J.M. Ngul Khan Pau
Degree
Doctor of Missiology
APPROVAL
Donald K Smith
Committee Chairman
August 30, 1995
Date
Mary H. Wilder
Committee Member
August 30, 1995
Date
James Sweeney
__________________________________________________________________________________
Academic Dean
August 30, 1995
Date
WHEN THE WORLD OF ZOMI CHANGED
_________________________________
A Product
Submitted to the Faculty of
Western Conservative Baptist Seminary
Portland, Oregon
________________________________________
In Partial Fulfillment
Of the Requirement for the Degree
Doctor of Missiology
________________________________________
By
J.M. Ngul Khan Pau
August 30, 1995
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I wish to thank Dr. Donald K. Smith and Dr. Mary Wilder for reading through this manuscript and suggesting constructive alterations. I am also indebted to Conservative Baptist International and particularly to Dr. Leonard A. Tuggy for arranging a two-year scholarship for me. I also wish to thank the Council of Baptist Churches in North-East India for study leave and the Board of International Ministries, American Baptist Churches for their help.
I express my gratitude to Western Seminary for giving me the Global Scholarship, and growing and learning experience. Especially I am thankful for my loving wife Lucy Engjadim and our two sons Daniel Gin Sian Mung and Toshi Thang Lian Mang for their sacrifices, prayers and encouragement to make the completion of this product possible. Finally, to my Savior and Lord Jesus Christ, who entrusted to me the ministry of His Eternal Salvation, be all honor and praise.
ABSTRACT
For century after century, the Zomi tribes have lived under the kingdom of Darkness. Their world was full of fear, pain and uncertainty. The lighter the Gospel shone in Zoland toward the later part of the 19th century. Since then the world of Zomi has started changing for the better.
The purpose of this product is to present the Zomi culture, religious beliefs, the preparation for the Gospel, the coming of Christianity, winning Zomi in Zomi ways and a proposal for a Missionary Training Institute.
The anticipated outcome of this product is that Zomi Christians will use their cultural practices as a way to present the Gospel to the non-Christian Zomi, so that it will be easy to understand and it will result in accepting the message. In the same way the Zomi Churches will reach out to the Hindu and Buddhist lands.
To
my dad Thuam Za Gin
And
my mum Niang Za Go
who brought me up in the way of the Lord
and instilled in me the Zomi cultural values.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS
ABSTRACT
Chapter
1. THE WORLD OF ZOMI AND THEIR CULTURE
The land and the people
The term Zomi or Mizo, Kuki and Chin
Their Worldview
Holism
Harmony with Nature
Harmony with Members of the Village
Longitudinal View of Time
Traditional Beliefs and Assumptions
Causality as a Guiding Factor
Group Above Self
The Cultural Aspects
Village Life
Construction of houses
Marriage and Family
Naming a Child
Enculturation
Household Council: Phamawh or Inndongta
Feasting and Festivals
Traditional Games
Traditional Dances
Musical Instruments
Economic System
2. ZOMI TRADITIONAL RELIGION
Zo Religious World
The Concept of Supreme Pasian (God)
The Concept of Demonic World
The Zo Traditional Sacrifices
The Concept of Sin and Guilt
Zo System of Worship
Important Persons and Practices in related to Zo Religion
The Concept of Life and Death
Changes in Zomi Religion
3. A CASE STUDY OF LAIPIANISM FOUNDED BY PAU CIN HAU SEEN AS THE PREPARATION FOR THE COMING OF CHRISTIANITY
Historic and Religious Background
Pau Cin Hau’s Vision and Teachings
Command to Worship God
Invention of writing System
His Ministry
The Similarities and Differences with Christian Traditions
Preparation of the Soil for The Gospel Seed
4. THE COMING OF CHRISTIANITY TO THE WORLD OF ZOMI
The first Missionary Couple to Chin Hills
Some More Harvesters Added
To The Zomis in Mizoram and Manipur
The Period of Trails and Testing
The Karen Missionaries Among Zo People
The First Converts and their Witnesses
The Formation of Associations
The Formation of a Convention
Ordination of the First Zomi and Leadership
Opposition and Persecution of the Early Christians
The Status of the Baptist Churches Today
The Three-Selves Churches
Leadership Development
The Present Leadership in the Baptist Churches
Leadership in the Convention and at the National Levels
Chin for Christ in Once Century
The Present Chin for Christ in One Century Ministry Since Its Inception
The Beginning and The Initial Results
Two Harvest Forces of Chin for Christ in One Century
Loss in Lives
5. USING THE CUSTOMS AND CULTURES TO PRESENT THE MESSAGE OF THE GOSPEL TO NON-CHRISTIAN ZOMI
Points of Contact
Holistic Approach
Group Approach
Pasian (God)
Fear of Spirits
Sacrifices
Life after Death
Traditional Music
Power Encounter
Healing Ministry
Presentation of the Message
Incarnational Life
Slavery and Freedom
Suutpi The Middle Post
Fireside Evangelism
6. PROPOSAL FOR SHORT-TERM MISSIONARY TRAINING INSTITUTE FOR THE ZOMI CHURCHES IN NORTH-EAST INDIA
The need for such Training in North-East India
Who is a Missionary?
The Call and the Sending
Creating Mission awareness in the Churches
Misconceptions and Mistakes in the Mission Work in India
The Goal of Training Missionaries
Some Prerequisites for Good Mission Training Institute
Missionary Qualifications
The Training
Curriculum for the Training
7. CONCLUSION AND FURTHER CONCERNS
Some issues for Further Study
In The Church Context
APPENDIX
A. Chin Hills Growth
B. Graph
MAPS
BIBLIOGRAPHY
LISTS OF ABBREVIATIONS
ABFMS American Baptist Foreign Mission Society
ATC Aizawl Theological College
BBC Burma Baptist Convention
BCM Baptist Church of Mizoram
CBCNEI Council of Baptist Churches in North-East India
CCOC Chin for Christ in One Century
ECCI Evangelical Congregational Churches of India
ETC Eastern Theological College
ICM Independent Church of Maraland
IEM Indian Evangelical Mission
JAM Joint Action in Mission
LPMI Lakher Pioneer Mission of India
MTI Missionary Training Institute
NASB New American Standard Bible
OLTC Outreach Leadership Training Center
PCM Presbyterian Church of Mizoram
UESI Union Evangelical Students of India
ZBC Zomi Baptist Churches, India
ZBCM Zomi Baptist Convention of Myanmar
ZTC Zomi Theological College
CHAPTER 1
THE WORLD OF ZOMI AND THEIR CULTURE
The Land and the People
The Zomi are a group of tribes, who are living in three different countries, namely Bangladesh, India and in Myanmar. Due to their nomadic lifestyles, constant inter tribes’ conflicts, and the divide and rule policy of the British Colonialism, these tribes were separated from one another into different countries. Dr. Laldena had rightly observed by saying, “Zomi were perhaps one of the worst victims of the onslaught of British imperialism. They were divided and scattered throughout Southeast Asia” (Neihsial 1984:1). To give a detailed description of the land, each of its distinct cultural practices and customs would be a great deal of work. Additionally, contacting Zomis from Sylhet and Chittagong Hill Tracts of Bangladesh, to get enough information about them will be very difficult. Zomi are Mongoloid by race. One of the marks of the Mongolian race is a blue spot at the bottom of a new born baby. According to the anthropological term it is known as blue Mongolian spot. Their language belongs the Tibeto-Burman group.
The main focus of this paper will be Zomi (Zo people) from the Chin state in Myanmar and from the two states of India namely Manipur and Mizoram. According to the record of Dr. Morrison, the then Linguistic Adviser to the Bible Society of India and Ceylon (Sri Lanka) Zomi region cover parts of different political areas, as follows:
Assam: part of the North Cachar and Mikir Hills, part of the Khasi and Jaintia Hills, and the Lushai Hills (Mizoram).
Nagaland: part of the extreme south.
Manipur: state
Tripura: state
East Pakistan (Bangladesh): Sylhet District and the Chittagong Hill Tracts.
Burma: The Chin Hills Special Division (Chin State), where large Chin groups including Tedim, Falam and Haka are to be found, and part of the Magwe Division (Pakokku and Thayetmyo) and Arakan Division (Arakan Hill Tracts, Akyab, Kyaukpyu and Sandoway), where various southern Chin tribes are located (Khup Za Go 1988:177).
Chin state, which was recorded as Chin Hills, lies between latitude 24’ in the North and 21”45. On the South, and longitude 94”5’ on the East and longitude 93”21’ on the West. The tract, which forms a parallelogram, may be transverse from North to South in 250 miles of mountain path, while its breadth varies from 1000 to 150 miles. It consists of a much broken and contorted mass of mountains, intersected by deep valleys and is utterly devoid of plains and table-lands (Carey 1976:5). It was known as Chin Special Division and received its statehood in January 4, 1947. It is surrounded on the North by the Kachin state, on the South by the Arakan State, on the East by the Sagaing Division in Burma, and on the West by the international boundaries of Bangladesh and India. Chin state covers an area of 13,902 sq. miles (Khup Za Go 1981:1). It is divided into six sub-divisions which are divide again into nine townships, namely Tonzang, Tedim, Falam, Thantlang, Haka, Matupi, Paletwa, Mindat, and Kanpalet. The capital town is Haka.
Some of the peaks, mountains and rivers are: Thangmual (Fort White) 10,233 feet, Inbuk, Bawipa, Lun Mual, Awtaraw, Lentha and Khonu. The important rivers are Meitei gun (Manipur River), Bawinu, Lemro, Mong, Ciau and Mitta (Gin Za Tuang 1973:11). It has a lake called Lih (Rih) which is about three-quarters of a mile long by one quarter of a mile broad, is the only important stretch of water in the tract. It is situated near the border, on the Falam-Aizawl road, in 23”22” N (Imperial Gazetteer of India 1908:271).
The whole state is covered with vegetation and more than 70 different species are found within the state. Spear and elephant grasses, are found everywhere, whilst sweet meadow-grass grows around some of the villages. More than forty different kinds of trees, including fruit trees such as orange, lemon, citron, apple, mulberry, fig, peach and various flowers and over 30 different kinds of orchids are seen all over the forests.
Zo people living in Chin state are made of eight different major tribes, each speaking a different language and dialect. The following are the major tribal groups:
Asho
Falam (Laimi)
Haka (Lai)
Matu
Hualngo (Lushei)
Kanpalet
Siyin
Tiddim (Khuangnawn 1990:18).
Large beasts such as the elephant, the rhinoceros, the bison, tiger, and leopards live in this area as do monkeys, reptiles and the mithun (Gavaeus frontalis) believes to be a cross between the wild bison and domestic cattle. All the different species of a deer found in Myanmar are denizens of the Chin jungles. Hogs and gibbons abound. There are 33 different kinds of wild animals, about 71 different families of birds, six types of snakes and eight types of fish (Carey 1976:10-11). The hornbill is the national bird of Zomi, because in their tradition the hornbill is projected as sacred and noble bird.
The Mizoram (Zomiram) state is perched like a lone sentinel in one corner of North-East India. It lies just within the tropics between latitude 22′′9′ and 24′′9′ N and longitude 92′′6′ and 93′′6′ E. It has an area of 21,067 sq. km or 8,142 sq. miles roughly the size of Wales or Massachusetts. It has the hilliest terrain in the eastern part of India (Hminga 1987:3). The natural vegetation and climate offer an ideal sanctuary to wild animals. Elephants, tigers, leopards, bears, wolves, mithuns, deer, wild boar, barking deer, wild goats and wild fowls are found in abundance. Almost all the tropical plants are found and bamboos of different kinds grow abundantly everywhere. More than 300 varieties of butterflies are found in Mizoram. It was known as the Hills to the east of Bengal as A.S. Reid has recorded saying:
Prior to 1889 the interior on the tract of country known as the Chin Lushai Hills; was a terra incognita and even now, there are probably many numbers of the general public included in the class of well-educated to whom the title conveys but little meanings and in whom it arouses still less interest (1893:1).
Mizo Union, as a political party was first forms in 1947. This party has been one of the instruments of guiding Mizo national life. By consensus in 1954, the name Lushai Hills was changed to Mizo Hills. A major change took place in January 21, 1973 by the Act of the Parliament of India. The Mizo Hills District was changed to the Union Territory of Mizoram. Mizoram literally means “Mizo Land”. The Mizos were first known as the Lushai or the Kukis. The name “Lushai” was an Anglican form of “Lusei”, the most powerful and prominent Zo tribe. They lived in a more compact area with their neighbouring tribes. “Lushai” meaning “taking human head,” they knew that the name was given to them by foreigners and that it carried a certain negative meaning. Mizo and Zomi are made up of mirror syllables - i.e. Mi+Zo or Zo+Mi with the same meaning. The Mizos by dialect consist of the following subgroups: Lusei, Hmar, Pawi, Lakher, Chakma, Riang and the Darlong of Tripura (Nang 1990:9).
The Tripura state is predominantly controlled by Bengalis in the government authority and the Tripuras are the minority in their land. There are some tribes living here namely the Molsom, the Langrong, Chingrai, the Bong, the Kaipeng, Hrangkhol, the Ruankum, the Darlong and Lusei or Mizo group. In Bangladesh, the eastern part of the trip land called Chittagong Hill tracts is inhabited by Zo tribes. They are Bawmzo, Asho, Khami, Kuki, Masho, Pankhu and Lushai (Vumson, n.d: 315).
Another state inhabited by Zomi is the state of Manipur. It lies between 24′′0′ and 26′′0′ N latitude, and 93′′0′ E and 94′′30′ E longitude. The Tropic of Cancer divided it into almost equal halves. In the valley the climate is not torrid; its elevation above sea level is about 2,600 feet. In most of the hilly areas the climate is very pleasant throughout the year, except that in high hills the climate is severely cold during winter. The state covers an area of 8,628 square miles and out of which the valley is about 700 square miles. About 12 square miles of the valley is a lake known as Loktak, which is the biggest lake in North-East India (Vaiphei 1981:1).
We can divide the total population of Manipur into three groups, viz. the Meiteis (Manipuris), the Muslim (pangal) and the Hill People. Again, the hill people can be divided into two groups as Nagas and the Kuki-Chin. Under the Kuki-Chin there are many tribes: The Aimol, Chiru, Chothe, Gangte, Hmar, Kom, Koireng, Paite, Purum, Simte, Ralte, Lusei (Mizo), Thahdo, Vaiphei, and the Zou (Ibid,17). The names Chin and Kuki are retained unchanged in the Chin state of Burma and Manipur state in India, till today.
The Term Zomi or Mizo, Kuki and Chin
There has been a search for their identity and the original name of the tribes called by various names today, such as Chin, Zomi, Mizo, Kuki etc. I would like to include all the anthological descriptions of their racial name, including the recent development. The term Zo or Jo, was mentioned as the name of a people group in few historical publications of the Indo-Burman peoples (Vumson nd: 1). Rule in 1855 described the Chins and Lushais as “of Indo-Chinese kindred, known as Kukis, Nagas, Khyenes” and by more specific names. In 1866 Colonel Period classified the Chins living in the north Arakan as Indo-Chinese (Carey 1976:2). Mr. McCabe of Assam Commission, whose service had been spent amongst Nagas, Lushais and the other hill-tribes of the province of Assam designates the Chin-Lushai Family as Indo-Chinese. Captain Forbes calls the race as Tibeto-Burman (Ibid, 2).
Explaining about the term Kuki or Chin, G. A. Grierson recorded that, the denomination Kuki-Chin is purely conventional one, there is no proper name comprising all these tribes. The word Kuki in Chin are synonymous and are both used for mainly of the hill tribes in question (1904:1). Shan tribe from Burma call Zomi “Chiang” this name was used while there are living in around Kawlzang (Chindwin Region). The Chiang or Chieng (possibly from where the word Chin originates) tribe’s lived in Tibet and they are from Central Asia (Neihsial, 1986:2).
Again, Grierson has this to say in discussing about what the people called themselves, they do not themselves recognize the name Chin, but call themselves Yo or Zo in the north, Lai in the center and so in the south, besides many other tribal names. The word Chin is supposed by some authorities to be a corruption of the Chinese gen, a man (Grierson 1904:55). In the same way Carey wrote, “The name is not used by the tribes themselves, who used titles such as Zo or Yo or Sho” (Carey 1976:2). The Book of a Thousand Tongues mentions that the Chin people numbered more than one million, lived in the mountains of Chin Hill areas of the NORTH WESTERN Burma, and in Manipur, India. The name Chin, which generally refers to the 300,000 Chins of Burman is believed to derive from the Burmese words for “Friends”. Indian Chins, a group that included the Manipuri and others are called by the general term “kuki”. The Chins speak languages of Tibeto-Burman family, related, within the Kuki-Chin language group, to numerous tongues of Northeast India, notably Lushai, the Asho or southern Chins, lived in the plains of Irrawaddy lowlands of Burma, considerably separated from the other Chin groups. The name reflects a form of the root ZO which according to some means “hills men” and is found in many Chin designations, i.e. Mizo and Laizo (North, 1939:67).
The Zo people form a collection of tribes like the Burman’s, the Kachins, the Nagas and other communities further in Asia, belonging to the Tibeto-Burman group of the Indo-Chinese race (The Imperial Gazetteers of India 1908:274). The term Kuki is a generic name applied by the inhabitants of the plain Bengalis and others, to all hill-dwellers by jhum. The word Kuki is foreign to the different dialects of the hill tribes, the nearest to it being the “zo” term for the Tripura tribe, which is called by them Tuikuk. Lewin who was the first British Officer made this interesting remark about Zo Lushai:
The Lhoosais, commonly called Kookies, are a powerful and independent people, who touch upon the border of Chittagong Hill tracts. They extend in numberless hordes, north and northeast until they reach Cachar on the hand, and the frontiers of Burmah on the other. They cannot be considered as nation, for they have no coherence of government or policy, but with slightly differences, they speak one language and follow the same customs. They are known to Bengalis by the name of kookie, and to the Burmese and the Lankhe (1870:246).
The designation Kuki is never used by the tribes themselves, though many of them answer to it when addressed, from knowing it to be the Bengali or plains term for their people (Soppit 1887:2). Captain Rundall recorded, “I do not know the origin of the name Chin; it is Burmese I fancy, anyhow the Chins do not know the word and called themselves “Zo”, “Zote” being the plural (Rundall, 1892:20). A Catholic father by name Sangermano had this to say about Zo people:
To the east of the Chin Mountain between 20′′30′and 21′′30′ northern latitude, is a pretty nation called Jo (Yaw). They are supposed to have been Chin, who in progress of time have become Burmese, speaking their languages although very corruptly, and adopting all their customs. These Jo generally pass for necromancers and sorcerers, and are of this reason feared by the Burmese, who dare not ill-treat them for their revenging themselves by some enchantment (1884:43).
Dr. Vum Ko Hau, a Zo prolific writer, statesman, Ambassador of Burma and political right hand man of Aung San, the national Father of Independent Burma, has this to record about Zo people emigrational route and settlements:
Sections of the Chins who have migrated into Burma from the Tibetan Plateau almost in a straight line down south are to be found from Somra Hill tracts down Cape Negrais. The Chins, the people living in the northern Chin Hills believed then mostly that their foremost fathers settled in Ciimnuai, Saizang from where they spread to other places in the Chin Hills. The people called themselves Zomi. Mi meaning man. From Ciimnuai some went south and called themselves Sukte, some moved east to the alkali valley Sihzang, and later known as Sihzang (Siyin). The Thado branch moved north and some more branches moved west and still call themselves Mizo but known by the British as Lushai (Neihsial 1990:1-2).
With less communication and interaction, each community started hatching their own localize words and tone, so that the longer they were separated from one another, the further they drifted away from one another. As a result, each one of them in their own area settlement has a different name. Rev. S. T. Hau Go the first Master of Arts degree holder from Chin State made this observation.
As far as I know, the following are the varieties of our names: 1. In the far north our people called themselves ‘Yo’. 2. In Tiddim, Lushai Hills, Falam and Haka, they call themselves ‘Zo’ for instance Zomi, Mizo, Zotung, Zophei, Laizo, Zokhua. 3. In Mindat, our people call themselves “Cho” 4. In Paletwa and Matupi they called themselves ‘Kho’ e.g. Kh’mi, Khomi (Khumi) 5. In Arakan our people call themselves “Miro” or “M′ro” which in my opinion is the exact equivalent of Mizo, because in Arakan the “y” or “z”, like the yayit and yapint, is pronounced “r” e.g. Arakan is not Yakhaing but Rakhaing. 6. Farthest south and in the Irrawaddy valley, they call themselves “Asho” 7. In the former Pakkoku Hill Tracts, in what is generally known as the Yaw territory, for instance in Gangaw area, our people call themselves Zou. Incidentally, this is the only area where we retain our true racial name, and where the Burmese deign to call us by our own name. Her of course, the Burmese cannot pronounce or write the word? “Zau” and pronounced and write it as “Yaw” in the same way as my own name is pronounced and written in Burmese as “Haw” instead of the correct “hau” (1971:n.p).
The population of Zomi in Chin Hills proper in 1931 is enumerated as 185,488. The total population of the Zo Chin Hills, in the plains of Burma, Assam and Bangladesh is believed to be between 1,000,000 to 2,000,000. There is no frontier race that has a large population in plain Burma as well as neighbouring country. The allied Kuki and Lushai Chins are still more numerous outside the boundaries of Burma proper, namely in the regions of Bangladesh where most of the Lushai Chins still live as far down as Lunglei and throughout the Lushai (Mizoram) Hills (Neihsial 1990:17). Dr. Vum Ko Hau make this record and the division of the Zo tribes and their branch names:
The Chin sub-group, according to the linguistic survey of India, contains over thirty distinct languages and eighteen of these are spoken in Burmese territory. They are divided geographically as follows: The Northern Chins, who live in the hills more or less parallels to the Chindwin River, as far south as its confluence with the Irrawaddy; 1. Thado 2. Sukte 3. Siyin the Central Chins; 1. Tashon 2. Lai 3. Shonshe. The southern Chins, the much more broken up and less formidable tribes who extends the Irrawaddy Delta and the south of Arakan; 1. Chinme 2. Chinbok 3. Welaung 4. Yaw Dwin 5. Yindo or Shendu 6. Taungtha 7. Khami 8. Anu 9. Sak or Thet 10. Yoma Chin (Ibid, 20).
With the pro-democracy movement in Burma in 1988, Zomi have started to speak about their racial names given by others and declared their true name as Zomi. They have made a Proclamation of the name ZOMI which is 13 pages at length and I shall include the concluding remarks here:
So we contend that the word Chin was imposed upon us whatever its origin and meaning could have been. Thus we declare that Zo was and is the only word by which we have always designated ourselves in history. We state that where the word Chin has been adopted in representation of Zo languages, Zo has always been the word that denotes the origin of Zo race and signifies the antiquity of Zo tradition. We contend that where the word Chin was of local origin, probably in Burma, Zo has originated in a remote past, probably long before a date indicated by any present historical evidence. If the name Chin was originally applied and used in reference to the sense of being primitive and wills, ZO originally has and used by its people in denotation for nobility. We are ZOMI not because we lack the civilization of the Burman whose culture we envy, but because ZOMI are noble by descent. We are mountain people, majestic in existence (Thang Lian Pau, 1988:13).
During May 19-21, 1988 Zo people from different parts of the world came together to have their First World Zomi Convention at Champhai, Mizoram state in India. Out of the many resolutions and deliberations, they came up with this Declaration, which I would like to include here to sense their sentiments and feelings and know what really trouble Zomi today:
We, the people of Zo ethnic group, inhabitants of the highlands in the Chin Hills and Arakans of Burma, the Chittagong Hill tracts of Bangladesh, Mizoram state and adjoining hill areas of India, are descendants of one ancestor. Our language, our culture and tradition and no less our social and customary practices, are clear evidences of the ethnological facts. Further, our historical resources and footprints both written and unwritten, in the sands of time testify, to the truth of our common ancestry.
Much against the interest for preservation, consolidation and promotion of our ethnic identity. The British Colonial rulers after subjugating us, during the latter part of the 19th century, exercised the imperialistic policy of “Divide and Rule”. As a result, our ancestral homeland was divided, so we members of the Zo community distributed like cattle sold and separated.
Now with political consciousness gaining momentum and the spirit of nationalism quickening us, comes fuller realization of our human rights, and of our political prerogatives. We cannot but feel burdened with the paramount importance of Zo Re-unification. For preservation and existence of Zo ethnic identity. Re-asserting, therefore or faith and confidence in the code of comity of Nation. For redeeming injustices done to Zo ethnic origin. We, delegates to the First World Zomi Convention of Zo Reunification ethnically enshrined on this day, Twentieth Day of the month of May, in the year of the Lord Nineteen Eighty-Eight (Thanglawra, 1988:19-20).
The wind of national consciousness and ethnic resurgence did give insights and reexamination of their Zo tribes, who are recognized by the Indian government under the Scheduled tribes in India, would like to have a common nomenclature by which they should be known. Zomi being their name of origin, seven tribes from Manipur state adopted this name in June 26, 1993 at Pearsonmun, Churachandpur. The seven tribes are Paite, Gangte, Hmar, Simte, Zou, Tedim Chin and Vaiphei. One of the important resolutions is about having “Common Identity” and their resolution goes like this:
Common Identity - In the continuation of Zomi Movement, the members felt the necessity of having a common identity with which tribes can identify themselves without any reservation or hesitation for unity, solidarity and safety. The leaders present, therefore adopted the name Zomi for common identity which will take immediate effect from today (Nehkhojang 1993:1).
The Zomi Worldview
The Worldview of any culture included the worldview as a matter of perception, self as the perceiver and other as that which is perceived. An individual worldview may be particularly different, yet in this paper an attempt is made to write the Zo societal worldview. This included assumption about what is good and what is bad, what is beautiful and not beautiful, what is desirable and not desirable and so on. Such assumptions largely shaped Zomi behavior and products. Luzbetak gives this explanation about the world view in the personal level in which one would naturally have:
A worldview represents the deepest questions one might ask about the world and life and about the corresponding orientation that one should take toward them. More concretely, the worldview provides answers to such basic questions as: Who or what am I? Why am I in the World? What is reality? How does human differ from non-humans (animals, objects, the invisible beings)? Who belongs to the invisible world and what are the invisible forced in the world? What is the proper orientation to time and space? What about life after death? What in life of the world is desirable or undesirable, and to what degree? (1988:252).
Hiebert in his broad and scholarly treatment of culture and man, put the meaning of worldview this way:
Behind the observable patterns of human cultures seem to lie certain assumptions about the way the world is put together. Some of these assumptions call “Existential postulates” deal with the nature of the reality, the organization of the Universe, and the ends and purposes of human life. Others, values and norms, differentiate between good and evil, right and wrong. Some of these assumptions are made explicit in the beliefs and myths of the people. Others appear to the anthropologist uses to explain a people’s total response of their universe are sometimes called “Worldview” (1976:356).
We may broadly point out that Zo worldview could be categorized under these headings:
Holism
Harmony with nature
Harmony with every member of the village
Longitudinal view of time
Traditional beliefs and assumptions
Causality as guiding factor
Society or Group above self
Worldview can be taken as an over-all term including beliefs and values. For the Zomi, his world is not divided as in the world of western people. If we ask him what is his worldview, he will not be able to give an accurate answer, because it is so deep in him that it is difficult to dig out, and cannot be separated. One’s own behaviour, style of communication, basic assumptions are the byproduct of worldview. The worldviews of people are the key to understanding their values and behaviour. Behaviour is seen as the outgrowth of worldview and is most closely related to the values level of world view. In order to find out Zomi values relation to it is necessary to find out what level of the behavior and values are actually and to what levels are ideal. Does value generate behavior, then, or does behavior produce values?
In this study we will assume that the cultural worldview is the basic underlying and unquestioned assumptions that the Zomi have concerning the seen and unseen world around them. Naturally such assumptions lead them to values (This may be seen as a contradiction to the linear and rational mind set, but the Zo mind set is not one leading to another step by step). The basic assumptions, pre-suppositions are so hidden that it is very difficult to peel them out, because those are given to them through the normal process of enculturation. Those given are never examined and put to question; if such is done it will be seen as questioning the authority, being disrespectful and it will threaten the social authority.
Holism
It is dangerous to assume that by our observation we can compartmentalize and put all that is in their worldview in different boxes for our understanding. Such categories or marks with different label never exist in their minds, as they relate to the whole of life. In Western countries life is divided between secular and cared (sickness is caused by germs), life and death, education and government. But for the Zomi this division is not seen, even few of the educated person have it. For the majority everything criss-crosses each other so that you cannot make a distinction. It is not clear for an outsider to look at Zomi today and simply say, “Oh, that person is so organized or civilized.” He is talking about the outward behavior level, but deep down in the Zomis core he is functioning with an assumption that life and everything in it is holistic, should not be fragmented. A person may have higher secular knowledge and yet when he comes face to face with a problem, we see that he will retreat back to the traditional way of handling it rather than looking at the problem as an educated person.
The holistic view of life, nature and everything in it makes it very difficult for Western people who have a scientific worldview. This is the reason why they failed to understand Zomi’s. Instead of trying to understand, and study about them, they tried to make them civilized. The gospel was seen as waging war against the culture and practices, which is not altogether wrong. When they became Christian, they were taught that they should “Come out” and never touch the non-Christian things. But the missionaries were not aware that the Zomi’s basic assumption had not changed though their behavior had certain elements of change. In fact, the so called “Non-Christian elements” go underground only to resurface in times of crisis.
Harmony with Nature
Reading and listening to the folk stories of Zomi, one will automatically conclude that trees are living being like humans. The reason is in Zomi folk beliefs. The person often becomes a tree after he passes away. The stars are made up of heroes and heroines who left their earthly abode and shine evermore from and in space. Zo people in days of old would make a request before cutting down trees, there are some trees which are considered as totems such as singkol, singlusum (a tree that has a hole or circle in the middle and threat meets again higher up, and a trunk that look like a man sitting because it is dried up and the end appears to be like a man’s head).
This concept of harmony gives them the view that a poor harvest could mean many things. A sickness caused by cultivating a particular forest can be so real that they will not dare talk about it. There is also a folk belief that insects like flies are active in listening to what we say, and they make a report to Gampu (a nickname of tiger, because they were afraid of calling it the exact name so they called it as owner or leader of the forest). Lunar and solar eclipses are considered as the sun and moon being eaten by some powerful being. In olden days when such took place; they would beat a drum or anything that can make a sound begging, on behalf of the moon or the sun to release them.
Nature is seen as living, and they seek to have harmony with it. Selecting an agricultural site would lead them to consider their dreams, the actual sites whether there are some dry bones, swamp (cik), water and what type of water source (tuinak) and the priest’s sacrifice to nature for getting their approval for cultivation. In most cases the Biblical teachings and western scientific explanation did not destroy this concept. Instead the Bible reinterpreted to fit it or to be held alongside or syncretized with traditional beliefs.
Harmony with Members of the Village
As a collective society Zomi are very much concerned about harmony with every member of the village. An ideal person in their mindset is a person who does not have trouble with anyone, but is able to give free service to them. So when a hunter returns back from his hunting and is successful, he will herald his success by saving his name, father’s name, grandfather’s name, clan name and name of all the animals that he killed, and shoot a gun. No hunter will go quietly in his home and eat the meat. If he does he will be dealt with according to social laws.
An ideal lady is one who can entertain any man, and can hide her feeling so that every dater will have hope. She will give equal treatment to everybody. She worked hard and is patient. The basic assumption is to consider others and never be boastful and neglect them. Because the society is inter-dependent, one of the Zo proverbs reflects his attitude, “Share and live, eat alone and die” (Hawmsem nungta, nebum si). To disturb the harmony of interpersonal relationship is one of the greatest fears of Zomis. A person whom the villagers vote to exclude from the village is like giving capital punishment to them. So the guiding assumptions are: Competition is evil, it will divide you from others. Cooperation is good, everyone should be on the same pace.
Longitudinal View of Time
There is consciousness of time even among the most backward of people though it is at their own level. Zomi’s time is divided not by hours, but by blocks of time such as time of the first cock’s crow (ak masa khuan) when you are able to see the foot of the tree in early morning (singkhe taan), time to go to work (vaikuan hun), it would be between 7-8 o’clock in the morning; late time to go to work (Vaihamsan hun); noon time (sun hun); time to gather mithun (sialhawl hun); early home going or returning back from work (vai masa); late time to go back home (vai nunung); time after dinner; when you cannot recognize a person’s identity though you are able to see him because of the darkness (sanggam melmak); time to go for visitation or dating (lengla kuan hun); time to return back home (lengla ciah hun); midnight (zankim), and so on.
Zomi have a longitudinal view of time, which means that - what you sow you will reap. This has an impact in their view of the ancestor’s spirits, the past, the deeds of forefathers, and one’s own family history. Events are controlled by spirits, ancestors and fate. They will try to learn from the any living being about the course of action they have to face. For example, if they are going to wage war against another tribe, and on their way toward their enemies they see a squirrel cross the path from above and go downward, they will take it as a good sign. But if the squirrel climbs up from the lower side and goes up, that would be taken as a bad omen. Their future is dictated by experiences from the past, stories handed down to them by their grandparents. In terms of orientation about time, they are past and present oriented, yet in the concept of life after death, they are concerned with the condition of their soul in the village of the dead (misi khua). As mentioned above, time is not divided in hours, minutes or seconds but by blocks. There is no consciousness of the importance of time and when they celebrate festivals and dance together, they would like to stay up the whole night. One of the Zomi proverbs reflects this view as, “Bu-al a khuan nop leh khuang hen, taikhua a val nop leh val hen (If the rooster wants to crow, let him crow and if the day wants to break, let her break-in).
Traditional Beliefs and Assumptions
I will show the mental frame of references and categories of Zomi in regards to things which can be seen and unseen. For most Zomis their beliefs and assumptions give the main structure of their worldview. The harmony of nature, the desire to have harmony with every member of the villager come from hidden assumptions.
In my research about God (Pasian), I asked whether Zomi has an understanding of God before the Christian God was introduced. Out of 46 respondents, 32 of them said that Zomis had knowledge of the Christian God. In fact, God didn’t change even after they became Christians. The only thing they did is to acknowledge his lordship over all creations, spirits and withdrawing their allegiance from the spirits and demons, etc. Having surveyed my respondents and interviewed a good number of older people, I came to conclude that, indeed the light of God did shine in them, yet the evil one had made his claim and bound them so strong that, they did not bother to worship Pasian but worship those active spirits.
The pyramid model of religious understanding is what Zomis in general would have in their worldview.
Pasian
God
Lungzai
Khuazing = Satan
Vantungmi = Angels
Dawite = Demons
Pusha-pasha = Ancestral Spirits
Sikhate = Ghosts
Siampite = Priests
Thungah/Kamsang = Mediums
Mihing = Mankind
Ganhingte = Animals
Singkungte leh adangte = Trees and others
Figure 1. The pyramid Model of Religious Understanding
I will treat this subject separately in the section on Religion and Ideologies.
Causality as Guiding Factor
Cause or causality refers to something that produces a result or to that which is an antecedent of a phenomenon. The subject of causality addresses the issues of “why”. Why are things as they are? How do things change?
Zomi societies recognize different varieties of causes. Those causes may include luck (kampha or kamsia), demons (dawite), and other causes. The ultimate cause is reckoned to be unseen forces, which are seen as being actively involved in the day to day lives of Zo people. Very often one can hear a sentence like this, “Pasiante’n hong awi leh” which means ‘if the gods will’. They are confused in recognizing the differences between the ultimate God and the lesser gods. Natural events such as storms, earthquakes, floods, a person drowned in the water, a person falling from a tree, a person bitten by wild animals, the birth of a dead child, are considered as caused by ultimate forces. Because of this causality concept all precautions are taken to be in harmony with nature and unseen beings. This taxonomy reflects the Zomi concepts causes:
| Personal | Non-Personal |
OTHER WORLD | Pasian : God | Nature, Cosmic force |
| Vantungmi : Angels | Natural law, fate or luck, fortune |
| Pasiante : Gods |
|
| Dawite : demons |
|
THIS WORLD | Beh Dawi : clan spirits | Magical powers, rites |
| Pusha/pasha : ancestors, spirits | Omens |
| Dawite : fairies | Amulets, charms, luck |
| Dawisiam : sorcerer |
|
| Mitphial : witchcraft |
|
| Sikha : fairies |
|
| Mihing : humans | Natural inanimate objects |
| Ganhing : animals | Fire, storms, wind, water |
| Singkung lopa : plants and herbs |
|
Figure 2: Taxonomy of Causes
Group Above Self
The survival of the society depends largely on collective efforts. As in other agricultural societies, Zomis do things together. That togetherness strengthens the group dynamics in finding their way of existence. If a person tries to live by himself, it will be taken as a threat to the welfare of the group. So, the importance of the group is places above the like and dislikes of an individual. The group has veto power over the individual. Each individual is accountable to the group. This group structure is not a new development. Because the Zo people have been nomadic or immigrants, everywhere they have gone, they faced dangers. The group loyalty is their secret strength. For them group is the reality. The nature of inter-dependence causes them to constantly think of the welfare of the group. One thing they will avoid at any cost is to be treated as an outsider. They all want to be accepted within their society. Human values, family and social relationships are much more valuable than money or material possessions. Social life is supremely important for Zomi as opposed to biological life. They are oriented toward the security of the group as opposed to the freedom of individualism.
Even today, the group bond is very strong. If there is information that a person has passed away, whoever gets the news will come at any time and give a free service as much as possible. No one can say, “I have to go somewhere, or I have an appointment”. The group ideals and goals are above the individual programs. He or she has to cancel those and be in the group. When the gospel is presented to the Zomi, it is best to always include everybody. An individual who makes a decision privately will be seen as disobedient or disrespectful to the group.
The Cultural Aspects
Culture is the patterns of thinking; feeling and acting out mental programs software of the mind (Hofstede 1991:4). Kroeber and Kluckhohn give the definition of culture as:
Culture consists of patterns, explicit and implicit of and for behavior acquired and transmitted by symbols, constituting the distinctive achievement of human groups, including their embodiments in artifacts; the essential core of culture consists of traditional ideas and especially their attached values; culture systems may, on the one hand, be considered as products of actions, on the other hand, as conditioning elements of future action (1952:357).
Culture is learned, beginning from the birth of the child. The definition given by Robert Lowie about culture is helpful:
Culture is the sum total of what an individual acquires from his society, those beliefs, customs, artistic norms, food-habits, and crafts which came to him not by his own creative activity but as legacy from the past, conveyed by formal or informal education (1937:3).
We will take a closer look at village and village life, construction of homes, marriage and family, naming children, the process of enculturation, household council system, feasting and festivals, traditional games, traditional dances, musical instruments and economic systems.
Village Life
Village sites were selected with three things in mind. One is defense and security. They prefer a site with a high-ridge so that it was easily defensible. The inter-tribal conflicts, with their savagery and brutality led them to select a hill top or plateau for easy defense. Raids and counter raids were common. One village would attack another, and the defeated village would take shelter in a bigger village, and with their help take revenge. The villages were protected and fortified with thorny palisaded of bamboos and the village main gates were guarded by volunteers during the night.
The second reason for selecting a higher place is because of health. Before there was a programme for eradicating malaria from the plain, it was not safe for hill people to stay in the valley. When they got malaria, the hill people thought that they were bitten by the valley spirits.
The last reason for building a village on top of the hill was the easy availability of natural resources such as water, bamboo, pillars, cane, thatch plants and wild threads. I have seen many villages drawing stream water using bamboo or wooden flumes (Vaiphei 1981:24).
The cultural life of a village was organized under a headman, who ruled according to the order of the chief. Each tribe had a chief who ruled over a number of villages. Village raids were common. For safety and peace reasons, villagers often willingly subjected themselves to a powerful chief. Might was right for Zomis in the past (Nang 1990:10). There is an acknowledged head Chief. His authority, as in some other forms of society, depends to a great extent upon the personal character and qualifications of the individual villagers, especially with regard to his success in war. When a Chief collect taxes from his villages he is said to enjoyed revenue - siah ne “to eat it”. The contributions can be all kinds of food-stuffs, domestic animals or body parts of killed wild animals. The amounts depend on the pressure brought to bear upon the tributary village or the sense of obligation to the protecting chief (Reid 1893:226). The reason why the chief is able to claim taxes is that they are the lords of the soil within their boundaries. If anyone wishes to enter a chief’s territory and cultivate; he must pay the customary taxes. The Zomi’s basic social unit was the village.
A chief will, besides the taxes which he collects, as lord of the soil receives a tribute from the tribes, villages or families which he conquered. He was a father to his subjects, he helped them when they were in distress and if he faced any difficulties, they, in turn helped him. The chief’s house also served as the village court house where all dispute and cases were settled by the chief and his elders. Dr. Hminga interestingly wrote about the chief’s house as a sanctuary and refuge:
All criminals could take refuge in the chief’s house. Even the avengers of blood, pursuing a murdered absconded red-handed, were not allowed to pass beyond the threshold with weapons in his hands. But by seeking refuge under the chief’s roof the fugitive becomes the chief’s slave. The poor and destitute also should take refuge in the chief’s house and become his slaves. Some slaves were captives taken in (1987:28).
