Dec 4-5: Stayed with Rev. Lallawmzuala & Dr. Ruth and were invited to dinner by Mr. & Mrs. Alwyn Roberts in Wales. The Roberts are the founders of the first Mizo college in Aizawl in the 1960’s. We had a blessed time in Wales!

Dec 6-7: Stayed with Naomi Gray in Oxford. We met Naomi’s sister and Miss Hanna from Germany. Hanna was a missionary in the Philippines. We had a wonderful sharing time. Naomi is a generous host and a dedicated mission mobilizer in UK.

Dec 8-9: Stayed with Paul and Nancy Silverman in Cambridge; Nancy is Mizo. We met a Mizo physician and his family. Paul took Liana to visit Cambridge University and town.

Dec 10-13: Attended Perspectives Global Huddle at Wycliffe Center. A great time of learning and sharing about mission activities with Perspectives and related study users. We will write more on this huddle later.

Dec 14: Left London, UK for India by British Airways. The flight was delayed for six hours. From the airport, we called family in USA and India to alert them of our situation.

INDIA:
Dec 15: Arrived at Kolkata, IN and were greeted by our nephew and niece, Joseph and Romawii. They immediately directed us to our flight to Aizawl, Mizoram. All flights from Kolkata to Aizawl were cancelled for the previous three days and so Kolkata airport was unusually crowded. We were grateful to get seats for our connecting flight to Aizawl. Thank God, your prayers for us have been answered!

Dec 18: Participated in a seminar by the Zawlbuk Group on reforming systems in Mizoram. It was videotaped by the local Zonet cable station. Zonet stated it was one of the best seminars held in Aizawl, the capital city of Mizoram state

Dec 22: Traveled to Thingsai, Ngeni’s childhood village, for Christmas with relatives.

Dec 24: Liana presented Perspectives outline at the local Church of Faith at both Sunday morning and evening services.

Dec 25: Spoke at the Christmas morning special service at the local Baptist church.

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Dec 26: Spoke again at another special morning service at the same Baptist church.

Dec 27: Traveled to Hnahthial village but were delayed at Khawhri village due to road problems. Khawhri villagers, both young and old, warmly welcomed us and we shared Perspectives to them. Late afternoon, we proceeded to Hnahthial village where we shared Perspectives outline in the evening.

Dec 28: At night, more people came to our place to hear more on Perspectives.

Dec 29: Traveled to Sangau village where we had a family reunion and enjoyed a feast prepared for us. Late afternoon, a formal public welcome by members of the Village Council and the local chapter of the Young Lai Association was held at the Tourist Lodge. They organized a public meeting to interview us and we shared the purpose of our visit – to promote Perspectives. They provided a feast in the evening.

Dec 30: Traveled to Vawmbuk, Liana’s childhood village. Liana’s cousin, Suiawia joined us from Lawngtlai village to take care of our needs.

Dec 31: Liana presented Perspectives outline at a local church at Sunday morning service.

Jan 1 (New Year’s Day): Both of us spoke at the special service of a local church. Some were truly convicted by the need to bring the Gospel to the 10,000+ unreached peoples.

Jan 2: Traveled to Bualpui (Ng) village, the birthplace of Liana. In the evening, we spoke at a local church’s fellowship to worship and feast in continued celebration of New Year. We stayed overnight at the request of Liana’s uncle, Tialupa.

Jan 3: Liana’s uncle prepared a feast in our honor. We shared Perspectives to the many invited guests. In the afternoon, we proceeded to Saiha town.

Jan 4: We were able to check our emails after a long time at the Community Information Center (CIC) of the Mara Autonomous District Council (MADC). The speed of internet connection was very slow but we were grateful to be able to access and copy our emails to read later. We then called our daughter, Lisa to write to friends on our behalf as we were not able to respond using their system.

Jan 5: Visited the District Jail. A number of inmates responded to Ngeni’s invitation to accept Jesus Christ. In the evening, we were given a dinner by the leaders of the MADC at Circuit House. We shared Perspectives outline to them. After this, the church leaders came to discuss our agenda. We were glad to share Perspectives to them as well.

Jan 7: Spoke at Sunday morning service of the local Lairam Baptist (LIKBK) church and Sunday evening service at the local Evangelical Church of Maraland (ECM) church. We had a good time of sharing Perspectives at both services.

Jan 8: Due to health problems, we cancelled our planned visit to Serkawr, the settlement of the English Pioneer Missionaries to Maraland. [The English missionaries did not return home but remained here till death, witnessing and planting churches. Their only daughter married a native and the couple served the Lord. The centenary of the Gospel in Maraland will be Sep 2007 and communities plan to celebrate in early Oct 2007.]Traveled to Lawngtlai and Liana began to take medicines for coughing.

Jan 10: Drove along the National Highway 54, not far from Lawngtlai town, to explore potential sites for our dream “Center.” This will be for hosting leadership training classes and seminars for various organizations. The purpose is to develop and encourage the people primarily for Christian missions in the region. This Center has been our dream and vision for a long time. We found an excellent site between Lawngtlai and Thingkah village. The leader of the Lai Autonomous District Council (LADC) also offered us a good-sized property, about 10 km south of Lawngtlai on NH 54. We pray that the Lord will provide what is needed to make this a reality.

