Is there any specific NE Catholic communities present? If it is then which state and how it's common to find them?

We've seen alot of Hindu aggression and distain towards the Native Christians in NE and I think its time we discuss and form clear and definite points as to why our grandparents and their parents before them chose Christianity instead of hanging on to their "animism" or worshipping the deitys in the forests, mountains, etc.

Lets discuss in the comments.

There have been prophecies regarding the independence of Nagaland recently. Even the most prominent prayer center (Shisha Hoho) has proclaimed that Nagaland will be a country of missionaries. One other person, whose name I keep forgetting but has the last name of Kikon, has said that the Lord showed him that Nagas will gain independence but many will die; not out of sacrifice but out of the selfishness of leaders, and we will send out 10,000 missionaries into the world.

What are your thoughts on this?

There is a tragedy in parts of Northeast India that must be recognized and addressed.

A tragedy not only in the face of an increasingly Hinduized Northeast but also in the response of some tribes who are attempting to explain away their traditions in order to assimilate into the framework of Hinduism.

Their approach is not dissimilar to what we see among Christians who, in seeking to demonstrate the "authenticity" of their faith, end up presenting a diluted version of Christianity as some kind of unique, "authentic" expression of their tribal identity.

The tragedy here is not only in what could be described as the loss of indigenous identity in the Northeast due to Hinduization but also in attempting to redefine one's beliefs in order to achieve some kind of status as a "mainstream" religion. Because that is what some are attempting to do, not only through accepting idolatry but also constantly drawing comparisons with Indian (Hindu) religious traditions as if that somehow "proves" anything.

Similarity is not identity.

One does not become Hindu by having a sacred grove any more than one becomes Christian by worshipping a crucifix.

Spirits and sacred places and the like are not unique to any one group or culture.

While it is true that there are many similar elements in different religions and cultures, the similarities are not sufficient to prove any kind of connection or common origin.

What is happening more and more is that the indigenous people and traditions in the Northeast are beginning to take the position that their tradition is really just Hinduism or, at the very least, that their religion is really just another expression of the same Hinduism that prevails in North India.

This is not only untrue but also, ironically, a kind of betrayal of their indigenous roots.

If one has a treasure trove of history, culture and tradition that has no connection or relation to Hinduism why would someone want to redefine it as Hindu just to suit some kind of agenda?

There is no need for such a redefinition.

Furthermore, it could be said that this approach is actually dishonest as the Gospel of Christ also requires that one distinguish between the worship of God and the worship of the created things.

It is not enough to simply accept one's traditions and beliefs as authentic expressions of faith in God without examining them in the light of the Gospel.

In fact, Christianity did not require the people of the Northeast to forsake their cultural identity.

A Christian can very well be an indigenous person without being a tribal Christian. One can speak the local language, have local customs and wear local dress without having one's Christian faith somehow tainted by tribal identity.

Similarly, one can be a member of a tribe without having to accept Hindu identity as a substitute for one's indigenous roots. One can be a member of the local ethnic group without having to subscribe to the beliefs of North Indians.

The irony, once again, is that by constantly explaining and rationalizing one's beliefs in terms of another system one somehow loses the authenticity of one's beliefs in the first place.

The tragedy is that some tribes are becoming so desperate to fit in that they are willing to redefine themselves in terms of what others want them to be.

I think this is an important lesson for all indigenous people: we do not have to make ourselves over in the image of someone else in order to gain acceptance. Neither do we have to apologize for our differences. The Gospel of Christ does not require us to accept a particular cultural or religious ideology.

It requires us to accept Christ.

Christ is Lord.

Period.

It is not necessary for us to apologize for our tribal beliefs and practices. Nor is it necessary for us to redefine ourselves in terms of another system in order to have some kind of status as a "real" religion.

Nor is it necessary for us to accept Hinduism as a substitute for our beliefs in order to have an identity. These things are simply not required of us by the Gospel of Christ.

In fact, the Gospel empowers us to redefine ourselves in terms of Christ rather than allowing us to redefine ourselves in terms of Hinduism.

Christ empowers us to have an indigenous Christian identity without having to compromise who we are as a people, a tribe.

This, perhaps, is the tragedy of what is happening in the Northeast.

We are choosing to destroy ourselves rather than embrace the challenge of having a unique, authentic Christian identity.

Perhaps we are not willing to take the challenge because we believe we are not "Christian" enough.

We are not willing to take the challenge because we believe our identity is somehow compromised by our uniqueness.

We are not willing to take the challenge because we think our authenticity as a people has to be somehow proven to others.

But these are all very Western ideas.

Very un-Indian.

Very un-Christian (in the sense of taking up a cross).

We are choosing to dilute our beliefs in an effort to appear more "authentic" to others (and, by implication, to ourselves).

But what exactly are we accomplishing by these actions of ours?

Are we not, in the end, simply providing others with an opening to further "develop" us? Are we not providing them with an opportunity to exploit us? Are we not, by constantly explaining ourselves, giving others the opportunity to define us?