Rev. Jam Khothang with Dr. Kam Khenthang jointly wrote this observation about the village administration:
Village administration is in the hands of the chief and his nominated ministers who are privileged to choose the best sites for their jhum cultivation. Cases, either civil or criminal, are tried and settled in the village court. There is no capital punishment. Punitive fines are normally imposed upon the wrong doer, or if the crime is of grievous nature he is expelled from the village. The chief imposes certain taxes like annual tribute of paddy called buhsun and saliang half scapula of animal killed in a game (1976:125).
Construction of Houses
The site for housing was selected in consultation with the local spirit (through dreams or omens) and discerned by divination at the beginning of the construction of the house. This was proceeded by giving an offering. The family priest or village priest will come to make the offering. While giving the offering, he will say, “we are going to make a house here, if there were anyone living here, we requested you to give us the site. Do not disturb us, we do not intend to do anything harmful against you”. The sacrifice was made, a sign of asking for the place and also the peace offering. The Zomi houses were built on plots which are more level than the surroundings. The floors are raised from three to six feet off the ground. The floor and the walls are made of stout wooden planks cut with great patience and labour out of large fir trees and generally conveyed from a considerable distance. These planks may be from one and half to two feet broad, up to two inches think, and sometimes over twenty feet in length.
A tree is felled and then split into two, one plank being chopped from each half. As the only tools available for the purpose are big dao (tempi) and axe (heipi), the smoothening of each plank takes a long time. The posts and framework are composed of stout timbers and the roofs covered with think thatch (Reid 1893:229). The house is divided into three parts. The first is a platform or courtyard in the front. It is called innmai or verandah of the house. That space is divided into Innlim and Sumtawng, where innlim can be referred to as “the floored verandah” and Sumtawng as the “ground verandah” this is the place of mortal and pestles. The floored verandah is the sitting room during rainy seasons when visitors are entertained. This is also a storage room where the baskets of grain and other commodities are kept. Front walls are adorned with the skulls of animals, wild and domestics, feathers, birds and eggs, etc. The ground verandah is usually the place of mortar and pestle used by women for husking corn and paddy, the place for chickens and firewood storage.
The second room is usually dark even during the day. It is the place of cooking and warming up around the fire. Besides this fireplace in the parent’s bed, which can be used as a bench to sit on for warmth and retirement in the night. They will join the conversation around the fire even after laying down to sleep. There is no available room. All beds can be seen from the fire place. Above the fireplace there are racks for drying things, such as paddy, meat, vegetables and firewood. The ceiling serves as a place for hanging corn and millets during harvest season.
The third room is a storage place for food stuffs, a place for weapons of war and chase (Lum leh Tei), the copper pots (Tau Bel), drum (Khuang), the place for making rice beer (Zu) and the family shrine. It has a door at the end, which is kept as an escape route in olden days during inter-tribal wars. Domestic animals such as goats, cows, mithuns and pigs are kept beneath the house, an area called Innuai. The arrangement of the compound and the surrounding of the house is described by Sing Khaw Khai in this way.
The house is built within the area of 30 feet on the two level grounds and the other 30 feet is reserved for the yard called Leitual or Inntual in the upper ground and for the raised platform called Innka in the lower ground. Apart of the upper ground about 20 feet by 10 feet is cut off in a level with the lower ground. The space thus cut off is called Kunlup or Kulhtawng and the cut creates two corners in the lower ground forming an L shape of ground. One is the front corner and the other is the back door. The two corners determine the size of the main body of the house (1995:215).
Zo people take food three times a day, one as an early lunch in the morning, at noon and in the evening, dinner. The main staple foods are maize, rice, millet, sulphur beans, beans, sweet potatoes, pumpkins, melons, yams, cabbages, ginger, turmeric, cucumbers, brinjals, onions, mustard and different kinds of vegetable leaves. Zu (rice beer) is made of fermented grain, and is sucked up through a hollow reed out of the pot in which it has been brewed. Enormous quantities of it are consumed at festival times. Vumson suggested that if Zo culture should be symbolized by anything, it should be Zu. Zu represents one of the main characteristics of the Zo people, and Zu is more than just rice beer, as has been suggested by some western writers (Vumson, n.d:12- 13).
Marriage and Family
Marriage is both exogamous and endogamous. Arranged marriage were a common practice. Divorce is permissible in case of barrenness of either of the partners. The ideal type of marriage is the one arranged by the parents of both parties. Elopement is looked upon with suspicion. It is even believed that the couple who elopes is likely to face dire consequences because tigers are believed to dislike such untoward behavior (Jam Khothang, 1976:122).
In certain ways, the levirate and sororate systems are practiced among Zo societies. But it depends on the individuals who are obliged to go into the marriage. Polyandry and polygamy are extremely rare. The chief may have multiple wives, but it is a rare case for other Zomi to have multiple wives. The extended family system is the most common practice. Incest taboo is a real taboo, and whoever practices it would meet dire consequences from the society. The household council (phamawh or inndongta), when asked to seek for the hand of some girl, would go to the intended bride’s home taking with them a pot of liquor. They will make the proposal to the girl’s parents who also will be with their household council. The bride price is discussed over the liquor, and if agreement is arrived at a message is sent to that effect. If the girl’s parents refuse to accept the proposal on behalf of the girl, they will return as many pots of liquor to the suitor’s house as they received.
The girls’ family will respond through their family spokesman, and should the proposal be accepted, the drinking will continue as a celebration. When all terms have been settled, the bride’s parents provide a feast, in which the bride price is paid to them and the nuptial knot tied. The bride price was paid in kind in the past, even though cast payment is common today. The price is not considered as buying or selling a human being, but is used to establish the legality of marriage between the intended couple and compensating the family for parenting their daughter. It also symbolizes a new relationship between the two families and enhances their commitment to one another. Traditionally full payment of the bride-price is deferred until the birth of the first child but in Christian society full payment can be made depending on the ability of the bridegroom. Among Paite Zomi, the bride price is practiced today as:
Generally, a bride price is two mithuns; it is also called a mithun and a calf mithun. The bride price is payable in cash or in kind other than mithun. In earlier days the value of a mithun was fixed at Rs.40/- and a calf was fixed at Rs 20/- only. The present value of a mithun and a calf is Rs.1000/- and Rs.500/- respectively (Thangchinlian 1986:15).
On the marriage day, relatives and villagers join in the ceremony and the occasion is usually one of drinking and feasting. The bridegroom’s party will take the bride, who is accompanied by a maid most companionable to her. The maid spends three days with bride. Meanwhile the groom also spends three days with his friend in a bachelor’s dormitory called Ham or Sawm, where all boys of the village sleep together before their marriage (Khup Za Go 1985:7-8). In choosing the bride, priority is given to girls from the clan of the boy’s mother. Usually the daughters of the mother’s brother are the first considered. If an eligible girl is available from the mother’s clan. Traditionally a man cannot marry (1) a member of his households (2) father’s sister’s daughter (3) sister of his brother’s wife and (4) sister of his sister’s husband (Kam Khenthang, 1988:97).
After a young couple gets married, they will live with the husband’s parents. Strictly speaking it is not exactly a patriarchal residence. Zo tradition advocates that they should stay with the husband’s parents until his parents suggest that they can have their own house. To give a hint in any way that the young couple desire to move out of the parent’s house is taken as failing to give due respect and love to parents.
Referring to the kinship system, we can call Zo society as Iroquois system in which one’s own father and father’s brother are referred to by a single term, as in one’s mother and mother’s sister. Father is called pa and father’s brother is called pa-no or pa-lian younger pa or older pa the same practice with mother, mother is nu and mother’s younger sister is nu-neu (mother younger) and mother’s older sister is nu-lian (older mother). Father’s sister is called Ni (aunt) and her husband is called Gang (uncle); and mother’s brother is called Pu (same word with grandparents, be it from the mother or father said, where grandfather is called pu and grandmother’s pi).
According to one source of Zo tradition, hornbills lead a married life just as men are doing. Like many Zo marriages, the bride is taken from a distant place and brought to the bridegroom. While laying egg, it is said, the female bird is kept and fenced so that it cannot move and is fed from mouth to mouth by the male bird. If any sign of destruction is found with the fence, the female bird is accused of being unfaithful and is pecked to death by the male bird. But they are so faithful to each other that if one of the coupled was killed or died, the tradition said, the living one too, killed itself. In like manner, in Zo tradition, marriage is regarded as a kind of contract tied with love and loyalty. A marriage is, therefore, considered to be “unbreakable” or “inseparable” except by the event of death (Thang Lian Pau, 1988:1).
Naming a Child
In naming children, Zomi have a strong emphasis on taking the names of their ancestors. Except for the Mizo, Hmar, Falam, and a few others, all other Zo tribes name their children after their family lineage. As the society is patrilineal and patrilocal, the eldest son of the eldest male member is compulsorily named after the paternal grandfather. This rule serves as a yardstick for tracing the family lineage in successive generations. Succession of parental properties and clan names pass from father to children. After the birth of a child, the parents are normally address and referred to in teknonymy by saying “mother or father of so and so”. Grandparents are addressed similarly (Jamkhothang 1976:123). One cannot take a name they prefer, but the name itself will have no meaning about the life and history of from the one the name is taken. Not following the traditional practice of naming a child would be considered as breaking the genealogical order. Khup Za Go has put it down simply and clearly in this way.
When a child is born, naming takes place after three days. The normal practice is this:
The first male child takes the name of his paternal grandfather and the first female child the name of her paternal grandmother. In the same way, the next male child is named after the maternal grandfather, the second girl after the maternal grandmother. Usually the child’s name has three syllables. The first syllable is the last syllable of the name of the grandparent after whom the child is named. The other syllables are such as to signify the deeds and the achievements of the child’s grandparents and forefathers (1985:8).
There is a close relationship and bond which develops between a child and its name giver. Mentioning of the name-giver’s name (either paternal or maternal grandparents or any close relatives who give name to the baby) is a taboo for the name-receiver. A child protects the name-giver by keeping the name uncommon. Mentioning of the name-giver’s name is tantamount to disrespect to the child, the name-giver and the name.
Enculturation
Each culture or society has system for transmitting the culture to the next generation and Zo people too, have such a system. Observing the process of enculturation, I have found four things which shape the life of Zo children and their mental outlook.
First of all, in days of old, training was given to all unmarried males in the Haam or Sawm (the Bachelor’s dormitory). All boys of the village, not long after they were weaned until they reached the age of puberty, were responsible for the supply of firewood for heating the haam. The elders give directions and hold the discipline, and assigned responsibilities to the group. It is not only the abode of youth, also a crucible where a youth was shaped and molded into a responsible adult member of the society. It is the most important social institution apart from one’s own family. It served as training center for wrestling and other exercise, an information center where stories of brave and noble deeds from the older folks were shared, a social educational and recreational center for each village. The village chief used it for a meeting place and for making known his orders.
Haam Mang (Haam’s lord) and Haam Upa (leaders of Haam) organized the group and took up definite responsibilities in looking after the welfare and security of the villagers. It served as a place where they highly cherished social values, such as the code of conduct, warfare, trading was transmitted to the younger. It fostered and enables the whole village to be one social unit, commenting the community life with stronger unity. The dorm was situated near the chief’s house and was usually in the center of the village. Haamers constituted the security of the village. They were ready at a moment’s call in case of any danger or emergency. Tedim Zomi, young men, sleep in the house of the priest (Siampi). The Haka and Falam (Laimi) will sleep in the house of a beautiful girl. The bachelors use those houses to spend their leisure time. It is a place for learning the trade of hunting, warfare and the like, even how to court girls (Vumson, n.d:16).
Another institution of enculturation is the family. Most of the good advice and daily duties are communicated during meal times, morning and evening. When having a meal, the whole family would sit in a circle on the floor, eating food from a large common wooden plate, and the father who is the head of the family would give assignments of work to the family members speaking words of advice or caution to his children (Hminga, 1987:28). Children are taught the skill of cultivation, cloth making, basket, mat weaving, cooking, collecting firewood, fetching water, and how to look after their younger siblings. Parents and grandparents are the teacher. From the age of four the girls began to do household work such as babysitting, bringing water and firewood, and helping in cleaning the rice, while the boys are active in fishing, hunting birds, herding cows and water buffaloes. Usually after the family dinner, they will sit around the fireplace and father or mother will narrate story after story.
I recall many of those stories told to me by my parents such as Khup Cing leh Ngam Bawm (Zo story of Romeo and Juliet) and Thang Ho leh Lian Do (The two brothers who grew up as orphans shared even a single seed of millet, so there is a Zo proverb which says, “Thang Ho leh Lian Do in zong taang tang phelhawm” which means “Thang Ho and Lian Do would even share a millet seed’). Other traditional stories are Lengtonghoih (the Cinderella of Zomi), Vanlengtanu (the charming young damsel who was won by a young man after overcoming all competitors), Gal Ngam (Zo story of a man like Hercules), and Peng Lam (A man whose life stories are a mixture of wisdom and foolishness, wit and wisdom. Everyone laughs listening about him. Some of the Zo proverbs ascribed to him are, “Peng Lam buk lam” literally means “like Peng Lam’s construction of a hut” when things are done carelessly and without labour. Another is Peng Lam tu pei which literally means “Peng Lam’s whirling hoe” trying to make money by whirling a hoe, without a real hard work).
Dahpa tells of a man who was very idle, but found a magic drum similar to Alladin’s Lamp; with it he could get anything he wanted. Neino leh Nantal is similar to Beauty and the beast, except that Mr. Nantal delivered Neino from the beast.
Mauzuang leh Subingtai is a legendary story of a step mother raising her own daughter Subingtai and her husband’s daughter from his first wife Mauzuang. Ngaita leh Gulpi is a love story between a big snake and a beautiful girl. Akno Ciauciaute tells of the revenge of little chickens on a jackal that ate their mother. Unau Tangmai Tuhte (brethren who plant cucumbers), Temtatpu (a story that leads one incident to another), Kap Kho Vung (area extra strong man living in the early part of this century) and Mo Lungsim Hoih (a good daughter in-law) are familiar stories.
Children spend most of their time with old men and women. Grandparents are the babysitters in most Zo societies. They learn stories from grandparents, and social ethics and behavior from them as well. Some social codes such as no stealing, and respect of elders, sharing with others what you have, hard work, kindness to theirs were also taught in the homes. It is impolite for children to call an elder person by name, and children are taught not to call elders by name (they have to use words like pa=father, nu=mother, u= older, appropriately before pronouncing other’s name).
Household Council (Phammawh or Inndongta)
This is formed at the household level, not at a personal level. Its formation is not just the desire and need for the family, but for the household. From the name assigned to each person it is obvious what kinds of responsibilities are attached to that person, worked to be done on occasions of feasting for joy or sadness. The Phamawh will be the responsible council to see that everything is carried out smoothly. The practice among Zomis in Chin state is slightly different from the Zomis in India. Pastor Ngul Khaw Pau wrote about this part of the custom which form the Phamawh or Inndongta (household council) in Chin state as:
Thusa: His responsibility is acting in all things on behalf of the family to whom he is taking this privilege. He will speak on behalf of the family; give directions to other household work.
Sasem: Sa means meat or animal, sem is cutting or dividing. From this we can understand that he is in charge of dividing the meat of any animal slaughtered, each piece of meat should be given on behalf of the family to relatives according to the closeness hierarchy.
Tanu: It means daughter; one’s own daughters will be one of the most important members of the household council. If Ni (aunty, the sister of father) is alive, her place will be the same place as the daughters.
Pute: They are from the mother’s side, and can be the mother’s father or her brothers. Before the Christian era, when a person died their responsibility is to kill an animal so that those spirits who come to receive the spirit of the departed person will not be tired. The liver of that animal is put in the right hand of the dead person and thus buried. The Pu lead the funeral party on the way to the burial place ‘to show the way’ for the departed soul that will lead him to the eternal resting place.
Sanggam: They are the brothers of the father.
Zawl: He is a true friend, by virtues of his friendship, he may be sometimes closer to the house owner than his own sanggam.
Sohkhol: They are relatives who are not in the household council, yet in times of need who volunteer or are invited to help them, they are known as sohkhol (1983:26-28).
Dr. Kamkhenthang, a Zomi anthropologist, has written down the different offices of inndongta (household council):
Tanupi (principal tanu): Tanu = daughter; pi = great, hence a principal ritual cook
Tanunau (the lesser tanu): nau = puny or younger.
Tanu thumna or sisom or sibawl: Thumna = Third, si = dead, bawl = to dress, treat or to make; sisom= one who attends to the dead.
Tanu lina: Fourth tanu
Thallouh or Bangkua: Thal = arrow, louh = to repay; hence an arrow compensator. Bang = wall, kua = a hole; hence a door way.
Thusa, thusapi, vengthusa: director
Thallouh thusa: protector-cum-director
Thallouh mang or hanzutung or bangkuamei: the tail of the door or the lesser thallouh
Pupi (Principal mother’s brother or father)
Punau (a lesser mother’s brother or father)
Zawl (a pack friend)
Behvaal (extra clan member or sanggamvaal extra sibling)
Nuphalpi (principal sister of a wife) or sung nuphal (inner nuphal)
Nuphal neu (a puisne nuphal) (1988:16).
Feasting and Festivals
The birth and marriage, death and sacrifice, the payment of a debt, the courting of a sweetheart, the making of an agreement, the slaughter of an enemy, and the shooting of a deer, all demand a feast. A feast implies a drinking bout sometimes of many days’ duration (Carey 1976:186). Practice for feasting in regards to marriage differs from clan to clan among Zomis. Some of the common feastings are; tunsa, a feasting organized at the bride’s place on the eve of her departure to her husband’s place; Sialkhumsa is the most important feast of marriage; sial is a domestic gayal; khum is to give or to offer; sa is animal or meat. So, it means a feast for giving mithun for a bride price. It signifies the consummation of the marriage. In traditional practices, it is performed only after a wife sheds blood as a result of conception and child birth. This is a proof of fertility of a woman. She is past the ritual stage called sisanpal (wading through the blood).
Tanu Sagoh a feast for a married daughter is given when she revisits her natal home. This feast is not a compulsory obligation if the natal household cannot afford it (Ibid, 104).
To Sagoh is a feast given by the younger brother to the eldest brother. To means lord or master, sa is animal or meat and goh is to kill. It is celebrated as reciprocating the cares and responsibilities taken by the eldest brother from his younger brothers.
One of the most celebrated festivals is Khuado Pawi, the meaning of Khua literally means village, but it has been used in a variety of ways. Khua-vak, day break, is not translated as “Village light, because the concept of khua or khaw is much bigger than the village. Do is fight, so in this context khua represent those unseen forces, yet recognized as sources of power. So this festival literally means “Devil-fighting feast” (Ginkhansuan 1982:27). Gal-ai is rare and yet an important ceremony of great feasting when a man has killed an enemy and celebrated his triumph.
Ton is the highest kind of feasting. This is known as “Feast of Merit” Tualchin Neihsial described it among the Paite Zomi. Ton included Sialkop go and Taangza aih. Sialkopgoh literally means the killing of a couple of mithun or at least more than one mithun in a feast and Taangza-aih means a feast of a hundred baskets of millet. The highest such feast in the Mizoram area is Khuangchoi (same with Ton). Ton is a feast of merit and a sacrificial ceremony as well (Neihsial 1989:30). It is also known as Sialtang-sun where sial is mithun, tang refers to a single and sun means ritual killing with the pointed rod (Tuul). The selected mithuns (s) for feasting is tied by the horns to a strong stake or post in the compound in front of the house and is usually slain by shooting or by bows and barbed arrows, which are used to afford sport to the boys at the expense of the agonies of the beast.
Unlike the other communal sacrifices, the Ton feast is a household ceremony where the three descent groups of relatives in the inndongta are by virtue of familial relationship involved. The sacrificial mithun must be a black male without blemish. It must not be blind, lame, etc. If the rite is a single mithun feast, a male pig is first offered to the household altar, and if it is a double mithun feats, a male and a female pig are offered (Sing Khaw Khai 1995:221). By giving this feast Zomi find psychological and spiritual satisfaction. It also provides the most finely adjusted ranges of economic benefit and the shortest way to temporal power. The grade effect of a feast of Merit is to give social gain to the person who is able to throw this feast. He will be enrolled into membership of the chief’s council. His social status is thus higher up, and as for the religious gain, he is eligible for Pial-gal (beyond the river) the highest heaven (Stevenson 1943:138).
Since Ton is not a regular offering, tradition does not have a fixed day or month for the ceremony. It is done in adjustment with the solar system. In most cases it is held during the winter time to avoid the rain, usually on a full moon day. The feasting period ends with the end of the moon. The following verse of the ritual songs indicates the time of the feast:
Soltha na val laitak a Ton zawi ka kaih
Na val lahmei de ngawn ing e.
Na val lahmei in de ngawn ing e,
Tonsawl nuai ah ning in luan ngingei ing e.
(Translation)
Whilst thou, the Moon art bright,
I am feasting in thy light that I have as my torch light
Having thy light as my light,
I offer the joyful drink under the sacrificial leafy tree.
(Sing Khaw Khai 1995:221).
Other festivals given the list by Khup Za Go, include:
Sialsawm also known as Lawm-an-nek held during the last part of Dota (March). Meivak festival is observed in the last part of Dopi (April). Tualbiak also known as Tualbawl is an annual sacrifice for the whole village, and is observed for a whole day in the third week of Zingkha (May). Khawbiak is another village sacrifice observed in the month of Gamkha (June). Apart from Ton there are some other feasts which are performed by individual depending on their means. Gal-aih is celebrated in connection with victory over one’s own enemy. Sa-aih is performed when a wild beast like tiger, elephant, bear, rhinoceros, etc. are killed by a man. Tang-aih is celebrated by a man when he has a good harvest (1985:10-11).
Another feast known as Sazolh occurs when a person comes back home from hunting. Someone congratulates him by bringing a pot of rice beer. He is sharing the happy occasion and asking a blessing for him as well. He will pour the liquor on the head of animal and mutter an incantation as, “May animals approach and be always available to you, let your clan depend on you, have sons and daughters”.
Hunting is not just a game; it has a religious significance to Zomi. For them wild animals are under the protection of some powerful forces. Some Zomi hunters admitted having seen some of those who guard the herds of animals. So, without giving a feast in connection with his successful hunt will mean a bad omen to his family, and for his future success in hunting. Even the domestic animals are also believed to be once owned by spirits, etc. Zomi take pride in how many trophies of wild animals’ skulls they are able to hang on their wall. Such kind of a man is known as pasalpha which has the idea of macho or hero. Phungzam Lamgel of Lungchin village composed this song when he reached his home with a tiger’s body:
Kei lah tul tang sen angkawi aw,
Ka thah sun nitang bang e.
Ka thah sun nitang bang e,
Sumtual ah ka heisak hi e (Zamzachin 1992:69).
(Translation)
I’m getting old dear wife beloved from childhood
That which I killed is like mid-day sun bright
That which I killed is like mid-day sun bright
I make it lay in the verandah
There is a tradition which says that, domestic animals like pigs, goats, dogs and chickens are from a lake called Lih (Rih Lake) which is between Champhai in Mizoram and Falam in Chin state Myanmar. Because of this, when a Zomi woman calls her pig for feeding, she will shout “Lii-li, Lii-li”. The root word for calling a pig Lii is the same as the name of the lake Lih where the pigs are supposed to have come from. In the same way when they call chickens for feeding, they used the word Cii-lik, cii-lik. The Lih Lake is surrounded by mud and swamps, and in the Zo language mud and swampy place is called Cik or Ciklak, the way of calling throw light that chickens are originally from Lih-cik area (Kamkhenthang 1984:15).
Traditional Games
Growing up in villages in the hills, most of the traditional games are related to the surrounding environment. We can divide games into those for children and those for adults. Entertainment and recreation are limited. Hunting with a country-made gun, single bearer or double bearer guns, are popular with men. Because of the prestige and the enjoyment associated with hunting, it is very keenly contested sport. Some adult games are: Wrestling (Kibuan), high Jump (Kanteh), Long Jump (Leilam Kan), Shot put (Suangpum lot), Pestle twist (Suk kihek), Running (Kitaiteh), Spot Jump (Muntawm), Arm wrestling (Khut kibuan), a solo male dance with the beat of three gongs called Daktal (Lumsuih), target shooting competition with gun or bow and arrows (Thau or thal kap), a chess with practical riddles and tricks (sapi-um) and tug of war (Sialkhau kisut), and so on.
As for the children there are many games and related songs in rhythm with each play. Some of their games apart from recreational types are: A disc-like large bean creeper, with which girls will play their games (Ling Kineih), a game where lines divided each spot through which one has to go in, the opponent stand within those lines and try to catch (seng kineih), hide and seek (kibukteh), standing on bamboo poles and kicking (singkhe kituan), marble game (peeklum), balancing back and forth (kipenglip), hitting a short stick by a long stick (ciangtang sat), cock fighting (ak kitu).
Similar to seng kineih within the marked lines the player has to jump from one end and come back through the side line (baibah), one child holding the other child’s back by making a long line, one child try to touch those in the back (Cikpi meikai), swinging (luaileng), all children in one line and entering under the two join hands very fast by saying lut thialthial, and all participants hold hands in a circle enclosing a boy who tries his strength by breaking the joints between the boys sialtal laiphut, spinning toy (singlaam). For boys, the biggest attraction and most popular, most enjoyed by them is one boy pretend to be a mithun and his friends are like the boys, they will tie him with ropes and play with him like he is the mithun (sialkineih).
There are many indoor games which children play among themselves and sometimes with their parents. Some of those games are:
An older person lets a child sit on his feet while he lies down on the ground, and lifts the child up by saying baibulik thiai.
Touching the child’s arm up and tickling his armpit (Zuno vakvak).
‘Muleng e muleng e’ literally means an eagle flying, letting the hold move like the eagle flying and letting it drive down to the chest or abdomen of the child and tickling the child.
Akhang ding leh zaibom holding the child’s two hands and legs together and suddenly releasing them while the child is laying on the ground saying, akhan ding leh zaibom.
‘Sakhi nak aw pekpek, kei nak aw pekpek’ holding the child’s nose together and saying sakhi nak aw pekpek literally it means like a deer nose let it be flat.
Akbawm zawng longtime bed-wetting children will carry a cage of a fowl and say ‘ak aw zun sel kei zun sel’ the mother hen never urinates and I will not urinate.
‘Ka gal a sing sat kheuhkheuh a kua?’ It means who is cutting the tree over there? Someone will act like a cutting tree, and the children will ask him why he cut the tree, what will he cook and how many children he has, followed by challenging him to chase them.
‘Nau tangmai lo ni’ it means let’s go and pluck a cucumber. One will respond, the cucumber plant is just growing, it is having leaves, it is having flowers, it is bearing small fruits, till it is ripe and the questions and answers continue.
There is a lullaby sung by the grandparents while carrying and inducing the child to sleep:
Ka tu dumpuanta in pua’ng e,
Dil suk ta’ng e dil tou ta’ng
Dil suk ta’ng a dil tou ta’ng
Kangpum kilik silau aw.
(Translation)
I carry a grandchild in dumpuan cloth
I step to and fro in the rhythmic motion,
I step to and fro in the rhythmic motion,
And the staves of inka (verandah) under me rise and fall in response (Jamkhothang 1976:121).
Traditional Dances
Dances in times of celebrations are a must. As for the form of dances Zomi have a solo dance, which is known as lailam. Another is more than one person joining hands together and dancing, called lamgui. While beating the drum and singing the songs, in rhythm with the beat of the drum the dancer will start dancing. The drumming leads the dance and all the people join hands together in keeping step with him. A good drummer is very important for having good dances. There is a song composed by a drummer like this:
Lenkhuang tawi ding gual kisawl mawh
Kei man lenkhuang tawi veng e
(Translation)
None want to be the drummer
I the drummer will be
The drummer’s qualifications are:
He should know the varieties of dances.
He should have mastered those dances.
He should be a good singer and have a good voice.
He should able to sing instantly any song suggested.
He should have mastered keeping step with the dance, the singing and beating of the drum.
He should know when to give the signal for a backward dance and when to give forward signal (Gin Za Go, 1991:6). There are at least ten main dances:
Lamgui or Lamsai: This dance is a community dance. Everyone, young and old, will join hands and dance together in keeping step with drummer.
Phit Lam: This dance too, is a community dance, performed on very special occasions such as killing of big and dangerous game, by blowing tube flutes made from middle size bamboos to a particular a particular tune.
Dak Lam: It is a solo male dance, displayed with great skill and strength.
Ton Lam: This dance is connected with Ton feasting, by the community.
Si Lam: This dance literally can be called “Letting the dead person dance “A dead body will be tied to a chair type called laang which has four handles. Lifting the dead body, they will dance. This is a way of showing their last respect to the departed person, also the final glorious decoration.
Palap Lam: This dance is similar to Silap; it is practiced in celebrating successful hunting.
Lai Lam is a solo male dance.
Gallu kan Lam, means dancing over an enemy’s head.
Lumsuih means jumping over a shield. It is solo dance.
Namsau kan. This Also means jumping over a sword, the dancer will hold a shield and sword in his hands.
Musical Instruments
Though far from modern music, Zo people are of having musical instruments. A few of those musical instruments are:
Khuang: The drum is one of the most used musical instrument and some songs cannot be sung without a drum. One such song which has been a must to be sung in festival is:
A nuam in bang a nuam hiam aw
Zua lam len sialki leh khuang nuam e.
Zua lam len sialki leh khuang nuam,
Ziin lailen kal tang bang dam nuam e.
(Translation)
What’s the most pleasant
Dad’s acquired mithun horn and drum make a pleasant
Dad’s acquired mithun horn and drum make pleasant
Being in the best of health whilst the demons are away.
2. Sialki: A mithun (Gayal) horn.
3. Zam: Gongs are in different sizes, big, middle and small. The big ones are used in informing the dead of a person, also in singing and dancing. The middle size is known as Daktal. One is a set of three, which has three distinct sounds. The small gongs are fitted into almost all occasions.
4. Phit are made from bamboo tubes with three kinds of sounds depending on the length of each tube.
5. Ki-khuang or sakhuang made of bamboo or wood and is hollow in the middle. It is three pieces of different sizes and according to their sizes they make different sounds.
6. Gosem is made of one big gourd, and has seven small bamboo tubes of different size and length attached in it.
7. Lawingeet is made out of one gourd and one bamboo tube inserted through it. In the middle one small piece of bamboo or thatch is placed; it is played by blowing back and forth to make a sound.
8. Tamngai flutes are made of bamboo.
9. Pengkul (trumpets), Tongpelang, Dingduung and Tuidawk.
Economic System
The majority of Zo people even today are agriculturalists. They use several methods of farming’s: a shifting system of cultivation; slash and burn method used in the hill areas; terrace cultivation used on the slopes of the hills; the wetland field; the jhum cultivations, are the common practices. In the hills after cutting down the trees in winter, they will burn them in the spring, thus allowing enough time for woods to dry. The seed are sown inside a small hole dug with a small hole. Their economic condition is at a subsistence level. Schwab mentions the economies life of Zomi saying:
The economic life of the chin is governed by what may be called the Primitive Economy. They are merely self-sufficient and they have no surplus food. Agriculture is the main basis and mainstay of the Chin. They are expert in handicrafts, although professional craftsmen are few. Each and every household has handloom unit which obviously is confined to womenfolk (1968:555).
Women play a large part in building the economy of the family. They are engaged in planting and weeding the fields, harvesting crops and household tasks. Men are engaged in hunting, making traps to catch wild animals, basket making and other cane work (Vaiphei 1981:30). Most women know and are good in weaving and making colourful designs. It is the most important business today in the greater parts of areas where Zomis are living. Mothers will teach their daughters as early as four to five years old. They will make a sample weaving for them and thus give them the taste of making it a natural role for women.
Men are usually skillful in handicrafts. Bamboo and cane works, basket making, mat making, earthen pot making and wood works are the works of men. In each village, it is compulsory to have one blacksmith. This is usually hereditary. The villagers pay him with grains and others. He makes dao (big knife), spears, hoes, axes, arrows and all iron works. The smith is a kind of village officer by virtue of his skill.
Lehmann mention about the village situation when he did his research in this way:
It has been asserted than Chin society is largely a self-sufficient village society. This is related to the assertion, already shown to be misleading, that only Village-level social organization is fundamental and that social organization above the village levels of small importance. Though not true, it is founded on a correct observation. It is obvious and significant that the great bulk of the material goods in any village household (luxury wares and items in ordinary use taken together) are or can be made within the village (1963:168).
Zo people are known for hard work and strength. Many men work as peddlers. They are very calculating in their selling, including their daily expenditures in lodging and food. Selling of woven shawls with beautifully designed pieces of cloth are one way of making money. Hunting is done more for fun and fame than for obtaining meat. But in some areas hunters are making a lot of money by selling the mat, the bones of tigers and the gall bladders of bear.
Many Zo people are fast catching on to the economic rat race, by having their own shops, business and companies, as professional teachers in schools, colleges and in universities. The number of employee in the Government of India is remarkable compared to other hill tribes. As an example, in Manipur state there are more Zomi who earned his or her position as Indian Administrator than the Meitei from Hindu background. The Government of Mizoram state is run by Zo administrators and political leaders today. The change and progress made after Zo people embraced Christianity is remarkable.
* * *
CHAPTER 2
ZOMI TRADITIONAL RELIGION
Zo people predominantly practiced Traditional religion or Animism. One may understand animism as the belief that all things are living, as well as everything held by primitive man to be living, have some power or are animated by spirits. From the view of the history of religions, the term is taken, in the wider sense, to denote the belief in the existence of spiritual beings, some of which are attached to bodies of which they constitute the real personality. Animism can be more simply and popularly defined as “Spirit of worship”, as distinguished from the worship of God or gods (Anderson 1963:9). A broader and more comprehensive definition of animism is that it is the belief that personal spiritual beings and impersonal spiritual forces have power over human affairs and consequently, that human beings must discover what beings and forced are influencing them in order to determine future action and frequently, to manipulate their power (Rheneen 1991:20).
The above definition has clearly pointed out the following: animism is a belief system, a belief in beings and forces. It was stated that there are beings that have the power to control human affairs and it is important to discover what being a forces are influencing life. It also suggests that animism seeks to determine future action and manipulate power. Zo traditional religion may be called animism, in which the word suggests a belief that there is a soul or spirit in every being and object. One must be careful in applying this label to the Zo religion, because this religion has strong belief in the Supreme Being and in the ancestors. Sinme Zo religion involves much more than a belief in animistic spirits, animism is only one aspect of the primal religion. Some western writers called animism a “primitive religion”. I personally disagree with this when to describing the religion of Zo people. Regarding the usage if this term, J. H. Thumra has made this differentiation:
The term primitive is the sense of being inferior, and thus when it is applied to human beings and their religions, it implies the mistaken notion of mental processes which are pre-logical and qualitatively inferior to that of the so called civilized peoples. This attitude come from the stand point of value judgments of peoples who assume superiority of race, knowledge and culture over against other races. However, when we examine the so called primitive people’s mentality or other ways of life conjunctively, we will find that they are not primitive mentally, spiritually in their moral standard. These people have acute minds and intrinsic intelligence and have a profound thinking and rationalistic ability in their own way. They have a long history, though unwritten, behind them (1988:45).
Zo Religious World
Religion has been taken seriously from time immemorial, without which the society would have faced disunity. The absence of religion will take away the systems of relating to one another, giving functioning roles, and status. Human beings can also sense a pattern behind the facts of existence and worries about life here, and in the hereafter. We are born, we live, and we die. Religion is not a new discovery; it is the very life of the human being. So, it is true with the Zo people. In their concept, the Zo religious system of worship is as old as the Zo. It is the anchor of the society and their survivals depend on religion. Cavendish has this to say about it:
Religions have taught men and women how to lead their lives on the earth and have given them hope for a happier life after death. They have supported human beings in times of danger, bewilderment and despair. They have inspired nobility, self- sacrifice, courage and endurance and they have also inspired wars, persecutions and abominable cruelty. They have created compelling a magnificent rituals and a massive wealth on literature, architecture, art, music and philosophy. Great civilizations have grown up around them even in the modern world, when the religious impulse is supposing to be dying. It is in fact vigorously expressing itself inn new forms and disguises (1980:7).
The religious world view may be expressed in practical actions or in words. Generations to generation in traditional religion, beliefs and actions were passed ion to the next so that they will be carefully observe and not profane sacred things. The main purpose of Zo Traditional worship is to obtain the good things of life, ward off life’s evils, in most cases considered to be from spirits such as suffering, poverty, disease and bad luck. Therefore, approach to life, for a Zomi, is more negative than positive and aimed to secure a more enjoyable physical life after death. Trouble is therefore taken to conciliate and win favor of the unseen being powers so that powers will give good things rather than do harm. So, religion is a part of the very existence of Zomis. It is through this they are able to get answers and solutions in the face of adversity. Clifford Geertz, in mentioning the use of religion writes this: Just as adversity is universal, so too is the use of religion an explanation for and solution to adversity. Although the form religion takes is as diverse as its practitioners, all religions seek to answer questions that cannot be explained in terms of objective knowledge to permit people reasonable explanations for often unreasonable events and phenomena by demonstrating a cause-and-effect relationship between the supernatural and the human condition. This may be its most important function (1989:2).
To understand and get the internal meaning of how people view their religion, it is important to know their world views, to look beyond the superficial similarities or dissimilarities, to perceive the distinctive ways in which a particular group of people pattern their cultural reality. These distinctive patterns of reality are worldviews; models of reality that shape cultural allegiances and provide interpretations of the world. In an attempt to understand the Zo religious world; we have to depend mostly on observation, asking the interpretation of certain symbols or actions. But it is also clear that one may not get the hidden meaning easily. Parrinder shares about this problem when one tire to understand religion:
In discussing religion that has no scriptures to explain and defend it, it is easy to adopt a superior attitude and regard it all as superstition. The external ritual can be observed, but the inner meaning may be hidden in the absence of written explanations of it. But religion is not just outer ritual, it depends on an inward conviction (1976:19).
The Zo tradition views the universe as the composite of three realms. They are the Vantung (heaven), the Leitung (World) and the Leinuai (Under-earth). Vantung lies beyond the Van that is the dome of the sky. Leitung is chiefly the flat surface of the earth which is inhabited by human beings, and Leinuai is rather a mythological realm, like the world inhabited by some mythological beings (Sing Khaw Khai 1984:86). Vantung for the Christian is heaven, the place of God, but today it can also mean the universe. It is common to say anything above the earth is vanlam (toward heaven). The term leitung may include the material world, the animal world and the phenomenal world. The world of Zo people is a haven of seen and unseen forces. Nature itself is looks upon as having life by itself; the animals and the trees are counted as part of human existence.
The word Khua has many meanings. Khua is a dwelling place, such as a village, town or city. For instance, khua-pi is a large dwelling place such as a town, khua-no is a small dwelling place or village. Khua also can mean feeling, khua-lum feeling warm, khua-dam feeling cold. Khua-dak looking at the distance, khua-ngai listening attentively, khua-hun the climate of a particular place. Lehman defines the term khua as “that in which life is felt to exist by extension also a lively, warm place, that is a village and its houses and the kitchen gardens’ in contrast to “gam” which is the country side, uncultivated, uncut plant life in general (Lehman 1963:172). Sing Khaw Khai makes a suggestion that if leitung is equivalent to the world which is comprised of three worlds, the materials, the animals, and the phenomenal, then khua is equivalent to the “human society” (1984:87). Khua is also described as the world which has the feeling and was thus the world of soul, controlled by a center of power. This center of power is termed by the Zomi as Khuazing.
In the religious world, there is an understanding of the existence of Pasian (God), yet He is not taken seriously as He never causes trouble to Zo people. There is another powerful deity known as Khuazing and Lungzai, Vantungmite (angels), Dawimangpa (Satan), Dawite (demons), Pusha-pasha (ancestral spirits). Even the dawite (demons) can be divided into two: the good one’s giving blessing, and the bad demons giving sickness, death and natural calamities.
There are numerous myths with regards to the origin of Zo people. The Guite (Nguite) family chronicle claims its descent from Egg. The myth says that an egg was placed under the rays of the sun and kept safe in the granary within the house. When the egg hatched, a baby boy was born and he became the ancestor of the Guite clan. In another myth, a woman found a wild gourd and emptied it by sunlight. Every night, she kept the sun-dry gourd in her granary. One day she heard a Childs cry inside the granary, and found the child born out of the empty gourd. The child grew up to become the ancestors (Sing Khaw Khai 1994:95).
In the Kanpalet story there were two children, the offspring of the first man and woman. When they came of age, a piece of leather was dropped from the sky for the first boy, but being uneducated he did not know it was to be used for writing. He cooked it and ate it. Then an egg was dropped, and as he ate the egg, he read omen from it (a common southern Chin method of divination) which showed that he would thereafter be known as Chin. Later a piece of leather was dropped for the second boy. The boy wrote on it and became the ancestor of the Burmese people (Lehman 1963:32.33).
The Siyin tribe has a tradition which says that a gourd fell from the heavens and bursting with the fall, emitted a man and a woman; these became the Chin Adam and Eve, and their Garden of Eden was Ciimnuai. This story is not peculiar to the Siyins, but is believed by all the tribes in the Northern Chin Hills (Carey 1932:127).
