extension of the church beyond its existing frontiers, has been characteristic of the Christian fellowship from its earliest beginning’.¹ More than one hundred years have been passed since the Edinburgh 1910 Conference and many pre-Edinburgh 2010 and post-Edinburgh consultations and seminars on mission are being organized in various parts of the world. But the understanding and practice of Christian mission faces new challenges as Christians today constantly face different contexts of poverty and injustice among many other issues both inside and outside the church. This paper is an attempt to reformulate the theology of mission in the Mizo context so that the church may be challenged and inspired to critically evaluate her traditional understanding of mission and accordingly redefine Christian mission in the present context. To begin with, let us briefly survey the history of the Presbyterian Church of Mizoram.

A Brief History of the Presbyterian Church of Mizoram

Mizoram (previously known as the Lushai Hills) is one of the states of India and shares a boundary with Myanmar in the south-east and Bangladesh in the west. More than 98% of Mizoram is hilly and mountainous. It has a pleasant moderate climate ranging from 20 to 32 degrees Celsius. The word Mizo literally means ‘Highlander’ (mi for ‘people’ and zo for ‘highland’), an apt term to describe the short, stocky, muscular people, who with great physical vigour easily climb the steep hills.² Mizoram therefore simply means the land of the Mizo people. The Mizos have been known as Lushai, Lushei or Lusei but this is a misnomer. The Mizos have been Mizos since time immemorial but all the colonial and missionary records and reports up to the 1960s represented Mizos as Lushais. The most prominent ruling clan at the time of the colonial regime was the Lusei which was incorrectly referred to as Lushai. It was the time when the Lusei rulers had extended their influence over the whole of present-day Mizoram. Their prominence perhaps led British officials to misrepresent the whole nation as Lushai.

Christianity was first preached among the Mizos in 1891 by a Welsh missionary named William Williams against the background of primitive animism, shrouded in superstitions and fear. William could not stay for long in Mizoram, but his appeal to the Presbyterian Church of Wales resulted in the adoption of the Lushai Hills as one of its mission fields. The first Welsh missionary, D.E. Jones, arrived on 31st August 1897 in Mizoram and was joined by Edwin Rowlands in 1898. The two missionaries worked with unsparing fervour and soon won over a handful of Mizo converts. As the number of Christians increased, it was found necessary to organize them into regular congregations, and the Presbyterian Church of Mizoram was established in 1910. The Presbyterian Church of Mizoram is currently the oldest and biggest church in the state of Mizoram containing 52% of the total membership of all the churches in Mizoram.³ Sporadic revival movements that took place in Mizoram had exerted much influence on Mizo Christians and their mission. All believers, including new converts, were enthusiastic about sharing their new-found faith and experiences. Mizos then became well aware of the evangelized people in their neighbouring states. The Presbyterian Church then formed the Synod Mission Board (SMB) which was responsible for promoting its missionary activities. The Synod Mission Board has four mission policies to help it achieve its aim: church planting, direct evangelism, a medical or health ministry, and an educational ministry. Some of the mission strategies adopted by Mizo missionaries are as described below.

Mission Strategies and Mission Board

The Synod Mission Board has used different methods in communicating and establishing the gospel among the various communities. The following methods are extensively used in mission work.

Knowing the people and being with them

Before choosing a place or people, the Mission Board assesses their geographical location, language, culture, political and economic life, and religious beliefs. Most Mizo missionaries would go directly to the people and stay with them and learn their language and customs. They would start by making contact with and interacting with the people. They would try to win the acceptance and confidence of the people. Apart from sharing a new faith, the missionaries would also serve the people in many ways. They would teach the people various skills for industrial work, carpentry, tailoring and improved agriculture methods. For example, Mizo missionaries in Assam, India, have been teaching better methods of agriculture and gardening with new and improved seeds.

Establishing mission compounds

Like the western missionaries, Mizo missionaries would usually develop mission compounds wherever they went. They would choose a place where they could build their headquarters. Making their base in such centres, they would reach out to the people around them. These compounds would also serve as centres for new activities such as opening a school, a meeting or chapel hall, and teaching vocational skills such as carpentry, tailoring and weaving. Gradually the local population would be attracted, some out of curiosity, others out of an interest for change and a new life. Soon a church building would be erected and regular worship services conducted. Over time, locals who became Christians would be trained as evangelists besides teaching the new converts about Christian life and conduct.

Modern missiologists criticize this ‘mission compound’ approach as unrealistic, taking people away from their actual environment, transmitting a kind of colonial church organization where missionaries are looked upon as leaders, owners and actors in everything. There is some truth in these accusations: mission compounds can create a feeling of division and artificiality. But one should not fail to notice that there are other things which call for this approach. Two reasons that support a ‘mission compound’ approach are the continuation of the biblical pattern, and organizational and administrative necessity.