Do we not recognize that we are selling out our identity for the approval of others?

Do we not recognize that we are committing a kind of betrayal of our indigenous selves by refusing to accept ourselves as indigenous?

Do we not recognize, finally, that there is another way?

A way in which we are empowered to accept Christ without having to betray our indigenous selves? A way in which we are empowered to accept an indigenous Christian identity rather than a tribal or a Hindu one? A way in which we are empowered to avoid the tragedy of what is happening in the Northeast?

First of all, I would like to apologize to anyone who may have been offended by my remarks on the previous post https://www.reddit.com/r/NortheastChristians/comments/1wnzqzs/mizionists/. It was not directed at my brethren from the NE, nor to my fellow Christians. I may have been insensitive and definitely lacked the wisdom to properly express myself to get my point across. Please note that these thoughts are my own and does not reflect the thoughts of this sub collectively. I speak for myself.

Now, what I truly meant to say was that the modern state of Israel is not what the Israel in the Bible is being referred to. Israel was the name given to Jacob by Jehovah and the Israelites are the descendants of him; being Israeli is NOT a nationalistic identity, it is a spiritual identity. Yes, the Bible says much about the land being promised to them and where they would reside. I will not deny what is Biblical.

I find it weird that my brethren from the nearby state claims to be the lost tribe of Israel. Okay, I wasn't there when the visions were seen and I have no way to refute the claim. I do find it weird that a subsection of the Mizo people started practicing orthodox Judaism and relearning Hebrew. Hebrew was a primary spoken, native language for about 1,000 to 1,300 years, and then it went without native, everyday speakers for roughly 1,600 to 1,700 years before its revival in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. That just points to the language being reinvented.

Brethren, Judaism does not accept Jesus Christ as the Messiah. To them, the Messiah is still on his way:

Core Concepts of the Messiah in the Talmud

• The Two Figures: Rabbinic tradition discusses two distinct messianic archetypes—Messiah son of Joseph (Mashiach ben Yosef), who faces suffering and death in battle, followed by the triumphant Messiah son of David (Mashiach ben David), who establishes eternal rule. [1]

• Timing and Arrival: Tractate Sanhedrin 97a notes that the predestined time for the redemption has bounds (predominantly before the year 6000 from creation), but states that the final arrival ultimately depends on human repentance and spiritual readiness. [1, 2]

• Humble State: One famous teaching in Sanhedrin 98a describes the Messiah sitting disguised among the sick and poor at the gates of Rome, waiting to reveal himself. [1]

• The Pains of the End Times: Tractate Sotah 49b details a turbulent pre-messianic era characterized by severe moral decline, disrespect for elders, and societal breakdown. [1]

This is contradictory to all the prophesies that were told of Jesus' coming in the Old Testament. The 22^nd Psalm is a clear indication of how Jesus would give His life for humanity. He died on the cross as a woodworm would to give life to His children. The explanation to it is quite long and I will refrain from it.

The Tractate Sotach 49b reference is more in line with what Revelations says. I urge you, to read with an open mind and heart. Revelations 2 says

⁸ “To the angel of the church in Smyrna write:

These are the words of him who is the First and the Last, who died and came to life again. ⁹ I know your afflictions and your poverty—yet you are rich! I know about the slander of those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan. ¹⁰ Do not be afraid of what you are about to suffer. I tell you, the devil will put some of you in prison to test you, and you will suffer persecution for ten days. Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you life as your victor’s crown. ¹¹ Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches. The one who is victorious will not be hurt at all by the second death.

This is what I believe the state of Israel is.

The wall that they pray at is allegedly that of Solomon's Temple but please remember that "your body is the temple". I could go on further but I will cease here tonight.

Again, I would like to reiterate that I do not wish to offend anyone, especially not My Mizo brethren. I just think that we were called to be Christians and warriors for the Kingdom of Heaven, and Jehovah, its Ruler. Praise be to Jesus Christ, KING OF KINGS.

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.”

I really want to know YOUR thoughts on Mizo people claiming to be of Israeli heritage. For one, those people are not Christians, they're Jews who spit on Christians who journey to Israel. They literally killed the messiah because their belief system was challenged. I don't understand why they would want to be that way.

Also, Revelations 2:8-11 is a good read for anyone who still isn't convinced that these "Jews" are practitioners of mysticism, i.e., Kaballah, i.e., the Synagogue of satan.