The Mizos believed that they were brought into this world by a big stone which is known as Chin Lung. Not only the Mizos but many other tribes like the Thados and Paites also believe they were fathered by Chin Lung (Baveja 1970:2). The Hmars have the tradition that a man and a woman came out of underground or a cave, and became the progenitors of Hmars. The Hnaring tribe has the legend that three brothers had been given two forms of writing; writing with charcoal on stones and writing on leather. Two of the brothers went off to Burma, and it is thought they were ancestral to the Burmese. The third brother was the ancestor of the Chin (Lehmann1963:33).
The Concept of Supreme God ‘Pasian’
Belief in the Supreme Being forms the very core of Zo religion. This is reflected in the traditional songs, myths, folk-tales and so on. Pasian is good, he gives health, richness, children and other human wishes. God is never cruel and never hurts people. Therefore, Zo people never sacrifice or offer anything to appease God (Vumson n.d:16). To the outsiders, “worshipping spirits”. I personally disagree; Zo people are not worshipping spirits, they make sacrifices to appease them, but that is not worship. Their respect and worship are rather to the Supreme Being. Although there are folk tales about the use of plurality and gender in calling God such as “Pasiante or Pasiante unau, and Sahnu, Sahpa, Rev. Nang clarified this confusion in this way:
From time immemorial, the Zo (Chins) had the idea of God. They believe in the existence of “Supreme Being”. All goodness is ascribed to Him. They address Him by a neutral name Sah. In religious rites they address as male and female (Sahnu, Sahpa=Female God and Male God) some say that there was plurality of deities in the Zo (Chin) concept as the story of Neino (a Chin legend) talks about the Pasiante Unau (brothers of God). This concept lacks religious support because in religious rites there has not been any mention of plurality of God except in terms of gender. The use of gender is to refer the completeness of the “Being” not in the sense of plurality (1994:2).
There has been a suggestion among the Zomi that, we should call God as Khuazing rather than calling Him Pasian or Pathian because it is the most common traditional name for God. The literal meaning of Khua-zing may be defined as Khua (as explained above), the dwelling place of human society, and zing means dark or darkness. The name used for God today is Pasian or Pathian, which means Pa= father, sian or thian=holy, clean. Different Zo groups conceived Khuazing in different ways. Haka and other Southern Chins believed that Khuazing is the one who rules everything, but they did not worship or speak about him. Another tribe like Khualsim believed that Khuazing is the creator of human beings and worshipped him as a household God (Laisum 1994:125). Khuazing is not spoken very much and is not clearly conceptualized, but again, in amazement or in sudden trouble, a man will cry out: Maw Khuazing, maw lulpi (Oh, my God and the lulpi is a goddess, or perhaps a sort of primordial mythic ancestress) [Lehman 1963:177] The name Khuazing and the Khua-spirits or nats have similarities. To my understanding Khuazing cannot be used to name God. Sing Khaw Khai has made this useful observation:
The Zo (Chin) traditional term Khuazing exists as against Khuavak (the light). The word zing is literally “dark” in English. So Khuazing will mean the Khua filled with darkness in the sense of the matter. Darkness means the absence of light or the state of being invisible. In that case “darkness” appears the “invisible” image. Hence Khuazing symbolizes the “Invincible”. In Tedim, this idea is represented by their term Muh mawhte, that means divine beings. So it may mean divine beings (The Tedim believe that is the “invincible” is seen, the one who sees it would die). So, it may be said that the Khuazing is the divine being which controls the Khua, the innate world (1984:88).
Furthermore, Sing Khaw Khai make the contrast between Khuazing and Khuachia. As stated earlier, Khuazing was viewed by some Zo tribes as a Supreme Being who ruled everything on earth, even the fate of man, and Khuachia as demons or evils spirits. On the other hand, the Tedim source of tradition classifies the Khuazing into Zinmang and Zinleng, where the Zinmang being equivalent to the Lai tribe view of Khuazing, and Zinleng being equivalent to the Khuachia. In the Tedim sense the word mang means “Ruling” or “reigning” and leng has the idea of “roaming”, “wandering”, or “astraying”. So Zinmang will mean the Zin who rules or reigns and Zinleng may mean the Zin who is of the same idea as Lucifer of the scripture. So, Zinmang or Khuazing may be translated as the Lord of the earth (Ibid 89). The word Zin Tedim and the Chinese Yin are the same in character, having the same cosmic concept of the universe.
David Laisum in his proposal for self-theology for the Zo people, has taken Khuazing to be a very important theological issue. He seeks to peel off what he called “colonial missionary theology” and to rediscover the value and the meaning in tradition. He foresees reactions and problems as Pasian or Pathian has been accepted without any reservation for God. Yet he is making this proposal:
Our proposal itself using the name Khuazing no doubt will raise controversy within the church because almost all Chin Christians, as we have noted before, still cling to a typical aphorism: “that is not the way missionary teachers taught us”. In the process, we will be able to point out how Chins have been ignorant and careless in accepting and using the name Pasian or Pathian for God which is the ultimate orientation of life, while being tradition-oriented even in giving just personal names. This naming controversy will also raise in turn the meaning of Khuazing itself. Though the name itself may not be acceptable for all Chin groups, it will at least create the opportunity of assessing the new ideas of God, the radical monotheistic idea (1994:130).
One may ask how can Zo people who are untutored have an idea of God? The simple fact is that most, perhaps all of them know of the existence of God. In my view, there is no problem among Zo people to use Pasian or Pathian as the name for God. The name Pasian represents the holy, clean, sanctity of Him, rather than using Khuazing which may denote Him as having power yet does not include holiness.
In the process of creating theology about Khuazing, it is important to know about how Khuazing was viewed in the past. The Hakas and the Southerners believe that there is a god Khuazing who lives in the heavens. He is not capable of showering blessing on them, but as he is able to trouble them in every conceivable manner, they propitiate him with sacrifices (Carey 1932:195). Zo People lived in fear of spirits and unseen forces. To be free in Christ and to be in the light is a real gospel. Parrinder makes this issue of the name of God interestingly:
What men believe About God, and the attitude they adopt towards him, may partly be deduced from the names they give to him. His personal name may indicate his nature clearly, or it may be ancient name whose meaning is almost forgotten. It may contain veiled references to his nature or the name may be taboo, and never spoken or revealed to strangers. Since they express men’s feelings about God they affect the attitude adopted towards him in worship and decide whether it is worth praying to him or not. In praise names and in proverbs, in riddled and myths, as well as in worship, the names and titles of God throw light upon what men think of his character (1976:21).
I have mentioned my preference for Pasian rather than Khuazing. Now I would like to give some explanation about the concept of Pasian. In tradition, there is no specific record of how and when the term originated. To some of the Zo tribes Pasian is not coined by missionaries, as they have some of the expression such as; Sian in siam hen literally means “May God bless you or build you up”. Sian is a poetic word representing Pasian. The traditional prayer of Zo sacrifice to the communal god calls to deity as “Ka Pasian, ka Lungzai” (My God, my Lungzai). Here the name Pasian referred to “above” or celestial being, and the Lungzai referred to the god of the earth. So Pasian and Lungzai represent the deity of Zo sacrifices.
Pasian controls the individual fate of man, and the Lungzai, the symbol of Khuazing, constitutes the atmospheric god (Sing Khaw Khai 1984:126, 127). In the face of the unanticipated trouble and amazement, Tedim Zomi usually make this invocative statement, “Khuazing in thei in, khuavak in thei in” meaning “May the darkness and Light know my plight of affair” This practice suggests as if both the Khuazing and Khuavak were viewed as representing the deity of the universe or the supreme being to which the injustice done by Khuazing to man could be appealed. Now based on what have been mentions, it is derivable that where Khuazing represents the Earth, Khuavak represents the Sun which emanates light to the world. According to Vaiphei Zomi, there is a powerful supreme being along with a subordinate or an earthly god, which means there is a belief of God twin which is very vague. Prim Vaiphei make the following comments:
The Vaiphei like other Kuki-Chin (Zomi) tribes recognized an all-powerful God who they call Pathian. This Pathian is always associated with Nungzu. It is usual to speak of Pathian and Nungzu together. No one can say whether Nungzu is Pathian’s wife or Pathian. Generally, Nungzu is regarded as the god of this world and Pathian as the God of above (1975:24).
In the history and development of the name Pasian, he is never considered as having troubled human beings. He is vaguely conceived because he is good. The lesser spirits are very active; they are recognized because of fear. The Kachin people who have never offered sacrifice to Karai Kasang, because one of them have said, “Why should we? He never did us harm”. There is no practice of worshipping him. However, in times of extreme need, when sacrifices to the spirits brought no relief, Kachins are known to cry out to this distant great Spirit (Tegenfelt 1974:45).
Similar to the Kachin, Zo people have not made sacrifice to him, not because he was not known, but he is good and he has not done them harm. The development of the name Pasian or Pathian, Hminga says that the Mizo believe in the existence of the Supreme Spirit called Pathian, and this term was adopted for the Christian God (1987:33). It is also true for other Zomi that the idea of Pasian was more distinctively taken as the Christian God. He is conceived as the one who made heaven, the earth man and animals. Since the Pasian was distinguished from demonic powers in the same manner as Yahweh developed as superior to contemporary gods of the Old Testament.
In the religious thought of Zomi, Pasian is powerful, good and can bestow blessings. Yet, He is far remote from their day to day living, as the lesser spirits are giving them enough troubles. He is known to be day to day living, as lesser spirits are giving them enough troubles. He is known to be living beyond the blue sky or “up there”. He is the Supreme One, but He is too far away. Thus he has less to do with human affairs. This induce them to propitiate the subordinate spirits, whom according to their view, always remain with them in their daily affairs. But in extreme need, Pasian is called upon directly in their prayers as in the case of Pau Cin Hau. He was sick for fifteen long years. In such extreme case, he prayed to Pasian and he was completely healed (Census of India, 1931:217). It is also similar to one African man exclaiming after unsuccessful hunting by saying; “I am tired of asking the spirits. Let us pray to God” (Mitchell 1977:26).
To sum up the concept of Pasian among Zo people.
God is the Supreme Being, meaning He is the most powerful out of all beings.
He is good, on the other hand, all other lower spirits are bad.
The heaven, the earth, man, animals and nature are created by Him. There is no doubt in the Zo concept about the creations created by Pasian.
He is holy and pure; the understanding that He is there beyond the “blue sky” also has the meaning that He is holy, pure and there is no one who can be compared with Him.
He is one, though often called multiple names, yet in their mind they have the concept of one God.
He is seeking to give blessings; other spirits are seeking to trouble human.
God is unique, and cannot be described in words. This uniqueness of God is the reason why there was no attempt to make His images, carved or in drawing or painting.
He is real, all Zo tribes are able to call upon Him in their dire needs. His reality has never been in question. For Zomi to question the existence of God would be similar to a child asking whether his parents really exist.
There is some way a distinction made between Pasian and other forces. God is clearly demarcated. Pantheism and polytheism occurred in the area of man and nature, not with the beyond the “blue sky” God. Prayer to him in most cases begins; “Tung Pasian” meaning “God of above” and this is very common.
The Concept of Demonic World
Belief in the existence of the demonic beings or spirits is at the core of Zo religious practices, the spirits, demons and ghosts are different from one another, yet they will be seen actively together. Zo people fear them; they are extremely careful not to give offence to them. The spirits live on earth, below the earth, in the sky, in springs, trees, caves, mountain, streams, houses and even in the human body. There are some places which are agreed upon as the strongholds of the spirits (Vumson n.d:16) places like thick forests, rocks, trees and other natural objects that appear supernatural or unusual are thought to be the abode of spirits.
The hill people see two types of spirits working in the cosmic order: the benevolent and malevolent spirits (Longchar 1991:13). The benevolent spirits are responsible for welfare and prosperity of man. They guard and protect the village, demarcated areas, from disease, pestilence and natural devastation like failure of crops, storm and floods. Sacrifices are given to them, but are right offerings are not given on time. The spirits might not guard them. They are thought to be creating things, sustaining and upholding not only human beings but also the universe.
In the Zomi concept of benevolent spirits, they would see them as willing to bless those who are willing to pay respect. One type of demon called Pheisam in Tedim, meaning “the one legged imp” a kind of incorporeal creature, is believed to have the potency of giving material benefits to man but its beneficence pheisam-siam is said to be short lived. They are said to be inherently harmful to the one unless regular offerings are given. It should be pointed out that even the benevolent spirits are not basically concerned to do good. Rather, they are less likely to cause trouble than the others, unless of course they are neglected or in some way offended.
It is also believed that spirits or demons try to be friends with human beings. If a person befriends them, in return the demon may give supernatural power to the person. They may use that power in hunting, in discerning future courses of actions etc. There are numerous stories of some male demons dating girls, or some female demons falling in love with some male human beings. Some humans were said to have joined the festival of swampy area demons, drinking and dancing the whole night. Some beautiful Zo girls in the past were said to have been hijacked by a number of male demons, trying to win their love to remain with them in the jungle. Demons of the jungle are believed to capture the souls of men. Sometimes they hear the cry or weeping of a man or woman in the jungle. If they hear such sound of weeping and crying of someone in the jungle, they believed that one human soul has been captured by the demons and it will result in the death of someone in the village (Vaiphei 1981:37).
The malevolent spirits are thought to be dangerous and destructive in human affairs. They are the spirits, for instance, of persons who die in their mother’s womb, those who die in an accident such as drowning, falling from a tree, killed by wild animals, and suicide etc. These spirits or ghosts are thought to live outside of the village, on the roadside, in the fields, rivers, ponds, trees and stones. The ghosts of humans and demons are different, though often mixed up in Zo understanding. Some demons are like human beings, small in size with one leg; others are giants that stride across the peaks of the hills. Demons have immense strength and power, and do all kinds of things. They can transform themselves into snakes. Among the tribes in India, there is a belief that they should of a living person can sometimes become a tiger or a python. A shrew is traditionally believed to be used as the messenger of si-kha spirit of death amongst his close relatives. Here is given one verse of a folksong mentioning the belief:
Namcik in va ham ta zel ing e,
Ka tunnu’n phuancil hong paih ta e;
Namcik takpite nong sa hiam aw?
Von lautha namcik ka hi e.
(Translation)
In the shrew I came and shrieked,
But my mother spat on me;
Do you, mother, take me a real shrew?
I am the spirit of your son, come as shrew (Sing Khaw Khai 1995:1970).
The wild animals of the jungle are believed to be under the control of spirits. For this reason, they forbid whistling when they go hunting, because they believed that if the spirit heard the whistling, it will hide the animals. The spirits that trouble man in the jungle are believed to be mostly the souls of dead persons (Ibid.38). Paying respect has been a vital part in the religion, such as sacrifices. Cin Lian Sum has given the different types of demons, the territorial demons and the animals used in sacrificing to them. The types of demons or spirits worshiped in the Zo traditional religious practices are:
Ancestral spirit (Pusa Dawi)
Garden or compound spirit (Huan Dawi)
High alleviated place spirit (Khansang Dawi)
Pestle and mortal or veranda spirit (Sumtawng Dawi)
Deep sadness spirit, because of the death of relative or family members (Khakham Dawi)
Children spirit (Naupang Dawi)
Weaving loom spirit (Siamthoih)
Convulsion spirit (Kaih)
Maternal/paternal grandparents spirit, similar to ancestral spirit (Pulen)
10. Having bad dream, sensing that some bad fortune is going to happen; to avoid that, sacrifice is given to a particular spirit (Kikha Khup).
A system of casting lots, to know which spirit troubled a person. It is done by slaughtering a chicken and observing the movement of the legs, or opening an egg to see to which direction the bloodline inside that egg pointed (Kimit-et)
In order to avoid a person who is taken as having a linkage with a certain spirit, if they desired the food some is eating, they will experience “stomach upset”. At the very beginning of the meal Zo people in the past will take a small portion of the food and throw it aside saying “kau ciah aw” (Lingnanna).
Spirit in the front wall (Bangtung Dawi)
Fire spirit (Mei Dawi)
Getting blessing from maternal grandparent so that the grandchildren will be prosperous (Kongsak Ankha)
Evil spirit said to be possessed by certain persons like witches and wizards, that in turn possesses an innocent person (Kaupeh)
To have an evil influence over a newborn baby resulting in sickness, such as the belief that, when a person, who is in touch with a new born baby, digs the ground and covers something with the soil, the baby’s soul is likewise buried, so becomes ill (Ngilh).
Sudden death, the meaning is stumbling against the wedge-shape piece of wood to push down the welt in a Zo handloom (Ciampal).
Setting aside food for the dead person, the dead are taken to be roaming around and will come in the home in the night. They are the living dead and are still counted as family. In their understanding they lived along with them in a different form of existence (Si-an siah)
Evil and troubling spirit (Dawisia)
A domestic animal called mithun’s keeper a spirit (Sialdawi)
Opening the entrance door to make a sacrifice when occupying a new house (Bangkua hon)
Sinking earth area, bad places taken to be the abode of spirt, a certain place water is collected without flowing out after rain (Khuuk sia)
Spirit above the doorpost (Kongsak dawi)
Community spirit or village spirit (Tual dawi) [1994:51].
Mr. Sum also furnished the names of spirits worshipped at territorial level. They can be also called spirits in nature, primarily in rivers, forests etc. They are:
Forests spirit, but taken to be untoward happening because one travels outside of his community after coming back, if he’s sick they will make a sacrifice to call his spirit back home (Gampi Dawi)
Stream’s spirit (Luilam Dawi)
River Gun spirit (Gunpi Dawi)
Cultivation field spirit (Lo Dawi)
Spirit of an important village called Kalzang, the place of early settlement, it is supposed to have that spirit, like a village spirit (Kalzang Dawi)
Unnatural-shaped tree spirit (Singsia Dawi)
Village entrance spirit (Kongpi hon Dawi)
Mountain Spirit (Mual Dawi)
Spirit of the swamp or water source (Cik Dawi)
10. Some special trees which are considered to be the residence of spirits (Sing Dawi) [ibid. 51].
As things are not clearly categorized, it is difficult to put the demons in different compartments. Yet, from my readings and observations, I found that there are spirits of the clan, spirits of the family and spirits of the village, and then in the bigger circle the spirits of the territory. The spirit of the household inhabits the house; the spirits of cultivation live in the field. The thick forest in contrast to a scanty population led them to think that the forest is a dwelling place of demons. The world is looked upon as dominated by demons. There are ghost spirits who died an unnatural death such as drowning, falling down from trees, killed by wild animals and suicide etc. Their spirits will not be admitted to the abode of the blessed departed ones, and therefore will become a wanderer, living an aimless, haunting existence. This is the fate of those who die a bad death.
Kha (spirit or ghost): the spirit of a person is taken to be travelling outside the body consciously or unconsciously. Zo tradition implies that dreams are probably the movements of the wandering Kha (soul or spirit). Kha can stay out of the body and wander in this world as man does, and re-enter the body at will. While Kha goes out and roams about, the natural life of the physical body keeps on beating its pulse and respiration. Thus Kha is a kind is non-corporeal being which signifies the spiritual nature of man. There are some dreams which were verified and found to have coincided with factual incidents. Read Sing Khaw Khai 1984:132, to find in the night by entering from the roof that was made of slabs of stones. He took the boiled corn from their pot and returned back home in his dream. The next day Cin Khaw Thawng who paid a visit to Thuam Zel’s house in the night by entering from the roof that was made of slabs of stones. The next day Cin Khaw Thawng wanted to know whether any physical movement was felt during the previous night, so he went to Thuam Zel’s house and inquired from them. He found out that the slab that he removed was still open, and the remaining portion of the boiled corn was found to be spoiled. Zomi believe that a meal that is touched by a spirit decays. Thuam Zel told him that they did feel some physical activities in the house during the previous night.
One may ask, what is a witch? A witch is traditionally a person who can’t hurt others by virtue of an inherent quality. A witch performs no rite, utters no spell, and possesses no medicine. An act of witchcraft is a psychic act. A further question is, how did one become a witch? Scott Moreau shares four ways a person can become a witch in Africa, which are the same among Zomi. They are:
Witches could inherit their powers, either genetically or by parental ritual.
Witchcraft power can be acquired through buying it.
Witchcraft could be given to someone by “infecting” them ritually either with or without their knowledge.
Witchcraft powers could be obtained by a spirit taking possession of the person (1990:109-110).
The concept of witchcraft accepts the belief that the spirits of living human beings can be sent out of the body on errands of doing havoc to other persons in body, mind or estate. The spirit sent out many act invisibly or through lower creatures such as animals or birds. In the past there was a general belief that the guild of witches has their regular meetings in the forests or in open place in the middle of the night.
The main purpose of such meetings was to work havoc on other human beings; and the operation was the operation of spirits upon spirits. That is, the ethereal bodies of the victims are attacked, extracted and devoured, causing the victim to die a slow physical death. In the case of such victimizing their actual bodies lie “asleep” in their homes. Some of them can tell in advance who will die in the village, in their “night trip” they had seen the heart, liver or some organ of that particular person being eaten. Some also have seen through their association with witch’s heads hung around the neck of the witch. Those victims eventually die.
One such example is recorded by Sing Khaw Khai, about a man called Phung Za Nang, a native of Suangpi village in Tedim Township, and a primary Assistant teacher. While working in Mualbem Primary School, he was said to have been influenced by demonic power on his way back home. Since then he was said to have has association with the demons. From Phung Za Nang’s personal testimony, it was known that he and his demonic party often captured and ate men. He also used to foretell those who would die soon and usually his prophecy came true. One night, after visiting her uncle Ngulh Ngin, Miss Cing Za Niang of the smear village came along with Phung Za Nung. About a month after this event Miss Cing Za Niang died of illness. Regarding this, Phung Za Nang later disclosed their spiritual activities, saying that night when he came along with Miss Cing Za Niang, he and his demonic associates struck Miss Cing Za Niang on her back. It is said that the mark of injury inflicted upon Miss Cing Za Niang’s back was revealed in her body (Sing Khaw Khai 1984:136).
Kachins are conscious of the problem. The actual work of the witches may occur in this way:
The existence of a witch or witch family is most commonly revealed when someone is taken ill suddenly or under peculiar circumstances, and divination by a dumsa???? reveals it has been caused by a witch. The spirit in the ill person is cajoled into revealing the name of the witch to whom it belongs. It is possible to exercise the spirit out of the one bewitched, but there is no cure for the witch himself. The extreme fear in which Kachins stand is revealed most clearly in their action against witches (Tegenfeldtt 1974:50).
Broadly, the activities of witches are: first, they meet in the night. Secondly, they are said to “eat” people. Thirdly, they can use insects or animals to wander about. There are those who shared that they become a tiger to travel in the night. Fourthly, they could become invisible in order to perform their deeds (cf. Moreau 1990: 110,111). Different villages propitiate different spirits, and each village or group of villages has its own special local spirits. As spirits do not trespass into each other’s territory. The spirits of aliens need only be treated with respect when a man enters a strange territory infested by its own particular local spirits. No less than twenty spirits which may inhabit only a house have been names (Carey 1932:197).
The practice of having a sacred grove is common among the chiefs of the villages. Under such a selects big tree, there will be a large and curious rock which is used as an altar. On it are laid food, feathers, sacrificial meat, and odds and ends. To some chiefs this grove spirit is the most important, as much feared by them as the pagodas are revered by the Buddhist. Therefore, it is prohibited to fell the trees in the sacred grove. I have seen in a village called Keeltal a sacred grove, under which there are around thirty stones, which are erected by the chief of the village after offering sacrifices with all kinds of domestic animals. One stone represents one year, so that particular tree was worshipped more than thirty years. If anyone cut down a branch, he or she will die is a sacrifice is not offered at once.
The Zo Traditional Sacrifices
If there is a source of sickness, there has to be a way of cursing it. The word bia or dawibia is used meaning “worship” in the true sense of Zo practice, they are paying respect, seeking blessing and asking for harmonious existence. In the sane thought, Sing Khaw Khai gives a further statement as:
The traditional invocation, Pasian na tai in; Lungzai na tai in, suggests that the titles Pasian and Lungzai represent the spiritual objects to which sacrifices are made. However, tradition had never mentioned any instance in which either the Pasian or the Lungzai demanded such a kind of moral life as righteousness, truthfulness, the love for Khual (outsider) and so on. Thus it can be concluded that Dawi was demonic in the sense that it was not worshipped in the strict sense of religion, but was propitiated and offered sacrifices. Dawi Biakna may be translated into English as the sacrifice to Demons, not in the pure sense of Christian doctrine which views demons as wicked and destructive beings (1984:162).
Two major types of sacrifices: there are different kinds of sacrifices for different occasions. These ritual sacrifices are of two major types. The first type might be called substitutionary, and the second, manipulatory. The substitutionary sacrifices function to placate the demons and spirits by substituting the blood of a chicken or any animals for that of a human. Some of the reasons of offering substitutionary sacrifices are:
To forestall imminent death, asking for longer life.
To ensure a good life at Bangkua hon (a new house)
Offering sacrifices on behalf of the sick person for recovery.
Sacrifices for good health, security of the village or community sacrifice called Tual.
Giving sacrifice to cure the curse of bareness, foe in a collective society a barren woman is considered to be unfit to participate in the major events of the community.
Making sacrifice to repel the attack from an enemy who is supposed to have an “evil eye”.
The manipulatory sacrifices are given when a person wants to please the demons or spirits to win their favour with some animals. In many of the sacrifices, the idea of both substitutionary and manipulatory goes together. For example, in the sacrifice for sickness, the priest will sprinkle the animal’s blood on top of a number of toy cows made of mud. He will say that he makes the sacrifice with this many cows. There is an element of manipulation involved there.
Manipulatory sacrifices are given when:
Asking the keeper of the animal to give him a successful hunt and thanksgiving afterward.
Offering sacrifices to gain the spirits approval of the intended plot for cultivation and for blessing of the crops.
Offerings at the time of sowing and harvesting; in times of peril or drought.
The birth of a child, or at the death of anyone.
Sacrifices to propitiate the demons of the jungle, streams and mountains.
Sacrifices to the spirits of the ancestors that they will protect and bless them.
In acquiring wealth such as livestock, grains and safety.
Assistance in raiding enemies.
The purpose of sacrifice: As stated above in the substitutionary and manipulatory sacrifices, we can understand the purposes of offering many sacrifices. There is no singular purpose for the sacrifices; they are as diverse as the sacrifices themselves. The African theologians have propounded four theories: the gift theory, the propitiation theory, the communion theory, and the thanksgiving theory (Adeyemo 1979:38). Zomi have not gone to such lengths in explanation, it will be our future job to do so Sawyer, after a research in West African religions, comes up with this purpose in offering sacrifice:
The sacrifices are intended to avert sickness or to promote recovery from an illness, or to avert failure in business or some other form of ill-fortune attributed to the influence of some evil spirit, but more often to witchcraft. In some cases, the sacrifice is said to be offered to enhance success (1969:59).
One of the reasons for sacrifice is to ask the permission of the demons, who are thought to be staying in certain places. A place like sih usually is a source of stream; the area is muddy and remains damp all through the dry season. To cultivate around such a place, Zo people offer sacrifices. They believed that the demons of such a place can capture the souls of men and would result in death. So if a person is sick, they used to go to such a place and offer sacrifices of a fowl, or a goat or a pig. They considered that it was unlucky to jhum the land nearby and if a man is going to cultivate land near such place, he must go to the place and offer sacrifice first, in order to appease the demons before he cultivates the land.
Zo people believed that there is an unseen presence who is always observing each person’s movements. To the spirit a small portion of food and drink are given first by pouring out some of the drink and putting out some of the food. A Nag when successful in hunting would cut off a piece of his catch and throw it away with the words. “In the future give me again such luck” (Konyak 1986:17). If a person would cut off a piece of his catch and throw it away with the words, “In the future give me again such luck” (Konyak 1986:17). If a person is suffering sickness, the priest will be summoned. He first will examine the sickness by feeling his pulse. If he cannot get any clue from this, he has to perform kimit-etna by killing a chicken and observing the direction both legs have pointed. Sacrifices are mostly performed in times of family sickness than other times. The propitiation would begin with small sacrificial items like an egg, a piece of ginger tec. If the sick man showed no sign of improvement, the sacrificial items would progress to pigs, cows, mithuns and buffaloes. If the illness persisted, the sacrificial order was repeated. In many cases, the sick man’s family ended up in great debt. So great would be the householder’s grief at this point that he would curse his birth.
Propitiations for appeasing those spirits harming them accept the economic life of the family so much that, after a series of sacrifices, they will be left with nothing. Different spirits demand different sacrifices. It is useless to try to propitiate a mithun-demanding spirit with a pig or a pig-demanding spirit with a cock. Once again Bertram Carey has this to say about the practices among Zomis during his official work in Chin Hills:
When a man falls sick he sets it down to one of the evil spirits and he sacrifices a young fowl or a small dog; if he gets well, it means that spirit was satisfied and has withdrawn the sickness; if he does not recover, then he has made a mistake. Perhaps it was a dog, not a fowl that he should have sacrificed; but after sacrificing the dog, if he still remains ill, he tries a small pig, and then a large pig, then a small mithun, and so on. Until if the illness prolonged, he sacrificed his all. As a general rule the smallest fowl and pig are sacrificed first in the hopes of appeasing the spirit as cheaply as possible. It is no uncommon thing for a man to sacrifice mithun after mithun during an illness and sometimes a chief will sacrifice as many as ten during one illness (1932:197).
A village may have a common priest, but in some bigger villages, apart from the village priest, they have a family or clan priest. When a person become ill, immediately the family priest or the village priest will be summoned. The priest after minutely questioning the sick person concerning his recent where about, will make a prescription of which spirit was offended. He may say, “The spirit of that particular stream has been insulted and it must be pacified by a red cock” the sacrificial animal will be brought to the river bank and the ritual performance will be done. The animal is slain, which is usually done by the priest, who pours zu (rice beer) over it and mutters to the spirit: “You have wanted a chicken or a pig and so one has been killed; now be satisfied and remove the sickness which you have put upon the man” (Ibid.198).
Similar to the Oriental shaman, Zo people have shamans who are mostly women. I have seen with my own eyes a woman who would suddenly go into a trance and mutter some names. In the traditional understanding they are taken to be going to misi Khua “the village of the death”. Many will bring clothes and place them near her head saying,” Please deliver this piece of cloth to so and so and tell him or her that we are doing fine”. Lehman makes this observation about the function and status of shaman among Zo societies:
Each village has one or more persons, usually women, who are seers or shamans. They do not cure illness, but enter into a self-induces trance with the help of considerable draughts of grain beer, in which state they find out which spirit has caused the illness or whether some other agents such as nam or kau, an evil-eyed person, has done it and with what kind of sacrifice the patient must placate the spirit. These women are khuavangnu, “familiars of spirits”. Their calling comes upon them as a seizure; it is not sought and can come upon anyone at all, usually in adolescence. Shamans are needed by the population to divine the causes of illness and the requirements of sacrifice, but few people wish to become shamans themselves, or to have their children become shamans. Their social status is generally low (1963:175).
The animals most commonly used in sacrificial offering among Zomi are:
Chicken (Ak)
Dog (Ui)
Pig (Vok). It is common to start with a piglet, then go up to the bigger size depending on the seriousness of the sickness.
Goat (Kel)
Crab (Aisa)
Mithun (Sial). It is one of the most prized animals for Zo people. When they give mithun, most of the smaller domestic animals must have been given twice. There is a proverbial expression, Innkal Kitawi in literally means, doing something to the extent of selling the wooden frame from one’s house.
Cow (Bawng)
Buffalo (Lawi)
Horse (Sakol). This is very rare, only the chief may be able to offer this kind of animal.
In the acts of sacrifices, there are many materials such as spices and herbs, trees, weeds, and wild ropes. Again, Cin Lian Sum gives the list as follows:
Leaves of trees, should not be taken from the nearby trees, it should be from forest (Sialsawl)
Hard wood tree similar to oak tree (Sesing)
Leaves from Sialnuh (Sialnuh sawl)
Bamboo (Gua)
Bear rope (Vomh Khau)
The middle of bamboo, that is sliced out (Nguapaan)
Tuaiung????
Strong stalk thatch (Sialluang)
One type of sweet potato (Kaitem)
One type of thatch (Phaipi)
The hard cover of crab (Aisa guh)
Bone of fish (Ngasa guh)
Spiral shell snail (Toktol)
One type of spicy herb (Aithanglo)
Black rope (Khauvom)
Red rope (Khausan)
A small bamboo to suck liquor from the pot (Peeng)
Turmeric ginger (Aisan)
One type of turmeric ginger (Sutzo)
Bamboo leaf (Guapiteh)
Bee wax (Khuaipi nun)
One hard wood like oak tree (Khiangsing)
One type of tree (Vazu sing)
One type of weed, with strong root (Ngalbulo)
Wild rope that is brown in colour (Kanval)
Wild creeper rope that has a disc shape fruit (Linggui)
Big bean seed (bepi tang)
Leaves of banyan tree (Mawngteh)
Millet seed (Sising tang)
Clay mud (Tungman) [1994:52].
The Concept of Sin and Guilt
In any culture there is an awareness of sin. The concept of sin and guilt is intertwined with religion, and undoubtedly Zo people have a sense of sin. It is done by passing down from generation to generation. Speaking about morality consciousness, Parrinder observed that “the morality of the West African is largely indicated by the taboos, with which their lives are surrounded” (1949:22). In the same way the Zo basis of ethic will be seen alongside the taboos, not only in verbalized codes of conduct.
We shall examine some of the social orders or rules, the degradation of committing sin and the consequences of such violations. In the traditional concept there are some terms used in relation to sin. Mawhna refers to sin in general, khelna is transgression or intentional violation, gilo or gitlohna may be translated as wicked and evil. Sianglo means unclean, it may connote an action or speaking. For example, when a person hunts game, he is not supposed to speak boastfully by saying; “If I obtain game, I will give a grand feast for it”. Such a statement is considered as sianglo because tradition maintains that this form of spoken word, even if confronting to the true state of being, could change into the reverse effect.
Some places will be considered as sianglo, because of some unseen forces attached to it. To sin, in this concept, is to appropriate the evil way of evil power, leading to identifying oneself as sinful. Thus, avoidance is the solution for handling the unclean. Sin in Zo understanding is not only personal. As a collective society, sin is breaking the social codes. Zo culture like other nations is a shame culture. The punishment of breaking the social rules is usually done to shame the person who committed such sins. Sin committed by an individual may not be detected or known aby the society. They are known to the deities and will receive punishment as one responsible for his action. It is the same with the Chinese concept of sin and guilt. Eberhard shares about the Chinese concept as:
In addition to such feelings of sin, feeling of guilt must have been associated also with the violations or transgressions in the field of social relations- that is, social role behavior most of which were punishable by human law and all of which, according to popular religion, led to punishment in the hereafter (1967:15).
Guilt is internalized among Zomi, and may be shared with someone whom they trust or may not be shared throughout life. It is much easier to handle guilt than facing the shame of being condemned by the society. Emphasis is given to avoid social shame and to develop a morality which is dominantly centered in the family and in the society. As a tradition-directed society, no effort will be spared in avoiding “to lose face” maizumna. A person “loses face” if he does not live up to the expectations set for his role, if he breaks rules of conduct. He is then, punished with ridicule, contempt, or social ostracism. The proverbial expression, maitang singhawng belh liangin is used to speak of how shameful a person is so as to relate oneself with others. The literal meaning is, “using the tree skin to cover one’s own face”. Another one zum leh saili a si om lo meaning “no one dies out of shame and being hit by a catapult”. The reaction of society is not directly against the culprit but may reflect back upon his family, or even upon his ancestry.
The yardstick of calling a person a good man has to do with character. So, a good character is seen as beauty. The Yoruba thought pattern of right and wrong is the same with Zomi. It is described in few lines, “Being is beauty, character is being (existence), therefore character is beauty (Dickson 1969:130). Sin defined as “missing the mark” does have a meaning to Zo people; it means missing the marks of the society. Sin is then an ontological morality which will focus on the inward problem of character. There are different kinds of sins, and they can be categorized as follows: sexual sins, social sins, sin against property and sin against religion. Some of the traditional social codes are:
Do not murder (Tual na that kei in). The concept of tual is a community or social unit in which one exists in dependence upon his fellow member.
Respect your mother and father (Na nu leh pa zahtak in). In general practice, one is expected to respect all who are older to him.
Do not lie (Zuau na gen kei in)
Do not steal (Gu kei in)
Do not commit adultery or fornication (Mizi mita tungah khial kei in)
Do not ill-treat one’s property (mi neihsa tungah tatsia kei in)
Do not covet that which belongs to other (Mi neihsa duh gawh kei in)
Do not speak what is overbearing (Paupha kei in) (Sing Khaw Khai 1995:195).
Social codes differ from place to place, but there are social codes which are observed as fundamental for functioning of the Zo societies. Apart from such there are some laws that safeguard them day by day. Each society has elderly persons who are responsible to see to the society’s smooth functioning. The defaulter will be given due punishment according to the seriousness of the sin committed.
Some of the traditional by-laws and the consequences of breaking them are: Innbuluh (robbing someone’s house) if the house owner killed the robber, it is considered as khutkhial literally means “making a mistake with his hand”. It will be considered as tualthat (murder) if the robber killed the house owner. Khutkhial: the one who wounded or kill someone unintentionally is khutkhial, he has to pay according to the “mistake” committed. Tualthat (murder) is a serious crime in Zo understanding, so the culprit should pay ten mithuns, animals for the burial feast called kuasah and puandum the traditional shawl. Inn kihalsak (burning someone’s house) the person who committed such crime has to pay the total amount of the things around. Besides that, he has to pay a mithun, kill an animal for feasting and one pot of zu, rice beer.
In most cases the transgressor has to pay back as much as he spilled, also arranging the traditional feast without which no discussion could be held. Some more of these by-laws without further mentioning what the wrong committer has to pay are: Lo kihalsak burning someone’s slash cultivation, before it is time to burn the field. Gamhal and meikhah suah burning forest and unintentionally letting the fire go out of control. Min daisak defaming others, ki-inn ngaih or holim ngaisim secretly listening to conversation from outside the house. Laigelh suksiat, destroying someone’s writing, maybe the memorial stones etc. Zehphi breaking a ceremonial act by entering a village or a house which offered sacrifice, the signs of such will be made known by hanging branches of leaves in front of the house or at the entrance of the village. Guta a thief stealing anything, in many places today, the person’s hair will be shaved off, he will carry the objects he has stolen and walk through the village or town. He will shout, “I am a guta and I have stolen these things”. Such public display is considered to be very effective as the public condemnation is a powerful disciple.
As stated above, social shame is more painful for an individual that the guilt, as the issue of guilt is rather a condemnation of the society than an individual self understands. So, social shame would mean the shame one felt when he is being disgraced in the eyes of his own people. To be disgraceful to people who care for us means that our own people have no grace in their hearts for us. It is a Zomi who disgraced the society. He was weighed by the community rules and found unacceptable by those whom he needs most to accept him. The pain of this rejection is feared. Zomi will do anything to avoid such a consequence. It is like a child’s way of handling a fellow bad boy by placing him in the middle and singing this ditty: “Shame, shame, double shame, everybody knows your name” (Swedes 1993:56). Social shame thus, is the pain that comes to a Zomi when he is despised by others or as a result of breaking the social codes. He also will feel it when another person treats him with contempt, as if he is nothing.
Zomi System of Worship
Worship is paying reverence and respect to God. The word worship literally means “Worth-ship” denoting the worthiness of an individual to receive special honour in accordance with that worth (Adeyomo 1979:31). There is an urge in man that has made them to worship. It is an act of giving consent to the unseen forces; Idowu gives this interesting comment about worship:
Worship is an imperative urge in man. Its beginning may be traced back to the basic “instinct” which was evoked in man by the very fact of his confrontation with the “numinous”. Man perceived that there was a power other and greater than himself, a power which dominated and controlled the unseen world in which he felt himself enveloped. This worship on its rudimentary form originated in the spontaneous and extempore expression of revelation which evoked in him an active response (1962:107).
Worship is different from one religion to another in the way it is conducted. As for Zo people’s traditional religion, they do not have a temple or shrine. The ceremonies are performed in the open space, away from the household spirits. The reason of worship for a Zo is seeking the physical well-being of his spirit, in order to gain material happiness and prosperity and longevity of life here and now. The concept of worship and the reason behind worshiping is thus intrinsically materialistic and futurists as in the case of desiring to secure a good life in the next life. Harmonious existence, being able to walk through life in the midst of the numerous bewitching spirits is his main objective. It is inconceivable for Zo people not to have some form of religiosity by giving sacrifice and worship. We make a distinction between sacrifice and offering, for the sake of description.
Here in this context “sacrifice” as an act of worship where animal is given, and “offering” refers to all the other cases in which animals are not killed. Traditionally, sacrifices and offering are believed to be means of contact or communion between man and the Supreme Being or other spirits. It is the best way for Zomi to maintain relationship between himself and his object of worship. Mbiti has described it in these words:
Sacrifices and offerings are acts of restoring the ontological balance between God and man, the spirits and man, and the departed and the living. When this balance is upset people “experience” misfortunes and sufferings, or fear that these will come upon them. Sacrifices and offerings help, at least psychologically, to restore this balance (1970:179).
