Newsletter: January 2000
MCGN is a non-profit, non-denominational Christian organization to promote spiritual and economic development of the people in Mizoram and the surrounding region by serving them as Jesus did (Mt. 20:28).
THANKS TO:
Park Community Church for their continued support.IN MEMORIUM:
Pu Anselm Sawihlira, a leading academician and the 1983 Padma Shree, recipient died on Jan. 8, 2000. He held various important positions in the Mizoram government, the last one being President of Mizoram Board of School Education. He was a teacher, a composer, a choir conductor, and a devoted Christian. He is survived by his widow, four sons and two daughters. His death is a great loss for Mizoram.BRIEF REPORTS AND COMMENTS FROM MCGN GLOBAL POINTS:
CANADA:
The plan to have a Canadian team visit Mizoram this month did not materialize. Stuart Spani, MCGN Coordinator in Canada, and Dr. Mualchin, however, will be going to Mizoram in March. Their trip will include going to the southern most part of Mizoram.JAPAN:
Lalhruaia, MCGN Coordinator in Japan, reported that Mizos in Tokyo had a fellowship meeting to celebrate the New Year, but they could not celebrate Christmas as it is not a holiday in Japan. They want to have a regular Mizo Christian Fellowship and Worship Service.Mr. and Mrs. Yokota of Osaka are very active in helping Mizoram. They have brought a few people from Mizoram to the Asian Rural Institute and Kanagawa Prefectural International Training Center to learn how to make organic fertilizers. This will be useful for the agriculture industry in Mizoram.
MIZORAM:
MCGN Mizoram will have a new office in Aizawl in the near future. It will be equipped with a personal computer, a modem and a telephone. MCGN International provides fund for the equipment. More reliable and effective communication with MCGN Mizoram is expected with this new setup.The radio station project is on hold until MCGN Mizoram receives the necessary approvals from governmental authorities.
NEPAL:
Vani Tochhong, MCGN Coordinator in Nepal, reports they celebrated Christmas with their church members. As New Year is not a holiday in Nepal, Mizos got together on New Years' eve to have a fellowship, including a meal and "lenkhawm" singing.USA:
Mr. Leo Bredehoft of Longmont, Colorado, has expressed a desire to obtain Mizo Bibles for some Mizos in Myanmar. Dr. Mualchin has responded to Mr. Bredhoft that he can get these Bibles from the Bible Society of India, Bangalore, and has provided their website and email addresses.Dr. Mualchin reports the Fielding Institute trip is on schedule. Fielding Institute researchers and professors have been matched with about 30 scholars from Mizoram. They will cover a wide spectrum of topics and will prepare a monograph and other products for publication.
Dr. and Ngeni Mualchin are planning to record a cassette of basic words in the Mizo language and to prepare a simple written note on the words. It is hoped that the material can be used by Fielding Institute researchers during their visit and also by future visitors to Mizoram.
My father was a church elder in the Presbyterian Church, and although I went to Sunday school every Sunday and received the prize for best regular attendance every year until 1989, I was a nominal Christian.
One night in 1989, when I was 27 years old, I had a dream. I was in front of the Final Judgement and I was condemned. I was very scared and from that day I started searching for the real Peace.
In September 1989, during a week-long Christian camp organized by the Servants of God local evangelistic team, I accepted what the Bible told me Jesus Christ had done for my salvation, and I was born again and received a new life in Jesus by faith. I put my trust in these scriptures, as well as other Bible verses: Romans 6:1-11; 2Corinthians 5:14-17; Galatians 2:16-20, 3:13, 5:14-16; Colossians 2:14, 3:3; and Hebrews 13:11-13.Two weeks later I suffered from fever and was deathly ill. One evening three angels came to me and asked if I wanted to go with them. Before I answered, I thought to myself, "If I go now, I will never have a chance to share with anyone what the Lord Jesus has done for me." Those three angels knew what was in my heart. So they agreed to leave me, then vanished. Soon after that I recovered and since that day I have never suffered from fever again.
I left my job and joined a voluntary organization called Servants of God, a local evangelistic team in Mizoram, India. Through this evangelistic team, God allowed me to witness many miracles through faith. I learned that everything is possible with God.
In 1990 I was elected leader in a Christian youth group in our local church. Also, within that year I was appointed counselor on the Servants of God team. At the end of the year, I was elected General Secretary for the Servants of God. In those days, God was leading us to have faith in Him, and we led many people to Christ. He used me to heal sick people.
One thing I understood very clearly was that God wanted me to know "who He is".
After two years I had a dream again. I saw the Lamb's blood flowing towards one of the tribes I had never seen before. Those people who touched and drank that blood became clean and fresh. But most of them did not know how or why that blood was so precious.
When I woke up, I didn't understand its meaning. I prayed to God and asked Him to let me understand my dream. Two days later I received a letter from a missionary who was working in China. In that letter he mentioned the Tibetan people and asked me to pray for them.
That letter had a very deep meaning for me because of my dream. I began preparing to be a missionary. I had a month of missionary training at the Mission for Christ Missionary Training Center in November 1992.
While there, God spoke to me once again. One day I grew tired of hearing the speaker, and I thought," I can read the Bible at home." So I decided to go home without telling anyone, and when everyone went to the dining hall, I left.
Suddenly, after entering my room, I heard a clear voice which could never have come from a human being. "You are called to follow Jesus. You should not go home."
I was shocked by that voice an fell down on the bed. I tried to hear more, but there was no more. Perspiration covered my whole body. I checked myself to see if I was still awake, but that voice was still inside my heart and repeated the message again and again.
I went to the bathroom to wash my face and that voice was still in my heart and still repeated the same message. Then I was afraid to go home and went to the dining hall. The next morning when the speaker came and sat with me, I told him what I was trying to do and what I had heard. I asked him, "Could it be God's voice?" He said to me softly, "Yes, that must be God's voice. You must not go home."
When the training was over, I married one who was also trained as a missionary during the same time. We went to Kathmandu, Nepal, where we did not need a visa, trusting God that He would provide all we needed. We studied the Tibetan language for two years at the University of Khatmandu. God has been faithful to us even until today.
[The second part of Lallura's testimony of his work among Tibetans will
appear in February's Newsletter]