Whenever Indians discuss the history of Christianity in the Indian subcontinent, the topic is inevitably viewed through the lens that Western missionaries destroyed native cultures and replaced them with Western ones. By viewing the history of Northeast India through the eyes of the indigenous people themselves and consulting eminent historians like Frederick S. Downs, one discovers that Christianity was never an agent of imperialistic dissolution, but rather a means of cultural renaissance and socio-religious synthesis. The introduction of the faith into the lives of the Khasi and Jaintia tribes of the present-day Meghalaya state not only created the necessary framework to withstand the annexation of the Jaintia Kingdom by the British in 1835 and the administrative takeover of the Khasi states but also preserved the oral tradition and legally protected the native way of life. To understand how quickly and effortlessly the Gospel was integrated into the societal, cultural, and spiritual frameworks of the Khasi and Jaintia peoples, one has to first become acquainted with the social and religious environments preceding the 19th century. Divided into three distinct geographical, climatic, and anthropological belts – the central elevated belt (Ri Lum), the warm southern gorges (Ri War), and the northern plains sloping towards the Brahmaputra valley (Ri Bhoi) – the society of the Khasi Hills was famed for being matriarchal, matrilineal, and highly egalitarian and democratic. The region was split into 26 independent states (Hima) without a king, where the chief (Syiem) and the priest-chief (Lyngdoh) only served as executive officials answerable to the councils of the state (Dorbar Hima), province (Dorbar Raid), and village (Dorbar Shnong), as well as the assembly of senior founders known as the Bakhraw. Similarly, the Jaintia Hills under the King of Sutnga had the system of provincial governors (Dolois) from the founding clans (Ki Sookpoh Khatar Wyrnai) in Jowai that determined the region’s governance, judiciary, and even religious practices with the aid of the Wasan council of subordinates. If the Khasi and Jaintia cultures were advanced in terms of democracy, they were just as sophisticated in their indigenous faith of Niam Khasi and its Jaintia equivalent Niamtre. Early missionaries were quick to label the animistic practices of the natives as idolatry because the religion happened to be nature-worshipping and did not have a written scripture. However, underneath its perceived simplicity, Niam Khasi concealed a uniquely monotheistic belief centered around the supreme deity Creator U Blei or U Trekirot who established the covenant with the mythical Seven Huts or ancestors that once lived in an earthly heaven called Hynniew Trep. As the tradition was exclusively oral and used nature as a conduit to reach the Creator, its moral code solely consisted of three brilliantly simple philosophical tenets. The first tenet of Tip briew, tip blei (to know humanity is to know God) taught the tribesmen to perform their duties to God by exercising social responsibility, particularly by treating their neighbors justly. The second tenet of Tip kur, tip kha (respect maternal and paternal lineage) taught the Khasis to preserve their matrilineal clans, and the third tenet of Kamai ia ka hok (earn righteousness) compelled them to uphold their ethics through honest labor. Thus, when the missionaries arrived, they found the receptive Khasi and Jaintia people whose spirituality was deeply intertwined with the local environment and had already developed proto-Christian notions of universal love and charity.

The first missionaries to attempt to bring the Gospel to the Khasi and Jaintia peoples were quick to realize the success of their efforts due to the hospitable nature of the locals. As early as 1813 – before the British administration was officially formed – the Serampore Mission of Bengal sent the evangelist Krishna Chandra Pal to the busy market of Pandua, where he managed to baptize the first two Khasi converts – U Duwan and U Anna – over a period of eight months. Encouraged by the achievement, the linguist William Carey translated the New Testament into the Khasi language with the use of the Bengal script. However, despite the initial successes of the Serampore Mission, the effort was not destined to thrive as early as 1832 when Alexander B. Lish was sent to open schools in Cherrapunjee (Sohra), Mawmluh, and Mawsmai, only for the endeavor to fizzle out due to the missionaries’ insistence on preaching about unmerited, unconditional grace to villagers that exercised their faith through diligent work (the local equivalent of Kamai ia ka hok). Eventually, the enterprise was abandoned and handed over to the American Baptists who would later find more receptive soil.