The attitude of Zo people in worship has the unspoken assumption that by giving sacrifice and offering they will have the “power” in the face of uncertainty. Goodness is thought to result in power, health and strength represent power at work. Evil is therefore a contrary, foreign and hostile power which detracts from the natural power with which man is endowed. And since the balance is restores through sacrifices and offerings, they are therefore media which enhances the power of man or of the spirits, and ancestors. Speaking about the Zo traditional sacrifices and worship, Sing Khaw Khai gives this insight:
The (sacrifice) offering to spirits is often called Dawi Biakna in Tedim, where biakna being derived from bia is religion. In the strict sense of the word, bia denotes the act of worshipping or bowing before an object that is revered. Dawi (demon) is not worshipped in that sense; but is only propitiates to appease it by (sacrifice) offering things. The rite of propitiation in thoih or khaii in Tedim similar to rai-thawi in the Lai terminology (1995:204).
Tual sacrifice is a Zo traditional sacrifice that involves the whole community in worship for health, security and blessing. Tual means a leveled ground or a plain area, on which a communal sacrifice of religious rite is performed. In starting a new village, the tual sacrificial worship will precede all other worship. The place of worship is marked by tualsuang the stone altar on which sacrifice is made. This is community worship. About the organization of tual, again, Sing Khaw Khai make these remarks:
Tual is the cultural center with which all the individual members of the entire community are collectively linked. It also symbolizes the historical link between its founders and the community. According to ancient tradition, the Zo house represented the secular authority to rule all that was on earth. A new settlement owed its legal existence to the royal recognition by the ZO house. In this traditional ground lies the idea behind the founding of new settlement at the time when the Zo (Chin) fathers made their first settlement in the present Chin state (1984:174-175).
Pusha Biakna literally means ancestor worship. It is a rite of making an offering to the ancestral spirit Pusha. Ancestor worship is worship directed to deceased parents or forefathers. It is based on the belief in the existence of an immaterial part of man. The deceased is believed to have the same kindly interest in the affairs of the living as when alive and to interfere in the course of events for the welfare of the family or clan. It is believed that the pusha, pasha is able to protect his relatives, help them in war, give them success in their undertakings, and therefore demand their continued service, reverence and sacrifice. But is the worship of pusha is neglected, the spirit may bring sickness, storms, calamities, or other misfortunes upon the living family members (cf. Go 1985:22). G. K. Nang argues that Zo people do not worship ancestors or the spirit of the dead (1994:2). He is right because the word worship is a wrong word to use here. It should be rather appropriate to use words like paying respect and reverence to them. The problem occurs because of the term “ancestor-worship”
In the traditional religious practice Pusha is the chief spirit of all the household spirits. Pusha is made up of two words, Pu literally “grandfather” or “ancestor” and sha is likened to be Holy Spirit-like force which reinforces the weak soul of man. It is difficult to ascertain how to sacrifice to pusha had originated. What seems to be the most certain is the kind of belief that parental blessing has its root in the belief of sha (Sing Khaw Khai 1995:206). The pusha is respected and feared, it is the guardian spirit of the household. Prim Vaiphei gives the ancestral worship among the Vaiphei Zomi as:
If one member of a Vaiphei Family was sick and became thinner and thinner, they believed that this was caused by the souls of the ancestors. Therefore, they offered sacrifice to the souls of their ancestors. They killed a pig and the priest muttering his magic (charm) addressed the soul of the ancestors of the family and asked them to come and accept the offering and to give health and prosperity to the family (1981:38).
There is a danger of going to the ancestral spirits for healing and blessing after one becomes a Christian. On the other hand, there is also another danger of importing the western theology which does not address this ancestor worship. One may stop showing respect and love to his ancestors when he becomes a Christian. Zo people need to carefully study the implications of the fourth commandment (Exodus 20:12). As long as it is reverence and remembrance to one’s ancestors and it is done as an extension of love and respect to them, there should not be a contradiction with Christianity. The danger of not giving due respect and recognition can result in being disloyal to one’s own family. In 1928, a prominent Protestant leader Motoda commented on the practice of removing the tablets of departed ancestors from the Christian homes in Japan. He gives this poignant remark:
That in this respect Christians seem to be behaving very badly toward the departed members of the family. They have lost interest in and become disloyal to the old religious traditions of the family. For this our Japanese Christians are often criticized and even attacked, not so much in the religious sense as in the moral sense (1928:87).
It will be unwise to denounce everything just for the sake of denouncing and lose some of the culture which is not necessarily contrary to Biblical teachings. Christians should honor and respect deceased ancestors in the Biblical ways, and also in the Zomi ways, without violating the Ten Commandments. They should not make sacrifice to the ancestors, pray to them or place food for them. But they can thank God for their ancestors and speak about their stories. Today, in Zo inhabited areas, memorial stones are erected having a Christian service and Zo Christians should contextualize this ancestor worship as culturally relevant and Biblically sound.
Meal and drink offerings are the customary libations when eating food or drink, especially when on a journey. There is an assumption that the malevolent spirits and the “evil eye” persons are watching them eating. If a little portion of the food or the drink is not offered first, some bad things can happen to them. From my observation and research, I make this conclusion:
The Zomis (Chins) are religious people, because of the constant awareness that they are surrounded by the multitude of spirits, in any action they try to please the unseen forces. On the road, a banana leaf serves as a plate and table cloth. The Zomis are religious and do not take food until they have thrown some of the food behind their backs for the spirits saying “kau ciah aw” meaning “go away spirit”. If a dog picks up that which has been given to the spirits, it is none of their concern as long as they have done their duty (Ngul Khan Pau 1985:19).
Thanksgiving sacrifice to ancestors and the verandah spirit and festivals are arranged in appreciation of some success or a prosperous harvest. In the Zo tradition the grandmother (spirit) of the two brothers Liando and Thangho blessed them and entered inside the mortal saying, “Give me sacrifice yearly”. As such is offered once in a year. It is a thanksgiving act and a request for continued blessing. The most common feast of harvest is called Khuado in Tedim, Faanger in Falam, Dawngpui in Lungbang, Tho in Haka and Thantlang, Pum in Mindat and Kanpalet, and Cangyum in Matupi. The reason of this celebration is summed up by Cung Lian Hup in this way:
From the very moment that the Chin begin to cultivate the land until they reap the crops, the Chins worry about the weather and animals which they could not control. Their anxiety was greatly when they finally harvested the crops richly. The relief from their anxiety resulted in a feast which eventually became a Khua Do Pawi, a feast that they celebrated regularly after the harvest (1993:67, 68).
Siampi (the priest) is an important person for Zo people. In the absence of other persons, he will perform all rites for the individual and the community. He is the medicine man, the fortune teller, and the magician. He is the mandated mediator between the unseen beings and the people. He may be involved in the bargaining table with the spirit who attacked someone, and his function there is manipulative. He also will prescribe a solution to the problem and help in performing the solution. Wati Longchar writes concerning the duties of the priest among the hill people of North-East India.
The priests are the chief intermediary between God and human. They are consulted on all important matters and occasions, private and communal, social and religious. They are also consulted whenever a negotiation for marriage is initiated from any side, while building a new home, etc. The priests act as a medium between the people and their gods, deities and spirits. Their main tasks are to offer sacrifices at all the festivals and other important occasions in tribal social and individual life (1991:86).
Some of the duties of the priests are as follows:
Naming the child
Offering sacrifices.
Administering festivals.
Conducting marriage ceremonies.
Healing the sick.
Dedicating a new house.
Selecting the area for cultivation.
Disposing of a dead body. Often by virtue of his role and status, the priest is also a medicine man and a diviner.
Important Persons and Practices in relation to Zo Religion
Medicine man: The medicine could be the local priest or one of the leaders of the village. Sometime the priest would claim to have the revelation not only the cause of the sickness but also the cure as well. He is the specialist in the use of herbal medicines. The task is to discover the cause and cure the disease or any misfortune falling upon his or her client, and act as intermediary between human and invisible spirits who are supposed to be authors of all kinds of human miseries and misfortunes. To heal the sickness, he will use herbs, plants, leaves, roots as medicine. He will diagnose the disease and heal the sickness often through the guidance of the spirits. Some go into a trance, having visions or dreams to get their skills. Some of them are diviners too.
The Diviner: All the priests and priestess are usually diviners, but all diviners are not priests or priestesses. The role of the diviner is to detect the causes of sickness, natural calamities, future events etc. Similar to functions of the priests, they appease the spirits responsible for the trouble in life by giving appropriate sacrifices. Tegenfeldt writes about one of the methods of the Kachin divination as:
Kachin divination is practiced most commonly through the use of a small bamboo (shaman), or leaf of a special plant (Shaba). The diviner holds the bamboo over the fire, calling upon the nats to reveal their will. When the joints of the bamboo burst with a loud report, the position of the fibers which are exposed is interpreted as the answer to the spirits. In the case of the leaf, it is torn along the lines of the veins, the shreds twisted haphazardly and tied. Afterwards, they are counted, and the nat’s answer is interpreted in terms of the number of shreds, and whether they are odd or even numbered (1974:49).
Two main motives controlled the diviner all through their practices among the Zomi. Firstly, securing information as to what must be done about a present problem. Problems occur such as sickness, crop failure, loss of cattle, a fire in the village, childlessness, and the presence of wild animals dangerous to the villages around. Secondly, they are seeking advice for some proposed future action. In this, people would seek advice from them about a projected journey or hunting trip, the selection of a house site, the choice of a wife for one’s own son and determining lucky or unlucky days form some special activities.
Taboo comes from the Polynesian language simply meaning “prohibition” (Douglas 1989:62). It is practiced among Zomi, meaning a forbidden activity, something that is not permitted, standing against social approval and religious traditions. Taboo objects are not to be seen, touches, heard, smell or tasted. If violated it will lead the defaulter into serious trouble. In Zo society during pre-Christianity it was taboo for a man and woman to marry from the same clan or phratry. This was relaxed after Christianity, yet among some Zomi tribes, one cannot think of marrying their blood cousin. A man can carry any girl except his sister, half-sister, mother and any woman with whom the union will amount to marriage by exchange. This taboo is called ki-saseng leh literally mean “to return of meat”. Zo people try to avoid it as far as possible.
Unnatural death such as in accident, child-birth, suicide or a person killed by wild animals is tabooed. If the person dies outside the village, the corpse will not be brought inside the village. If the crime committed within the village, the body will be removed quickly and the burial will be arranged immediately. A husband is restricted from killing animal when his wife is pregnant. He must abstain from digging or covering deep holes. Men are tabooed from weaving or husking rice as they are considered female activities. A pregnant woman is not allowed to eat twin bananas, and she is tabooed during menstruation and childbirth.
Incest is tabooed, no penalty will be spared to prevent their grievous sin, or to rectify its results. Incest includes sexual relations between mother and son, father and daughter and brother and sister. Any immoral relationship is unthinkable. The incest taboo is extended to immediate clan members as well. It is believed that those who belong to the same clan are related through blood and should avoid sexual intimacy. A violation of such act is punishable by the clans and the community. In the olden days, they will be ex-communicated from the village; they are considered as dead from their community.
Fetish. The term is derived from the Latin word factitious meaning “something that is made”. A fetish could be something like a piece of stone or other tangible inanimate object. It may be a queer-shaped stone, a black beak, a stick, a feather, a claw of beats, a bone, or a seed or any other object. The common one among all is the fetish stone. It may be found by the road, on top of a corn leaf, or in the stomach of wild animals. It is also found in the python or other rare animals. About the usage fetish Wati Longchar writes:
When such stone is found, the stone is washed carefully and held between the palms, to breathe on it. If it is good and an active fetish, then it will become moistened. But if the fetish is inactive or bad then it will not produce any moisture and will appear dry. This kind of fetish is not kept by anyone but rather disposed of very carefully so that no unfortunate person may find it. Possessing a bad fetish caused misfortune or even death to the possessor (1991:40).
The fetish can multiply or it may grow. In some cases, it even can expand like the branches of a tree. It is semi-human, possessing personality and will. Some fetishes are for luck in business, and some for success in hunting. A hunter will always carry his fetish, so they will know what kind of animals will come his way. The owner of a fetish has to oil it with lard or blood and offer sacrifices to it. It has been observed that the fetish works at night and also makes noises, especially at night. It has been observed that people who own a good fetish are never short of worldly goods. The different kinds of fetishes found among the hill people of North-East India are:
Paddy fetish
Animal fetish
Hunting fetish
Love fetish
Stealing fetish.
Omen. Whenever they are going to begin an important undertaking, such as a journey, a raid, a ceremony or a sacrifice, omens are consulted. Their function is similar to the diviner or the witchcraft. The chirping of a certain bird is ominous. If it chirps at night flying above the village, it is a sign of calamity, death and epidemic. Also, when the end of a rainbow falls on a house, it is a sign of destruction of the family or death in the family (Vaiphei 1981:43). To see a snake or monkey while travelling is a bad sign, but if one kills the animal, it is a sign that he will overcome the misfortune. The way of detecting whether it is right or wrong is to use the liver of an animal. Carey and Tuck have this record:
The most popular form of questioning what the future portends is to kill an animal and examine its liver. If the liver is congested or in any way different from what liver ought to be, it is an omen that the undertaking is unpropitious and is often abandoned; but if the undertaking is a raid or a marriage or sometimes which it would be annoying to postpone, a second animal is killed and a second liver is examined, and it does not often happen that two unfavorable livers are produced consecutively (1932:199).
Magic has been defined as a system of imaginary laws of cause and effect, supposed to operate regularly through spell and ritual, which are handed down by tradition (Presler 1971:13). It is the channel through which they could reach gods and demons. Without magic there can be no sacrifice because there is no word to reach the ear of the objects they worship. The priest is the only one who knows their magic or charm. Among Zomi magicians are called dawisiam or mitphial siam. Magic can be used for many purposes, both good and bad. T. K. Baruah shared about this practice among the Singphos tribe:
An effigy of one’s enemy is to be made out of the wood of a tree trampled by a wild elephant. A hair belonging to the intended victim is to be collected and tied on the effigy along with few pieces of red yarn. The effigy is then to be kept hanging on the branch of a big tree supposed to be inhabited by a spirit. On a Saturday night, a pair of red fowl is to be sacrificed under the tree in the name of the spirit to cause death of the person on whom the attack is aimed: 1977:160).
The Concept of Life after Death
To Zo people, death is the inevitable conclusion to man’s earthly existence. It stands between the world of human beings and the world of the spirits, between the visible and the invisible. Dying is called laitat in Tedim, it means severing of the navel cord or cord of life. When the body dies, man becomes a spirit and lives in the spirit world of the forests. If a person dies a natural death, his spirit is taken to be consent and he troubles no one. So, the tradition maintains that if a person dies a natural death, his spirit is taken to begging to the place called Misi Khua (the dead’s village). But those who die an unnatural death may become malevolent spirits and continue troubling the living. If he has been slain, his spirit will remain with his relations until his blood has been avenged in blood. Life after death takes the similar form of the body. The realm of ancestral spirits and the destination of the dead is not very clear. Sing Khaw Khai shares the traditional understanding:
The traditional belief in life after death involves that mans after death takes a spiritual form of being. The tradition pictures the existence of man after death as that of the real man in a different form. The next life of the dead is like the real man living the life of the human life; he would work, he would drink and eat, he would grow and marry, and so on (1984:137, 138).
As there is a belief that the way of living in the village of the dead is similar to this earthly life, care is taken to give implements at the burial time. Animals such as a pig, a mithun or a cow are also slaughtered on the burial day. This is known as kawsah (kuasah) in Tedim. It is believed that whatever animals are killed for the dead person will be with him in the village of the dead. Death is not annihilation; rather it is a transition. If a man is of high status in this world, he still retains his status in the next existence. Carey and Tuck gives the reason of headhunting among Zomi as:
Many southerners, like the northerners (Chin State) believe that the slain becomes the slave of the slayer in the next world and, although his death may be avenged, nothing can alter the fact that he must remain a slave. Should the slayer himself be slain, then the first slain, is the slave of the second slain, who in turn is the slave of the man which killed him (1932:196).
Headhunting thus becomes an important achievement in securing his prominent place with a slave for the next life. The blood must be revenged. If they are unsuccessful in avenging his death, the spirit will haunt and annoy them, especially at night; therefore, the relatives of the murdered, to save themselves from the spirit, must shed blood. Hminga argues that the reason behind headhunting practice among Mizo is, “To have the slain animals and men as one’s slaves and possessions in the next world must have been the prime motive behind the headhunting practice of the Mizos (1987:36). Among the Ao Naga this practice is not only the desire for having slave is the next life, it is also for social status. W. C. Smith gives further motive as follows:
The motive for head-hunting were both religious and social.it was to gain better social status rather than stemming primarily from a religious motive.... It is difficult for a headless young man to win a fair maiden, hence often times young men took vows to deprive themselves of certain pleasure until they had brought home the coveted prize (1925:72).
Besides, seeking some heads for the next world, Sangtam Nagas have the custom of killing a dog and a cock and leaving the carcasses hanging above the grave. Lanu Yanger Sangtam explains that this very practice was carried on because, “the dog will be his guide and the cock would wake him up in the morning from his sleep” (1994:77). There is another idea among Zomi which says that a person who dies an unnatural death wanders around as an ant, a bee, a flea (Vumson n.d:17, 18) similar to the Yoruba dirge which says:
He is dead,
He becomes a goat that feeds on leaves;
He is dead,
He becomes a sheep that feeds on palm-leaves;
He is dead,
He becomes a lizard that feeds along the walls (Idowu 1962:200).
Tradition calls, writes Sing Khaw Khai, that the dead are supposed to go to Misi Khua. This place is viewed as of two paths, Pusi Khua and Sasi Khua (1984:141). The former is a pleasant place, and the latter is the miserable abode of the unavenged. Good deeds and bad deeds do not affect the future of man; he must go to Pusi Khua if he dies a natural death and the unnatural will go to Sasi Khua. If his blood is avenged, then one will go to the Pusi Khua to be happy as those who died a natural death on earth.
Changes in Zomi Region
The Zomis world has been changed dramatically as a result of the Gospel. One-time spirit and demon-trodden people are now living in a new way as a result of Christianity and education as well. Today, they are aware that their traditional religion did not satisfy them. They are tired of offering series of sacrifices and living in constant fear. Rev. G. K. Nang has drawn a table of comparative elements of worship from Christian and Animist perspectives, which shows the deplorable condition of Zomi’s traditional religion:
Christianity Animism
Man’s response to God Man’s response to spirits
Prayer to God Prayer to Spirits
Confession Confession
Self-Sacrifice Animal
(Spiritual service) (Sacrifice)
Adoration Propitiation
Reverence Fear
Unity Independence (sometimes corporate)
Love Worry
Thanksgiving Ritualism
Giving Receiving
Trust Suspicion
Devotion Alienation
Remembrance
Fellowship
Praise (1994:4)
The Gospel has changes the mountains and the valleys of Zoland, and today there are churches where there was once worship of demons. Where Traditional religious pillars were erected now stand Jubilee stones which marked the coming of Christianity. In one of the newsletters of a missionary in North-East India, this wonderful transformation of the tribes was recorded thus:
The mountains that formerly echoed with blood-curdling war cries are now re-echoing the harmony of Christian hymns. Their forefathers were headhunting animists and used to sing their head-hunting chants, but they have now exchanged for the hymns of fraternal love. The children of the head-hunting people have now become the children of God (Zaithanga 1981:48).
The days of harvest still continues in Zomi inhabited areas, the rapid development both in the way of living and in the Christian life cannot be ignored. Even a Hindu writer wrote about the changes he saw among the Hill people of Manipur state:
The missionaries have succeeded in modernizing the tribal people f Manipur. Indeed, they have unlocked and opened up the closed doors of these primitive people in the light of modern education. There are now many scientists, professors of art, literature, history, sociology, commerce and economics, among the tribal Christian communities in Manipur. Two of the chief ministers of Manipur had been tribal Christians (Gori 1984:114).
Indeed, there are changes still taking place. Zo people who were once the children of darkness and living in fear are the children of God. They have no fear of the evil forces, because in Christ they are victorious (Rom 8:37). Now they are “the chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession” (1 Peter 2:9). In the midst of evil forces, they are assured that the one who is in them is greater than he who is in the world (I John 4:4). They are free from the penalty of sin, in Christ, from the power of the spirits in Christ, and they are no more “primitive”. “Pre-literate”, “filthy Zomi” but one with any other races in God’s big family.
* * *
CHAPTER 3
A CASE STUDY OF LAIPIANISM
FOUNDED BY PAU CIN HAU SEEN AS THE PREPARATION FOR THE COMING OF CHRISTIANITY
Pau Cin Hau was born at Tedim in 1859. He was brought up as an ordinary child, according to the traditional patterns of life. He tended his father’s mithuns (gayal) and goats that graze at Tedim. He freely associated with his boyhood friends. When he was old enough, he was sent to Mualbem by his parents, according to the practice of those days; to learn the tactics of war and to be able to speak the language of Teizang. In those days the “enemies did not dare to kill a captive who spoke the royal language of Teizang. When he returned from Mualbem, he helped his father in the common and normal occupation of all people, cultivation” (Vumson n.d:148). He was from a Sukte clan of the Zomi and lived in Mualbem, which is not far from Tedim.
The religious movement he led was a spontaneous response to the need of the time. He had no special training or preparation for the role he had played in the life of his people. He was directly called by Pasian (God), whose commands he obeyed and passed on to his people (Laipian Phungpi 1983:1). This movement originated about the beginning of the present century.
Historical and Religious Background
Centuries ago the Zo people, from their original habitation, moved southward into the northern part of Burma in search of a congenial homeland, and they first settled in the Chindwin Valley. After living there for a considerable period, they moved on westward through the northwestern hills of Burma. Some of them pushed farther north and west into the eastern part of what are now India and Bangladesh.
In the process of this migration, one group pushed up the Manipur River Valley and established their homes first at Luika, then at Kulpa, this place is also known as Khul, meaning cave. The exact location has been investigated and there are several opinions about its location. Some believed that it is in China, because the legendary story has a similarity with “The cave home of Peking man”. Some are saying that it is in Tibet, yet others hold the opinion that it is in Chin Hills, the place near the village called Saizang. It is the cave where they first settled after coming up from the Irrawaddy plain, because of the invasion of the Tartar and other. Mizo and Hmar called this cave Sinlung or Chhinlung (Neihsial 1988:8) From Khul they finally moved to Ciimnuai (this is supposed to be A.D. 1374 Ibid.9) which is to the south of the modern Tedim town. From this place, when they recite their emigrational route, they say:
Khul a kipiang a, Zawn a kikai hi,
Khawlkip ah kikhawl masa a;
Tete suangphuh panin,
Ciimnuai khua-ah kiteng hi.
(Ngul Za Dal 1982:3).
(Translation)
Born we all are from Khul, travelled through Zawn
Rested first at Khawlkip
From Tete erected stone
Settled down at Ciimnuai village
There is another folksong in Tedim depicting the origin of Zo people (mankind) from the cave; that is Khul in Tedim. Rev. S. T. Hau Go translated the song:
Eiteng khawlkhawm a tuam om lo
Khul a pian in kilel leng,
Tun sung khat pan piang hi ngeingei e;
Tun sung khat a piang hi ngeingei e,
Sanggam suahpih laigui zawng khawm hi ngeingei e.
(Translation)
All of us together, being aliens never,
Being born at Khul together,
Are born of a single mother;
Being born of a single mother,
We are brothers all together,
Joined by navel cord forever (Sing Khaw Khai 1995:125).
Later they dispersed from Ciimnuai in various directions. One group settled at Teizang on the outskirts of modern Mualbem, and another group settled at Kalzang, which is now within the Sihzang tract from Mualbem. One group went farther south to Mangkheng and another group went across the Manipur’s river to Bualtung and then to the Lushei Hills (Ngin Suanh 1969:122). It is from this that the tribes Paite, Thado, Sihzang, Vaiphei, Gangte, Simte, Zote and others got their different names (Neihsial 1988:9).
Any misfortunes and unwanted happening were believed to be works of the dawite (demons). Many sacrifices were given to appease them until the person was cured or restored. If a sacrifice to a particular dawi proved to be ineffective, then one dawi after another was tried, until the whole series of 68 dawis had been sacrificed. In this was an invalid often became indebted to others for life (Laipian Phungpi 1983:7). Someone composed a song that has to do with this series of sacrifices made to the dawis.
Nuai om lai aw, khuai bang hang ve cia,
Na ciin ka that hiam aw,
Si batphu lam bang nong zong hiam aw?
Lai ciin that cia, suihlung tai lah cia,
Khuamual ah minthei na lo hiam aw.
(Translation)
You, devil of the underworld, as cruel as the wasp,
Do I kill your brother, and you now seek revenge?
Your brother killed, you feel implacable;
Do you know at the monument, your song of glory sing?
Pau Cin Hau’s Vision and Teachings
While he was living a normal and healthy life, he was involved in a prophecy concerning the destruction of Tedim, which was at the zenith of its power. Pasian (God) commanded him to speak out, but nobody believed him, and he composed the following song:
Thangvan a zal Sian Za Mang aw,
Tongdam khak hem in za’ng e.
Pupa’ pat loh khua vannuai-ah,
Sian tongdam sinthu hi e.
(Translation)
Thou God of gods, reigning on high,
I heard a hint- Thy word.
Unheard, unknown in days of you’re,
God’s word prevails through all the land.
Pau Cin Hau continued to receive revelations from Pasian, but nobody believed him. He became ill and remained an invalid for 15 years. During his long illness he has communications from Pasian in the form of visions and dreams (Sawm Pau 1986/87:1). He had many visions and dreams and the origin of this religion innovation is best described in his own words:
From the year 1888 to 1902 I suffered from a long and severe illness. From the year 1900 onward in dreams and visions I received a series of communication which I hold to be divine and are the foundations both of my alphabet and my religious teaching. The first of these was in 1900 when in my dream I saw a twisted rope suspended between the heaven and the earth. Many people were trying to climb it but no one was successful. I knelt in prayer and ascended the rope as far as the thirtieth heaven, then descended to the earth and still by means of the rope, which had penetrated the ground, descended deep into the heart of the earth (Census of India & Burma, 1931:217).
He composed a song which has to do with this vision as:
Zan ciang zalmang thangvan tuang va tung tang e,
Zalu’n sumtual lum sang e.
Banzal limsun, seino gual aw,
Melmuh pian in dang sang e.
(Translation)
To heaven I went in vision clear,
And saw God’s home, how glorious!
With hand I shade my eyes from dazzling light;
The sight, oh friends, how wonderful.
Like other religious cultic founders, Pau Cin Hau saw the development of other countries through his visions. The credibility of the existence of steamships and railways is not under question, but beside in his visions and dreams, he heard about it is also possible that those things from the two parties of Chin chiefs (in 1891-92) who were taken down to Rangoon in 1982 and 1982, entertained and shown the sights that demonstrated British power. Unfortunately, their people back home refused to believe the chief’s description of what they had seen and greeted their stories with scorn. (It is surely possible to see these stories as the source of Pau Cin Hau’s vision of steamships and railroad ten years later) [Banks, 1967:49]. Let us hear from what he had to say about those things:
A year later I heard the voice of God calling me by name and commanding me to look forward to the future when many mysterious things could occur. I saw visions of railway trains, steamships and other Western inventions although I had never been away from the hills and had no knowledge that such things existed. There were visons of great battles, of stone-clad horses and horsemen. There were English, Indian and many unknown nations engaged in the struggle. I saw amongst the other things the unknown nations falling dead and disappearing from in the valleys between the hills, covered with dust and rubbish. I tried to cover my face with my hands but in spite of myself I had to continue gazing into a mirror held by an Englishman so that the vision remained in mind’s eyes for three days and three nights (Census of India & Burma 1931:217).
Command to Worship God
As often happens with other religions movements, there was a series of visions and dreams. In those visions, god asked him to worship Him by cutting down all other allegiances to his forefather’s gods. In Laipianism today it is believed that these visions were, for them special revelation of God to the prophet:
On a very wide plain there, gather’s a huge multitude of people. Then Pasian appeared from above in a dazzling rainbow-haloed light. He was riding about wherever he pleased on something shining and sparkling like the sun. Then I cried to the multitude, “Behold Pasian, let us all follow his commands” However, no one dared to look up to Him but looked down at the ground with downcast eyes. The Pasian called me, “Pau Cin Hau, the life of you, human beings, is not even comparable to that of the worm. But if you follow my holy commands you will be able to fly. Unless you obey my commands, heaven and earth will convulse into two or three lumps. Those who disobey me, I will punish”. After these words He ordered, “Worship me”. How should we worship thee? I asked, and replied, “Worship me by saying this: Pasian, the creator of heaven and earth, sun and moon; Pasian, the Creator of man and animals; Pasian, the Healer of the sick,” (Ibid 217).
Pau Cin Hau thus composed this song:
Tung thangvan ah a sangsawn ah,
Sian zuapa mel in mu’ng e.
Simlei leh thangvan kal ah e,
A bawl loh mi om lo e.
(Translation)
I saw in heav’n, highest heave’n,
The face of Father Pasian
Between heaven and earth below,
There’s none ha had not made.
His vision to bow down only to Pasian led him to abolish the ancient fears such as dawis (demons), pusa dawi (ancestors’ spirit) and to stop sacrificing for appeasement. Then, he had this vision from god commanding him to only worship Him:
Once in a vision Pasian appeared to me and commanded, “Pau Cin Hau starting from now until eight years are completed, abstain from taking the life of living things from the smallest ants and flies, rats and birds, to the biggest beasts.” As Pasian commanded I scrupulously abstained from taking life, whereas they have been persecuting and killing human beings. Therefore, from this day on which I command you, you must cease to sacrifice meat and drinks to the dawis”. From that day, you must cease to sacrifices of meat and drinks to the dawis, from the most feared Pusa dawi (ancestral spirit) to the lesser dawis, were abolished (Laipian Phungpi 1983:15).
He composed this song in response to the command of God, to cut down all those sacrificial systems for appeasements to demons who troubled Zo people from time immemorial:
Sianmang in tongdam hong khak e,
Zin tawh na khen in ci e.
Pupa khan a lung a gimna,
Sian in lenpuan bang pai e.
(Translation)
Almighty Pasian, He sent me word,
Be set apart from dawi (Spirit)
The bane of man from ancient times,
Pasian now cats off like rag.
Invention of Writing System
In addition to God asking Pau Cin Hau to abolish all those sacrifices and worship of demons and ancestral spirits, He also gave him the invention of the writing system. Zo people never admitted that they were illiterate or primitive because they claimed that at one time they were civilized and had literature. Herbert Wherly has this interesting story to tell:
According to a folk story the Chin possessed a leather book which they carried up from Kalaymyo to Chin Hills. That book being leather was eaten up by a hungry dog. Thus they lost their script. In olden days their ancestors erected stones or wooden posts on which the numbers of animals or enemies killed or captured and the amount of wealth possessed were drawn in pictorial designs, some of which can be seen till today (1960: n.p).
Through this claim of having a system of writing was there, it is not known whether there was a script, which can be used in communication, or whether it was pictures and symbols only. The significant thing that happened to Pau Cin Hau was that he got his system of writing through a vision from god. This is what he had to say about how he got it:
During fifteen years of illness at Lailui, he saw a visions of God coming down from heaven and commanded, “Pau Cin Hau learn Lai (i.e. reading and writing)” and Pasian held a book at his hand. Pasian then took some pebbles, and He put them together and separated them again in turn, in certain fashion. Pasian then asked him, “Can you do like this?” and he answered, “I can”. Then he did as God had done, and was able to do as He had done (Sawm Pau 1986/87:4).
After the vision, Pau Cin Hau had to work on forming those characters into a usable style. He also revised and revised it. The last revision was completed in 1931. The new alphabet, after the series of revisions, consists of 21 consonants. It is maintained that the Zomi language sounds can properly be represented in these characters but not in the Roman characters (Census of India, 1931 1: n.p). He struggled taking pains to put down what he saw in a readable system, and that effort resulted in an invention of writing. That is why he was called Laipianpa, “Script creator” or “founder of writing”. Sawm Pau had this to say about the new writing system:
After this vision there arose in his mind a great desire to learn how to write. This desire occupied his mind day and night, and was contemplating about it continually. Finally, a system of sounds spontaneously flowed, as it were, out of his mind, he formed a symbol to represent each sound. Thus his writing on scripts came into being. There are about 1050 basic characters each representing a sound. To each basic character may be added two to five additional marks to represent long and short, ascending and descending sounds. These additional marks are called dawng tawi. In this way, he symbolized and all the sounds and words of the language. According to the sounds arrangements were made in mnemonics poetic lines and these lines were in turn grouped into six divisions or books, namely (1) The I book (2) The Min Book (3) The Dongleeng Book (4) The Lunsia Book (5) The Thatuk Book and (6) The Thuamzong book (1986/87:5).
The invention of writing gave him the ability to put his visions, dreams and exorcism in writing. The following songs, composed by Pau Ciin Hau, reflect how people view this new system of writing:
Seino pak thel bang kitawi e,
Banzal kaih sinthu hi e.
Thangvan a zal Sian lunmang aw,
Tatna lam bang tangsak aw.
(Translation)
With great delight and ardent zeal,
The people hail and hold like flower.
My hands’ creation fair,
Thou who rules in heaven high,
Guide us along Thy faultless way.
His 15 years of long sickness led him to Ngennung area, where there was an altar, He renounced any sacrifices to demons and prayed a prayer to Pasian. He was healed at once. His religious movement was starts by this experience of healing.
His Ministry
His early ministry centered on three areas, namely: 1. Healing ministry 2. Exorcism, and 3. Teaching the people to worship God and teaching the invented writing. His immediate followers were those who were healed when he prayed to Pasian. Pum Khan Thang shared this:
People were greatly surprise at his sudden healing. Other invalids asked him how he got well. For these other invalids he prayed as he did for himself, and they also became well again, namely Khai Za Deng, Vum Khaw Thang, Hen Dam, and Lian Zuan, and they become his first followers. They were very zealous about Pau Cin Hau’s teaching as Pasian commanded him, and they also eagerly learned the newly invented writing. His teaching and writing became very popular, he had a very fruitful ministry and there was a great increase in disciples (n.d:9).
The second area of his concentration is in exorcism. Zo people always lives with fear; because any sickness was considered the work of demons or ancestral spirits. His visionary experience gave him the courage to combat the old method of casting away the oppressive forces. He describes this work and how he challenged the old ways with his new religion in this way:
Our Chin ancestors worshipped various kinds of nats such as House Nat, forest Nat, Water Nat etc., altogether fifty-four in number. Those who have believed and wished to enter my religion came from far distant villages and invited me to visit them. Together with a little band of disciples I made it my custom to accept their invitation and on entering a house or village after praying to God would destroy completely the articles used for making sacrifices to the Nats and whereas sufferer had previously, like myself, had to pay large sums for such sacrifices our only charge was a nominal sum to cover travelling expenses. Sometimes it seems as though some of my hastier or unintelligent followers were themselves possessed by demons after such visits but after praying to God they speedily became normal again (Census of India & Burma, 1931:217).
Casting away those nats was not easy. There were some who continued to retain some powerful nats for fear of displeasing them, and they suffered the consequences. He had to give warning to them that such practice was not the will of God. As the powerful hand of British was coming upon Chin Hills (Zo land), people were looking for change or something to depend on. Some of the effects of Pau Cin Hau’s social reforms were as follows:
One wholesome effect of my teaching is that where formerly many who had nothing went into debt to obtain sacrificial offerings and so could neither afford to buy food nor pay taxes, my followers being free from such expenses are in much better circumstances. Among other results I should mention that the old custom of the Chins of retaining a corpse in the house for many days, until it sank and bred corruption and disease, has now been abolished amongst villages which accept my teaching. Another old custom of the Chins was that of attempting to discover the particular nat which caused an illness by feeling the pulse or reading the countenance of the sick person. The nat when discovered was propitiated and petitioned. We now pray to the One God (Ibid: 217).
He also composed this song in celebration of his triumph over those demonic forces:
Pupa lunglelh zinleng hi e,
I phamna zatam sang e,
Phamna zatam ham bang nil ing,
Kei bang keek mi om lo e.
(Translation)
Our fathers couldn’t withstand,
Against the devils’ might,
Who claimed many a life.
The cause of all disease and death,
Away with have I done,
And there’s none quite like me.
(Laipian Phungpi 1983:23).
Zo people have the concept that a soul of a person can wander, which makes them easy prey for demons, and that can result in illness of death. To bring back a wandering spirit, the sacrifice of an animal is required. Instead of fearing the magical power of witchcraft or sorcery they turned themselves to the One god, and the belief that the individual spirit can wander was discarded. The Zo people had many festivals, but they retained only the Festival of the Separation of the year (New Year Festival), which is called the Festival of God. At the initial stage, whoever wanted to adopt this religion had to pay Rs. 3 as initiation fees. This money was not taken by Pau Cin Hau but was spent by the person who converted the household. No other payment is made. On New Year’s Day, a collection is made in his “churches”. This money is spent on a big feast. In the churches, they keep earthen ware pots. People who are ill go and pray into these pots and ask for divine help. If a person is unable to go as far as the church, he may do so in his house or some other people may do so on his or her behalf. During the service a glass of zu (rice beer) is handed around to those present. This is said to be the outward sign of thanks to God for the food and drink given.
They also have men known as Palik (policemen) and they also act as khutdompa (men who feel the pulse of sick persons) these men have, as part of their uniform a red head dress. They number between three to six in a village and they also have a commissioned officer among them. As long as the Palik wear the red head dress, there can be no attack from demons, but once they remove it, they are liable to be under attack at any moment. Whenever a person falls ill, the ordinary policeman is sent first. If that doesn’t bring any relief, the next higher rank is calls in and so on until the patient recovers or dies. In 1931 the number of followers of Pau Cin Hau in Chin Hills District was estimated by a government official at 35,700 distributed as follows: Tedim subdivision 26,000; Falam Subdivision, 9700; and an undetermined but probably small number on the Indian side (Banks 1967:40). In 1960 there were 40, 0000 followers of Laipianism. The new religious movement is not making progress without opposition and scorn from others. Pau Cin Hau was strong in his conviction and he refused to give up his new religion. He composed this song explaining the difficulty as:
Sianmang sinthu ka ngaih manin,
Phung tawh laukha hual maw’ng e
Ka pham zong-a tung thangvan ah
Sian ang ah zal ding hi’ing e.
(Translation)
For my unwavering faith in Pasian
With kith and kin, I can’t accord.
I mind not this, for when I die,
In Persians’ bosom in heav’n Ill lie.
Zalun sawlsang kiheek ing e,
Khang gawl bang khak tam tah e.
Simlei thangvan Sianmang awi-in,
Zing dai bang nawk zal ing e.
(Translation)
The conduct of my life is led,
By word of Pasian the Almighty,
Many the bars placed in my way.
By will of God of heaven and earth,
I tread down all the encroaching grass.
(Laipian Phungpi 1983:20ff).
His organization was well-structured. He was given an honorary title of LAIPIANPA (the Script-creator). He passed away on December 28, 1948, at the age of 89. The Laipianism is also known as Beeltung Muut Pawl, which simply means blowing inside a pot, because the leaders will put their heads inside pots and pray. In the 60s, there were 150,000 adherents recorded. According to Stevenson, almost the entire Zanniat tribe and about 27 % of the Falam had been concerted to Laipian by 19836 (1943:162).
The Similarities and Differences with Christian Traditions
The most significant issue with Laipianism is the abolishment of the age-long fear of demons and ancestral spirits, and the call to monotheistic worship of Pasian.
Pau Cin Hau was aware that there were some Mizos who became Christians. He and Hen Dam participated in the Salvation Army Conference at Champhai, Mizoram (then Lushai Hills) in 1905. The following year, in 1906 Hen Dam, Zen Khual and Pau Cin Hau again fellowshipped with the Christians in their Annual Conference at Kawlkulh. It is quite possible that he took the following practices from Christian Tradition to Laipianism:
Observing Sunday as the day of worship and rest.
Praying for sick people by laying hands on them.
Praying and casting out demons in God’s name.
The celebration of drinking tuisiang.
Construction of Sangbuk (similar to Church) and
Having the membership record.
Apart from those listed above, there are many similarities between Laipianism and Christianity. One such case is their “Foundational Laws” as compared to “Ten Commandments” of the Old Testament. Let us compare these side by side:
Ten Commandments Laipianism
You shall have no other gods before me I am your Lord God who make and protect you, I am the one who gave you Lai(scripts) you should not worship
Any other gods but me alone.
You shall not make for yourself an idol ?
You shall not take the name of the Lord Without paying respect you
God in vain should not boast.
Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy On my Hold days, you shall always
make remembrance of me.
Honour your father and your mother. You should honor your mother and
Father and those who have authority
Over you.
You shall not murder. You should not take human life.
You shall not commit adultery. You should not commit sexual
Immorality.
You should not steal. Do not join those who steal and
destroy other property.
You shall not bear false witness against You shall not stand for false your neighbor. witness.
You shall not covet You should not have a covetous and
Jealous heart
(New American Standard Bible 1984) (Naupang Pattahna Thubu 1977, Ex 20:3-17).
Some of the differences have to do with Laipianism understanding and the biblical teaching about salvation. There is no problem with issues like the existence of God, the place of heaven and hell, resistance of the Evil one and his forces. But two of the most significantly different areas are the concepts of sin and salvation. Banks is of the opinion that Pau Cin Hau had a secondary exposure to Christian influence, though he did not participate in any services or head sermons. His religion came out as a conjunction and the absence of Jesus, the cross, the Bible and baptism are significant (1967:51). The concept of sin is “disobeying those words (through visions) given by Lord God by speaking, thinking and by behavior”. They also have big and small sin. The definition of big sin is, “Fully knowing the percepts and commandments of Lord God, sin committed with mind and heart is known as big sin” The result of big sin is that the person “will not inherit God’s place heaven and will go to the evil demon’s place”.