Jan 11: In the evening, we spoke at the special “Missionary Day” service of the local Lairam Baptist church in Lawngtlai town.

Jan 12: Invited to dinner by the local pastor and area representative for the Baptist Church of Mizoram (BCM) church, Rev. Lalthangliana; Thanga, his wife is our relative. Other church leaders also joined us and we shared Perspectives outline to them.

Jan 14: Spoke at the Sunday morning service of another local Lairam Baptist church in Lawngtlai. It was one of Liana’s best presentations on Perspectives. We thank God that some were truly touched by the need to translate the Bible in 2500+ languages.

Jan 15: Due to continuing health problems and ongoing road construction, we cancelled our planned visit to Chawngte, the headquarters of the Chakma Autonomous District Council (CADC). This city is at the India/Bangladesh border and the people are predominately Buddhist. We proceeded to Zohnuai village to stay with Ngeni’s cousin, nurse Lamthluaii. Ngeni also starts to take medicines for coughing.

Jan 16: Showed “Global Purpose,” a Perspectives promotional video, to several visitors.

Jan 17: Visited the oldest living Mizo pastor, Rev. Dr. HrahSel Sawiluaia (100 years) at Serkawn. After hearing his testimony and encouraging words, he prayed for us. We are really grateful that we can visit him again and receive words of wisdom.

Jan 19: Moved to Lunglei town to stay with Ngeni’s brother, Pastor Darchhuma. Liana was interviewed by El Dorado cable station and All India Radio (AIR) FM station. He shared Perspectives and responded to questions on other topics as well.

Jan 20: Discussed Perspectives and current issues of Mizoram with Zawlbuk Group members and other visitors.

Jan 21: Presented Perspectives at Sunday morning service of the local Church of Faith in Lunglei. We visited the District Jail of Lunglei in the afternoon; response was good.

Jan 22: Liana was interviewed by Mizoram Journalist Association (MJA) of Lunglei at midday, and by JB cable station in the evening. Our relative, Nghakliana provided transportation for the day.

Jan 23: Traveled to Aizawl via Hnahthial and Serchhip villages.

Jan 24: Connected with Frank Dietz, Minister-at-large of Operation Mobilization, now visiting south India with his wife, Anneli. Frank and Anneli were not able to visit Mizoram at this time because of airline problems. Still, we thank Evangelist R. Vanlalzauva and team for all their efforts in planning. We are sorry for this unfortunate situation but Frank is committed to encourage and develop mission operations in the region. He encouraged us to pray! We also had a long visit by Rev. Lalsangliana of Lairam Baptist church and his wife, and heard about their mission work in Aizawl.

Jan 25: Visited by Evangelist R. Zauva and his son, Lalramchuanzela (Zela). We heard of what the Lord has been doing through their ministry, Mission Foundation Movement. Zela is a graduate of Patkai Bible College in Dimapur, Nagaland. We requested him to contact the principal of the college so we can share Perspectives outline. We will be presenting Perspectives to Mission Foundation Movement on Jan 31.

To date, we have presented the outline of Perspectives over 25 times, including interviews by two cable television stations and one radio station. We know that people are deeply touched by the fact that (1) thousands of unreached peoples have never had a chance to hear the Gospel and that (2) Bible translation for thousands of languages have not been started. What will your response be in light of God’s mission?

INDIA:
Frank and Anelli Dietz had to cancel their trip to Mizoram due to British Airways labor problems, and thus were not able to fulfill ministering to Mizoram. Our program to visit Shillong, Meghalaya and Dimapur, Nagaland changed as a result of the death of Ngeni’s brother in a car accident. Due to the cultural tradition of mourning and other acts, we were not able to do anything for our mission work for more than two weeks, severely impacting retranslation work of the Purpose Driven Life into Mizo. We informed Bible College principal of Dimapur and our contact person in Shillong of our situation. We hope to be able to visit them in our next trip.

Liana was scheduled to be interviewed by Zonet cable television station on the same day of the accident and had to reschdedule.

Ngeni visited both men and women sections of Central Jail, Aizawl with jail ministry team started by MCGN. This is the third year of ministry, fully approved by officials.

We presented Perspectives outline at Sunday services and gatherings of churches in Aizawl, belonging to 4 denominations on Jan 27, Feb 4, 11, & Mar 03. The presentation was under one hour and followed by discussion with church members for an hour or more at a home setting. Here, people asked questions for clarification and exchanged ideas. We did not have time for a follow-up but were told that several people wanted even more actions. Such responses are most encouraging. It is worthy to note that they like to have Perspectives prepared for use during the month of September when Mizo churches have special study on some topics. We also had several presentations to small groups and visitors in Aizawl for 20+ times.

Invitation from two of the churches are special; one by Liana’s high school class mate, Rochhunga who is an elder of the church, and the other by Pastor Laltlawmlova, Ngeni’s colleague when she was with the Baptist Church of Mizoram. The attendance of the churches were really good, and we hope to visit them again.