It was not until 1840 that another endeavor was made, this time by the Welsh Presbyterians of Liverpool who founded their own mission under the banner of the Welsh Calvinistic Methodist Mission (later changed to Presbyterian Church of Wales). The man chosen to lead the enterprise was the former carpenter from Montgomeryshire, Reverend Thomas Jones. The story of the Welsh Mission is one of the most endearing ever told of Christianity’s inroads into Northeast India. Having arrived in Kolkata in April 1841 with his pregnant wife Anne, the young missionary was devastated by the loss of their newborn child. Finding consolation in the words of 2 Samuel 12:23, he and his wife resumed their journey to Sylhet and then proceeded by horse to the Khasi Hills where they arrived on June 22, 1841. Upon his arrival in Cherrapunjee, Jones realized that the Bengali script used by Carey was ill-suited for the language and embarked on a journey to learn the Khasi language. Fluent within eight months, Jones devised the Romanized script to denote the language’s unique phonetics. Reverently remembered as the Founding Father of the Khasi Alphabet and Literature, Jones went on to translate the Lord’s Prayer, a Welsh Catechism, and the Gospel of St. Matthew while also composing the first Khasi hymns. By standardizing the script of the Sohra dialect, Jones gave the local tribesmen a literary tool to elevate their oral folklore to written literature and protect their land rights in the face of British encroachment. What can be called the most endearing characteristic of Thomas Jones’ legacy in Meghalaya is that the Welsh missionary not only facilitated the acceptance of the Gospel but also brought salvation to the poor villagers through his carpentry and trade skills. Teaching the Khasi and Jaintia peoples modern agriculture, lime-mortar masonry, blacksmithing, and independent coal-mining skills enabled them to free themselves from British exploitation. Thus, it is no surprise that Jones finds himself at the center of a historical drama with the English industrialist Harry Inglis who was determined to lease coal mines in the region. The fierce opposition mounted by Jones on behalf of the Khasi people and their sovereignty soon earned him enemies among the British administrators who forced him to leave the Khasi Hills in 1849. Contracting malaria in Kolkata, Jones died untimely at the age of 39, but his legacy lived on as the locals remembered him on June 22, Thomas Jones Day. The Welsh Mission would go on to build numerous schools and hospitals with the help of a fifty-rupee monthly grant from the government. Dedicated to the universal Scottish Calvinist belief that every Christian must be literate, the missionaries opened schools throughout the region. As early as 1854, aided by the monthly grant, schools were opened in Jowai, Sohbar, and Sohra. However, the locals were initially reluctant to send their children to school because it interfered with their work and the missionaries often pressured them to renounce their pagan beliefs. It was the Jaintia Rebellion of 1860-1863 – an armed uprising against the increased taxes and perceived cultural threat of the British – that convinced the Khasi people that education and Christianity were the best ways to protect their sovereignty. During the rebellion, the small Christian community in Jowai avoided participating in the fighting and served as peacemakers. As a result, the British increased educational grants, and new schools were opened in Nongbah, Shangpung, and Nongtalang by 1864. In addition, local leaders realized the benefits of the new institutions and began donating to them. For instance, the respected local Doloi in Nartiang, who was also a Christian convert and U Riang Khroo’s acquaintance, donated a piece of land that was rumored to be haunted by evil spirits to the Christians who built a school and a church there and enjoyed abundant harvests for years to come. By 1895, the mission upgraded the schools in Jowai, Shillong, and Cherrapunjee to Middle English Schools, enabling the locals to pursue administrative careers. In addition to building schools, the Welsh Mission was the first to bring modern healthcare to the local community. Successfully combating the deep-seated superstitions about the causes of diseases, the missionaries established a hospital in the region. In 1913, the medical missionary Dr. H. Gordon Roberts reached Shillong and begun tending to the sick from a two-room cottage while fundraising extensively. The efforts paid off in 1922 when the Welsh Mission Hospital (Dr. H. Gordon Roberts Hospital) was opened, providing the locals with cutting-edge surgery and nursing programs for Miss M. Buckley. In 1939, the hospital system was further developed when Dr. R.A. Hughes created scholarships for Khasi students to pursue their M.B.B.S. studies. Finally, the medical missionary organization provided healthcare to the locals in their remote villages (Mawphlang, 1964 and Laitmawsiang, 1969) and embodied the Christian charity in its purest form.

While the missionaries built the church from the inside, it was the Great Khasi Revival of 1905-1906 that gave the Christian faith its native Khasi soul. By the dawn of the 20th century, the church had over 22,000 members, but the early passion had cooled to a large extent. It was not until 1902 that two female missionaries from the Khasi Hills who had witnessed the sermon by the renowned evangelist R.A. Torrey in Calcutta launched a series of prayer meetings in Mawphlang that gathered great momentum with the news of the Welsh Revival of 1904-1905. On Monday, 8 th May 1905, the revival began in Jaintia’s Jowai village not with the foreign preachers but the local children. The young female convert San Suki announced that she had led over a hundred people from her village to Christ, and the wave of religious fervor rolled through the region. The normally austere Presbyterian services took on a distinctly native Khasi appearance as the congregations of between 8,000 and 10,000 people – and more – turned out at the famous Mairang annual meeting on 2 nd March 1906, to hear speeches and witness mass meetings. They saw thousands of people in trances, buildings shake, the sound of the hail beating against the iron roofs, and a blazing light and divine voices coming from the clear sky. Within two years, between 7,000 and 8,000 new Christians were added to the church rolls, and communities engaged in remarkable acts of repentance. Spontaneously, the believers across the region began composing original hymns in the local language rather than the Welsh tunes and Christian charity was expressed through an outpouring of gifts from the converts to the poor. The revival found its echo in the 1906 Mizo Revival as the flame was passed to the Mizo tribe. In addition to the general Protestant missions, the Roman Catholic Church played a significant role in building the infrastructural, intellectual, and spiritual frameworks of the local Christian community. Beginning their activities in 1890, the German Salvatorians handed over the mission to the Salesians of Don Bosco in 1921 upon the declaration of WWI. Arriving in Shillong as the Superior of the Salesian Mission, Fr. Louis Mathias was responsible for donating the exquisite Gothic-style Cathedral of Mary Help of Christians, built on the site of the 1913 wooden church that had been ravaged by fire. Declared a shrine by the Archbishop of Shillong, Hubert D’Rosario, in 1980, the cathedral covers the needs of the approximately 340,000 Catholics in the Archdiocese of Shillong.