Not participating or committing one’s mind and heart with the precepts and commandments of the lord God is small sin. The result of small sin is that “it reduces the chance of inheriting God’s place heaven’. The origin of sin is” (1) the sin of forefathers, which is lineage sin (2). Though knowing the word of the Lord God but ignoring it and following the deception from demons and (3) our own committed act of sin, which is big or small” (Naupang Pattahna Thubu 1984:14-15).
The teaching of salvation is, “supplication and crying to the Lord God with respect is salvation” Pasian paaina in hotkhiatna hi, literally means, “worship of God is salvation”. Tuisiang in hotkhiatna hi means “the hold water is salvation”. Upate in “Topa Pasian paaina leh tuisiang tawh, a cimawh a genthei thuzui mite a honkhia ding uh hi, means “the leaders through worship of Lord God and by using the holy water will deliver the poor and the needy” (Lampi Nam Li 1993:6-7).
The two things which are distinctly spells out are worship of Lord God and the celebration of the holy water. There is no concept of substitutionary element with regard to salvation. It is still like living in the realm of dos and don’ts, or like living under the Sinai Laws in the Old Testament. It is, in absence, legalistic and appears to be man’s effort to keep Pasian’s commandments in order to go to His place. Jesus Christ and the Bible did not have place in Laipianism as they have the understanding that “Jesus is for the Westerners, Pau Cin Hau is for Zo people.”
Preparation of the Soil for the Gospel Seen
Pau Cin Hau and his religion came into Zo people at the time of need for change and the desire for better living. There were age-long bondages, like pusha-pasha (ancestral spirits), the unending sacrifices and appeasement to the demons, sickness and dealing and a lack of a system of writing. Because Pau Cin Hau’s religion dealt with the felt need of those days, and growth was amazingly significant. Rev. G. K. Nang writes:
Pau Cin Hau holds a significant place in the realm of Zomi religion. He was the first to renounce the practice of animal sacrifice to evil spirits. The purpose of the sacrifice was to receive physical wellbeing. When Pau Cin Hau preached the message of healing from god by prayer, it was a “good news” which appeal to the hearts of the Zomis (1990:22).
His reform of the social customs, belief systems that were impoverishing the people, and a call to one God are significant in Zo history. Robert Johnson mentions this in his book, History of the American Baptist Chin Mission:
It seems obvious that many of Pau Cin Hau’s reforms were an improvement over the old animistic customs. His followers were free from the fear of evil spirits and the expensive and constant sacrificial system which was a major cause of the poverty of the Chins. The unsanitary and even dangerous custom of retaining corpses in the home for long periods of time was rejected. He taught against drunkenness (1988:397).
The prohibition of drinking seemed to be more theory than practice, since the Laipianism members do not have restrictions about drinking in the history of their movement. In fact, this practice may be one factor that keeps them away from accepting Christ, and being His followers. Johnson has this to say:
What has prevented the followers of Pau Cin Hau from coming en masse to the fullness of the Christian faith? Very probably it is the strong prohibition of drinking alcoholic beverages in any shape or form that is the barrier. Too many of the Chins have found this a difficulty and are unwilling to give up their liquor (Ibid :401).
There is no doubt about the reality of those visions and communications with Pasian, because the movement did not spring up just because Pau Cin Hau wanted to have a religion. He was under pressure from the One who gave those visions. It may be seen today as the preparation of the Lord for the coming of the Gospel. Similar Visions and communications with the Supreme One took place in Mizoram, Myanmar and in Africa, before the Gospel had ever reached their soils. God does reveal Himself to different nations, yet the fullness of His revelation is in Jesus Christ. The Africans have their own prophets, who also make significant social change. One record states:
The majority of the prophets who rose up and who continue to rise up in Black Africa to save their people or their entire race have confronted the major problem of sorcery. If large multitudes follow them, it is in the hope of finding relief from this unbearable burden. In one degree or another, all modern religious movement in Africa are movements aimed against sorcery (Bureau 1967:476).
Our kin tribes, the Karen have prophets who also have the same understanding as Pau Cin Hau. They even composed songs related to the only one God. Don Richardson has the following to share about the Karen:
Karen prophets actually taught their people hymns passed down from generation to generation. Verbal hymns to Y’wa reveal how astonishingly clear the concept of the true God can be in a folk religion. By means of these hymns, awe and reverence for Y’wa, the true God, were kept alive in the heart of Karen people so that they would not lapse into Buddhism with its idolatry (1981:77).
Another similarity to Pau Cin Hau’s visions is God revealing Himself as the creator. The Karen also knew about God who is the creator before any contact had been made by Christians. Another one of their folk songs says:
Who created the world in the beginning?
Y’wa created the world in the beginning!
Y’wa appointed everything.
Y’wa is unsearchable!
The omnipotent is Y’wa; him have we not believes.
Y’wa created men anciently;
He had a perfect knowledge of all things!
Y’wa created men at the beginning;
He knows all things to the present time!
O my children and grandchildren!
The earth is the treading place of the feet of Y’wa.
And heaven is the place where He sits.
He sees all things, and we are manifest to him (Ibid: 78).
Mizo’s, too, had several prophets who heard the voice of God as the preparation for the coming of Gospel. Today, they’re one of the leading states in literacy and development, and it has the highest percentage of Christians in the whole country of India. Hminga states that Darphawka had a prophetic and highly influential dream some time during the 19th century. This is the story of Darphawka:
In the night a voice spoke to him saying: A great light will come from the west and shine upon Mizoland: follow the light, for the people who bring it will be the ruling race...This light may not shine in my life time, but when it comes, follow it – follow it (1987:44).
There is no doubt that Laipianism does not appear to be distinctly different from the non-Christian ways of living. The reformation was done within the culture, and the followers were inside the traditional culture. This cultural retention may be very acceptable for Zo people, even today the total number adhering to this religion is 15,345 (Laipian Pau Cin Hau and his religion 1993:16). Rev G. K. Nang has the same opinion:
Because Pau Cin Hau adapted the traditional form of religious practice, his religion spread among the northern Zo people like wild fire. Pau Cin Hau retained several aspects of Zomi religion: the term Palikte for evangelist, prayer was substituted for the offering animals to the spirits, and so on. Social customs such as the drinking zu, dancing and singing in the traditional form was retains. Western hymns are not used even today (1990:24).
The Christians pray to Pasian in the name of Jesus Christ while Laipianism pray to Pasian in the name of Pau Cin Hau because of their freedom to drink zu, and continue traditional singing and dancing, they are considered as non-Christian, primarily because of their cultural adaptions. This cultural adaptability and conversion without destroying the cultural barriers proved to be effective in the spreading of Laipianism.
Zo people have the desire to think like Zomi, worship the Lord like Zomi, sing like Zomi and live like Zomi. Thus Laipianism caught on among the Zo people like a wild fire because it met the felt needs and was culturally acceptable. If the God who revealed Himself to Pau Cin Hau is the same God Jehovah, then Zo people have greater advantage in understanding Him than other tribes who have not had any such revelation of God. The spiritual quest of Zo people is fulfilled in Christ Jesus. Pau Cin Hau was used by the Almighty God to prepare the minds and the hearts of Zomi for the coming of the Gospel. He was like the John Baptist who prepared the way for the coming of the Messiah. Kato shares about the similar situation in Africa:
African religion reflects God’s witness among African peoples through ages. It has been a valuable and indispensables lamp on the spiritual path... It is a crucial stepping stone towards that ultimate light (the Gospel). As Christianity develops in our continent, answering African needs and being firmly rooted in our culture, it will derive great benefits from the work already done by African religion. The gospel has come to fulfill and complete African religiosity (1976:155).
The call to worship only Pasian, the abandonment of all the sacrifices and the casting out of demons are the preparation of the soil to turn to the one true God. The spiritual lamp did shine through Pau Cin Hau, but the complete story came when the Gospel was explained in its fullness in Christ Jesus. Christ the Lord God must be the One who revealed Himself to Pau Cin Hau, because He has said that he who has seen Him seen the Father, and “believe Me that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me (John 14:9, 11).
* * *
CHAPTER 4
THE COMING OF CHRISTIANITY TO THE WORLD OF ZOMI
When we trace the history of Christianity to the Zo people, we cannot ignore the heroic attempts of dedicated men and women of God. Many of them gave their lives and the memorial stones of their lives still speak to us today. The earliest attempt at Protestant missionary work in Burma was at Rangoon, where Messrs. Chater and Mardon, of the Baptist Missionary Society of England, opened a mission in 1807. Felix Carey, son of William Carey, came soon after Chater and Mardon, remaining until 1814. The London Missionary Society sent two missionaries to Rangoon in 1808, but within a year one died and the other left (Warburton 1908:310).
Adoniram Judson and his wife, who originally came in order to work in India, were not permitted by the East Indian Company. They sailed to Rangoon on the suggestion of William Carey; and arrived there on July 13, 1813 (Wa 1963:4). Judson was the outstanding Protestant Missionary to Burma. While he was a student of Andover Theological Seminary, he and his friends brought a petition from the theological students of Andover Theological Seminary to the American Board of Commission in order to bring the Foreign Mission into being (Latourette, Vol 6: 226). Later, he himself was the first missionary sent abroad by that society.
The First Missionary Couple to Chin Hills
Arthur E. Carson reached Rangoon on December 13, 1886 and was married to Laura L. Hardin just five days later. The marriage took place in Bassein at the Sgaw Karen mission Compound. They were the first American Baptist missionary couple assigned to work among the Zomi. On February 2, 1899, they left Thayetmyo, their mission station and headquarters for eight years, for Chin Hills, where no mission work had even been done. They arrived at Haka on March 15, 1899, six weeks after setting out from Thayetmyo. While in Thayetmyo they had several converts and besides the Carsons, “there were 18 unordained native preachers, one ordained native preacher, nine churches, 205 members and 47 baptized members” (Johnson 1988:11).
On the night Arthur and Laura Carson arrived at Haka, Laura Carson wept bitterly, “not more because of my disappointment in the place and the people than for my own ability to meet the situation bravely” (Carson 1927:163). “Arthur, I can’t do it! I simply can’t do it! How can I possibly stay here for a life time?” she tearfully asked. Arthur told her, “Don’t talk that way. Things will look brighter in the morning” (Ibid 163). Then Laura remembered their motto: “I can do all things through Christ who strengthened me” (Phil 4:13). With that motto, they went to bed and rose the next morning, determined to give their lives for Christ to win the wild tribes.
Some More Harvesters Added
Although the Carsons were first to come over to the Chin Hills and truly laid the foundation to run the missionary enterprise, the Zo people were badly in need of medical missionaries. In answer to that need, Dr. E. H. East arrived on March 21, 1902 and made an extensive tour throughout the length and breadth of Chin Hills. Appointed as a medical missionary by the American Baptist Union on June 3, 1901, Dr. East recorded his arrival at Haka with the commitment for His Master:
After obtaining a horse I left Pioneer Camp 6 A.M. Friday March 21, 1902. It was up hill for short distance but by 8 O’clock we came to an open place where I could see Haka, my destination – and I got sight of what I thought to be little mission house tucked away under a hill and surrounded with pink and red Rhododendrons...the sight made my heart beat faster and I nudge my horse to go faster and faster. Finally, I told him in good English “you slow poke”. After four hours I saw a white man carrying a long staff as a canoe coming towards me and I said to myself, “That must be him that must be Carson”. As I came closer to him I waved my toper and he returned the slaughter and now I could see that he smiled with tears in his eyes he said, “Welcome” I said to myself, so this Haka, Chin Hills, Burma? It has taken from December 11, 1901 to this date March 21, 1902 to reach you, the land of my dreams, with hope of a useful life. I have not come to find gold but I have come to find jewels for my Master’s crown. Saviour of Mankind I consecrated myself anew, hold me in the hollow of Thy hand (East n.d.23).
After two months in Haka, Dr. East had to return to America for an appendectomy on June 24, 1902. He returned to Haka on December 28, 1903 with his new bride, the former Emily Johnson. They were married on August 5, 1903 (Johnson 1988:79-94). Dr. East’s evangelistic tours to the Tedim, Falam and Haka areas were enhanced by his medical skill and treatment of the villagers. According to Robert Johnson, he treated 2,903 new patients and personally gave 4,000 treatments in 1906 (Ibid 138). However, because of his ill health, East’s tenure was but short. He reluctantly left Chin Hills on October 3, 1910 (Nang 1990:29). Arthur Carson had died in April 1, 1908 and Dr. East buried him beneath the pine trees at Haka.
Mrs. Laura Carson stayed at Haka after her husband died to look after the mission station and to teach the Bible Class she organized. Then Mr. & Mrs. J. H. Cope arrived in Haka on December 21, 1908. Their goal was to establish a mission center at Tedim, but the untimely death of Carson held them back at Haka for two full years. Before they opened a new mission station at Tedim, Dr. Cope learned the Haka (Lai) dialect very well, which helped him greatly in the publication of literature for school and churches in the Chin Hills. On September 29, 1910, the Copes started moving to Tedim.
In addition to learning the three major dialects of the Zomi i.e., Haka, Falam and Tedim, Cope’s touring among the villager was regarded as remarkable since no transportation was available at that time, and the steep and rough paths made the trips even more exhausting to him. Johnson reports that “besides continual touring he managed to translate and publish the New Testament and the Hymnal in the language of Tedim in 1936 (1963:390). He wrote no fewer than 35 small text books in several dialects for the schools.
In 1924, the Deputy Commissioner of the Chin Hills, Mr. Burne, offered Herbert Cope the position of Honorary Inspector of Schools. He was given a generous travel allowance (About 700 rupees per year) to enable him visit all the schools. As he was an untiring traveler, sometimes staying on tour for three months at a stretch away from home, he had a fair income from this government source and with that money he published a newspaper in Tedim for a dozen years. Except for a temporary transfer to Haka and furloughs to the United States, the Cope family was stationed in Tedim until he died on June 11, 1938, a trip to a conference with the Lakher Pioneer Mission of India (Cung Lian Hup 1993:85).
The second medical missionary couple, Dr. & Mrs. John G. Woodin, arrived at Haka on November 3, 1910. They laid the foundation for the medical work for the next 40 years. They gave themselves to the medical hospital at Haka wholeheartedly. However, after five years, they left Chin Hills because they were unable to adjust to the high altitude. Unfortunately, there is no proper record about the Woodin’s years in Burma. The record is indeed scanty, it is a pity and we are sorry that the ministry of John and Bessie Woodin among the Chins has to be largely unreported” (1988:320).
Dr. Chester U. Strait married Florence Talbot on July 31, 1920. They arrived at Haka on April 5, 1926, with their two children, Betty and David. In addition to his tours and evangelistic work, Rev. Strait was deeply concerned for the living standard of the Chins (Ibid, 518). He introduced new ideas about raising sheep, making soap and growing tea and coffee in the Chin Hills. He also encouraged the Zomis to experiment with growing paddy rice in the river bottom where land is level enough for growing. Rev. Strait opened the Chin Hills Bible School at Haka on May 1, 1928 with 13 students. All these students finished translating the New Testament in Haka dialect, which was published by the Mission Press in Rangoon in 1940.
Rev. Franklin O. Nelson married Phileda Ogren on June 7, 1939. They arrived at their destination at Tedim, Chin Hills on December 2, 1939. Rev. Nelson and Rev. S. T. Hau Go, a Zomi graduate from the United States with an M.R.E. degree, started a Bible School at Tedim in 1947. He made many evangelistic tours and helped in forming leaders among the established churches. His outstanding contribution was the Tedim Bible School. They left Tedim because of the sickness of Phileda on February 23, 1951, and could not return because their re-entry visa was turned down by the government.
The last couple serving among the Zomis in Chin Hills were Rev. Robert and Elizabeth Johnson. Robert Johnson married Elizabeth L. Kortum on May 21, 1941. They have been appointed as missionaries to Burma on May 30, 1946, and moved to Haka on February 7, 1947. After the Nelsons left for the states, the Johnsons were the only American Baptist missionaries to the Chin Hills until 1966, when the socialist government expelled all the foreign missionaries from Burma. Apart from his teaching in the Bible school at Haka, Johnson was involved in the translation work of the Haka Bible and hymnals in “tonic solfa” notation. Though they were able to stay among the Zo people, the Johnson’s unstinting love and devotion will be remembered. When the time came for the Johnsons to bid farewell, it was not easy for them or for the local people. He writes the parting scene as follows:
There was a final farewell service on a little Knoll. Some farewell songs were sung, and I gave a final short message which ended abruptly when I choked up. Then our pastor, Mang Kio, gave a prayer but he too choked with emotion and it was hard for him to finish. Then the final handshakes. It was heart–wrenching for me to say good bye forever to so many friends, not knowing what lay before them as Christians in Burma (Johnson 1988:1279).
The Zomis in Mizoram and Manipur
J. H. Lorrain and F. W. Savidge were the first missionaries to Mizoram (then called Lushai Hills) under the Arthington Aborigine Mission. They both felt called of God toward the rising of the sun. When they arrived in North-East India, they came to know that Mizoram was opened by the British government. They then begged the authorities to allow them to settle there. They were able to enter Mizoram on Boxing Day, 1893, with great joy to realize their dreams and hope had been fulfilled. They arrived at Aizawl on January 11, 1894. They trusted the Mizos implicitly and soon won their confidence by simple kindness and by medical services. Because of their loving concern and services, the Mizos conferred upon them the title “Zosap” which means “Sahib for Mizos” (Hminga 1987:49).
Christianity caught on among the Mizos like wild fire. In the 1940s, there were villages in which all people were Christians. There were even some villages founded where only Christians were allowed to dwell. In the 1951 census of India, 91% or 178,000 of 196,000 Mizos were Christians and 56,000 or 29% of them could read and write. In 1980, a special census was carried out jointly by the three major churches - the Presbyterian Church of Mizoram, the Baptist Church of Mizoram and the Independent Church of Maraland. According to that census, the Christian population of the state formed 92.52% of the total population. The non-Christian Population which formed 7.48% of the total, was divided into Hindu, Muslim, Buddhist, Sikh and animistic groups (Ibid 334). According to Johnstone, the Christian percentage in 1993 was 95 %.
The North-East India General Mission Churches (now renamed as Evangelical Congregational Churches of India) in Manipur are mostly in the south district, mainly among the Zomi tribes. In 1897, a Vaiphei Zomi young man, Lungpau by name went to Sinzawl village and there he saw a man reading a book. He was very much attracted by this and had a strong desire to learn how to read and write. Accordingly, he went to Aizawl to study with his boyhood comrade, Thangkai; Dr. Frazer and Rev. Watkin Robert gave them admission and supported them.
In 1909, a copy of St. John’s Gospel in Lushei dialect found its way into the hand of Kamkholun, the chief of Senvon village. He was so much interested in the message of the Gospel that he extended an invitation to the White missionaries to Aizawl. Dr. Frazer and Rev. Robert felt the invitation from Kamkholun of Senvon was a “Macedonian Call”. So, in March 1910, Rev. Robert set out towards Manipur, taking with him the two young Vaiphei men and some others as his porters. On March 17, 1910, on their way to Vervek village, the two young men accepted Christ as their Saviour and Lord, and became the first converts among the Zomi tribes in Manipur (Vaiphei 1981:65).
The North-East India General Mission has been effective in its evangelistic works. Churches are established among the following Zomi sub-tribes. The Paite, the Vaiphei, the Kukis, The Hmars, the Gangtes, the Zous and the Simtes. ECCI (the then NEIGM) is not affiliated with any denomination in India; they have as Presbyterian form of church structure and administration. The growth of Christianity among the Zomis in Manipur is remarkable. By 1931, there were 2,478 Christians, in 1935 it grew up to 4,856 members, by 1948 it had 15,000 and in 1960 the membership was 26,678. Today, they are the largest and most mission-oriented churches in the south district of Manipur. After seventy-five years, this church became not only a self-supported church but a missionary church with more than 127 missionaries serving in different parts of India, as well as other countries such as Bhutan, Burma and Thailand (Khaizakham 1988:4-5).
The Period of Trials and Testing
It was Dr. East who baptized the first covert in Northern Chin Hills and planted the first church at Khuasak village on February 18, 1906. With his intensive travelling from one village to another for 10 years, he underwent tremendous strain, that weakened his health. He developed a heart condition that was unbearable in a high altitude like the Chin Hills. In one of his journals he penned his situation and the contrasting love for Zomi. If he did not go back to the States for medical care, he would not last long and yet he felt the need of his presence there. So he wrote:
Today I can see Jesus sitting on the Mount of Olives, weeping over the city. In the spirit I am one with Him, for I am weeping over Haka. If I stay to die here, no good will come out of that, but if I go to live, I can help from afar and so I am choosing to seek life, rather than to die here and be silent (East b.d.146).
He went home to the States. A remarkable episode of leaving Chin Hills was included in his letter to his wife Emily, which reads like this:
I thought I would be glad to leave as I was going home, but when I saw the big crowd that had gathered to see me off, and when I saw Christians weep like little children, it almost broke my heart. They all followed me to the golf links. Then I prayed for them and oh; dear, it was awful! When I told them I will not see them again, they cried and I cried. I had no idea that the Chins had any real emotion, but I know now how Paul the Apostle felt when he said, “What are you doing, weeping and breaking my heart?” and when he told them that “they would see his face no more” (Ibid 146)
The Lord gave Rev. Herbert J. Cope a longer span of life to achieve tremendous works as a missionary from 1908 to 1938. He died on June 11, 1938 at Haka, suffering from diarrhoea and was buried beside Carson.
The Karen Missionaries Among the Zo People
Since the inception of the missionary work in Chin State, the Sgaw Karen workers from Bassein and Henzada shared the burden of reaching the Zomis. The Carsons came along with Thra San Wibon, who became an evangelist in the Haka area. Very soon afterward, Thra Swe Zan came to work at Khuasak village in the Siyin Valley, in Tedim area. He was remembered as the man who persuaded the first four converts, Thuam Hang and Pau Suan and their wives, to become Christians. Dr. East recorded the departure of Thra Shwe Zan to his mission station at Khuasak village:
On March 31, 1904, I watched Saya Shwe Zan with his baby Samuel on his back and his wife carrying food stuff on her back in a basket, started from Haka to take possession of the new field up north. Following them were two coolies who carried on their backs all that belonged to those missionaries. In my heart I wept for them! We had barely committed this brave couple into the hands of God and already were sending them to one of the most Godless places on the earth. This was the beginning of a new day in the Chin Hills (East, n.d. 29).
With Thra Shwe Zan came Thra Po Ku. He started teaching and preaching at Tedim and then at Tonzang, where Hau Cin Khup, the greatest chief of the northern area lives. Muang Gone also started a work at Laizo in Falam district. Thra Po Aye taught at Lumbang, Muang Lun at Zokhua, Muangkya at Thantlang and Thra Kyi Ghibe in the school at Haka. The Karens were hill people like the Zomis and they had better access and adaptability than the white missionaries. Their Contribution to the initial evangelism was so obvious that Dr. East made this remark about them:
Owing to the fact that Burmese had to be taught in the school, we had to engage men from the lower country and we used Karen teacher/preachers. I wish it to be known that these Karen teachers /preachers did good work and were excellent men. If I could, I would see to it that the names of Saya Shwe Zan, Saya Po Ku and others would have their names forever mentioned in the Christian records of Burma (East, n.d.166).
Dr.J.H.Cope whose main concentration was the Tedim area, made this recommendation about the contribution of the Karen workers:
We owe everything to the Karens. We do not know what we would do without them. When Mr. Carson first came up he brought three or four Karens with him and from that time on, with a few exceptions they have proven splendid men on whom one can place no end of responsibility. For a long time, they were the only evangelists here. They went out to strange village where no preparations had been made for them and where they were threatened directly. The first Chin Christians came seven days’ journey from Haka where Henzada Karen, Thra Shwe Zan, worked alone, seeing the missionaries only once a year. The Chin preachers were put under these Karens and some of our finest workers were trained by them. They learned the language, learned the ways of the people, and won their confidence. In the first literary work I did, it was the Karens who helped me.in the school work as well as have Karen headmasters, and they proved as valuable there as in the evangelistic work (Johnson 1963:388).
These Karen teachers /preachers brought a definite Christian impact on their schools and villages, and were effective evangelists as well as teachers.
The First Converts and their Witnesses
In 1904, after laboring for five years, the missionaries in Chin Hills saw the first converts to Christ. They were Pau Suan and his wife Kham Ciang, and Thuam Hang and his wife Dim Khaw Cing; both Couples were from the Siyin Valley. Dr. East noted this great joy of seeing the first converts from the wild Zomis as:
In May 1904, this work was crowned with converts chief first met us, by name Thuam Hang and his wife had gone through great struggles before they were able to forsake the Nat worship. Thuam Hang was 36 and his wife 30 years old. In May 1904 this work progressed, the second chief Pau Suan age 27 and his wife had also determined to worship the God of Heaven. In July 1904, I received a letter from Shwe Zan, he wrote to me, Dear Master, please remember one man’s name Thuam Hang, he is the chief among the three chiefs. Now he begins to believe in Jesus. We were greatly affected by this letter. Truly when this letter came from Shwe Zan, Mrs. East and I laughed and cried and shouted, “The King Glory had surely made His entrance into the Chin Hills. The bells of Heaven were ringing as the Shepherd brought the lost sheep. It was wonderful (East n.d.29).
They and their wives were baptized by Dr. East on May 11, 1905, in a natural rock-bound pool in a little stream between Khuasak and Thuklai villages. This event had impact on their fellow comrades. The second batch of converts were Lam Suan and his wife Vum Vung; Tun Lian and his wife Khup Vung; Son Tun and Thuam Tun, both single men; and Thang Ngaih, a single woman. They were baptized by Dr. East on February 1, 1906 at Khuasak.
Thus the first church was born on February 17, 1906 at Khuasak village. Saya Shwe Zan was chosen as acting pastor, Thuam Hang and Pau Suan were the deacons. Dr. East wrote about the first grand celebration of the Lord’s Supper in that very church:
Early in the morning, I got the table ready, used the best and cleanest linen I had. Dressed in the best cloth as I had as I wanted to show my Lord and Savior all the respect possible. In getting things ready my heart was deeply touched as I seemed to be very near the cross of Jesus. The table was white and the emblem of his body and blood were there. I imagined myself at His burial. I wept for joy and deep emotions. I was all alone with Christ far away from those I love and not to commemorate his death for the first time with Christians from out among the wild Chins. Eleven of them gathered in Jesus Name. Oh, ye heavens record this sight. It seemed to me neither I nor the linen were good enough. Then I cried: Lord, it is the best I have, but it is not what I would like to do in thy Honour (East, n.d.31).
The first Haka tribe convert was Shia Khaw, a school boy who worked at Dr. East’s home and on January 1, 1906, he was baptized by Rev. Arthur Carson. Thang Tsin was the first convert from Zanniat tribe and was baptized by Rev. Arthur Carson at Haka. In March 1907, the first Ngawn tribe convert in Falam area was Tsong Kham. He was also baptized in that year. The first converts from Haka areas were Thang Nawl (10 years), Saya Sang Ling in 1907, Sang Fen who was later ordained in 1926, and Nawl Tling who was the first Zomi Theological graduate.
Thawng Dai Thantlang area was able to build a church for 500 members. He was a blind man, yet led many to gain spiritual insights into the kingdom of god. Some of the early converts from Siyin, Haka and Falam areas were Saya Chawn Tur, the early Chin preacher in Haka field; Rev. Za Khup, who later became the headmaster of the primary school at Khuasak and San Cong, Piang Thang, Dar Men, Van Thluai and Lian Lut Lo.
All of them splendidly witnessed to Christ throughout their lives. Pau Suan became a preacher. He tried to abolish the unnecessary burden of the Zo cultural practice, like arranging feats in connection with marriage of funeral entailing great financial expenditures. Moreover, he sent his eldest son to Bible school. His son did not live long, but he was able to serve in the ministry for some years. As for Thuam Hang, he became a full-fledged pastor and served the Lord his whole life. A true shepherd of the flock, he visited the sick and gave guidance to the church with a firm hand in matters of discipline. Lam Suan worked for the Lord as assistant to the pastor up to his old age.
Mr. Alexander was right to describe the enthusiasm of some of the first converts working as evangelists: “the keenness of the evangelist(s) is seen as he wanders from village to village, humbling himself as becomes the disciple of the Master. Having no fixed itinerary, but staying or going as opportunity arises” (1929:70). The growth of Christianity in Mizoram was also because of the great involvement of the early converts and their enthusiasm in sharing their faith. Dr. Zairema shares that “this rapid growth was greatly due to the full participation of laymen very ordinary men and women. Every new convert felt the impelling necessity to speak about their new found religions to his friends and relatives” (1978:12). Dr. East wrote this:
Two and two into the villages. Not only that but I choose Christians to carry my kit. In that way, I had background and support as they followed the teachers and helped with the singing and giving testimony as to what God had done for them. This gave them boldness and removed their timidity and fear (East n.d. 52).
Dr. East wrote about Thuam Hang’s ministry. He had to look after several villages on Sundays and was a teacher during the week days. Christianity brought educational light along with the eternal message of salvation. This was the report given about Thuam Hang’s pastoral duties and the emphasis on team ministry:
Thuam Hang goes to Theizang tomorrow to shepherd the Christians on the east side of the mountains. He has been instructed to visit Lihang one Sunday of each month and to go to Shumpi one Sunday and to Theizang two Sundays. He has also been instructed to bring with him, one Christian man to help him, as well as for his protection. Team work is best here and one almost always stand in need of protection. Besides preaching Thuam Hang has a school for children during week days. He can teach them how to read and write (Ibid 75).
The Christians showed love and concern especially to their fellow believers. They shouldered together any event, be it a sad joyous occasion. One of the early pastors, Rev. Thang Ngin of Dolluang Village, shares about is ministry. “In 1924, when there was the construction of main road, I worked there earning Rs. 12/- I met a good number of person’s fellowshipping and witnessing to them. When I recalled, I know that I’ve witnessed to more than a thousand non-Christians” (Gin Za tuang 1959:116).
The Christians had better living conditions. In the field of education, they showed interest by sending their children to schools. They abstained from participating in the festivals which had alcoholic drink as the prime importance. They were no longer afraid of the evils spirits which once held them in captivity. They stopped telling lies, stealing, cursing and swearing. They faithfully observed the Lord’s Day by coming together and encouraging one another. They were eager to share their faith with their families, relatives and clan members. As the people were illiterate, the most effective way to present the Gospel was through personal contact. The pioneer evangelist went from house to house and from village to village. They gathered people in the streets and presented the Good News to them by all possible means (Thawng Hlei 1190:96).
Without having the content of the New Testament, one may ask what their message was, and why one should become a Christian. As most of them were illiterate, even if they had the Word of God, it would not make sense to them. The common and yet very powerful message preached by the early converts was, “Pasian thu awi un” literally meaning, “Obey the Word of God”. Thus, when a person became a Christian he or she was to believe and obey the Word of God. A few of the themes of the early preachers were:
Salvation from sickness by believing in the Lord Jesus Christ, because Zomis had to offer sacrifices to the demons in order to get health. This practice was very costly, often costing all their belongings.
One can enter into the “place of God” free, not by any human achievements or sacrifices.
By becoming a Christian, one will no longer fear the demons; there was freedom in Christ.
By becoming a Christian, one will be able to read and write.
By becoming a Christian, one will have peace of mind.
The missionaries trained the converts to share their faith. The converts were ordinary people and yet had an extra-ordinary impact in their areas. Referring to the spread of the Gospel message among the Zomis in Manipur, Rev. Khaizakham gives these insights about the strategy of the missionary:
After his visit in 1910, Watkin Roberts’s sent three students to start a permanent work at Senvawn. In 1911 a primary school was opened there. Robert’s strategy was to give the new Christians primary education and then train them to preach the gospel. It was impossible to learn all the languages of the people. The most effective way to evangelize these tribal people was to train the translator to reach their own people. He found them to be capable and trustworthy. This reflects the firm ended and integrity of the early converts (1988:10).
In the Lushai Hills, Rev. David Jones taught the youth their responsibilities in communicating their new found faith. This is the record of what he did with the youth group in early days among the Mizos:
He taught them, trained them, took them with him on his journey and when he was confident that they could be relied on, he sends them on their own to preach. Those preachers were very cautious in their attempts to draw and attract the attention of the people. They never changed their dress of the people. They ate and slept wherever they were invited and helped in the daily work just like every other Lushai (Vanlalhluna 1985:15).
Dr. Cope was aware of the impact of the early converts on the evangelization of the Zo people. There was a speedy growth as a result of the early converts who were instrumental in winning others. In his report on July 22, 1933, Dr. Cope makes this remarks about the native converts taking up the ministry with much dedication:
I am writing for the Chin paper the other day what had been accomplished in the 25 years I have been here. Here are some of them. 100 Christians increased to 2500, from the beginning of Haka language, now there are five dialects in print. A small hymn book, now four with the fifth in preparation. Then two or three schools now there are over 30, then few girls in Haka could read now they are countless. Only Burmese taught now there are four Chin dialects. Three Chin preachers now there are over 20. Then mostly Karen missionaries’ preachers, now only native preachers (east n.d.166).
The Formation of Associations
Arthur Carson called together “mustard seeds” (the first converts) for fellowship and encouragement to stand against hardships at Haka in March of 1907. When they came together they numbered 34 including five missionaries, six Karen teachers and seven candidates for baptism (Nang 1990:40). Carson mentioned 21 travelers, and this is his record of the distances from haka:
2 traveler’s walked 33 miles Lazio Village
4 traveler’s walked 55 miles Lumbang
11 travelers’ walked 100 miles Khuasak and Tedim
4 travelers’ walked 140 miles Tedim and Tonzang
8 travelers walked Haka area and Zokhua
5 missionaries (Biak Ceu 1992:19).
Zo people in Chin state often say that Zo Christianity had four corner foundations: they were Thuam Hang; Pau Suan of Khuasak Village in the Siyin Valley; Shia Khaw of Haka village and Thang Tsin of Lumbang (Falam). On March 25, 1907, the Chin Hills Baptist Association was formed. Another significant event was the ordination of the three Karen teacher-evangelists, Shwe Zan of Khuasak, Po Ku of Tonzang and San Win of Haka (Johnson 1988:146-47). On March 12, 1948, at the annual meeting of the association held at Satawm in the Falam area, a decision was made to organize three associations namely Tedim, Falam and Haka Baptist Associations with full-time secretaries (Khup Za Go 1985:23).
In September 1936, Dr. Cope listed the early Zo preachers who were probably the reason for the people movement to Christ they were:
Sian Ling
Sang Fen
Van Lo
Lal Bawng
Bawka
Lian Zam
Dam Suan
Thang Ngin
Vial Nang
Nawl Tling
Kham Khaw Kai
Leng Kham
Thang Kap
Za Ling
Tang Lien
Lal Hrim
Than Sai (Johnson 1988:578).
In 1927, the membership had increased to 1,241 and there were three ordained preachers. By 1937, the membership reached 4,000 with ten ordained and 15 unordained preachers.
The Forming of Convention
On February 5, 1952, the annual meeting of the Tedim Baptist Association was held at Laitui in the presence of Rev. E. E. Sowards, the then Secretary of the American Baptist Foreign Mission Society who was on his field visit to Burma (Khup Za Go 1985:23). Rev Sowards gave three suggestions for the future of the Zo Christian Churches in Chin State: To form a convention embracing all the Chin Baptist Christians; to run an institution that provided theological and agricultural education; and to establish a Christian hospital for the area. Of these suggestions, the first two was implemented immediately but the last one never materialized.
The Zomi Baptist Convention, Zomi being the local name of the Chins and allied tribes, was formed in 1953 with a provisional constitution and Rev. S. T. Hau Go was elected as the first General Secretary. In the following year, there was jubilee very fittingly held at Khuasak of the first converts Thuam Hang and his wife, and Pau Suan and his wife. The Zomis favored the date April 18, 1954 as the birthday of the Zomi Baptist Convention (Biak Ceu 1992:23) and the jubilee was held April 16-18.
There are 20 associations under the Zomi Baptist Convention today. Each association has been divided by the dialects rather than the geographical locations. The names of the associations are: Matu, Zotung, Haka, Falam, Tedim, Zo, Chin, Gangaw, Thantlang, Kaley Valley, Kuki Chin, Kabaw Valley, Thado, Tamu Valley, Siyin Region, Kalaymyo Zomi, Tonzang Township, Matu Association of Baptist, Hnaring, Mindat Township and Senthang Baptist Association.
Ordination of the First Zomi and Leadership
Rev. Vial Nang was the first to be ordained to the ministry of the Gospel among the Zomis in Chin Hills; the year of his ordination is not very clear. According to Johnson, it took place in the year 1923, but Rev. Vial Nang’s own record shows that the ordination was given to him on March 13, 1925 at Theizang Village. When Dr. Cope died in 1938, Rev. Vial Nang took over the mission work again when the Nelsons were deported during the Japanese war from 1942 to 46 (Nang 1990:42).
The churches in the whole took root in the soil of the Word of God, especially where the leadership was concerned. There was a willingness from the early leaders to take up the responsibility of leading the flock themselves. By 1928, it was possible to withdraw the Karen evangelists and allow the Zomi preachers and pastors to carry the whole load.
Opposition and Persecution of the Early Christians
Zomi culture is collectivist, and almost everything and anything has to be done together. So while an individual may find the Christian message very good and attractive for one to become a Christian on his own risk his life. The strong fraternity and social fabric conditioned them to remain faithful to their clan or villagers until the whole group was willing to accept Christianity. In other words, societies were so closely knit that to embrace a hitherto unknown religion amounted to treason to the societies. Therefore, opposition and persecution were a daily affair to the converts. Tsong Kham who suffered under the crutching hand of the village chief, said:
I believe the Christians religion is true. I am a Christian and shall always be one. For some time, the chief continued trying to bribe, offering more and more; but when he found it was useless he became angry and said: “I have never in my life humiliated myself as I have in dealing with you today. You will either take what I have offered and give up the worship of this foreign God or you will take the worst beating any man ever had; “Then I will take the beating”, Tsong Kham replied. “Bare your back.” The chief commanded. Tsong Kham threw off his blanket. “Put your hands on your knees,” was the next order and down went his hands to his knees. The chief called up three brutal men are med with bamboos and told them to give fifteen strokes each and to lay them on hand. The first man finished his fiendish task and the second began when Tsong Kham fell on the earth. Raising his hand, he said, “Wait a moment,” and lifting his eyes to heaven, he prayed. He asked for strength to bear the torture. He said, resuming his position with his hands on his knees, “Come on, I am ready now. There is one to beat me still” (Carson 1927:187-88).
Dr. East, who knew the hostile reaction of the non-Christian society when a person became a Christian, was concerned about the future safety of three baptismal candidates. He wrote about the courageous response from the candidates:
Before leaving the field I baptized a brother of the chief and a son of a free man and also a young man, son of a slave. These young men placed their hands upon their hearts and said, they may take all we have and drive us into the jungle and they may kill us, but Jesus will never deny or forsake (East n.d.53).
In one of his earlier writings, Dr. East recorded one incident where the young convert was about to be baptized when the enemies of the Gospel murdered him. The name of the unknown young convert does not appear in the history of Zo Christianity, yet heaven has his name in the Book of Life. The diary of Dr. East has this story to tell:
As I made my way over this bridge this morning, I remembered a tragedy that took place here early in our work. I looked to see if I could see the bloody marks of the great boulders that marked the place where one of our handsome young and hopeful covert was foully and treacherously murdered by the henchmen of the Thuklai chief. This young man had accepted Christ and was waiting to be baptized when the crime was done on that very spot and by order of that chief. Time had blotted out the spots, but I saw them years ago and they are indelibly printed in the book of memory (Ibid 77).
Rev. Johnson, the last missionary to Chin Hills, wrote about the suffering and persecutions of the Christians in his article “The Church in the Chin Hills”.
During this period, when Christianity was but a tender reed in strength, many of the young Christians had to meet and overcome persecution. The Chiefs and the upper classes of Chin society were almost universally opposed to the Christian message, perhaps sensing correctly that it meant a revolution in human relationship (Johnson 1963:388).
Thra Po Ku was the Karen evangelist invited from Tedim to Tonzang in 1906 by Hau Cin Khup the then great chief of the northern area. He wanted to learn the Burmese language and writing, but was expelled chief of the northern area. He wanted to learn the Burmese language and writing, but was expelled seven years later when the chief learned that he was losing tribute from his people. As some people under the teaching of Thra Po Ku, were inclined toward Christianity, they gave up their drinking bouts and their animist feats, thus reducing the amount of tribute beer and meat delivered to the chief. Johnson reports the drastic anti-Christian stand taken by the same chief:
The same chief continuing his opposition, gathered together the village headman and councilors of his area in 1920, and extracted an oath that “we.... the headmen, counselors and the villagers should not become Christians, nor our families, relatives and friends and even our children, generation after generation, and those who abolish this promise and become Christian should be fines 99 rupees, the cost of a mithun, a buffalo and a pot of beer (Ibid 389).