Of the two television interviews, the first one was on Feb 12 by Zonet Cable TV at their studio. It was conducted by Biakthansanga. The style was rather dynamic and the interview covered most of the topics on Perspectives in an informal way. It was broadcasted at a later date and most of the people in Mizoram saw this interview.

The second television interview in Aizawl was on Feb 21 by LPS Cable TV at our place, and interviewed by Ms. Mali. We covered the same topics but in more detail. After the interview, they came back for a few more questions. Again, most people in Mizoram saw this interview.

We spent the last day of 2006 with Mission Foundation Movement presenting Perspectives and show the promotional video by multi-media projector. There were about 35 young men and women who are preparing to be missionaries. The founder of the Movement, R. Vanlalzauva was sponsored by Mizo Christian Global Network for Mizo Leadership Training in California, and he thanked the training for expansion of his ministry. This Movement is one of the groups who send missionaries without support from denominational churches.

On Feb 7, we were given an opportunity to present Perspectives in English to students and staff of the Aizawl Theological College (ATC), the largest Bible college in Mizoram. We spent the whole afternoon. We received excellent co-operation in running multi-media projector, and the largest room of the college was used for this event. There must have been 200+ students, some of them are from out of state. We received good questions for clarification. From the nature of their questions, it is obvious that they are already experienced in church leadership and traditional mission work. As the Principal was out of town for business, we were hosted by the Vice-Principal and Registrar of the College, plus faculty members. It is amazing to realize that they have had little or no exposure to missiological studies.

On Feb 13, we presented to another institute, called Missionary Training Centre (MTC) with about 100+ students, some of them were in mission fields for a number of years. We were given about 3 hours and had good interaction with students as well as their teachers. A couple of teachers were aware of Perspectives course and their questions were very thoughtful. They were so grateful for the information and requested us a copy of the Reader and Study Guide for their reference.

On Feb 20, we spent the whole day presenting Perspectives at the Academy of Integrated Christian Studies (AICS), another Bible college. The principal, Rev. Dr. K. Thanzauva is interested to use Perspectives materials for their Master of Divinity program. Probably, this is the most intensive presentation we had in Mizoram. Several students are from out of state, and some are already experienced workers. Most of them already were college graduates, thus the lecture was in English. The principal was elected to lead Baptist Church of Mizoram and so college work will be continued by his wife, Dr. Hnuni as the next Principal. Before lunch, the meeting was summarized by a faculty member and questions were asked for our clarification. Afternoon session was done the same way, concluded by a request to share our personal history. It was a good occasion to tell them how Perspectives class emboldened and encouraged us to a newer height.

The most circulated Mizo magazine, Lelte interviewed Liana on Feb 26, and he was their cover story. In addition to Perspectives and related questions, Liana was asked about his profession and whether he wanted to help Mizoram and if he is willing to do so if asked. To Liana, to use his expertise is another way of serving the Lord, be it in Mizoram or other places in the world.

At Kolkata (Calcutta), we were given opportunity on Mar 11, Sunday morning by the Mizo prayer meeting for 30 minutes and in the evening by Mizo students and professionals for 2 hours. It was attended by more than 100 young men and women. The presentation was done in the form of interview by the chairman of the meeting, and later Liana was requested to share his personal history and professional work. It was a good opportunity to share with them of our passion for global missions. We used every opportunity for promoting missions.

On the eve of our departure from Aizawl, we also requested Thangi, the wife of Ngeni’s deceased brother, Denga if she will be willing to take care of MCGN’s finance, including administering JF Scholarship program. She agreed to continue what had been done by her late husband, for which we are truly thankful.

We also got the help of Ms. Ammie to recheck Purpose Driven Life in Mizo. She read the English version three times and liked it very much for the Mizo people. We are thankful for her willingness to help, and may even translate another book for MCGN.

An official with Disaster Management, Dr. Lalrokima Chenkual also visited us to ask information on earthquakes. Liana shared with him and we were given most recent publications on his work for our reference.

We also arranged a permanent address for MCGN in Mizoram at the place that is ours, at Third Floor, House No A-39; Model School Road; Model Veng (Mission Veng, Model School Road); Aizawl, Mizoram PIN 796 005. Here, we stored copies of electronic-Bible and Sensei.

In summary, we were given opportunities to present Perspectives spirit and outline. We believe that some were impacted by the need for Bible translation in many languages, and to reach thousands of unreached people groups with the Gospel. We need to prepare for the next visit with Perspectives classes in Aizawl. We hope that it will be possible to visit the states of Meghalaya and Nagaland. We will need a lot of prayers and support to continue mobilizing Christians in NE India for global missions. There is also an opportunity to support missionary work in Bangladesh, at $100 per month. If we can not go there, we can partner with them by supporting the work from wherever we are.

May the name of the Lord be proclaimed and glorified among all the nations!

MCGN International HQ: USA: Lalliana Mualchin (mualchin@hotmail.com)

News Compiler: Ngeni Mualchin (mualchin@hotmail.com)

Editor: Patricia Macy (pamacy@netzero.net)