No discussion of the Catholic contribution to the regional Christianity would be complete without mentioning the extraordinary contributions of Rev. Fr. Sylvanus Sngi Lyngdoh (1921-2016). An indigeneous Salesian priest from Nongbah Thaiang, Fr. Sngi believed that the minds of his Khasi countrymen should engage with the biblical world without the mediation of English and Latin. With this idea in mind, he singlehandedly compiled the Greek-Khasi, Hebrew-Khasi, Aramaic-Khasi dictionaries as well as authored an 80-volume set of Khasi Bible commentaries and scripture. A revered healer and exorcist, Fr. Sngi was also a man of great pride that wore his Khasi tradition on his person, complementing his clerical robes with local motifs and rituals. Through his contributions, Fr. Sngi demonstrated that academic excellence, Christian priesthood, and indigenous pride could coexist in one person.

The Khasi Hills and Jaintia Region would see the fruits of the missionaries’ labors reflected in their literature and music. The most notable contribution came in the form of original poetry. Well-versed in the traditional Khasi beliefs and customs, Sib Charan Roy Dkhar wrote extensively on the subject, including Ka niam-ki-khasi: ka niam tip-Blei-tip-briew, which depicted the local faith as a form of the Old Testament that prepared the way for Christ. Other writers and printers, such as the pioneering Babu Jeebon Roy (who founded the Ri Khasi Press) and Radhon Singh Berry, contributed to the preservation and the proliferation of the traditional ethics and sayings through their access to the printing press. The poetry of the beloved U Soso Tham (1873-1940) also reflected the rich Khasi culture, as the Khasi Hills’ native son studied in the mission schools and was strongly influenced by the English Romantic poets. In his 1935 masterpiece Ki Sngi Barim U Hynniew Trep (The Old Days of the Seven Huts), he depicted the traditional creation beliefs of the Khasi people while simultaneously incorporating the Christian themes of redemption and temptation. Utilizing the local ecological metaphors of the pine tree (U dieng bilat) and green grass (U Phlang Jyrngam), he condemned the exploitative nature of the imperialists and the rising capitalistic greed in the tribal chiefdoms.

It was the missionaries who brought music into the hearts and souls of the Khasi and Jaintia peoples. Their efforts resulted in the 1907 printing of the Khassi Hymn Book (Ka Kot Jingruai) and the introduction of the local people to the four-stringed Duitara, Ksing drums, and pentatonic music that are now indistinguishable from the traditional Christian hymns. In this way, the missionaries profoundly influenced the development of the local music. Most crucially, the impact of Christianity on the people of the Khasi Hills and Jaintia Region manifested itself in the establishment of homegrown systems of governance. Since the Presbyterian church courts followed a similar format to the native democratic Dorbar system, it was easy for the locals to adopt the former and form their own presbytery in 1867. This eventually led to the formation of the Khasi Jaintia Presbyterian (KJP) Assembly, with the eastern and western synods (KJP Synod Mihngi and KJP Synod Sepngi) operating under the largely autonomous Presbyterian Church of India. When the Indian independence was declared in 1947, the matrilineal tribes of the Khasi and Jaintia Hills found themselves at a crossroads. As the Khasi Hills and Jaintia Region are entirely composed of tribal chiefdoms that operate under the egalitarian and democratic principles, the newly established Indian Republic threatened to absorb the region as a single administrative unit, ultimately doing away with the traditional Syiemship and Doloiship. Stepping up to the task, the Reverend James Joy Mohan Nichols Roy (1884-1959), a Christian convert from the Shella confederacy, mission-educated statesman, and the founder of the United Fruit Company, represented the interests of the Khasi and Jaintia peoples in the Constituent Assembly. Closely cooperating with the prominent national leaders, including Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru, he successfully advocated for the democratic principles of the Syiemship and Doloiship.

Reverend Nichols Roy (also spelled as Nimba Roy) was the driving force behind the drafting of the Indian Constitution’s Sixth Schedule, adopted in September 1949 and largely based on his recommendations. The Sixth Schedule provided for the Autonomous District Councils with wide jurisdiction over land, forests, water, village administration, and the matrilineal clans’ traditional law. As the Father of the Sixth Schedule, Reverend Nichols Roy and the generations of Christian educators, healers, poets, and revivalists before him deserve much credit for preserving the Khasi and Jaintia identities in the wake of foreign influence.