The Chiefs were not primarily against the message of the Gospel, but the result of that message. When a person became a Christian, he acted differently and cut himself off from the regular social activities. Very often, the message of the itinerant evangelist would not focus on the redemptive sacrifice of Christ on the Cross, but against drinking, feasting and giving sacrifices to the demons. J. Gin Za Tuang wrote that suppression of one becoming a Christian was not because of enmity and hatred against the individual, but because of the following reasons:
1. When a person became a Christian, he stopped associating himself in feasting and drinking with non-Christian families and relatives.
2. When Christians died, they were buried in different graveyards, so they will not be able to see their beloved non-Christians family members who had died.
3. Christians didn’t count and consider great the worldly competition and they totally abstained themselves from merry-making of the feasting and drinking (Gin Za Tuang 1959:28).
When there were emergency messages to be passed on to another village or region verbally, since there was not postal, telegraphic or telephone systems, the village chief would give the order to the Christians, especially if it was on some special days like Sunday or Christmas. It was done as punishment to them for becoming Christians. The Christians were compelled to be the messengers during the winter season, which its icy wind, and during the stormy season, under the torrent of the monsoon. As a result of such constant harassment and treatment from the authorities, the Christians started moving away from their villages. Some were even under the order of their chiefs to do so. Thus, they started a Christian village known as NAHNUAI, which became the pilgrim center.
Rev. Vial Nang writes about the form of punishment given to him for becoming a Christian. It was not just expelling him from the village, the punishment given to him was to dwell in a place where the non-Christians were sure that the evil spirits would kill him:
Since Tonzang (his village) is firmly rooted in the traditional Animistic belief and customs, the village elders didn’t allow me to reside there anymore but they have allotted me a place called Kadang Cik (Low swampy place) assuming that the Dawite (evil spirits) of that place will kill me. But I cultivated the land, built a house and planned a garden, till now by God’s grace I am alive (Gin Za Tuang 1959:50).
Some of them were taken and treated as fools by the villagers. Most of them were ostracized by the society one of the elderly leaders, Mr. Dam Khup from Lamzang Village, has this to say, “My village, my kin’s members all hate and despised me when I became Christian. When my youngest child died, some of them were saying, “It would have been better if the father died instead of the kid (Ibid 105) from malicious lies to defamation, outright railing and framing at village court were minor things compared to the destruction of their crops and burning their houses. Assault and battering to the individual were regular practices. Rev. Thang Ngin, who planted 12 churches beyond the Manipur River, writes in his biography about the persecution:
While the church was at peace, harmony and satisfactorily going on, the chief and the village elders who became Christians with me abandoned their faith. They started ostracizing and accusing us for no reason. Persecution was very severe. Some of us were put into prison, and some fined with money, if we do not desert out faith, they plotted to chase us out of the village (Ibid 117).
The Christians were counted as strangers even among their kins and relatives. Some were beaten or rallied at, being called “worshippers of foreign god”. Pau Suan’s and Thuam Hang’s houses were burnt down to ashes by their villagers, and they were expelled outside the village perimeter. In the south district of Manipur, the same measure of persecutions was going on. Converts were flogged. The evangelists were not given food and shelter as they traveled from village to village. Two evangelists were given poisoned food but they miraculously survived they had to bear the jeer and mockery of the unbelievers; yet the gospel spread rapidly through the preaching of these evangelists who could barely sign their names and whose only Scripture was the Gospel of John (Khaizakham 1988:11).
Rev. G. K. Nang wrote that the persecutions were motivated by economic, social and religious factors (Nang 1990:49-50). Inspire of persecutions and oppressions, the church of Jesus Christ continues to grow. They know what to expect from becoming Christians, yet such hardships didn’t deter them from being the followers of Christ.
The Status of the Baptist Churches Today
The church withstood the suppression and grew rapidly. The first hurdle for the early Christians was the persecution from their non-Christians members. The second hurdle was the Second World War, which took place in most of the Zo-inhabited places, except Mizoram (then Lushai Hills). The missionaries were evacuated, and the ministry of the word and leadership of the church were taken by the young Zo Christian. The third hurdle was the Burmese socialist government, which gave orders to all foreign personnel to leave Burma in the 1960s. Since then, the Zomi Baptist Churches have been out of touch with the outside world. Yet, the churches continued to grow because of the faithful witness of the Christians. By 1950, there were 16,335 baptized Christians, and the further rapid increase can be seen from the Zomi Baptist Convention report:
1904.... 4 1950.... 18,000
1915... 150 1960.... 37,705
1930.... 1,591 1970... 44,369
1940.... 5,514 1980...69,191 (Khup Za Go 1985:29).
The non-baptized members are not counted in the above figures. Each year, church members are added as a result of direct evangelism. In 1984, the statistics of the Baptist Churches showed:
Baptized members.... 180,000
Local Churches.... 800
Pastors.... 300
Regional Associations... 14
Convention...... 1
Mission Fields...... 4
Theological Institutions.... 2 (Ngul Khan Pau 1985:47).
Later, the picture is very different, and the rapid growth is because of the emphasis on Zomi evangelizing Zomi. The understanding of the percentage of Christians and non-Christians is different from different source. In 1984, according to individual questionnaires, the total Christian population was believed to be 225,544 and the non-Christians numbers 105,144. Out of that, there were 77,442 baptized members, 115,676 who were in traditional religion, and 195,455 non-Christians lived alongside Christians. The Burmese government, however, in its April 1983 census, shows the following figures:
TOWNSHIP | ANIMIST | CHRISTIAN | BUDDHIST | HINDU | MUSLIM | TOTAL |
Tonzang | 5785 | 16026 | 119 |
|
| 21930 |
Tedim | 13538 | 38498 | 246 | 15 |
| 52297 |
Falam | 504 | 46354 | 351 | 18 | 10 | 47237 |
Haka | 1069 | 32913 | 473 |
|
| 34455 |
Thantlang | 40 | 43411 | 32 |
|
| 43483 |
Matupi | 1411 | 40481 | 84 |
| 1 | 41977 |
Mindat | 13184 | 7894 | 8906 |
| 2 | 29986 |
Kanpalet | 7849 | 1244 | 3760 |
|
| 12853 |
Paletwa | 31905 | 8719 | 15726 | 5 | 116 | 56471 |
TOTALS | 75285 | 235540 | 29697 | 38 | 129 | 340689 |
It is very obvious that the task of evangelism is far from being complete. Though the Zomis living in Manipur and Mizoram are 95% Christians, there are many Zo people who are like the lost sheep wandering farm from the fold. The bulk of unreached Zomis are in the southern region of Chin State and in Chittagong Hill Tracks of Bangladesh. Besides the two regions, Zomis who migrated to the plain areas of Burma are fast losing their culture and Christian influence.
Because of the revival that swept the length and breadth of Chin State in 1973, the churches experienced continual growth. The main sickness of the Baptist Churches today is nominalism. Many members are denominational followers rather than followers of Christ. They think that water baptism and church membership will take care their eternal destination. Some are still confined to the “Foreign missionary syndrome” by which I mean that whatever the missionary said and practiced is considered the only Baptist way. Anything, other than that is a deviation from what they supposed to be the “truth”.
The Baptist churches were the ones which experienced and received the visitation of the Lord, but the inflexibility and rigidness of some of the leaders caused a large number of members to leave. Thus, the Evangelical Baptist Church was formed in February 9,1975 at Tedim.it claims to have 2,140 members. In 1976, the followers of Zomi Evangelistic speaker Hau Lian Kham split off to join the Assemblies of God.
The Baptist Churches are gaining momentum through the missionary movement initiated and sponsored by Zomi Baptist Convention. As they continue to give and send, there is a speed growth in the membership. Today, the Zomi Baptist Convention in Burma is the second largest convention, next to the Karen. The ECCI Churches in Manipur are fast expanding their mission outreach. Each local church has a Mission Committee that supports or sends missionaries in the north Eastern states, as well as in some states in mainland India. The Mizo Presbyterian Church has around 1000 missionaries and the Zoram Baptist Church has more than 500 working inside and outside of India.
In each decade, there has been an increase of 1000 members in each Zo Baptist association. According to the graph given by Kawl Thang Vuta (see Appendix A), the membership increased in leaps and bounds between 1970 and 1980. His research has been supported by the findings of Rev. G. K. Nang (see Appendix B). There has been rapid growth from the 70s and this trend continues today.
The Three-Selves Churches
Since the inception of the Zomi Baptist Churches, they struggle to face the challenge of standing on their own feet. From the beginning; Arthur Carson wanted the work to be self-supporting. By 1923, the Chin Hills Baptist Association was making good progress toward self-support of the ten associational evangelists, four were supported with funds from the United States, four by the association and two by the Burma Baptist Convention (Nang 1990:43). From 1927 to 1937, the amount contributed by the Chin Hills Baptist Association rose from 50 to 69 percent and the Zomi Baptists finally achieved full self-support in 1939 (Johnson 1988: 534,619).
It is good that the Zomi Baptist Churches are not depending on foreign funds to evangelize other non-Christians. By and large, they escaped from the dependent mentality. Mr. Purser rightly cautioned the mission agency and churches about the danger of creating this dependent syndrome: “More and more of it must be recognized that no one should ever be paid with foreign money to preach the gospel to his own fellow countrymen. This has been one of the gravest mistakes made by missions, the evil consequences of which are most far-reaching” (Alexander 1929:72).
The contributions such as tithes and offering steadily increased, and leadership was taken over the Zo converts in 1928. The curtain of isolation the Burmese government eventually enforced was anticipated even as early as the 1940s. The atmosphere of uncertainty for future connection with the outside world provided an opportunity for positive preparation on the part of the Christians. The reverent A. J. Eachman’s address to the delegates of the Christian Council of Burma in 1953 said:
The obstacles facing the church today are fast proving to be the sources of her great opportunity. The church has furthermore, been awakened to self-examination and heart searching. The task of training and using indigenous leadership has received priority and the church is rapidly learning to depend much more upon its own resources than on those missions (Thomas 1956:88).
The Socialist government’s moratorium policy of 1996 turned out to be an indirect blessing for the church. The Christians as a whole were taking responsibility for the ministry of the church seriously. The missionary has laid a solid foundation which was revealed during the Second World War. The churches continued to grow in spite of the critical situation. The churches, deprived of foreign resources and personnel, under the national leadership and fully dependent on the Holy Spirit, experienced a time of revival.
According to Johnson, this period came very near to being a time of “mass conversion” (1988:391). The membership increased from 4,000 before the war to 9,000. By the time of the 50th Jubilee Celebration at Haka in 1948, the baptized membership was well over 18,000. On average, 2000 members were added to the church each year.in 1950, there were 16,335 baptized Christians in the Baptist church alone.
There were three major factors which led to the rapid increase of the membership during the Second World War One of the reasons was that Zomis were face to face with death. People tried to find safety, but were unable to find any such place except in Jesus Christ. Another reason was the dissatisfaction of the people with their present situations, which caused them to turn to Christ and to his church. The third reason was the desire for the Zomis to get education. They had not seen modern technologies before and being confronted by them the value of education clear. Their worldview was very much changed by the war. It led them to discover that their primitive life and religion could not give them a better life, and they found in Christianity a better living.
Through many years of preparation, the church has achieved a high level of trained indigenous leadership. Even though there are still shortages of trained personnel, each association and most of the pastors and evangelist are in some way or another trained in Bible Colleges or seminaries. During the initial withdrawal of foreign funds and personnel, it was assumed that the church would be weakened, but after a period of adjustment the church instead experienced a strong and faster growth. The churches are proving their independence and are steadily gaining confidence. The tithes, Sunday offering, the yearly pledges and giving one handful of rice every time they are going to cook are increasing.
Giving in kind and chasm, from agricultural products, animal husbandry, and “seed faith” gifts, make the church financially stable and healthy. There are few churches that cannot pay the salary of their pastors. However, in such situation, according to the policy of the association, the Association or Convention has to pitch in giving to the mission fund has grown so much that thaw hole Chin for Christ in One Century project is totally sponsored by the churches and associations.
Self-propagation is not 100% yet, but since the revival of the 1970s, and because of the continual outpouring of the Holy Spirit, witnessing to non-Christians has been done with much prayer and dedication. Their love for perishing souls has radiated beyond their local regions and entered into the Burmese villages. The land once full of songs, spirits worship, and excess drinking has become the land of Christ. Where young people step out of their villages and travel to different parts in order to share their faith.
Leadership Development
Most, if not all, of the early church leaders were the product of the mission schools and the Bible schools, so it is important to look at the contribution of each of these
Mission Schools
Apart from the Bible Schools, the mission works under the Karen workers opened schools in different places. The missionaries were anxious to give Zomis Christian education as part of the evangelization process. Most of the teaching and work on the schools was carried out by the Karen teachers during the first ten years. The first school was opened at Haka in 1900; it was closed for a year and then re-opened in 1902. Thra San Win was the teacher, and he taught in the Burmese language. The school “ran continuously through this period of time (1902-1910) although often in a weak condition” (Johnson 1988:284). The school was closed down on November 1, 1917, because of the Chin rebellion against the British. When it was reopened in 1919, there were four teachers and 70 pupils, with adequate building (Ibid 436).
The second school was started at Tedim on May 1, 1902 with Saya Po Ku as the teacher. Unfortunately, the school was closed in 1904 when it was moved to Tonzang, where the chief had offered a school house and a teacher’s house. The third school opened at Khuasak in April 1904, with Thra Shwe Zan as the teacher. He was the one who accompanied Dr. East on his arrival at Haka in 1902. There were 30 students in September 1905. Shwe Zan was the teacher who influenced Pau Suan and Thuam Hang and their wives to accept Christ as their Saviour and Lord, becoming the first converts among the Zomis of Chin Hills. Dr. East called Thra Shwe Zan “our most spiritual teacher” (Ibid, 288).
Tonzang Mission School was started in June 1905, and Saya Po Ku was the teacher. There were 40 pupils. The numbers of students were working in cultivation fields during the day. Two of the students from this school, Son Vung and Hen Za Kam, were the first Christians in that area. They were baptized by Dr. East in February 1906. Unfortunately, the chief Hau Cin Khup disagreed with the school system. The teacher was ordered out of the village and the school was dismantled in 1914. The mission school at Tonzang came to an abrupt end because of the hostility of the chief and elders toward Christianity.
In 1905, another school was started at Zokhua with Saya Muang Kya as the teacher. In 1908, the school was moved to Thantlang. The salary of the teacher was paid by gifts from Second Swedish Baptist Church of Chicago (Ibid 484). The Karen evangelists were the first educators in the Chin Hills. The missionaries therefore paid full tribute to them. Recognition the remarkable accomplishments at the Karen, Johnson say:
If a missionary is defined as one who goes to people of another culture, thus crossing significant cultural barriers, then the Karen preachers/teachers of this era were truly missionaries. They had to learn Chin, an entirely different language, and they suffered homesickness and culture shocks, just as did the Americans who worked in the Chin Hills. The early missionaries often referred to them in glowing terms and said that without them the mission would fail. The names of San Win, Po Ku, Shwe Zan, Po E, Maung Gone, Maung Kya, Tayi Gaing, Aung Dwe and others should be forever remembered and honored by the Christian Chins for their sacrificial work (Johnson 1988:283).
Two other mission schools were at Theizang, which was started in 1908 with Thuam Hang, one of the first Converts, as the teacher; and Lumbang Mission School, which was opened in 1906 by a Karen teacher Saya Po. E. The school, however, came to an abrupt end as a result of an order by the British government in 1909. Po. E, being discouraged, quit and returned to his homeland in the lower Burma (Hup 1993:156).
The school at Laizo had Maung Gone as the teacher in 1906, but it was closed in 1909 because of the animosity of the villagers. There were other mission schools at Taungpila, Dolluang, Limkhai and Surkhua. There was no record of the teachers and the period of their existence. In 1920, Lt. Col. Burne, the British Government Deputy Commissioner of Chin Hills, and Rev. Herbert Cope made a deal transferring all mission schools to the government. Though a few of them functional under the mission for some years, by 1935 all mission school were taken by the government.
Bible Schools
The first Bible school was opened by Dr. Chester U. Strait at Haka on May1, 1928 and the courses were completed by the students on January 21, 1932. There were 13 students-four from Tedim, four from Falam and five from Haka areas. The medium of instruction was in Haka (Lai) dialect. Within six months, the Tedim students were able to pick the medium of instruction. In addition to the regular theological classes, the students were learning about making soap, cultivation of rice and sheep rearing. All 13 students graduated.
Rev. F.O. Nelson started the second Bible School at Tedim on June 1, 1947. There were thirty-two men and three women accepted as students. A minimum four years of primary education was the requirement for admission. The New Testament and John Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress was the only textbooks used. The Tedim Bible school was started as a faith project, without any assistance from the American Baptist Foreign Mission Society (Johnson 1988:817). Twenty of the men and two of the women graduated on October 22, 1950. Most of the graduates served the Lord faithfully all their lives and became the leaders of the growing churches in the Chin Hill. In 1953, the Tedim Bible School was moved to Haka, and then to Falam. The present Zomi Theological College is the continuation of both Tedim Bible school and Johnson’s Bible School at Haka.
When Rev. Johnson arrived at Haka he started the third Bible School on June 1, 1948. The course was completed on November 18, 1950. There were about 40 students all together, but only 36 of them were able to finish the course. The medium of instruction was in Haka dialect. Again, this school was run by faith just as the Nelson school was. The first graduates were outstanding leaders of the early churches.
The name of Zomi Baptist Bible School had gone through a number of changes through the years. It became Zomi Baptist Theological School in 1959 and in 1976 it came to be called as Zomi Theological Seminary, the name was changed again in 1983 to Zomi Theological College, which it remained. From 1960, ZTC had been primarily under the care of Zo scholars and teachers. The degrees offered have been upgraded to bachelor of Theology and Bachelor of Religious Education. The college is affiliated with the Myanmar Institute of Theology in Insein and is a member of the South East Asia Association of Theological Education.
Another theological school is Union Theological School at Matupi. Established on June 1, 1984 it is mainly for the southern inhabitants in Chin state. The Baptist Bible School was open at Tedim on August 3, 1986. This is run by the Tedim Baptist Association. The school is significant because it is a faith project of the association, particularly of the members of the Board of Trustees. Mr. Zam King Mang, one of the founders of the school and his brothers are sacrificially contributing one hundred thousand Kyats every year. This is done in the name of their father and is called the En Za Lang Scholarship Award. Another Bible school, known as Chin Bible School, was opened at Haka in 1990, sponsored and run by the Haka Baptist Association.
The Present Leadership in the Baptist Churches
The present leadership in the Tedim speaking churches is significant enough to mention. Since 1958, all of the association secretaries have been theologically trained. All ten workers on Tonzang Township Baptist Association have their training. There are 18 employees under the Siyin Region Baptist Association, and all of them had their training, including six women and three people who earned the Bachelor of Divinity degree.
Kale Valley Baptist Association was started with one pastor in 1950s. Today, 42 trained workers are serving the Lord (Nang 1990:60). Before 1970, Chin Baptist Association of Manipur did not have trained leadership, but today, there are three Master of Theology degree holders, one with Bachelor of Divinity degree, three with Bachelor of Theology degrees and one with Certificate of Theology.
Zomi Baptist Church in Mizoram which was started in 1982 was the mission field of the Chin Baptist Association. Before 1993, Rev. Cin Kam worked single-handedly. Now, there are 13 local churches. Out of the five workers, two had their training and a third person will complete his training soon.
Not less than 300 Tedim speaking young men and women are studying today in different theological colleges and seminaries throughout Myanmar and India. They are going to be our future leaders, missionaries and pastors of the churches.
Leadership in The Convention and at The National Levels
Many Tedim speaking Zomis hold leadership positions in the conventions and in the national organizations. When the Zomi Baptist Convention came into existence; Rev. S. T. Hau Go was elected as the first General Secretary in 1953. He works until the end of his term in 1957. The second General Secretary was Rev. Mang Khaw Pau, who served from 1957 to 1962. After completing his Bachelor of Divinity with first class, Rev. Pau Khan En held the post from 1983 to 1986. In 1986, he became the Associate General Secretary of the Myanmar Baptist Convention in Rangoon.
In the Youth Department of the Zomi Baptist Convention, Rev. Nang Khen Khup has been the secretary since 1992. In the women’s Department, Mrs. Man Khan Niang served two consecutive terms from 1983 to 1989. Rev. Gin Khan Khual served for one term as the Evangelism and Mission Director from 1992 to 1995. Mr. Cin Lian Sum is presently serving as the Assistant in the Rural Development Department of the Convention.
Rev. S. T. Hau Go was the first principal for the Zomi Theological College from 1953 to 1954. Rev. Thuam Thang became the teacher and the principal from 1963 to 1974. Rev. Pau Khan En joined as the Principal after Thuam Thang from 1974 to 1977. Ngul Cin Thang served from 1989 to 1991, and Rev. Do Sian Thang held the post from 1991 to 1992.
The Zomis in India have also had important roles at the regional level. Rev. Khup Za Go served as Assistant and Director of the Christian Literature Center based in Guwahati; from 1982 to 1987. In 1986, J. M. Ngul Khan Pau from Chin Baptist Association was appointed as Student’s Chaplain in Shillong by the Council of Baptist Churches in North-East India (Nang 1990:61).
Zomi Baptist Churches have given women greater recognition and privileges in the ministry. Each Association has a women’s secretary. Most are women and are theological trained. Ms. Ngiak Za Dim was the first woman pastor ordained among the Zomis. The ordination was held on February 6, 1983, at Thuklai Village. Other two ordained to the ministries of the Gospel were Rev. Dar Zing and Rev. Lhawn Tial.
Chin for Christ in One Century (CCOC)
There has been consistent mission outreach within the Chin state carried out by the associations and the convention. Evangelistic camps were organized in the villages, associations and regions. Winning family members, like Apostle Andrew, has been any person who became a believer.
Early Mission Works
Rev. Cope, in consultation with Pau Cin and Za Suan who regularly contributed Rs 5.00 sent Rev. Thang Ngin of Dolluang village to the region called Sukte-Gungal on April 21, 1928. The area had about 40 villages both big and small. He served there for 20 years and planted 12 churches. In 1944, the Haka Thantlang area sent That Dun and Pa Hrek to Matu formed in 1956.
Haka Area also sent Rev. Mang Kung and Hrat Ling to Gangaw area. Under the supervision of the Convention, Khok Tung, To Uk, Kai Dawi from Zotung, Lung Tum from Haka and Ceih Kio were sent to Mindat-Kanpalet. Pau Khan En was the field director in 1968. He was succeeded by Rev. Kap Cin Thang, and then Rev. Yaw Law and Rev. Ngai Hung. The Paletwa mission was started in 1979, with Kam Dim and Rev. Ni Hmung appointed as the evangelists.
The Siyin Region Baptist Association sponsors mission work in the Chindwin valley. The evangelist who presently is working there is a Buddhist convert. The Kale Valley Baptist Association and the Tahan pastoral area also supports evangelists working among Buddhists.
Zomi Baptist Convention had been interested in the Chindwin mission field and the project became a combined effort of Zomi Baptist Convention and the Myanmar Baptist Convention. It then came to be known as Joint Action in Mission (JAM), which was formed on July 14, 1978. Rev. Kai Khaw Thawn was appointed as missionary to the Kuki inhabited area.
The Present Chin for Christ in One Century Ministry since its Inception
The ambitious aim of the evangelism program is that every Zomi will say, “Jesus is Lord” before the turn of this century. This movement was started with the dream and vision of Rev. Hrang Tin Khum, who was the General Secretary of AZBC from 1977 to 1983. It is a vision of great evangelistic thrust to be carried out by the Zomi Baptist Convention members, culminating with a centenary celebration in 1999.
According to the census of 1983, traditional religious claims 75,280 adherents (7.2%) in the whole Chin Hills (Ngul Khan Pau 1985:57). In reality, the non-Christian percentage is not less than 25 to 30 percent. The reason for this is that there are so many “Christians” who simply retain the name Christian living exactly as the non-Christians do. The mission of the church to Zo people is great, and in looking at the wider circle, the 90% who are Buddhists are the next target group.
The aims and objects of the CCOC are:
To win all the Chins (Zomis) to Christ before the 100th anniversary of the arrival of the gospel.
To revive and strengthen the existing churches;
To celebrate the centenary of the Baptist Mission in March 15,1999 at Haka and
To send missionaries to other races after the celebration of the centenary.
ZBC planned chronological strategy or methodology of fulfilling the aims and objectives is as follows: -
1983-86 : Evangelizing the people by sending out 100 missionaries each year
1986-89 : Founding new churches and nurturing them.
1989-92 : Edifying and conscientizing the churches toward self-support.
1992-95 : Forming new associations.
1995-98 : Strengthening the associations.
1998 : Preparation for the Centenary.
1999 : Celebration of the Centenary.
To carry out this program the Convention needs Kyats 300,000 each year, and no support taken from any sources other than the Zo Christians themselves.
The Beginning and Initial Results
In 1983, after giving a one-month training on the basic requirements of mission, 87 of the Chin for Christ in One Century volunteers were sent out to different parts of the state. They were sent out in groups, the size of their number depending on the demand of the field. The following table shows the first batch distribution and the results of their efforts:
Number of Missionaries | Mission Field | Number of Converts |
30 | Paletwa | 1042 |
20 | Mindat | 358 |
10 | Kanpalet | 90 |
10 | Gangaw | 150 |
6 | Kuki-Chin | 38 |
5 | Tonzang, Tedim | 356 |
6 | Matupi, Zotung | 508 |
TOTAL 87 |
| 2542 |
(Courtesy: Lungdamna Aw 1984:21)
In 1984, 102 young men and women volunteered for one year as the harvest force. There was no salary except 100 kyats given to them as pocket money. In 1985, 177 committed themselves to be the messengers of the Good News for one year. This was the highest number of volunteers in the three-year of evangelization program. The official report lists 2,386 new converts that year (Nang 1990:84).
The Zomi Baptist Convention plan of total evangelism among the Zomis has continued to bring many precious souls to the Kingdom of God. The plan is to evangelize Zomis primarily, but in the fields many Burmese Buddhists have become Christians. Places like Paletwa and the Chindwin areas, for instance, have been covered in the ministry. The Tedim Baptist Association and Falam Baptist Church Women’s Society sent some evangelists to places like Basein and Phaungbyin on the bank of the Chindwin river. The Kuki Chin Baptist Association is evangelizing the Chindwin Shan people. A quick reference of the CCOC statistic is up to 1992 is as follows:
Number of Missionaries | New Converts | Baptism |
1983-84:87 | 2542 | 1262 |
1984-85:102 | 1052 | 932 |
1985-86:178 | 2903 | 1323 |
1986-87:85 | 838 | 216 |
1987-88:74 | 768 | 324 |
1988-89:84 | 167 | 32 |
1989-90:76 | 1185 | 310 |
1990-91:96 | 939 | 168 |
1991-92:96 | 2201 | 560 |
TOTAL 876 | 12,577 | 5,147 |
Before 1992, the Lord gave 12,577 new converts out of which 5,147 showed their obedience by taking water Baptism. Similar to what happens on other mission fields, the volunteers’ prayed for the sick and they were healed. They cast out many evil spirits, and helped the people with better cultivation. In some places, the converts shed tears, saying that they were too late because some of their family members had die and were in eternal condemnation.
The Zomi Baptist Convention leaders are aware that unless they train the local believers, the ambassadors cannot continue to stay. The responsibility of reaching their own tribe will be better if the job is taken by them. Since 1993, they have recruited their own tribe will be better if the job is taken by them. Since 1993, they have recruited mature converts for evangelistic work, training 53 new evangelists in Paletwa Township and another 115 at Mindat for Mindat and Kanpalet townships. These evangelists were sent out to their own people to evangelize their own tribe. The Zomi Baptist Convention has raised more than 3.5 Million kyats for this effort.
Fifty students from these three mission fields have not been given scholarships to enable them to study in high schools, bible schools and theological seminaries. This is an effort to prepare them to become leaders in their won tribal groups.
Under the evangelistic program Chins for Christ in One Century, two new mission fields have been opened. One is Rakhine Mission Field and the other is the Yaw Mission Field. Twelve evangelists have been working in the Rakhine area, and five have been commissioned to work among the Zomis in the Yaw area.
Two Harvest forces of Chin for Christ in One Century
During the training period, the evangelists were divided into two groups and their instruction was given accordingly.
The Front-line Ambassadors are in one group. They go to the remote areas where the people are poor and have never heard the Gospel. Because they will be facing difficult living conditions; they are shown how to survive with just the bare necessities. During the two months of training, they are given a coarse kind of rice for their food and are taught to eat while standing. For sleeping, they use only a thin mat and a single blanket.
The Rear-Guard or Back-up Ambassadors are the other group. They go to established churches to conduct revival services and solicit donations for the CCOC evangelistic campaign. They are encouraged to enter villages and eat, dress and conduct themselves according to the manner of the townsfolk. They are taught to be prepared to preach party and sing on any occasion.
Frontline Ambassadors have faced many difficulties when sharing the Gospel message. Often in their initial approach, they are not permitted to enter a village. They might have to stay outside the village for a month or more. They have to take all the nations they need for that month because the local villagers will not share with them. Sometimes, they have had their tents set on fire. However, through their patience and kindness, the ambassadors are able to make friends with the villagers and are then permitted to enter and live in the village. “The cruelty shown to the ambassadors is hard to bear, but when they see the villagers become believers and accept Christ, the CCOC envoys become overjoyed and forget all the suffering and the hardships they encounter,” Ngin Sian Thang reports (Tennin 1994:6).
Loss of Lives
Today, the testimony of the four young persons who gave themselves and died in the mission fields are challenging other youth to the call of the harvest. Arthur Carson was buried in 1908, and Dr. Herbert Cope was buried in 1938. Both of them are like David Livingstone or Hudson Taylor to the Zomis. They gave themselves to the Zo people and died in serving them.
Similar to that Cin Khaw Thawn of Tungtuang Village was drowned in the Kaladan river on April 27, 1985 in Paletwa township. Bual Cung of Dawnkhua died of malaria on November 30, 1985 in Matupi. Vung Khan Kham of Tedim passed away on January 21, 1986 at Kanpalet suffering from dysentery. Ms. Ngai Za Siam of Cikha died if dysentery and pneumonia at Thantlang on May 24, 1988. She was the first Baptist women to give her life for the sake of the Gospel serving to her own people (Nang 1990:85).
The entrance of the Gospel into the Zomi world has made dramatical changes. Those who are living under the realm of darkness are now bearers of the Gospel Light. From head hunting savage ways, they are now experiencing the generation of peace. Many of them are serving the Master among other tribes with the same love demonstrated in the lives of their missionaries. The churches are taking every opportunity to show Jesus Christ to those who are taken captive by the prince of this world. The Zomis will be eternally grateful to those who brought the Gospel making them the children of God.
* * *
CHAPTER 5
USING THE CUSTOMS AND CULTURES
TO PRESENT THE MESSAGE OF THE GOSPEL
TO NON-CHRISTIAN ZOMI
The focus in this part of the paper is “how to reach the Zomi in the Zomi was” so that the gospel will not have “forgiveness” but rather the shape of the Zomi. We cannot separate worldview from beliefs and values, and it is difficult to demarcate which parts are the values and which parts are the beliefs, values, or ideals are priorities that express what is desirable or undesirable. They are the mental framework for development of attitudes, from which behavior develops (Smith 1993:258). For Zomi the values traditionally help as good and necessary are: hospitality, courage, helpfulness, strength, honesty, bond of love, willingness to share or give, trustworthiness even to the point of death, wit and wisdom, hard work, respect for elders and most of all “phatuam ngaihna” (selfless service).
One many ask, how are these cultural values formed? Samovar and Richard note that a culture invents, discovers or develops specific values as a result of two forces that affect the culture as a whole environmental adaptations and historical factors (1982:56). They also observed that there are two dimensions of values; one is instrumental values which include honesty, love, helpfulness, courage and so on and then other terminal values in which wisdom, salvation, happiness, freedom, inner harmony etc. are listed (Ibid 57). One may simply say that Zomi beliefs are irrational, yet such remarks are not going to help. Challenging core beliefs directly will bring rejection of the messenger and often the message as well. These core beliefs are assumed to be reality. So, it is particularly important in intercultural communication where the assumptions may be unknown (Smith 1993:258). It is therefore important that the aim of the messenger be to lead the people from the known to the unknown. As such, before discussing the Zomi way of reaching the Zomi, it may be appropriate to bring out a few of their beliefs and values.
Hospitality: their home is always open to strangers. The Zomi glory in having many guests as they have the understanding that guests coming and staying with one shows that he is accessible, warm hearted and naturally considered to be well off, if not rich compared to his neighbours.
Courage: living in constant fear of the spirits and the “head hunting” Zomi value people who are courageous. From childhood the male child is taught to be courageous; fear is one thing that Zomi hate to mention to fellow friends, especially to the opposite sex.
Helpfulness: Readiness to help is another characteristic which Zomi want to possess from their childhood. Each child has been taught to be helpful to old people, to strangers and especially to the handicapped.
Strength: Each boy will live in a world of competition, and the competitions are carried out to test the strength of the person, such as “khut kibuan” (arm wrestling), “suanglot” (shot put) and “khau kikaih” (tug of war). In the olden days they were tested by how many human heads they were able to collect.
Honesty: “Don’t make friend with a dishonest person” has been the way of bringing up children and Zomi look down on stealing. According to traditional values it will be __???
Love: It is expected from family members, and there is absolutely no question of “this is mine and that is yours”, it belongs to the whole family, yet this does not mean that each one fights to wear the same shirt simultaneously. Love is not only expressed within the boundary of the family; it goes further to the clan, to the whole village and even to the whole tribe.
Giving: Zomi say something like “what I have is yours; you can share with me”. This is the mentality of the Zomi. If someone is not willing to share what he has, this will become the talk of the community, and will be passed on to the next generation as a lesson to be learned.
Trustworthy: This has been cherished and maintained at all cost even to the point of death; Zomi will stand along with their friends. This is a real test, as they often face inter-tribal war.
Wit and Wisdom: People who are endowed with wit and wisdom are looked up to, because of the ability to say important things at the appropriate time and places, giving the best possible discernment in any situation.
Hardworking: From childhood Zomi begin to learn manual work, as he is trained up in such a way that he will never be idle. An idle person is undesirable and treated as a criminal. So the teaching to be hardworking continues from the cradle to the grave.
Respect of elders: Not to eat before the elders have started eating, not to date the same girl who is dating a person elder to you and respect of parents are expected and important. In the past, respect of parents was so great that they were ashamed of telling about the person whom they loved or dated. They may even marry their parents’ choice above their own.
Phatuam Ngaihna: This is not only being ready to help but much more of selfless sacrificial helpfulness. This has been regarded as the “most” so much so that each one will try to develop this value as their character trait. This prompted them to be available to help others. The following show the beliefs and the behaviours growing of each one of the values.
BELIEFS/VALUE BEHAVIOURS
1. Pasian (God) 1. Showing respect
2. Appealing to Pasian when all else fails
3. Sacrifices for blessings
2. Dawi (Demons or spirits) 1. Fear
2. Caution
3. Taboos
4. Sacrifices to appease their anger
3. Sacrifices as a source of 1. Restoring relationship between two
Healing & blessing warring tribes or disputes
2. Receiving blessings.
4. Phatuam Ngaihna Trying to excel in selfless sacrificial services for others.
Two places to go after death Aim at giving feast called “Ton”
Celebration for six to seven days.
Everything has spirit, which 1. Buried the dead with tools
also goes to Misi 2. Killed animals at death
Khua (village of death)
Human enemies killed will be Head hunting like qualification or degrees, one’s slaves in next life taken as prestige
Bravery good for men Trying to be the bravest
Industriousness is good 1. Men-phatuam ngai self-less service
2. Women-hard work or skillful
10. Witchcraft is bad 1. Discouraged them or killed
2. Put out the village.
11. Entertainment, happiness 1. Drinking Zu rice beer
And harmonious living 2. Singing and dancing
3. Lawm annek feasting with friends, villagers.
In reaching Zomi who are living under the dominion of darkness, I would like to take note of those values and beliefs mentioned above. It is dangerous to simply reach for the sake of reaching. So, here I will begin with identifying points of contact.
Points of Contact
The presentation of the message and how it relates to the felt needs within the culture may determine the degree of acceptance. So the culture and the existing beliefs should be looked upon as the bridges of communicating the gospel to the Zomi. Though the Zomi are trying to reach the Zomi, it does not mean that there will be no barriers; taking for granted the point of contact and aspects of existing beliefs can be very dangerous. The missionary is a Christian, and in some ways his lifestyle at the behaviors level has been changed. So as he enters the mission field, he should beware that he does not disturb the equilibrium of the culture he is entering. Any missionary when entering into any culture is faced with the tension of destroying the equilibrium, and thus is viewed with great suspicion. If he flagrantly moves against either the religious of value systems, the areas of his concern, he is in danger of arousing opposition from the start. Understanding this phenomenon is vital for his own interest and for the message he expounds.
Even from the very beginning of Christianity, Zomi looked at those who became Christians with great suspicion, as they are group oriented and not individualistic in nature. In order to understand the line of communication of the Zomi one needs to see the ideas and thoughts expressed through the oral history, riddles, proverbs, legends, orations, rituals ad festivals. For the message of the gospel will be communicated more effectively through these appropriate channels of the culture (Lausanne 1980:6). Zomi will be willing to listen if the gospel is communicated so that the “forms” and “practices” of the culture will be our tools in reaching them.
It is always helpful to study the “redemptive analogies” in the Zomi culture. Don Richardson has demonstrated this point among the SAWI people in his book PEACE CHILD where he says:
The Key God gave us to the heart of the SAWI people was the principle of redemptive analogy, the application to local custom of the spiritual truth. The principle we discerned was that God had already provided for the evangelization of these people by means of redemptive analogies in their own culture. These analogies were our stepping stones (1974, 10).
It is not the only question of studying the point of contact; one has to see the “cultural setting” of the Zomi as Pentecost rightly has said;
There is no doubt but that God’s message is relevant to each culture and intended for people of every culture. It is not a message for the first century Christians alone. It is a massage to be communicated to every man in his own culture. Thus the missionary is challenged with the responsibility to communicate an absolute truth, given in a cultural setting and pertinent to that setting, into another cultural context and to make it relevant to the individual in that setting (1982;29).
It is important to be able to function within the values of the Zomis and see the culture not as a barrier but the vehicle that can promote the communication of the message. The missionary must not forget the absoluteness of the message and the fact that culture is the vehicle of religion in any society. How the truth is communicated within a culture may well determine whether it is accepted or rejected. The fact of whether it is truth or error may be questioned or considered by Zomi. Just because the scriptural message is absolute truth doesn’t not guarantee that it will be accepted by any group. It is the culture that provides the reference point which gives direction and meaning to life. To destroy or discredit the Zomi culture is to make communication of the gospel an impossible task.
Holistic Approach
With the dawn of western civilization and the coming of Christianity, Zomi started realizing the division of secular and sacred. Their worldview has partially changed, yet some parts of the culture core values persist. One of those parts may be the holistic concept of life and death. Life after death is part of life now because each day the Zomi felt that all aspects are intertwined and one part should not be extricated from another. As we see in the Lausanne paper which says:
In many traditional societies, life is not divided into logical compartments but it is seen holistically. Hence, religion is not restricted to one area of life. It is expected to permeate and condition all of life. No areas of life are put outside of control or influence from religion (1980 :12).
It is also further noted that characteristically the world views of the traditional religion are holistic. All aspects of life and culture are related to each other within a single integrated system. Customs and cultural practices do not occur in isolation, divorced from one another.
Zomi missionary should avoid unilaterally customs that are sensitive issues. The converts, as they grow in faith and in the light of the scripture, will be the best ones to decide. When I talked with the non-Christians Zomi, they did not admit that they were challenged by the possibility of the new way, living as Christians. Yet the message of the gospel has not always been understood, and the “new way” has often been confused with some of the superficial aspects of the missionary’s behavior. Nevertheless, they who are sitting in the darkness are looking to the Zomi Christians who will bring the message of love to them.
Group Approach
Conversion of Zomi has been a group oriented conversion. The very first converts were two chiefs and their wives, and steadily the masses were reached. Single conversion occurred in some places, and they met with more persecution just because they did not have some members to depend and protect them. It is true as Donald Smith writes, “the fear of rejection aunts most people. Rejection from the group is a severe sanction, to be avoided at almost any cost. Acceptance by a group is such a pleasurable, even necessary, thing that an individual will voluntarily change behaviour to conform to group patterns” (1992:254) the group approach schools be to a group, the whole village or the whole tribe.
Many Evangelists have adopted the “Head-on approach” which is aggressive reputation and condemnation of the non-Christians. This is seen as a nuisance and a practice to be avoided by the traditional religious Zomi. The late Dr. E. Stanley Jones, who was one of the persons whom the Hindus cannot ignore, wrote in his book, Along the Indian Road:
I have made it a policy and a principle never to attack another’s faith in public address. I present what I have and leave him to come to his own conclusions. Again and again, I am pressed by Hindus to show the difference between the faiths. I always refuse. For the moment I call attention to difference there is controversy. And Christianity cannot be seen in a controversy” (1935:98-99).