In the Old Testament, God’s people had their particular centres or places from where national activities, festivals or worship sessions were conducted. Even their judges, prophets, priests and kings had certain prominent places. Thus Shiloh, Bethel, Jerusalem were places of importance in the OT. In the New Testament, the early churches were associated with cities while most of them evolved as house churches. Thus, we have the Jerusalem church, the Antioch church, the Corinthian church, etc. Many people criticized the missionaries when they adopted a ‘mission compound’ approach to strengthen mission work which needed to be permanent and located in a convenient place. If they were scattered in different places, their personnel would have to be dispersed and their efforts would be weakened. Therefore, the ‘mission compound’ approach can be regarded as a continuation of the biblical pattern.⁴

Church planting

The church planting approach is based on the teaching of the Bible, especially the New Testament. It is based on God’s mission for the world (Gen. 3:15; Gal. 4:4-6; John 20:21). It is based on the promise of Jesus Christ (Matt. 16:18). Church planting is also based on the Lord’s Great Commission in Matthew 28: 19 – and this clearly shows that church planting is the ultimate goal of Christian mission. The growth pattern of the New Testament churches gives us a model to follow (Acts 2:41, 42; 4:4; 5:14; 6:1, 7). Therefore, church planting is biblical and fulfils the goal of Christian mission in establishing the Kingdom of God.

The main goal of the Mizo mission has been establishing and planting churches. Churches were planted where people were converted, and this was followed by preaching, teaching and instruction of the word of God, all of which took place in those churches. When a number of churches had been planted, the congregations were taught to have a link through regular interactions and visits with one another. This has also been done through annual gatherings and conferences which has helped to strengthen the solidarity and identity of newly established churches.

The churches planted by Mizo missionaries in different parts of India are architecturally very foreign and very different from the architecture of most worship places in India. While their churches are very beautiful and important for Christians, non-Christians look at them with suspicion and contempt as if Christians are traitors and agents of foreign countries. People such as Devi Lal, former Deputy Prime Minister of India, urged Christians to go to Rome or America.⁵ The whole country was angered by such a comment but I personally feel that there is a lot of truth in this statement. The church in India is a church with a misleading identity. For a non-Christian it is extremely difficult to understand what Indian Christianity is all about. Look at the some of the names of the churches and missions in India – Roman Catholic, Syrian Orthodox, American Baptist and Irish Presbyterian. It is very important to establish and plant churches which have an Indian identity.

Partnership in mission

Partnership in mission is in accord with the teachings of the Bible. We see how partnership worked in the lives of Adam and Eve. Adam alone was not complete and unable to fulfil the work God had entrusted to him without Eve, his partner. The Triune God – the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit – constitutes the principle of partnership in mission today, united in purpose and mission, yet maintaining individuality in existence. John 15:1 speaks of the Father as the vine-dresser, Jesus as the true vine and all the believers as ‘branches’.

Mission partnership can be within cultures or beyond one’s cultural or geographical location. When two or more partnering bodies agree to work together for their common interests or goals, partnership exists. In the present situation where government policies do not encourage foreign missionaries to come to work in India, Christians can carry out mission work through partnership. The Presbyterian Church of Mizoram has laid special emphasis on partnership in mission with other churches, and international and national mission organizations, to facilitate a wider scope of mission service. The Presbyterian Church of Mizoram is currently working in collaboration with Council for World Mission (CWM), United Mission to Nepal, Christian Reformed World Mission, Operation Mobilization (OM), Interserve, Indian Mission Association, Presbyterian Church of Wales, Presbyterian Church of Taiwan, Emmanuel Hospital Association, Church Mission Society, to name a few.

Challenges for Churches Today: Moving beyond Edinburgh 1910

The old missionary movement in the West had a history which ran almost parallel with the history of western colonization. This came to an end at the same time as the colonial period, and former colonies became independent, one after another, when they then had an opportunity to think for the first time of their own history – and the churches also became independently responsible for their own mission and evangelism. The Presbyterian Church of Mizoram also took up its mission work seriously and sent missionaries to different parts of India. It is indeed good to see the church aware of its missionary obligation, while it continues to increase its efforts in mission and evangelistic work, having started from a small corner in Mizoram and spreading out to several parts of north and central India as well as to other parts of the world. Beginning with a few hundred rupees, mission funds have grown to several million rupees, which is indeed a big leap for the Presbyterian Church. Moreover, the work of mission and evangelism creates an atmosphere of unity among church members. However, the Presbyterian Church still works with the traditional understanding of mission, and reveals li...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• Preface
• Foreword
• Editorial Introduction:
• Introduction to North-East India and Christian Mission
• Section 1: Foundations for Mission
• Section 2: Christian Mission among other Faiths
• Section 3: Mission and Post-Modernities
• Section 4: Mission and Power
• Section 5: Forms of Missionary Engagement
• Section 6: Theological Education and Formation
• Section 7: Christian Communities in Contemporary Contexts
• Section 8: Mission and Unity – Ecclesiology and Mission
• Section 9: Mission Spirituality and Authentic Discipleship
• Concluding Remarks
• Selected Bibliography
• List of Contributors
• Back Cover