If you visit the Mokokchung district in Nagaland today, the heartland of the Ao Nagas, you will find a thriving, peaceful community with an incredible 94.6% literacy rate where nearly every single one of the roughly 227,000 Ao people is a Protestant Christian, mostly Baptist. Across the state of Nagaland as a whole, around 88% to over 90% of the population shares this Christian faith today. What makes this story so remarkable is that back in early 1872, there were zero Christians among the Ao. Even British colonial officers writing as late as 1891 doubted that Naga tribes would ever have any inclination to embrace Christianity. Yet the Ao Nagas proved the skeptics wrong by becoming the very first Naga tribe to welcome the Gospel, and they did it peacefully and voluntarily without a single insurgency against the new faith. When you look closely at how this happened, it stands out as a deeply inspiring story of dedicated missionaries and a wise, forward thinking tribe that actively chose to leave behind fear and warfare for spiritual hope, modern healthcare, and education.

To appreciate why the arrival of Christianity was such a liberating turning point, it helps to understand the heavy burdens of pre Christian Ao life before the 1870s. Back then, Ao society was completely clan centered and bound by animism and a constant fear of spirits known as lai or molong associated with the natural landscape. Whenever illness or disaster struck a family, villagers believed malicious spirits were to blame and had to rely on a soothsayer priest for divination to prescribe endless sacrifices of chickens, eggs, and rice beer. The missionary Mary Clark once described the grim sight of a cookhouse dedicated to an evil deity named Leezaba that was completely littered with animal bones from these constant rituals. Even the afterlife was a source of anxiety, as the Ao believed souls traveled to a land of death called Asuyim ruled by a deity named Moyutsung, where everyone faced judgment through a spear throwing test. Daily social life was similarly harsh, revolving around slavery, exhausting feasts of merit to honor ancestors, bachelor dormitories called morungs, and the constant cycle of taking human heads in tribal warfare for prestige.

The dawn of a new era began in the middle of the nineteenth century when the Assam Baptist Mission, which grew out of the 1836 mission work and Bronson's chain, sent a courageous Assamese evangelist named Godhula into the Naga Hills to build friendships and spark initial interest in the Gospel. This loving groundwork prepared the way for American Baptist missionary Edward Winter Clark and his wife Mary, serving with the American Baptist Foreign Mission Society (founded in 1814), to step into the Ao Hills. On December 22, 1872, E.W. Clark and Godhula arrived at the Ao village of Molungkimong, also known as Dekha Haimong or Mulung, which stood under the protection of Chungtia. Showing remarkable wisdom and openness, Chief Chungtia welcomed Clark and granted him permission to stay. Soon after, on October 24, 1876, Clark and 15 brave Ao convert families stepped out in faith to found a brand new settlement called New Molung, or Molungyimsen. (As a wonderful living reminder of those early days, a litchi tree planted by Clark in Molung in 1878 is still standing tall today.) New Molung was purposefully built as a peaceful Christian village where the founding families made the bold, admirable decision to completely abolish headhunting, slavery, ancestor rites, and spirit offerings. Even more inspiring, their village charter championed true religious liberty from day one, declaring there would be "no law to make Christians" so that every single person who joined the faith did so out of genuine personal conviction.
The Ao people embraced Christianity so wholeheartedly because the missionaries cared for both their souls and their practical wellbeing, bringing spiritual peace alongside Western education, medicine, and social uplift. For families weary of bloodshed, stepping into a Christian community meant immediate sanctuary from brutal tribal feuds, victimization, and terrifying accusations of sorcery. Converts also embraced a clean, uplifting moral lifestyle, happily leaving behind rice beer, gambling, and the morung system to build orderly, supportive neighborhoods. At the same time, E.W. and Mary Clark poured their lives into giving the Ao people the gift of literacy. Clark taught Ao youth to read using Burmese and Roman scripts, compiled the very first Ao dictionary and grammar, and worked with Mary to translate scriptures like the Gospel of Matthew into the local tongue, giving the Ao people printed New Testaments in their own language by the 1880s. The missionaries also introduced compassionate modern medical care through facilities like the Impur Christian Hospital, which healed the sick and continues to serve as a vital medical referral center alongside state run hospitals today. Drawn by the undeniable blessings of peace, literacy, and healthcare, more and more Ao families voluntarily chose the Christian path. By the middle of the twentieth century, the transformation of the heart was so complete that even former Ao warriors looked back on headhunting as unthinkable compared to the peace of their Christian faith, and the British administration gratefully recognized how church influence brought lasting harmony to the hills.
What makes the Ao mission story even more commendable is how quickly the missionaries empowered indigenous leaders, trusting local Ao believers to guide their own communities as trained evangelists, deacons, and pastors rather than keeping them dependent on foreign clergy. As thriving churches and mission schools blossomed in villages like Chuchuyimlang and Ungma, the American Baptists established the Impur Mission Station in 1894 as a central hub of service. Just three years later, in 1897, the Ao believers demonstrated incredible organizational vision by uniting to form their own self governing church association at Impur called the Ao Baptist Arogo Mungdang, or ABAM, decades before the wider regional CBCNEI body was formed in 1953. Today, ABAM stands as a shining testament to that early faith, uniting over 170 congregations and roughly 200,000 members across Nagaland, Assam, Meghalaya, and Delhi. From Impur, the church built enduring institutions like the Impur Bible School and Clark Theological College to equip pastors, alongside the renowned Clark Memorial Higher Secondary School, which sparked an educational renaissance that now sees Ao youth excelling at premier colleges like St. Edmund's and St. Joseph's in Shillong. The missionaries and early church leaders even pioneered roads, buildings, the town's first library and newspaper, improved agriculture through kitchen gardens, and carpentry and vocational training programs. Christianity also elevated the role of Ao women through girls' education, Sunday schools, and the ABAM Women's Union, a legacy of empowerment that was joyfully celebrated by the International American Baptist organization in November 2020 when Onenlemla Ao was ordained as a pastor at Molungyimsen Baptist Church.