It does not mean that we compromise our approach and try to accommodate the non-Christian philosophy with the gospel message. People movement or group approach have been supported by the Lausanne Report as:
Traditional religionists often turn to Christ as a group, rather than as isolated individuals. They come together with their tribe, village, clan or family. The more isolated or internally cohesive they are, the more likely it is that they will respond to the gospel as a collective body. People movements should be encouraged, for they are the natural way of making decisions for many traditional religionists. Although people come to Christ as part of a larger people movement, this does not negate the importance of individual discipleship (1980:9).
As such is the case, Zomi missionaries should approach the people as a whole. The group decisions should be accepted as authentic expressions of the will and desire of most of them, as in a decision for conversion to Christ. The appeal to conversion should be made to the leaders or the chiefs, realizing that they themselves will come to a group decision in their appropriate time. It is not good to divide the group and cause unnecessary resistance by the missionary prematurely pushing the decision.
A people movement results from the joint decision of a number of individual whether five or five hundred, all from the same people group. This enables them to become Christians without social dislocation while remaining in full contact with their non-Christian relative allowing other groups of that people, over a period of time, after suitable instruction, to come to similar decisions and form Christian churches made up exclusively of members of that people (Mc Gavran 1970:298-8). The extraction method, scheduling the individual from the group, though often important for his early orientation toward Christian development is not healthy from the traditional point of view. Later recognized this and wrote as early as 1936:
More and more we must dream in terms of winning groups, not just merely individuals. Too often, without Protestant nineteenth century individualism, we have torn men and women, one by one, out of the family, village or clan, with the result that they have permanently de-runcinated and maladjusted. To be sure, in its last analysis, conversion must result in a new relationship between the individual and his Maker, in a radiant transformed life. Experience, however, shows that it is much better if an entire natural group- a family; village, cate, or tribe can come rapidly over into the faith. That gives reinforcement to the individual Christian and makes easier the Christianization of the entire life of the community (1936:159).
Thus, the group approach will help Zomi who are socially knit together to make a decision for Christ, once the group approach is made. Decisions are normally made by leaders of the village or by the leaders of the tribe, they will spend time in discussing it and once the decision is made, it almost certain that they will not relapse back to the old ways.
Having discussed about the point of contact, holistic and group approaches, we will look at some steps that should be taken into consideration in reaching non-Christian Zomi. The topics listed are issues that are well-known and can be used as starting points.
Pasian (God)
The Zomi already had the concept of the Supreme God. PASIAN, which literally may mean PA=father and SIAN=holy, was even used in the traditional folksongs and folklore before Christianity. The missionaries came into the Chin Hills as if they were carrying a God along with themselves of which the Zomi were not aware. “Many missionaries of the past and even today’s Chin Christians are guilty of overlooking the local belief in God” writes G. K. Nang (1990:91). It is often sad to hear the Zomi today saying that this Christian God is the White people’ God and that we have our own. Often times the gospel has its own “foreigners” because of the wrong approach in the beginning.
We know that God revealed Himself to all people through general revelation. Through the created order and display of his goodness and power in the phenomena of nature (Psalms 19, Romans 1). He was also revealed through man’s conscience - the bedrock of morality, both individually and corporately (Romans 2), through the events of history (Isaiah 45, Daniel 4-5). He does not leave Himself without a witness (Acts 14:17). The existence of God has been inscribed in every man’s heart so that man cannot escape (Acts 17:21-31). God has ‘set eternity in their heart” (Eccl 3:11) so that man is ever conscious of that which is beyond this life.
Zomi from ages past have a strong sense of morality; this may not be complete, yet they have their moral boundaries, the concept of sin and the idea of reconciliation. They have the belief that there is a sovereign and powerful god. All of these points toward God at work in the lives of Zomis prior to the coming of the gospel. It is right to look at the Lausanne record says:
God speaks in many ways. We depend primarily upon how God has spoken in a uniquely fixed and supremely authoritative way in scripture. We also trust that he is speaking through us as we live and preach. But we also need to recognize, in practical ways, that he has also spoken within the traditional culture and that the Holy Spirit is already speaking among the people as we meet them. If dues to our cultural blindness, we fail to see that God is already at work around us, we miss the foundations God has already laid for evangelism (1980:7).
Pasian was already working in the midst of Zomi and has not left them. In Jesus Christ God made the special revelation of Himself, by becoming flesh and dwelling among us (John 1:14) this was the final and ultimate revelation of God (Heb 1:1-3). He is known by faith alone through the pages of Scripture as the Holy Spirit illumines our minds (I Cor 2:10-14)
The strategy of Paul at Athens (Acts 17) would fit into this context since Zomi believed and knew the existence of the Supreme Being. There is no doubt in their mind that God is the creator, sustainer. Because of such a frame of reference Zo people were receptive to the message of the Gospel. The birth of Laipianism was in response to the spiritual search for the Almighty God.
He revealed Himself in the past to Zo people through different ways. The Zomi would easily understand if the presentation of God was given in their context that He is the one who, they know and yet fail to worship Him. Though they did not worship Him, He has not forgotten them. He is deeply involved in their affairs and He cares for and loves them. The best ways to make God known to the Zomi is to present Jesus Christ, the God incarnate in human life.
Through the Son they will be able to know the character of the Father. So we must tell in a simple manner the story of the life of Christ, emphasizing His miracles and parables. His death and triumphant resurrection. Emphasis must be given also to the purity and goodness of Christ, His compassions, His concern for the poor and the oppressed and the needy, the sick and sinners. The story of the cross will surely bring a new sense of sin, and that the forgiveness that was done through the redemptive sacrifice of Christ. So to evangelize Zomi today we need to present Pasian who is already in their worldview and belief.
Fear of Spirits
Many dawite (spirits or demons) are prominent and most numerous, and are believed to dwell in all sorts of places such as trees, rocks, caves, mountain passed, river crossings, animals and insects. They live on earth, in the sky, in the springs, streams, houses and even in the human body (Vumson n.d.16). There may be spirits in the trees, rivers, hills or odd shaped rocks. Hordes of spirits may lurk at dangerous places in the jungle. There are endless types found, some of them which preside over nature; bad spirits that re constantly causing harm; mischievous elves that mislead people in the forests and goblins that haunt houses and drive people mad. These are some of the stories of the past carried to a degree even among the Christians today.
According to tradition, the name dawi is not used as title of the object to which the traditional sacrifices were offered, but it is used only as a term denoting all ranks in the pantheon of spirits (Sing Khaw Khai 1984:157). Misfortunes and sickness were believed to be the works of the dawi. They were seen as much stronger than humans. They appeared in many forms and were easily offended. Because of this Zomi were careful everywhere they went so as not to provoke them to anger. Consequently, the life of the Zomi was full of taboos and numerous sacrifices were offered to the dawite.
Zomi will classify dawi into two types; one is the spirits which can give material benefit to those who offered sacrifices, and the other types are the spirits which are naturally harmful to man unless propitiated and appeased. However, today a true dawi is understood as the spirit which is generally bad, incapable of bestowing blessings, but is prone to do damage and inflict loss and suffering upon man. According to this definition, dawi would include all forms of spiritual force even of the human soul, which can cause a bad effect upon another man (Ibid, 158). These spirits are named according to their dwelling places. The chronicle of Laipian Pau Cin Hau records that there are 68 dawite in the Tedim area alone. The names of the higher dawi are Gunlam dawi (river god), Gampi dawi (country god), Pusha-dawi (ancestral god). They should be treated with due respect; rituals have to be performed and sacrifices made so as to appease these spirits.
The sacrifices and offering were performed by the priest. According to Nida, “The whole system of sacrifices is designated not to procure forgiveness for sins, but rather to insure good relations with the supernatural” (1954:143). It has been this foundational instinct that led them to seek security from the menace of danger. These spirits can be seen; for they appear in dreams and visions. They are not frequently viewed as ghosts wandering about in the forests. In reaching Zomi who are in constant fear, one needs to bring the message of comfort, as Seamands observes:
To those of an animistic background, who live in dread fear of all evil spirits around them, pointing to Christ as the conqueror of all evil spirits and the one who can deliver us from fear is indeed the essence of the good news. In the gospel narratives Jesus said, “Fear not” more often than he said “Sin not” (1981:104)
The gospel narratives and especially the descriptions of the unclean or evil spirits are much closer to Zomi life than to that of the western world. To mention a few references from the gospels:
They are active spirits who can influence mankind (Mt 8:16, Lk 10:17, Eph 6:12)
They oppose God and all that is good; they are described as unclean (Mt 10:1, Mk 1:27. 3:11, Lk 4:36, Acts 8:7)
They are powerful creatures who can oppress men (Mt 12:22, Lk 8:26, 36, 13:11-17, Mk 9:18)
They provide the dynamic of heathen worship (Ps 106:35-37, Deu 32:17, I Cor 10:20, I Tim 4:12, I Jn 4:1-6)
They can possess a person (Mk 1:21-28, Lk 4:31-37, Mt 17:14-20, Lk 8:26-37)
The missionary should present the kingdom of power, which is God’s Kingdom, over the dominion of Satan. After Jesus healed the demon possess man, the Pharisees were jealous of him, retorting that Jesus was casting out demons by Beelzebub, the ruler of demons. Jesus replied by describing two opposite kingdoms. The demons were not cast out by Beelzebub because Satan would not fight himself (Mt 12:22-27). Jesus said, “But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you” (Mt 12:28). Deliverance from the demon possession demonstrated the emancipating power of God that he entered the world to defeat the power of Satan.
In Mathew 12:29, Jesus gives the analogy of the binding of the strong man in order to carry off his property. Satan is the strongman; however, Jesus implies stronger man, is able to bind him. When healing the spirit possessed, Jesus entered the house of Satan, bound him, and took possession of his property. This defeat of Satan was characteristic of Christ’s ministry. The gospel thus should be presented as the liberation from the power of Satan and the evil spirits, and challenging Zomi to all submission of themselves to the dominion of Jesus Christ the all-powerful God, that through Him they will have new life, becoming morally and physically clean.
Sacrifices
Sacrifices given as a ritual peace convent, for healing from sickness or for the sake of seeking blessings were common practices among the Zomi. The traditional use of animals’ blood was to make peace and seal covenants. If a person is killed accidentally or intentionally of negotiation can be held till the blood of a pig or a cow is shed, depending on the seriousness of the case. The person or group who had committed that act of killing should come and kill an animal. In one way this concept of sacrifice may be one of the reasons for headhunting, because only human blood can bring justice and peace in the Zomi understanding. Hence revenge was carried out and their disputes were only settled when blood was seen.
The purpose of Zomi religious sacrifice is also to ensure the harmonious existence of man and his soul, to protect the wandering soul from demonic attack, and to help in case of falling into spiritual captivity. The traditional function of the Zomi religious rituals is therefore essentially aimed at maintaining the physical body of man in a healthy condition. It can be likened to the purpose of medical services of the modern age. Therefore, man has to appease and propitiate the spirits that are capable of harming his soul. On the other hand, men also need material things so that he can maintain his physical existence in this world. For this, he has to work, but he also believes that his own labour is not enough for obtaining his material needs. He is in need of some one’s help. Thus the spirits capable of helping mans’ need are offered sacrifices.
Zomi sacrificial ceremonies and propitiatory can be grouped into three categories: Personal, Household and Communal. Sacrifices are made by the priest, if a person is sick, starting with a smaller animal like a chicken, then a dog, then a pig, next a cow and then to a mithun. Through these sacrifices, they are trying to appease the spirits and bring back health; the priest will say something like this:
You haven’t received a bone; take a bone
You haven’t received any blood; take blood
You haven’t received a lung; take a lung
You haven’t received the liver; take the liver
You haven’t received the heart; take the heart.
The animals are used in representing the person who need help. In all these sacrifices the “seh or serh” (portion for spirits) were given to the demons. This included the tips of the feet, the tips of the wings, the tips of the beak or lips, small portions of the heart, and the liver. These were believed to represent the whole animal. The rest was eaten (Hrangkhuma, 1989:46). Some of the sacrifices may be as thanksgiving for a good harvest or for blessing in some other ways. Yet most of them are given as a precaution or because of unwanted happening. Nida writes:
The most common and perhaps most important ceremonies for most people’s center about times of crisis in their lives, especially birth, puberty, marriage and death. It is on these occasions that special rites must be performed if a person is to pass through such a crisis with full protection as blessing of the supernatural world (1959:45)
From birth to death a Zomi is wrapped up in religious observance. In times of prosperity and of disaster, he seeks an avenue to appreciate the forced that he believes are in control of him and his destiny. So far as people and things go well and prosper, it is taken for granted that the spirits are pleased in the general behavior of the people, and the welfare of the country. In this happy state there is no need for prayers (sacrifices). It is advisable that the spirits must not be needlessly disturbed.
It is in this context that Zomi will understand the redemptive work of Christ more easily because “blood: can bring peace and harmony. Some scriptural examples are:
The Blood of Jesus Christ our propitiation (Rom 3:25)
The Blood of Jesus Christ cleanse and was us (I Jn 1:9)
The Blood of Jesus Christ purchased us (I Cor 6:20, I Pet 1:19)
The Blood of Jesus Christ brings forgiveness (Ep 1:7, Heb 9:22)
The Blood of Jesus Christ is better than all (Heb 9:14)
The Blood of Jesus Christ brings us to God (Heb 10:19)
The Blood of Jesus Christ released us from sins (Rev 1:5)
The Blood of Jesus Christ give is victory (Rev 12:11) Christ sacrificed Himself once and for all to put away sin from us (he 7:27, 9:26). So Zomi can heartily sing:
Oh, precious is the flow
That makes us white as snow;
No other fount I know
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.
Life after Death
Life after death is never questions or debated. Death is just a transition to the future existence as a continuation of the present. In fact, the traditional concept of life after death is very strong and life after death means the belief that man takes the spiritual form of being when he dies. They know that the person is different yet real; he would work, he would drink and eat and so on. So the life of man after death is viewed as the continued existence of man in another world. Since the society of Zomi comprises the living people and the living dead, men strive to go to vantung by doing good deed or by throwing the six long days of feasting known as Ton.
Ton (feast of Merit) is the most important and most elaborate feast of the Zo people. It is celebrated by killing a mithun (gayal). It is referred to as sialtang-sun, sial is the animal (an Indian term for Yak or gayal), tang refers to single, and sun means the ritual killing with the pointed rod tuul. The mithun animal is tied to the Ton pillar with the sacrificial rope and is made to go around the pillar three times. The animal is then made to lay down on the ground. The clan priest dressed in his priestly rope emerges out of the inner house and performs personally the ritual killing.
The Ton pillar will be anointed with the blood and the skull of the animal will be hung on the cap post called Siallu-sut. In most cases, it is performed with the aim of attaining prominent social status now and life after death. The Ton pillar and the Tonmung, the bamboo attached to it represent the husband and wife unity now and even in their future lives in the “land of the dead”.
If they can do this more than one time, it guarantees a better place even in heaven. The idea of this place is closer to the Roman Catholic idea of purgatory than the biblical teaching about heaven. Zomi believe in the existence of two eternal destinations, though the beliefs are often not clear. These two destination Misi khua (village of the death) and Vantung (the place above in heaven) were their beliefs before the coming of the gospel.
To get a place of honor in Vantung one has to kill some wild animals, because they are hoping to serve him there in heaven, or be a great headhunter so that the person whom he killed will be his slave. If he is not on high status in this world, he retains that his status in the next existence. He retains the social prestige that he had accumulated during the span of his earthly life. He brings to the next world the materials that are offers and the animals kills at the funeral in his honour. The belief in the next world, to which the dead bring their earthly status, is expressed by Pu Ngulh Khai of Suangpi village in Tedim Township, in his song composed in honour of his mother at her funeral occasion as thus:
Lengvan tuanglam na zuih ciangin,
Huisai lian dai nawk sak aw.
Ziat leh vei a na lau leh,
Kamkei ngawl cial in phut aw.
(Translation)
When you travel up heaven’s way, send the elephant ahead to open your way through the bush; Let tigers your fences be, to ward off fear from left to right (translated by S. T. Hau Go, Sing khaw Khai 1984;39).
The dead may be seen in dreams or visions and are viewed as ghost’s wandering about in the forests. The dead man’s soul may want another body in which to live, or he may want to take someone along with him as his slave in the next world. Life after death is major concern which should be cared for property. One need not be so concerned about the departed spirits from good families, whose living members will provide all necessary rites to speed the spirit to the next life. Zomi will dress up the dead person with the best clothes available and fasten the body to a bamboo-frame in a seated position called Laang. Hornbill feathers signifying animals killed or festivals performed are places above the head. Friends and relatives come to mourn, some staying the whole night. Zu rice beer and food are provided by the bereaved family. The corpse is carried by friend and relatives while dancing around the Innka, the long veranda, and songs are sung in praise of the departed soul.
According to the Tedim funeral custom, in the evening of the funeral day, the corpse of the dead is taken to the grave to be laid down. When it is placed in the grave, one of the deceased relatives give two pieces of cattle liver; one is put on the right hand and another in the left hand. Then the person who offers the liver instructs the dead saying, “You should give the one in your left hand to a person whom you first meet on the way and you should bring the one in your right hand to your grandfather or grandmother so and so” (Ibid,140). A pig or a goat was killed so that even the animal accompanied the deceased to the next world. If the deceased was a man, his gun, temtawng (dao, big knife) and spear were placed beside him because it was believed that he would need them where he was going. Dr. East who tramped the length and breadth of Chin Hills recorded what he saw about the burial of the chief:
The dead are buried with their gun, bow and arrows, spear and sword, flint or matches, fat pinewood, a fine blanket, food of various kinds, meat, potatoes, millet, corn and rice, cooking pots, hunting knife. If the chief has a horse, it is killed outside the village and the horses with its saddle are buried together for use in the next world and while on the journey. The dead are also supplied with strong drink and Tuibuuk (Tobacco juice) (East n.d.:176).
According to some traditional views, to be able to reach vantung one has to achieve at least one of the three requirements. One is good character, which means that he should provide the feasting Ton mentioned earlier. This feast should be observed on two occasions; for the first time he should kill three mithuns (similar to water buffalo) and on the second, he should kill four mithuns. The second condition is that a person should kill at least six wild animals. Thirdly, a man who kills an eagle, an antlered deer and a viper also could reach heaven (Micheal 1988;211). Salvation thus is possible in such a view only for good hunters, and the concept is “earning” your way through.
To present the gospel is very appropriate for the Zomi. This Gospel shows that God has already provided their eternal salvation through His son and they can receive it today, without paying any price (1) By grace you are saved through faith (Eph 2:8,9), (2) Jesus has died in his place (II Cor 5:19,20, Jn 1:29), (3) He has to receive it by faith (Jn 1:12,13, 3:16), (4) He is the way, the truth and the life (Jn 14:6, Acts 4:12).
The ritual killing of the mithun has some similarity to how the Lord Jesus Christ suffered and died on the Cross. If this example is used in explaining the sacrificial death of the Lord Jesus, Zo people will easily grasp the message of the gospel, that our merit is not based on feasting, but on the sinless death of Jesus Christ on the cross on our behalf (II Cor 5:21, Col 1:12-1, 19-22). It means that Zomi must humble themselves, coming to Him as they are and with grateful hearts receive God’s gift, with all sincerity saying to Him, “Nothing in my hand I bring, simply to Thy Cross I cling”. In the words of the familiar hymn:
Just as I am, without one plea
But that Thy blood was shed for me
And that Thou bid’s me come to Thee
O Lamb of God I come, I come.
Traditional Music
The attempt to use traditional tunes and musical instruments has been discussed in Zomi Christian circles. One of the reasons for their reluctance in using them today in worship services is because of what was taught to those who were first Christians. The missionaries discouraged them for two reasons (1) Without much thinking about the rich cultural heritage and meanings, the missionaries thought that anything that had to do with their non-Christian life was all Satanic and should be completely discarded (2) They were not familiar with the Zo musical instruments.
The missionaries taught some of the Western Hymns, replacing the folksongs and folk tunes that were totally new to them. Zomi were using poetic words in composing songs, and even those poetic words were thought to be against the new found faith. In times of joy and happiness they would compose songs and the whole group would sing their song together. But after becoming Christian this precious gift of spontaneously composing meaningful songs was thrown away. As a result, Zomi today are undergoing what Tippet pointed out, “Instead of a transfiguring joy, one often finds an aching void, a sense of something lost, and often a reaction a cultural distortion, a despair due to deprivation” (1972:130).
The missionaries were not familiar with the instruments of Zomi such as drums, large and small gongs, flute pipes, and the horn of the mithuns. In the church services such as instruments were not used, except outside the church service for social gatherings and cultural occasions. Because of this, many Christians were told to do away with such things, and now in many homes they are kept just for the sake of memory, not for use. As Lee observes about Indian music, “Music in interwoven in the structure of Indian culture and philosophy, and without it Indians would lose an essential part of their metaphysical awareness” (1979:2).
Looking at Zomi today, the Christians still think that the traditional musical instruments are “taboo” and playing such instruments will not glorify God. The instruments are not Satanic, but their Christian function depends on who uses them and for what purpose. So, Zomi(s) are losing what Lee called metaphysical awareness in this area. They are asked to “throw away the baby with the bath water”. New Young leaders are seriously thinking about this whole matter and especially using the folk tunes and poetic words as a means of getting across the message of the gospel to the non-Christians Zomi.
It was in 1984 that some of the evangelistic groups were trying to reach one non-Christian village. They were singing some hymns with the Western tunes to their utter surprise none of the villagers were willing to come out of their home to listen to the open meeting. After spending some time in prayer, one of them composed a song about the love of God in traditional poetic words and sang it in folk tune. Slowly the villagers came out to sing with them and they were able to have a fruitful ministry. This is true as the Lausanne Paper No 18 says”
Western hymns may offend some people, while the same words sat to indigenous music and sung with carefully selected traditional instruments may evoke exceedingly positive response toward the gospel. While these devices are not part of the gospel or its specific verbal content, they do condition the way people listen to the gospel itself (1980:13).
Often non-Christian Zomi will ask, “Can the Christian God understand our traditional folksongs and can we praise Him with our folk tunes’? If God is allowed to speak to Zomi through folk tunes and poetic words, those who are sitting in the dark with drinks and under demonic control will be willing to listen and feel the message of God’s love expressed to them through their own internal system of communication. Thus it is right when Richardson says, “The manner of worship, the expression of praise and gratitude, and the ways of communicating the gospel differ. The music of the church should be rooted in the traditional culture” (1989:21). George Patterson in his class lecture on “Starting and developing Churches” strongly cautioned the class saying:
Never introduce a Western Hymn or tune to the new Christians, if you are planting churches outside your culture. The reason is that we not only want the young people to become Christians, but also the grandmother and grandfather. Don’t take your sacred cow along with you; your message must be culturally relevant. If not we are not getting the whole family (Lecture given at Western Seminary, January 7, 1994).
Power Encounter
The term “power encounter” was first used in Allan Tippett’s People Movements in Southern Polynesia. Tippett observed that in the South Pacific the early acceptance of the gospel unusually occurred when there was an “encounter” demonstrating that the power of God is greater than that of the local pagan deity. This was usually accompanied by a desecration of the symbol(s) of the traditional deity by its priest or priestess, who then declared that he or she rejected the deity’s power, pledged allegiance to the true God, and vowed to depend on God alone for protection and spiritual power. Conversion involves a power encounter. People give their allegiance to Christ when they see that his power is superior to magic and voodoo, the curses and blessings of witch doctors, and the malevolence of evil spirits and that his salvation is a real liberation from the power of evil and death.
So in reaching Zomi, the context of the message must center of the cosmic conflict between God and the gods, between Christ and the demons, between the church and principalities and powers. Christ’s Kingdom confronts the Kingdom of Satan, and in the cross and the resurrection of Christ has already become victorious over the domain of Satan. Christ came to earth so that he might “destroy the works of the devil” (I Jn 3:8). In this confrontation with the forces of Satan, Christians will overcome because Christ, who dwells in them, is greater “than he who is in the world” (I Jn 4:4).
The metaphor which will indeed stir the heart of Zomi is that of CHRISTUS VICTOR, the triumphant one. In the early church Christians continued to directly encounter animistic forces and powers, for example, Elymas the sorcerer, was struck blind (Acts 13:6-13). Paul cast the spirit of divination out of a Philippian slave girl (Acts 16:16-18), books of magic were burned (Acts 19:19) such power demonstrations of God will surely catch attention. The fact of power encounters arises out of an encounter with the word of God and the work of God, by the holy spirits’ ministry in the life and circumstances of an individual. The result is that the person knows it and a visible change occurs in the life of the individual.
The task of the Christian communicator is to bring people top Jesus Christ so that they will be delivered from the power of darkness to which they are in bondage. They should also know that they are at war with gods of power. Nowhere are people free from the onslaughts and the deception perpetrated by powers of darkness. Animism (Zomi) in its myriad forms and expressions infests every structure. It is Satan’s master plan to keep people from walking by faith with God. Instead of depending on God they depend on a small bit of wild buffalo horn for protection, the teeth of a lion for strength, a little package of gunshot to prevent accidents or a miniature knife to guard against wounds. Such charms and amulets as they are called, have power in and of themselves or are considered to have power.
I recall being confronted by a young man in 1982 on a hot sunny day in one of the church evangelistic camps. He took me to the outskirts of town where no one could see or hear us. And there he stated narrating his own story of how he got the six “amulets” and each one of them was potentially strong to perform any magic. He told me that he used them as a means of stealing, a way to entice young girls and to frighten others and harm them. His word of God spoken in the Camp convicted him, yet these materials were so powerful that he dared not touch them or throw them away. So I took them off from his neck (it was made in a necklace form) and said, “In the Name of Jesus Christ you are not wanted and you have no power on him anymore” I threw them away. In that same spot that young man knelt down to receive Jesus Christ, who delivered him out of that satanic bondage.
A true encounter performs two very important functions in facilitating change in animistic societies. A true power encounter glorifies God who is the sovereign power over all. Secondly, a power encounter confronts non-Christian elements in society rather than allowing these powers and sometimes these superstitions to go unchecked (Rheena 1991:87). Since Christ died for our sins, to free us from the present evil world, His incarnation and His cross are the norms for the life and mission of the church. His victory is the basis of our hope in the midst of conflict. His call to His servant is to equip ourselves with His armor and to fight this battle with the spiritual weapons of truth and prayer.
Healing Ministry
The traditional priest’s role was not only trying to form a harmonious relationship between unseen forces but also as a medicine man. When a person was sick he would use ginger or some herbs and spit on the spot where the person felt the pain. For the Zomi society the role of healing is much more important than in the developed societies. Each village will have one or more priest called Siampi. The rites of sacrifice and any other form of healing are administered by them. The term Siampi is related to a word meaning “sacred” or “ritual” and indicates one who is consecrated and engaged in sacred matters.
The word Siampi or Siampipa may be equivalent to the Biblical term “priest”. They can be divided into three kinds; Tual Siampipa (Communal Priest), Tulpipa (Family Priest) and Dawisapa (Propitiator- who tries to appease the spirits on behalf of the patient). Their role in general is to treat a sick person, trying to find out the cause of the sickness and giving the appropriate sacrifices (Sing Khaw Khai 1984:169). Even after a series of sacrifices many of them were not healed. They were left without any belonging and sick to the point of death. Many of those who were victimized by the spirits were very open to Christianity.
If Jesus can heal what the priests and others cannot, the result is always rewarding. In such a context one should be aware of the place of healing as a ministry or point of contact. Martyn Lloyd-Jones gives two views of healing in his book Healing and the Scripture. One is “faith healing” that occurs in different parts of the world. There are those who tend to reject the whole of this (1988:22-23). It is important to ask “whether the hospital will replace the church” and “is faith healing relevant today”. The healing ministry or exercise of the gift of healing is an important ministry in the remote corners of Burma and India today.
I am afraid that the Zomi churches today fall within the category of Aquinas’ observation about the Catholic Church. While visiting the Pope in Rome, the Holy Father showed him the Vatican with all its wealth and remarked, “The day is gone when my predecessor had to say, silver and gold have I none”. “Yes” replied Aquinas and the day is also gone when your predecessor could say, “In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk” (Kane 1976:312).
In spite of personal feelings, to communicate the message of the gospel to Zomi, one has to take the ministry of healing seriously. If the religion works, then it will be considered as true and worth following. If not, Zomi will not bother to listen to it. This brings out the implication that the message should be backed up by practical evidences, they will not pay attention to a gospel that only promises them “health in the sky by and by”. They want something that will meet their needs and solve their problem here and now. The Bible is very clear on the subject of healing, though this gift of healing has been one of the most misunderstood and in some way “misused” of all gifts. Nevertheless, the importance of this gift remains intact. The scripture, both Old and New Testament, contains the healing records of all kinds of people. Healing is relevant and important because we are commissioned to heal the sick, discipling them for the glory of God (Mk 16:18, Matt 28:19, I Cor 10:31).
Presentation of the Message
The missionary should be aware that he is engaged in a grim conflict with the ruler of the darkness of this world. He must bear in mind that he is being sent to captives in chains. It is essential for the bearer of the Good Tiding to know the omnipotence of his Commander, and to be skillful in the use of the weapons and authority provided him, and bring with him a sympathetic approach and understanding of the plight of the people (Zomi) to whom he is sent, as an ambassador of Christ. He will discover feelings that lie buried and crushed by the enemy of their souls, feelings which the truth of the living God had the power to revive and restore if the messenger is guided and controlled by the Holy Spirit (Vos, 1959:31). It is not enough to go to the non-Christian Zomi and just deliver the message.
The message content is fixed. We are not trying to say new things, but simply to make the existing message understandable to someone else. We have to master the content we intend to deliver (Smith, 1992:104-5). The message should focus on “repentance” and “salvation”. It will be vital to take note that the early church in the midst of spirits and emperor worship, taught that without repentance there is no salvation and one cannot be a Christian. Padilla advocated this by saying:
The proclamation of Jesus Christ as Lord of all is a call to turn to God from idols, to serve a living and true God (I Thes 1:9). Where there is no concept of Universal sovereignty of God, there is no repentance; and where there is no repentance there is no salvation. Christian salvation is, among other things liberation from the World as closed system from the World...One cannot be a friend d of this world without being an enemy of God (Jas 4:4). To love this world is to reject the love of God (I Jn 2:12). The gospel then is a call not only to faith, but also to repentance, to break with the world. And it is in the context to which we are free from this world that we are able to serve our fellow men (1985:18).
Our message then should lead Zomi to the “turned upside down” life which will give a healthy worldview. The temptations are to present a compromising message that will not give them clear cut understanding. Again Padilla says:
The gospel of culture Christianity today is a message of conformism, a message that is easily tolerated even by those who do not accept it, because it doesn’t disturb anybody. The racist can continue to be a racist; the exploiter can continue to be an exploiter. Christianity for them will be something that runs alongside life but will not cut through it (Ibid 32).
Such easy and hollow approaches will surely bring a bad result; the people will end up with what Dietrich Bonhoeffer called “cheap grace”. In his Speech, he proclaims its danger saying:
Cheap grace is the deadly enemy of the church. Cheap grace means grace as a doctrine, a principle, a system.in such a church the world finds a cheap covering for its sins; no contrition is required, still less ant real desire to be delivered from sin. Cheap grace therefore amounts to a denial of the living word of God. Cheap grace means the justification of the sinner (Noble, 1975:80).
The missionaries are not sent to make what Padilla called “culture Christians,” but to bring incarnation of the gospel in a given culture, so that it will not be seen as outsiders work and message. One should use the Zomi internal system of communication for better understanding and acceptance of the message. The true indigenous Zomi Church will be one that through the death and resurrection of Christ embodies the gospel within its own culture, Christ formed within the Zomi Culture. The task of the church is not the extension of a cultural Christianity but the incarnation of the gospel among Zomi.
Incarnational life
When I say “Incarnational life” I am thinking of a good model life, which Zomi will easily appreciate and that will fit within their value systems. Many times the non-Christians Zomis are looks upon as just “the fields”. People who are attempting to reach them so not care about bonding relationships. The emphasis on the proclamation is taken to be so important that social obligations are neglected.
To live as a good Christians is what the non-Christian Zomi appreciates much more than preaching a wonderful sermon. In the incarnational model the missionary should adjust himself to the social networking systems, without which he will fail in ministry among Zomi. Colson has said the truth, “The world doesn’t need to be convinced by technical arguments that Jesus rose from dead, but by the evidence of Christians obeying the living Christ within them” (1985:57). It is this that non-Christian cannot argue with when they see the truth in the life of the missionary. Sheldon Vanauken says it well:
The best argument for Christianity is Christians- their joys, their certainty, their completeness. But the strongest argument against Christianity is also Christians-when they are somber and joyless, when they are self-righteous and smug in complacent consecration, when they are narrow and repressive, then Christianity dies a thousand deaths (1977:85).
It is a must to always remember that, the incarnation of Christ’s mission reached its climax at the blood-red hill Calvary, so it means sacrificial living deprived of things that are important to us. Again, Colson make clear this point, “To live as a Christian in most of the world involves a clear, often painful choice, it means choosing Christ over comfort, Christ over safety, Christ over material things, even Christ over family. It often means breaking radically with the status quo” (1985:168) each person who is working among the Zomi should be able to strive toward the goal of Christian maturity. Paul tells us that Christ loved the Church and gave himself for them to “present her to himself as a radiant church, without staring or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless” (Eph 5:27).
If we look carefully at the purpose pf Christ’s love, we will notice that is to produce us “holy and blameless”. Holy describes the character of the church, blameless describes her conduct, so His love for the church is the process by which He develops her holy character and blameless conduct. Mr. Seamands recorded the remark of Dr. Stanley Jones about the Indians attack on the gospel:
The Indian’s attack on the gospel has gone through three stages. First, the people said, “It isn’t true” Then they began to say, “It isn’t new”. What you have in Christianity we also have in essence in our religion. Today they say, “It isn’t you” That is. You Christians profess one thing but practice another (1981:109).
Sadly, it is true that the non-Christians Zomis are saying, “Your gospel is good; we don’t have any problem in believing it, but the difficulty is the truth is not seen in your life”. To be able to penetrate to the “inner sanctum” of the Zomi the communicator should be able to live the incarnational life.
Slavery and Freedom
Slavery exists among Zo people as a recognized system. Some people may enter into it voluntarily, if they do not have any means of sustaining their lives. Some enter into slavery seeking protection or the support of a powerful chief, and thus forfeit their own freedom to become his slaves. The children of a slave will be a slave to the chief where their father belonged. Some become slave’s because they were taken as captives in raids, and thus served their masters. In another became a salve because of a heavy debt that he is unable to pay, and thus became the slave of the money lender (Redi, 1893:233). Still there were some who were forced to become salves because they were caught while betraying the chief. They can buy their freedom by paying a mithun or Rupees 40. (Those days to earn Rs 1.00, a person has to work four full days, and such job were very rare). Carey wrote about what he saw in Chin Hills:
It is true that man had the same right to kill or sell his lave as his dog, and that a Chief used his female slaves as concubines if he wishes to do so; but although sacrifice of a slave was a rare occurrence in the south, and slaves were occasionally shot by an angry master, the bad treatment of the class was rare and on the whole their loves were far from what the term slavery would lead us to expect (1976:203)
The gospel is gospel of freedom from the bondage of slavery physically, socially, emotionally and spiritually. When missionaries came to Mizoram, they were unable to get across the gospel message to the Zo people there. After seeing how they were enslaved by not only chiefs, but by the fear of demons, they were able to share the gospel with them. The then missionary Lorrain wrote this report in the Baptist Mission Society:
Our first message as soon as we could speak the language was a Saviour from sin. But this people had no sense of sin and felt no need of such a Saviour. Then we found appoint a point of contact. We proclaimed Jesus as vanquisher of the devil as one who had bound the “strong man” and taken away from him” all his armour wherein he trusted” and so had made it possible for his slaves to be free. This to the Lushais was “Good News’; indeed, and exactly met their need (1913:1).
The gospel is indeed the “Good News” to every tribe. Jesus said he was sent to send the captives free (Lk 4:18), and in John’s gospel the Lord explain how sin is enslaving mankind, and whoever commits sin is a slave of sin. But the Good News is that the Son Jesus can set free from that bondage of sin (Jn 8:32-36). By accepting Christ as Saviour and Lord one is freed from sin (Rom 6:7, 22) and becomes a child of God (Jn 1:1.13, I John 3:1-2).
Suutpi, the Middle Post
In a building a house, the suutpi post is the most important pillar out of all the building structures. For the Zo people, who use wooden pillars in construction, it will be much more appropriate if the verse which says, “Jesus Christ the chief corner-stone” is translated as “Jesus Christ the middle post”. The chief of a village usually has a big suutpi and anyone, whether criminal or even enemy, who sought refuge in the chief’s house by the traditional custom of embracing the suutpi of the house will be saved. No one can harm him and the man either lives in the chief’s house, as a free man or some may even work as slaves.
The horns of the altar and the cities of refuge have the same meaning as the suutpi of the chief’s picture of the cities of refuge and the horn of the altar are the prototype of Jesus Christ and His redemption. By coming to Him and embracing Him by faith one will be saved eternally (Acts 16:3, Jn 14:6, Eph 2:8,9).
Fireside Evangelism
Zo people discussed, resolved and made an arrangement beside the fireplace in the house. In the traditional house the fireside is the main place for social interactions. It is the places where guests are entertained by providing tea and general discussions take place. Dating for young people take place at the same time while the girls’ parents may be discussing their daily chores. A marriage proposal and agreement is made while warming themselves and sipping tea brought by the groom’s party. The fireside is a place where important decisions are made.
It is so important to use the fireside for presenting the gospel story. From those who responded to my questionaries’ out of 43 persons, 35 wrote that the fireside was the best place for evangelism. As for the method of communication in the non-Christian home, 40 persons think that the story-telling method to be right one. During 1994, I conducted a test in two villages trying to find which is more effective among Zomi, story-telling or Bible study. The fireside story telling village scored much higher in their understanding of the scripture and in their positive attitudes toward Scripture.
I was able to interview Rev & Mrs. Lalthanzauva who are working among the Akha tribe in Thailand as missionaries. Prior to their work among them there was a missionary working there for seven years, yet without any convert. When they were posted to the same place, within a couple of years they were able to plant seven churches. To their understanding the best method in winning the Akha tribe is through “relationships around the fireside”
The growth of Christianity among the Garo tribe in North-East India was through building relationships. One of the first converts Omed found the right way of reaching his tribe. He built a little hut overlooking the plain area. On their way to the market place, the Garo people passed by the little hut. They would wait for their coming and talk to them. He made it a point to wait for their return. His locations were a pleasant place for resting their loads, having time for chatting, smoking and being entertains, the hut was a “house of call” where everything was free, and everyone made welcome. The little hut was also a house of prayer.
The hut stood as a silent witness to the simple, satisfying faith. Around the hut there were no bamboos sprinkled with blood. No priest of the demons goes there to practice his magic spells. No drink was brewed. But there was much reading of a sacred book that sounded good to hear. The story from the book was a good story of a Good Spirit as such that even upon a wild man’s heart, it was like a whisper of peace. Omed thus found many converts by building relationships from that little hut.
To communicate the gospel to the heart of Zo people it is imperative to use cultural elements as the medium. As long as the gospel is presented by using the missionary’s customs and culture, the gospel will be a foreign religion. They may hear what the missionary is telling, but may not understand enough to be able to make a decision for Christ.
CHAPTER 6
PROPOSAL FOR SHORT-TERM
MISSIONARY TRAINING INSTITUTE FOR
THE ZOMI CHURCHES IN NORTH-EAST INDIA
Most churches in North-East India are going to complete or have completed a century of existence. Lately, the churches have become aware of their missionary obligation. When asked what their state Mizoram is exporting, an elder in the church replied without any hesitation, “We export the gospel”. This is true because the Presbyterian Churches of Mizoram have sent out more than 700 missionaries and the Baptist Churches have commissioned more than 500 missionaries within their state and to mainland India, Thailand, and Papua New Guinea.
Each year, by the grace of God, the number of missionary candidates has risen dramatically. Nagaland is not far behind in this regard. The Nagaland Missionary Movement has a very ambitious goal of sending out 10,000 missionaries to different parts of the world before the end of this century. Manipur Churches have been doing well in mission work. There is a greater percentage of missionaries from the local churches than fulltime workers in them. The so called “bringing in the sheaves” is regarded as one of the most important business of the Church. Paul Pierson shares this insight about non-Western churches, “Today we can no longer ignore the non-Western cross-cultural missionary movement. Because of its widespread implications for rapid growth in world evangelization, it is the most significant step in mission history since Carey sailed for India in 1793” (1987:10)
There are some leaders who are content in thinking that if the churches are having regular programs, it is enough. Many are not so much concerned about mainland India and other countries. Some pertinent questions are, “The church programs here are enough to trouble us. Why add more trouble by opening programs in other places?” “Is there a need for a person to go out to be a career missionary?” “Can he not be a missionary in his hometown or local place?” “Local needs are great, so why worry about a land where we do not have direct connections? “Such self-centeredness is in many churches. There are some churches that have large memberships, and yet, they are thinking neither of going out nor sending. They spend their money in big buildings, and take pride in huge bank balances.