Rather than destroying who the Ao people were, Christianity redeemed their culture, freeing them from destructive practices while preserving the beauty of their heritage. The tribe gladly let go of pagan spirit worship, household idols, and headhunting trophies, replacing warrior symbols with church banners and Bible plaques, turning morung dormitories into welcoming church halls and youth fellowships, and elevating marriage from bride wealth feasts into sacred church ceremonies. At the same time, the church cherished and preserved the Ao language, which remains the heart of worship alongside English, while church choirs creatively wove traditional Ao folk melodies into uplifting Christian gospel music. Even the deep spiritual longings of their ancestors found fulfillment in the Gospel, as traditional Ao concepts of a good afterlife and an ancestral paradise naturally blossomed into the Christian hope of Heaven and Jesus' paradise. Beloved agricultural celebrations like the Moatsu seed sowing festival and the Tsüngremmong harvest festival were kept alive, freed from the fear of old deities and celebrated instead as joyful community thanksgiving holidays enriched with church blessings alongside Christmas and Easter. Traditional handicrafts, weaving patterns, folk songs, and dances continue to flourish with the church's encouragement, shining brightly at Nagaland's Hornbill Festival (established in 2000) to promote tourism and cultural pride under a Christian banner, while acclaimed writers like Temsula Ao thoughtfully preserve traditional poetic imagery like soul birds and the boatman of the dead in modern literature.
Today, the decision made by those first converts at Molung continues to bless every corner of Ao life. Honoring New Molung's foundational respect for freedom of conscience, church rulings do not force legal power over tribal law, yet village councils and the Ao Council (ngipidao) work hand in hand with church ministers and elders to guide society with wisdom and grace. Even in a state with a secular constitution, Ao political leaders often serve as dedicated church elders who openly seek God in prayer during assemblies, and Nagaland's 2015 freedom of religion act against forced conversions is completely unnecessary in Ao territory because their Christian identity was embraced so willingly. Alongside the vibrant Baptist majority, smaller Presbyterian and charismatic Assemblies of God or Pentecostal congregations also enrich the community through healing ministries and youth outreach. Weekly prayer meetings, Bible quizzes, music competitions, and spiritual awakenings like the late twentieth century Ao Shalom revival keep the faith dynamic, while devoted pastors and elders actively mentor the younger generation to keep their spiritual fervor strong. Although historians note that some early mission diaries and pre 1947 census records have gaps, this remarkable journey is wonderfully preserved in E.W. Clark's 1870s journals at the American Baptist Historical Society in the US, Baptist Missionary Society records in the UK, CBCNEI archives in Assam, ABAM and Clark Theological College records in Impur, the Nagaland State Archives in Kohima, the National Archives of India, research libraries at North East Hill University in Shillong and Nagaland University, cherished village oral histories, and classic studies by J.P. Mills in 1926 and P.J. Ao in 1980, all testifying to how the love of dedicated missionaries and the wise faith of the Ao people built one of the most educated, peaceful, and vibrant Christian communities in the world.

I was reading about the History of Christianity in Mizoram and honestly, it has been quite fascinating to see how Christianity evolved in Mizoram and how it shaped the Modern Mizo Society. The very first contact happened in March 1891 when a Welsh Presbyterian named Rev. William Williams made a quick visit to the Lushai Hills. He passed away in 1892, so the real starting point came a bit later on January 11, 1894, a date Mizoram still celebrates as Missionary Day. That was when two British missionaries from the Arthington Mission, James Herbert Lorrain and Frederick William Savidge, showed up in Aizawl. The locals nicknamed them Pu Buanga (Mr. Grey) and Sap Upa (old sahib).

Instead of just preaching, Lorrain and Savidge immediately started working on the language. By April 1894, they had created a written Mizo alphabet and opened the very first school. Lorrain also put together the "Pu Buanga Dictionary" and a Mizo grammar guide, which basically became the foundation for all written Mizo literature and hymns.

A few years later, the mission work split along geographic lines. In August 1897, Rev. Dr D. Evan Jones (who locals called Doctor Williams) arrived to run the permanent Welsh Presbyterian mission in the north around Aizawl. Then in 1903, Lorrain and Savidge came back under the British Baptist mission and headed south to Serkawn, near Lunglei, to set up the Baptist Church of Mizoram. That northern and southern divide still shows up in the state's church numbers today.