India is a great and needy land where Christians are 2.43% of the population, Hindus 82.64%, Muslims 11.35%, Sikhs 1.92%, Tribal religions 1.5% and Buddhist 0.7% (Census of India,1991). The churches in North-East India are confronted with a wider opening as the Bamboo curtain has fallen in China, where 50 million officially claim to be atheist, 27 % are following their state religion, which is a blending of Buddhism, Taoism, Confucianism and folk religion (Johnstone, 1993:164). In Myanmar the population is 42.1 million, only 5.6% are Christians and the other 94.4% are waiting to hear the gospel of salvation. Looking at our next neighbor, Bangladesh, is 87% Muslim, 11.7% Hindu and the Christian percentage is 0.44% (Johnstone, 1993:109). To our North we have the land of Tibet which is purely a Buddhist country, forcefully occupied by China since 1950. Bhutan at the feet of the great Himalayas is still predominantly Buddhist, 70.1% of the total population while Christians are 0.33%
This section will deal with on how to create missionary-minded churches, the call and qualifications of a missionary, the need of missionary training, the curriculum and the training of missionaries. So the material will not cover who will sponsor those trainees nor where will they serves after their training. The expectation is that the trainees will come from those churches who are already sending missionaries. The program will also benefit those who are serving as missionaries and thus provide opportunities for reflection and refreshment.
Still another question is “who will supervise the missionaries once they are in the field?” At this time, I suggest channeling them through sending agencies such as Friend Missionary Prayer Band, Indian Evangelical Mission, Frontier Missions and others. To send missionaries overseas they should be linked with groups such as Overseas Missionary Fellowship and Global Outreach. These agencies will be entrusted with assigning the missionary to specific fields which will be suitable for the individual, where the agency would have direct contact with them Patrick Sookhdeo quoted Theodore William’s caution about missionary work in India by outside agencies:
Indian Churches do welcome the continued activities of British missionary societies alongside the Indian churches. We do not appreciate these societies working independently. I feel that stage is over. I don’t believe in the artificial distinction between the church and the mission. Missionaries should work with the local church.
Foreign missionary societies can no longer be engaged in effective evangelism in India. So only training workers or institutional work is open to them. They should not be in leadership in institutions. This has led to much politics in institutions. The foreign missionaries have not been able to understand Indian nationals and have often taken sides in disputes. They can work alongside the Indians in Institutions but not be administrators or leaders (1987:18, 20).
The Need for Such training in North-East India
Aizawl Theological College in Mizoram has a course that offers some subjects on mission and missionary training. Recently Eastern Theological College in Jorhat, Assam started a missionary training program, but it is yet to be seen how much it will be practical and how much academic. Outreach Leadership Training Center in Dimapur, Nagaland is running a training program me, ambitiously aiming to train 10,000 missionaries by AD 2000.The need for training has prompted many church Associations to organize training for those who are going out to mission fields from their own churches. The programs are haphazardly done, yet something is better than nothing.
Most of our existing theological Colleges and Bible Schools are geared toward giving training to pastors, church leaders and evangelists. Many respond to the call and go out to mission fields without any training in missionary works. The field reports are not very healthy, because many new missionaries started in those fields with “direct approach evangelism”. They failed to take into account the culture, the local peoples’ perceptions, language and religious understanding. Thus, the need for a properly organized training institute is imperative. The danger, no doubt, about a training center is that it might reflect the West, as Chandu Ray voiced strongly:
I feel that until national associations have been formed and it is they who decide what sort of training must be given, the East and West Center could very easily get bogged down with the Western way of thinking. I believe that had happened. Now, my vision and the vision of many of us, was that the new center should be much more Asian in thinking, in order to present the gospel to the Asians taking it to the people of the major communities, relating it to their customs and culture and to their anthropological thinking. Various forms and modes of the gospel need to be rethought and training given to the missionaries to go and present the gospel in these terms. But this is not being done (1973:375).
Cross-cultural missionary work is a specialized Christian ministry. Training is essential before beginning such ministry because the context in which the ministry is going to take place is different from the missionary’s background. The people are going to be different racially, linguistically, culturally, geographically, in food and customs. It is essential that the missionary be quipped to meet these new challenges and changes to be able to minister effectively in the new context. This equipping can be done through training. No one has ever said that missionary work the training will be easy. He who accepts the call of God has no choice but to follow his Master. He will make a much better missionary than those who view missionary work as a pleasure cruise Herbert Kane warns those who are to be trainees:
Every Christian is a witness; but not every Christians is a missionary in the professional sense of the term. Many are called but few are chosen. Missionaries are mad; not born, and as in every worthwhile vocation the making process is long and difficult.it can even be discouraging; but those who persevere to the end find it to be a rewarding occupation, second to none in valor, excitement and achievement (1975:1).
The present trend in general is that leaders in mission movements are like salesmen because they do not have cross-cultural experiences. Many of them are Church philosophers rather than practitioners, organizational bureaucrats rather than strategists. This produces more para-churchmen than missionary statesman. It is doubtful that the seminaries in India can be the solution to this need. Zeitler voiced his disappointment in this regard: “The solution is not found in theological education, which, in India at least, is also regarded a failure, largely due to its irrelevant content and impractical approach through a system imported without modification from the West” (Kappen,1981).
The obstacles in starting a training program are that most of the available materials are from the West, and our present mission leaders are not adequately informed about the need for such training. Many of the mission society leaders were not trained as missionaries and have not serves as field missionaries. They may be great promoters, but have very inadequate understanding of issues and principles in mission.
It has been found from research conducted by the Church Growth Centre and Union Evangelical Students of India offices (both from Madras in 1987), that many of the leading seminaries in India do not offer missions in their curriculum. The one field of study devoted exclusively to the communication of the gospel in the non-Christian World, which ought to be the heart and purpose of Christian training, is lost when required mission subjects are deleted from the curriculum of theological institutions. So, the outcome is tragic. The 4000 or so Indian missionaries serving under more than 100 Indian missionary societies do not receive cross-cultural preparation, or other missionary training for communicating the gospel among non-Christians. Very few theological institutions offered such a course.
Reflecting on the situations in North Eats India, I am amazed to see young people who are responding to the call “Go” with zeal and a desire to share. The drawback is that many of them are below tenth grade in their secular education. Another is that many churches want to have their own fields as extensions and completely attached to their church, though geographically it may not be practical. There has been a desire to pull finances together, yet this does not receive a very encouraging response. Each church aims to propagate itself by spending its own money in the way it thinks best. Looking at wider areas of the problem, I see similarities with problems in Third World Missions as described by Marlin Nelson:
The chief problem is lack of quality personnel for missionary service.
Finances and securing adequate funds.
Having a proper sending agency, whose purpose and structures are suitable for Asia.
Government restrictions and instability of authority.
Lack of adequate training.
Problem of communication, languages, mobility etc.
Limited Resources
Secondary objectives, trapped in institutions without cross-cultural evangelism.
The threat of religious fundamentalism (1976:52-56).
Who is a Missionary?
The word “missionary” is not originally an English word. It comes from the Latin “motto” which means “to send” or “to dispatch”. A missionary is one who is “sent away” to introduce non-Christian people to Christ. The word “apostello” is used in the New Testament for the verb “send” and thus this world became “apostellos” meaning “the sent one” (Dunger, n.d.:9). The sent one represents the One who sent him, and thus his daily life should back up the message he brings. A far Eastern woman writes for the new recruits:
Formerly the word “missionary” implied piety, kindness and goodness. Today the same work provokes a different reaction and the same question we now ask of each other is “what kind of a Christian is this new worker, true or false?” The answer given is “wait and see”. It is hard to build and easy to destroy, but the work of the demolisher is more dangerous than that of the builder (Cable, 1946:109).
The missionary is a frontiersman, always on the move, penetrating deeper and deeper into virgin territory with the gospel of Jesus Christ. He is never supposed to “settle down”. If he did he would cease to be a missionary in the genuine sense of the Word. He has a twofold goal: to preach the gospel and to plant churches (Nelson, 1976:191).
The Call and the Sending
The term “Missionary Call” has been debated, dissected and analyzed a great deal in recent years with both heat and light emerging from the process. Some have reduced the so-called “missionary call” to a neat formula. Others feel that the term is unbiblical, even harmful and thus would advocate its disuse. In the meantime, the average Christian, who is being challenged with the needed and opportunities of the many missions’ fields of our world, still struggles with knowing what the call is all about and whether he or she has one (Bacon, 1985:2).
The call rerated to a feeling or conviction that they should be in a particular country or in a certain kind of ministry. The call is tied to God’s guidance for special service, usually in the cross-cultural sense. Without the call, one should not venture forth as it would be inviting trouble. To ignore the call would be disobedience and result in serious consequences and loss the call usually comes through the Word, prayer and circumstances. Although an individual’s convictions would be given due respect, the responsibility of assessing suitability cannot be ignored. Michael Griffiths astutely points out:
Some missionary societies even ask the candidate whether he feels “called” to work with them. At first sight this seems to arise from an exaggerated sense of sell-importance, but when pressed, most missionary societies will admit that they’re really asking whether the individual feels happy with their particular ethos (1983:79).
Many are waiting for the special call or the “Macedonian Call” and while waiting they lose heart and their vision. It is important to note that a special divine call is not necessary to witness for a Christ beyond the national border. That is every Christians’ duty. The call of missionary service is not necessarily associated with a definite field at home or abroad. It is owing the Great commission and being willing to be a world Christian. For those who are waiting for the special “Macedonian call” Kane writes, “Thousands of youths desiring to serve the Lord have waited for some mysterious “missionary call” that never came. After a time, they became weary of waiting and gave up the idea of going to the mission field” (1980:4).
There are two aspects of the missionary call, one general and one particular. The general missionary call is synonymous with the “great commission”. It includes all Christians as prospective missionaries, and it is general because it includes all unbelievers as the mission field. There is till the individual aspect to the call, and in some cases a separate individual call. There are strands of the call of God providentially at work that you know and no one else does. It is the threading of God’s voice on some particular line, and it is no use to consult every one about it, or to say that other people are dull because they do not hear it (Chambers, 1941:10). No one can answer for another, not even family members. It is in this response that we clearly see the hand of the Holy Spirit. He illuminates the understanding of the saints and open their ears to the call to make the Saviour known in every land. It is the summons of God to our spirit, for a special and specific service. Oswald J. Smith shares how unmistakably clear the call of God was to him;
To me the call is the divine urge, that compelling impulse, that passion within, that makes it impossible for me to resist. There is something within that is calling, ever calling. I am restless. I am like a hunter’s dog on the leash, straining to get away.it is that irascible “must” (n.d. 24).
Without having such strong convincing knowledge of the call of God, if a person goes to the field, he may stay just because of his human determination and patience; or he may quit without even finishing his first term. There are many reasons why a missionary is able to withstand discouragement and continue to serve the people faithfully. However, one thing is very clear, the call of God. Oswald Smith emphasizes this vital point when he says:
No, no my friend! If you plan to be a missionary, make sure, very, very sure that you have been called by God. Otherwise it will be nothing short of a living death. The romance will wear off in a few days, sight-seeing will quickly lose its attraction, the novelty of travelling in foreign lands will become stale, and you will find yourself utterly at sea. Discouragement, disappointment will be your portion, and death will be preferable to life (Ibid, 25).
Charles Marsh described even more vividly the importance of distinguishing the call of God from the human aspect of service for Him. He was aware of the danger of making decisions out of emotion that will not carry a person through in foreign fields. Marsh cautions:
Beware of an emotional experience in a crowded missionary meeting. The decision must not be taken suddenly but alone with God. Ask yourself these questions: (a) Is my first reaction one of rebellion, a sense of insufficiency, a feeling of fear? Do I rebel in my inmost being? Then it may well be that it is the voice of God’s spirit. (b) Is this decision according to the general line of scripture? If not, then it cannot be God’s choice (c) Have I an intense urge to get alone with God to decide? Emotions wants a quick decision. An urge to get alone on the mountain top indicates reality.it would be well to implicate any decision taken in the presence of God by writing a letter which is then put on one side for some days while further prayer is made. The deciding factor must then be the peace of God (1979 :13-14).
The call of God is a call according to the nature of God. Where we go in obedience to that call depends entirely on the providential circumstances which God engineers. It is easy to say that those called and trained will be sent by the local church or by parachurch sending agencies. But the question still remains, who really sends missionaries? One may say, “the church”.
Harold R. Cook has done a careful exegesis on Acts 13:1-4,14-27 trying to find out the sending of the first missionaries. He warns of the danger of inferring many ideas not in the text. Acts 13 gives the names of the prophets and teachers who were ministering. The Holy spirit told them He had called two of their number for special task. So after the five fasted and prayed, the other three laid hands on Barnabas and Saul and sent them on their mission. Cook noted that there is no evidence that the church was involved in this action. Neither is there indication that these men were acting on behalf of the church. He laying on hands seems to indicate giving God’s blessing rather than an authoritative appointment by the church. Cook says:
There are three basic verbs in Greek that are most commonly translated “send” in English. Two of them are almost synonymous “pempo” and “apostello”. The first means simply “sent” any sort of sending. The second means “send forth” and is the verb from which the noun “apostle” comes. Apostello is used in Acts 13:4, where Luke says that they were “sent forth by the Holy Spirit” on their first missionary journey. But the verb in verse 3 is neither of these. There is a different verb, “apoluo” which means literally “release” or “dismiss”. This verb is never once used in the sense of an authoritative sending of individuals on a mission, or with a task to perform. So it really should be translated, “they let them go,” or more freely, “they wished them God-speed” (1975:236).
It is the Holy Spirit who sent the first missionaries; the church acted by praying for blessing in their endeavour. Cook once again hammers his point:
The idea that the local church is the divinely ordained missionary sending agency finds absolutely no support in the scriptures. Who, then, does send the missionaries? Acts 13:4 leaves us in no doubt the Holy Spirit (Ibid, 238).
Whether the local church or parachurch agency acted on behalf of the Holy Spirit there is a human part in the sending. The calling, the training of the inner man, and the guiding are done by the Holy Spirit, but today, without the body of believers, missionary work will suffer. We may conclude by saying, the local church has an important role under the leading of the Holy Spirit. George W. Peters, Professor of Missions at the Dallas Theological Seminary emphasizes evangelism through the church. Speaking at Lausanne he said:
According to the divine order, the key to church renewal of any kind is the leadership and the pastor. Here the fire ought to begin to burn; from here it mostly rapidly and most progressively spreads. There is another divine ideal. The church is God’s supreme agent of evangelism. We are deeply concerned about and committed to the evangelization of the world. How is this to be accomplished? Automatically we are thinking mission societies and missionaries will be demanded for years to come. They must send, they must go! However, it must be emphasized with equal force that the world will not be evangelized solely or mainly by mission agencies and professional missionaries. The biblical and main key is the local church mobilized and trained in evangelism. The mission agency and the missionary are the advance guard to establish an outpost. They are the supplement of the church in world evangelism. This is a principle that must be taught and preached until it will sink into the fiber of the life of the church (1974:201).
Creating Mission Awareness in the Churches
If India is going to be evangelized, the churches should be willing to come together to put together their focus and forces, so that there is clear planning and strategies may be developed. Till today, in most fields, the hit and run method seemed to be prevalent. The sending agencies may have their own principles and practices, yet the local churches are not aware that such things that are in existence. There is no desire for mutual encouragement and assistance in missions. The churches should be willing to help other churches in mission. This will create healthy cross-fertilization, enthusiasm and ability enhancement. The five-fold objectives of the Association of Church Missions Committee stated in 1974 will help make churches helping churches in missions a reality:
Encourage and aid local churches, both denominational and independent, to establish a strong mission’s committee.
Keep local churches informed of what God is accomplishing around the world today.
Increase church awareness of the principles and practices of missions.
Provide tools for more effective evaluation and administration of church missions programs.
Challenge local churches to a growing responsibility for reaching the unreached with Christ.
After the withdrawal of foreign missionaries from North-East India, some churches are attempting to develop their own mission boards. They have been doing remarkable ministries among Hindus, Muslims, and other religious backgrounds. But there are many churches which are in need of missionary vision and must be challenged to “go” or “send”.
One pastor asked, “How can I make my church to be a missionary church? “I want to answer that question from the history and growth of Grace Gospel church in manila, under the able leadership of pastor Kor Cheng. They have sent around 100 missionaries to many countries in Asia. He believes that in order to have success in missionary work, the local churches should take the initiative. Cheng recounts the following steps used in starting missionary involvement in his church:
We spent a period of several Sundays expounding from the pulpit the missionary message in order to create a missionary vision and burden among the members.
We prayed for missionary work in our public and private prayers, asking the Lord to show us what step we should take.
I arranged a personal talk with each of the leaders of the church so that all of them would have the same mind and the same response.
We made a proposal to the board of Deacons for their approval. After it had been accepted, a missionary committee was organized, and committee members were appointed to do research.
We promoted missionary endeavor in all the Sunday School Classes and other groups in the church so that these people would interact with their ideas.
We announced the formation of the mission board in the church and had it approved at a congregational meeting. With the support of both the deacons and the congregation, we mobilized every member in the church to be involved in missionary work.
Finally, we planned an annual missionary conference so that the members would have the opportunity before God to give their money and lives in mission service, and in doing so there would be no lack both in money and in manpower in our missionary effort (1973: n.p.).
Misconceptions and Mistakes in Mission Work in India
Though India has many mission-sending agencies, many of those agencies are run by one man and few people under him. It is like a one-man show, not the project of a group of believers.in some places the one who started that agency will control everything. He will appoint his own brother and sisters as committee members.in fact most of those smaller mission organizations mainly consist of family members. One deficiency is Indian Christian growth is that witnessing and missionary works have been approached as a commercial venture or as employment. The sending para-churches should have the main line churches behind them in prayer and financial support. In many cases it is the opposite. It is like a family-run business. When missionary works are for raising money for employment’s sake. Involvement of society members is absent or members are taken from those who can be easily manipulated. Consequently, mission work suffers.
I would like to offer insights of Donald McGavran about successful mission works. These will revolutionize many mission agency structures and make them effective. McGavran cites six basic principles:
First, the mission society must create bands of Christians who burn with desire to tell others about Jesus. Second, the mission society must create a system of support. Third, most new missionary societies should select reasonably responsive populations... sending a band of missionaries who will find comradeship and spiritual support from fellow workers who come from the same sending churches. Fourth, train missionaries before they go out the first time and on their first and second furloughs. Fifth, missionary societies have two task. They must keep both the senders and the sent blessed and marching under the Great Commission, honest accounts, capable administration and patient understanding. Sixth, the missionary society must be flexible while remaining utterly committed to bring them to the obedience of the faith (Rom 16:25) (1975:430-432).
I have seen and interviewed a large number of missionaries in the past. Many of them are working with great dedication. Yet, they are working without proper missionary training. In some cases, theological training is seen as sufficient for missionary work. That kind of understanding prevails in North-East Indian churches, thinking that missionary work is a much lighter task than it really is the harvest force is sent out without a cutting edge. Whenever there are converts, they’re disciples to follow the denominational practices, rather than discipling them to follow Christ. In many churches the Mission Board expects a monthly report of converts, even from the first year of field activity. In India, seminary graduates go predominantly to churches and a few go to mission fields. Instead of sending out the best from the staff, the opposite often happens.
Lyman Reed made a list of “inadequate missionary preparation in the Past” and I would like to include it here as each mistake has been committed in the field again and again.
The weakness of the Monocultural Approach. Little attention has been given to the receptor people and how to understand them as person’s within their own cultural setting. As a result, much of our own Western culture has been communicated along with the Gospel message. This has resulted in many nations thinking that had to become like Westerners in order to become Christians (b) The weakness of an unbalanced Approach. The chief emphasis has been placed on a cognitive knowledge of the Biblical message, but we are missing the World. Missionaries have not been trained to understand the world around them; in fact, in many cases they have been sadly isolated from the outside world by ghetto-like institutions in which they have been trained. (c) the weakness of Ignoring insights of the Behavioral Sciences. Psychology, sociology and anthropology were regarded as suspect, hence they were to be avoided (d) Our weakness in Failing to recognized a fast changing world. Great strides have been taken in the field of technology, transportation, communication, and education to name just a few areas (1985:4-10).
The Goal of Training Missionaries
All-Asian Mission Consultation meeting in Seoul in 1973 clearly defined the goal of the two hundred new Asian missionaries planting churches:
These missionaries will be involved primarily in evangelism in the power of the Holy Spirit in order that men and women may come to believe God’s work of grace through Jesus Christ and in turn be agents of evangelism in the fellowship of His church, the body of Christ. These missionaries will also be sent to plant evangelistic churches where they do not already exist (1973:349).
Many missionaries who are sent out from North-East India are working in institutions and are never exposed to the real-life situations of the local people. Most of them are “trapped inside the Mission Compound”. That is why it is so important that the goal of mission should be very clear. Evangelism can only be done in the power of Holy Spirit. Yet it is the job of ever believer and every church, to evangelize those around them. On many occasions the missionaries are very confused about their goals. Each one of them may have individual goal apart from the main goal of the missing program. Let us look at goals expressed by some missionaries:
I am out here to teach the truth brotherhood of man.
My aim is that the fracas might be reconciled to God.
To share my good things with those who has less than me.
My objective is to make my fullest contribution to the uplift of a healthy people.
I am out here for the salvation of souls.
To show to the people that Christ is the answer to their religious searching
What am I here for? To preach the gospel
To seek for salvation of the Chinese.
That the Lord Jesus may see of the travail of His soul in me, in others and be satisfied (Cable, 1946:44)
North-East Indian missionary candidates march out from the church atmosphere to the fields, with a “colonial mentality: That is what they had seen from those who were the first missionaries to them.in some places the local people have to learn the missionary language, rather than the missionary learning the local language. We are repeating the same methods used by missionaries who came to us in the past. I interviewed a missionary about his work in the Hindu field. Without any hesitation he replied “To distribute literature, and also do street preaching” With the minimum income of the local churches we are frantically trying all methods which are used by churches from the West who have much more money than we do. The goal of mission must be distinct and clear, and that is, to plant new churches. Griffiths has a good insight about this when he says:
Now this is something that needs emphasizing. We live in a day of techniques, methodologies and specializations. Enthusiastic individuals found new movements and organizations specializing in evangelizing young people, students or hospital patients, or to provide useful services by translating the Bible, flying aeroplanes, relieving famines, broadcasting, helping refugees, printing and distributing literature, or making a host of other excellent contributions to the Christian cause. We should note that most of these movements have arisen first in countries where there is already an existing network of the local churches of various denominations. But we must never lose sight of the fact that such organizations are only auxiliary, ancillary, secondary and supplementary to the chief task of missions, which is to plant new churches (1983:39).
Training the few early believers to take over leadership as soon as they can be another factor to be considered seriously. Many fields in the pasts have been closed down when the missionary left, because the missionaries held authority and power for so long. The nationals were not given the opportunity so long that they were unable to take up the ministry of the gospel when the missionaries left. Oswald Smith gave this advice to those missionaries who were sent out from the West:
The one and only business of the foreign missionary is the training of native workers. He must himself keep in the background and as rapidly as possible push them to the front. He, not the native is the helper (1958:108).
Not only should the native leaders be trained to take up the responsibility for churches, but he should be careful in criticizing the local cultural norms and practices.
Extracting the first leader by taking him out and introducing him to a way of living which is foreign to him will do more harm to him than helping him. The missionary’s intention may be very good, but he should make sure that the training of national leaders takes place in their own context rather than somewhere else where the standard of living in much higher. This leader will face a great deal of pressure and temptation to stay in the civilized and comfortable place rather than return to his own homeland. Once again, Oswald Smith poignantly discussed danger:
Our mission is not one of education along any line, but of evangelization. What right have we to change the manner and customs of the people? Why create in their hearts a spirit of dissatisfaction by introducing our mode and standard of living? there are many things that we are used to, that to us may be indispensable, but to them would be luxuries. Our civilization is much more liable to injure them than to sew them good. Bring them into our homes, teach them to live like us, and they will never again be content to settle among their own people and become useful in the service of God (ibid., 109).
Our goal is to establish believers in each people group, so that they will form a strong local church which will expand itself by evangelizing other sections of the society. Because the local believers are the best and the most effective in reaching their societies for Christ. Yet, without a missionary who is willing to cross his culture, in obedience to the comma nd of Christ others will not know the gospel message. Humanly speaking, to live outside of our cultural comfort zone is not pleasant. It is not the first choice for most of us. But the Lord of the Harvest gives His reapers grace upon grace to endure the demands of the fields. The adjustments must be made under the guidance of the Holy Spirit and in the fire of Divine love.
Looking at the field, one can see their need for liberty in Christ; spiritually, socially, emotionally and physically. But one is simply at a loss as to how he should start the work and how can he differentiate what is crucial so that he can address first. The following conversation will reflect this dilemma of a young missionary to his colleague:
Turning to his friend, he said: “Tell me, where is the touchstone which unfailingly distinguishes the true from the false?” “How can I learn to approach the captives with the message I have for them?” “How can I avoid fear and keep free from panic in the face of such a foe?” His friend’s reply was: “The answer to the first, is the touchstone is Christ and its application, “What think ye of Him?” “As to the second, the story of the Good Shepherd teaches how to approach a sinner- he must be sought, rescued, tended and rejoiced over” “As regards the third, you must put on the whole panoply of God, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might and know that nothing can by any means hurt you” (Cable, 1946:80).
It is crucial that appropriate self-evaluation in the filed setting be made. A correct understanding of who the missionary represents and how that will affect his ministry is necessary. Thus the right concept of self, the right relationship with God, the right attitude of the field, and a balanced view of the Scripture is essential.
Again, it is very important to identify the goal of mission, if not, one can be lost in the sea of needs. Many missionaries are overwhelmed by the needs around them so that they end up spending all their efforts on issues which they are unable to handle. We are not called to give solutions to all the problems of that social setting, but to be a channel of the light that will shine in the Kingdom of darkness. We are sent to bring the message of victory over the evil one and the forces of darkness.
Some Prerequisites of a Good Mission Training Institute
A missionary is a person working in another culture. This cross-cultural aspect distinguishes a missionary from a pastor or evangelist working among people of his own culture. That other culture may be similar or radically different. A Christian from North-East India doing missionary work in Himachal Pradesh or in Gujarat needs special training before going out. To facilitate that training, there are some crucial issues which need our attention in order to have a good training institute. Prakash George listed the following as prerequisites for a Missionary Training Institute in India:
The place and living condition during the training should be as similar as possible to those the trainee will face in his or her future ministry. Simulating the missionary situation during training will be very useful. The trainees will thereby be mentally and physically better prepared to face the new situation when they are sent to a mission field.
The training imparted in the areas of strategy and methodology should be based on the Bible. We live in a world which seeks for quick results and easy profits. There is danger than worldly ideas and questionable methods may be integrated in a false effort to achieve our end result. The Bible should be our criteria. The Cross must not be forgotten.
The training should focus on those we seek to bring to Christ through cross-cultural missionary work. We do not train merely for self-improvement, but to minister effectively to those who have not heard and accepted the gospel of Jesus Christ. The language of the recipients in most cases will be new to the missionary; the missionary needs to be trained in how to communicate to illiterates as well as how to make illiterates people literate.
The training should also take into consideration the trainees’ abilities, qualifications and talents. In a country like India where we get missionary candidates from various backgrounds and qualifications, it should be seen that the needs of all are catered to. This calls for personalized attention to each one of the trainees.
The trainers should be willing to be trained along with the trainees.in other words, the trainer should be able to do all the things the trainee does. The best example of this is our master trainer, Jesus Christ. We see that He never expected the disciples to do what He himself did not do. The disciples were trained by observing Jesus (Jn 13:1-17). The apostle Paul says, “Follow my example, as I follow the example of Jesus Christ” (I Cor 11:1). I believe all trainers should try to tell this to their trainees.
The trainers should have an experience of cross-cultural missionary work. This is essential because the trainer knows in reality what he or she is talking about. Such training has credibility and is easily accepted by the trainees.
There should be integration of theory and practical work during the training. The trainees should be able to reflect on what is being taught and see its practical usefulness.
There should be a well-equipped library, which would give the trainees enough materials to read and research about the missionary work (martials should be from Indian sources, if not more from the similar field researches and books, not only from western sources) It would be impossible to teach everything about missions in the limited time, but there should be ample opportunity and facility to read. Effort also should be made to provide books and materials for continuing education of the missionary after he or she leaves the training institute.
Prayer should be an important part of the training programme. Sufficient time should be given for prayer. The trainee needs to recognize that no amount of training will save souls, but his constant touch with God through prayer will count the most and that kind of lifestyle should be built up, if not at least from the institute. Churches are planted and nourished by and thorough prayer.
The training period should be a time of building up Christian character. Christian values such as integrity, truthfulness, accountability, stewardship, perseverance, discipline, patience, servanthood, humility, love, holiness and reverence need to be taught and ingrained into the missionary life. It is the Holy Spirit who brings about these characteristics in the missionary, but these qualities need emphasis on the missionary’s preparation (1991:181-182).
Missionary Qualifications
With some additions, the following qualifications come from a consultation and workshop called by Indian Missions Association, and jointly sponsored by the Missions Commission of the World Evangelical Fellowship. The consultation was held September 21-21, 1992 in Madras, Tamil Nadu.
Attention in the workshop was focused on identifying “character qualities” because the faithfulness and effectiveness of a missionary will depend on his or her character. Christian values such as integrity, truthfulness, accountability, stewardship, and others are to be taught and ingrained into the missionary life. It is the Holy Spirit who brings about these characteristics in the missionary, but these qualities need emphasis in the missionary’s preparation.
“Ministry Skills” are needed, with the understanding that informational requirements should be subordinate to character and ministry. The missionary should be trained in public speaking, language learning, and various means of communication.
In certain areas technical skills such as tailoring and carpentry can be useful bridges, in communicating the gospel. Those who have the aptitude can be taught these skills. The qualifications for a missionary listed by the participants are:
CHARACTER AREAS:
Spiritually Mature
Zeal for Cross- Cultural Evangelism
Disciplined and Accountable.
Adaptable
Rightly Related to God.
Rightly related to One’s Family
Righty related to One’s Community
MINISTRY AREAS:
Exercises Spiritual Disciplines
Engage in Spiritual Warfare
Communicates Effectively (in one’s own language)
Builds Relationship & Friendships
Understand and communicates Cross- Culturally
Learns a Language
Evangelizes and Preaches.
Teaches, Train and Disciples
Plants the Church.
Manages Time and Resources.
Copes with stress and Loneliness (IMA 1993:4-5)
Several other points are very important and should be included in the qualifications above: recognition of the missionary gift, academic qualifications, acceptance by the church, and having a team spirit. In the field these qualities will give them the ability to encourage one another and give mutual correction and emotional support. McGavran continually emphasizes the importance of recruiting qualified personnel to the mission field. In his article “Logistic and Mission” he says:
World evangelization in large part an exercise in logistics---getting the forces to the place where they are needed in time. Mission Should be viewed not merely as extending a thin red line of men to proclaim the gospel to all men whether they believe or not, but discriminating dispatch of sufficient, well-trained laborers to fields which are nor ripe, where churches can be multiplied (1966:7).
The training program will affect the choice of the curriculum. Because it will vary on how many subjects are going to be taught, the arrangement of the classroom, time of interaction and the field exposure. As mentioned earlier the training process will be formal, nonformal and informal. Every gift, since it could be a valuable asset later on, needs to be carefully examined and refined during the preparation process. The training period is also a time when the contents of the Scripture should be mastered, not merely read devotionally and not viewed as a textbook for the lecture room. But it is to be studied as the volume which makes a man wise unto salvation, which equips him for warfare and which will be to him light on every difficult pathway. The best model of the missionary life is exemplified in the life of Jesus Christ. There are three important aspects to his involvement with mankind (Phil 2:1-18).
He was willing to empty Himself.
He was willing to become like men.
He was willing to suffer for men.
The integration of this principle to the missionary who is undergoing his training will mean:
Willing to leave familiar things (background) behind.
Willing to become like the local people adapting to their ways.
Willing to suffer for others.
The training period should include times of serious meditation and spiritual development. Areas of weakness need to be identified. Every characteristic, every talent, the nature of one’s pleasures, indulgences, failings, one’s peculiar and besting sins are mercilessly noted by the enemy for exploitation. The missionary is going to be made the target of a subtlest and crafty attack directly from the father of lies. No trouble will be spared to counter or maim him. If he can now be effectively dealt with, he may later on be left alone to pursue his devious course unmolested.
“Training the right kind of missionary begins in the nursery”, says Amy Carmicheal. It is a life-long severity but it produces a man who can be relied on not to be brittle under the strain, not to sag under discouragement and not to go slack when there is no one to supervise him. This is a strength which is not captured suddenly; it is the offspring of patient years. Training does not start in training centers, but from the home where a person grows up.
Training programs will seek to cooperate with the local churches missionaries who are on the fields will be included in the teaching staff as well as local pastors who have been to the mission field in the past. Training will be contextualized as much as possible. The field experience will be given due importance in the program. The classroom and interaction with field workers will increase but a movement that will be taken up by the churches. They will own the programme as it grows and run it. Sookhdeo gives admonition to the training as:
Training must be contextualized. It is not enough just to impart skills. Nationals being trains need to understands and identify fully with the goals being aimed for. Training should help them develop their potentials and “native ingenuity” to achieve the desired goals. In order for this kind of contextualized training to be realize, it should be done, wherever possible, by a team of local pastors or leaders and missionaries, and only in exceptional situation by the missionary alone (1987:20).
We cannot achieve the goals I have set in a short span of time. This training is a life time process. Much depends upon the individual’s potential. However, the institute should set goals guided by the felt needs of the mission field. At the end of the training, the institute must be confident that the candidate will be able to function in a cross-cultural setting. Training is not simply classroom studies. Whatever happens to the students inside and outside the classroom is part of the training process (Swamidoss, 1993:3). Anything that is done during the training period will have an impact upon the student positively and negatively. The larger part of the training will take place in the field.
Curriculum for the Training
The curriculum will support and develop the goals of mission work. That will not only help in the administration of the program, but also each teacher should be aware of how this subject fits into the overall objectives.
The training period will be three months in a year which will continue over a period of three years. The training will include class lectures, seminars, interactions with other mission sending agencies and practical field exposure. Training in most of the institutions in India tends to be theoretical, “bookish” and exam-oriented. Teaching focuses on subjects about mission and theology rather than the task of doing mission and the questions arising therefore. The temptation is to follow a typical Bible school or theological college format of curriculum. As much as possible the course, though appearing to be very academic, will also include non-formal and informal learning. The strength of the curriculum will rest on the practical training in the field, and also trying to make the classroom lessons interesting and applicable to daily life. Each one will not only master the academic content but also feel within themselves the thrill of sharing Christ with others.
As any curriculum has direct and indirect influences from the West, it is necessary to guard against producing a little “western training program” somewhere in North-East India and adapting the linear, logical teaching method of the western World for people who are context oriented groups. William Woodard points out one aspect of the problem in Japan, when he writes:
“Westerness” is not in itself an obstacle, how could it be when Japan is being modernized and westernized so rapidly? The obstacle is rather the “fixity” of the Western pattern” Christianity persists tenaciously in resisting any adaptation to Japanese Culture (1962:288).
To avoid this fixity and becoming a byproduct of Western influence, it is crucial that Indian missiologists need to think afresh and attempt to write materials from the Indian field contexts. Although the names of the subjects may be the same the context may be different. There are four steps in the process of developing curriculum:
Identify the training task.
Determine appropriate training strategies.
Plan specific interaction
Be sensitive to integrative opportunities (Ferris, 1994;6).
The Training Institute will be conducted on a regular yearly basis. There will be modification for the North Eats Indian Context. Yet, I would like to take the curriculum design proposed by Met Castillo in his topic A Basic Curriculum for Missionary training in Asia. This is going to be the model or reference for the design and development of the curriculum. It has integrated the four dimensions of being; sensing, knowing and doing. The following subjects will be required during the three year programme. The list also has some subjects which are not mentioned above, though most of them are recorded.
The First Year:
Cultural Anthropology I
Biblical theology of Mission.
Church growth and Church Planting
Contemporary Strategy of Missions I
Cross-cultural Communication and evangelism
History of Mission.
Indigenization and leadership development.
Major World Religions I
Church-mission relationships
Introduction to Building Construction and Wood working
First-aid and family health
The Second Year:
Mission practices and Principles from Acts.
Bible translation
Cultural Anthropology II
Contemporary society
Nurturing Churches Cross-culturally
Servant Leadership
Missionary husband/wife
Introduction to Necessary Mechanical works
Mission trends and Strategies II
Reflections/field reports, analyzing, critics and suggestions
Language Acquisition techniques
Major Religion II
The Third Year:
Contextualization
The Missionary and Community Development
Power Encounter and prayer life
Principles of Dry-land Agriculture & Livestock care
Discipling Non-Readers
Book Keeping and accounting
Cross-Cultural Bible Studies
Basic Doctrinal Theology
Urban and Rural Evangelism
Understanding Spiritual gifts
Cross-Cultural Counselling
Indian Christian Theology
Enthnomusic-Indian Music and others.
The subjects chosen above are yet to be written and re-written to fit the Indian context. Since 1980s, mission subject has been written by Indian church leaders. They are mostly the basis of mission and sharing information about the need in India. Except those well documented articles from Church Growth Center in Madras, other good material for mission work in India is not available.
The proposed training program wills require a suitable place and financial resources. At this point the training may only be feasible in existing theological institutions of North-East India and in Myanmar. We have a long way to go, but this will be the beginning of training Zomi missionaries. Sending out the harvest-force without any training is like sending them without the cutting blade. Without giving training, they may accomplish something, yet it will not have lasting impact. It may even have a detrimental effect in the long run. So, the training program should be introduced in all possible ways to the churches and to the theological institutions.
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CHAPTER 7
CONCLUSION AND FURTHER CONCERNS
The Zomi World Indeed Changed
Throughout this product an attempt has been made to show that the Zomis world is indeed changing by the power and love of God. A few things stood out in my mind as I write this product. First, the Lord God in His eternal plan of redemption included the people once called “wild” and “primitive”. In the world of the 19th century, there were larger people groups to whom the missionaries could have gone. But the Lord, who is rich in mercy sent the missionaries to bring the eternal lights to us. Second, the Western missionaries teamed up with the Karen evangelists when they came to Chin Hills. They were much more effective in winning the Zomis because there are similarities between our cultures. They were able to adapt to the culture easily and speak the language more fluently and faster than the missionaries. In fact, the first Zo converts were won by Thra Shwe Zan from his station at Khuasak.
The training given to the CCOC ambassadors is one-month long. Most of them are still very young in age with less experience in Christian Ministry. Yet the Lord of the harvest honored their sacrifices by adding thousands to His Kingdom. Winning Zomi in Zomi ways is the need of the hour. Until the Gospel is presents in a way that is suitable to the culture of the Zomi; it will have a different meaning to them. In the same way, the Zomi churches need to know how to win the Plains Burmese in a Burmese way. As their culture is intertwined with Buddhism Zomi missionaries must learn how communications are being out in the Burmese religious world.
Some Issues for Further Study
There are many issues which need further research when we look at the Zomi’s world:
The practice of cleansing the house.
The selection of the land for cultivation, visiting the maternal grandfather with wine or tea to seek his blessing.
The way a dead body is treated and the system of disposal.
The power of spoken word as cursing or blessing.
The ancestor of worship and the system of administration in a village.
The method of redeeming a person by sacrificing to the spirits.
In the Church Context
The Zomi churches need to re-introduce the traditional folk tunes and songs not only for the sake of evangelism, but also for worship. This may take time but it should be done tactfully and carefully.
There is a need to write and develop Zomi theology. If Water Buffalo theology is a name suitable for the Thai people, then Bamboo theology should be the name for the Zo people. The reason in that bamboo is the most used plan for their survival. Zo people cannot think of settling in a place where there is no bamboo.
It has been my burden and desire to start a Pastoral Refresher Course for North-East India in the near future. Many pastors have faithfully served the church for 20 years or more and yet have not been in any refresher course. The course will be a time of fellowshipping with pastors from different denominations and tribal backgrounds.
The Missionary Training Institute is another much needed program that has to be developed in North-East India. The two largest churches, the Council of Baptist Churches in north-East India in the Presbyterian Church of North Eats India, should lead in this venture. There are some training institutes which are stared and funded by a few churches, but the whole training is not adequate. This is the task that North-East Indian churches should place as of prime importance.
Lastly, if there has been no message of God’s love demonstrated in the person of Jesus Christ Zo people would still be headhunting tribes, living in the unknown corners of India, Bangladesh and Myanmar. But today, the Zomi world has changes, not by human philosophy and ideology, but by the power of the Gospel. Praise be to Him who loves us with everlasting love.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Adeyemo, Tokumboh. Salvation in African Tradition, Kenya: Evangel Publishing House, 1979.
Alexander, Lesih Mc. Christian Progress in Burma, London: World Dominion, 1929.
Anderson, J.N. Dand. The World’s Religions. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1963.
Association of Church Missions Committee, Brochure, Chicago: ACMC n.d.
Bacon, Daniel. Who, Me a Missionary? Singapore: Overseas Missionary Fellowship 1985.
Banks, Pedleton E. “Pau Cin Hau: A case of Religious Innovations among the Northern Chin” American Historical Anthropology essays in honor of Leslie Spier, eds. Carrol L. Ridley & Walter W. Taylor, London Feiffer & Simons, 1967.
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