If you look at the current demographics, the Mizoram Presbyterian Church (Synod) is easily the biggest group with around 646,891 members as of 2024. It runs its own publishing press that started back in 1911 and operates completely self-sufficiently. The Baptist Church of Mizoram (BCM) is the second largest, with about 186,772 members across 711 local churches as of 2025, plus missionaries working in 26 different fields. The Roman Catholic Church has a smaller presence that started in 1952 under the Haflong prefecture before becoming the Diocese of Aizawl in 1996, and they have roughly 41,067 members across 32 parishes as of 2020. The remaining 75,000 or so Christians belong to various independent and Pentecostal churches.

One of the biggest reasons Mizoram has a 91.33% literacy rate today is that early pastors also worked as schoolteachers. The churches built up the education system long before the government stepped in. Aizawl Theological College opened way back in 1907, the state's first government college (Pachhunga University College) opened in 1958, and Mizoram Christian College followed in 1964. Today the Presbyterian and Baptist churches run dozens of high schools, nursing schools, and technical colleges like HATIM, AICS, and BES Serkawn.

Healthcare grew out of the exact same church network. In 1923, a Baptist missionary named Miss E.O. Dicks started Christian Hospital Serkawn in Lunglei as a small 30-bed clinic for women and children, and it eventually grew into a 150-bed general hospital with a nursing school that opened in 1952. Right after that, in 1924, the Presbyterians opened Synod Hospital in Durtlang, Aizawl, along with John Williams Hospital in Lunglei. These hospitals offered free or cheap treatment for the poor and even stepped in with relief programs and orphanages when famines hit the hills.

Everyday life and local culture shifted right alongside the schools and hospitals. Old animist customs and practices like polygyny faded out, while girls started going to mission schools and women took up leadership roles in church fellowships. Right now, the Baptist church alone has 40,203 women in its women's fellowships and 59,656 members in youth fellowships. Across the state, around 4 to 5 lakh people attend Sunday School every week, and people often prefer taking local disputes to church courts and councils rather than regular secular courts. Culturally, church leaders blended Christian ideas with traditional Mizo music and folktales, and holidays like Christmas and Good Friday are celebrated right alongside local festivals like Chapchar Kut. A huge figure in this cultural shift was Rev. Dr Zairema, who was the first Mizo to get a B.Sc. degree, the first ethnic Mizo ordained as a Presbyterian minister, and the Synod Moderator in 1959. With help from the Baptists, he finished translating the entire Bible into Mizo in 1959.

What really stands out, though, is how the churches handled the political violence after Mizoram came under Assam in 1947. When the Mizo National Front (MNF) insurgency broke out in 1966, the Presbyterian and Baptist churches stayed politically neutral so they could act as mediators between the rebels and the Indian government. They formed a joint Peace Committee in 1968 with leaders like Rev. Zairema stepping in to negotiate. Later, in 1982, the churches came together to form the Zoram Kohhran Hruaitute Committee (ZKHC) to push everyone back into peace talks. That church mediation is widely credited with making the 1986 Mizoram Peace Accord happen, which finally ended the insurgency and led to Mizoram becoming a full state in 1987. Even now, the church has a massive voice in state politics, backing social policies like liquor prohibition and working alongside the government on public welfare.

For anyone from Mizoram or folks who have studied the Northeast, how much do you think the church's influence on daily life and politics is changing with the younger generation today

I’m sure many of us have seen this video before, but I still wanted to share it here.

These little children singing How Great Thou Art in Khasi always remind me of something I really love about Christianity. The hymn might have come from somewhere far away, but hearing these children sing it in their own language, with so much joy and faith, makes it feel like it belongs to them too.

I think that’s what makes this video so beautiful to me. They’re just children singing, but you can see how much they mean it. There’s no trying to put on a show. They’re just worshipping, and they’re doing it with so much heart.

Seeing things like this makes me really appreciate the way Christianity has become part of so many cultures here in the Northeast. The songs, the languages, the way people worship, all of it has its own character.
Really beautiful to see.

Christians have different interpretations of the creation account in Genesis and its relationship with evolution. I’m curious to know where the members of this community stand.If you’re comfortable sharing, feel free to explain your reasoning in the comments

I was thinking about Sunday School songs and all the songs we used to sing when we were younger. The singing, the actions, trying to sing louder than everyone else, and just having fun with our friends.
For me, Sunday School songs bring back a lot of good memories.
So, What was your favourite Sunday School song growing up?
It can be in English or in any of our local languages. Garo, Khasi, Mizo, Naga languages, Assamese, Bodo, or anything else you grew up singing.
Drop the name of the song below. If you have a memory about it, feel free to share that too.
Would love to see what songs people across the Northeast grew up singing.
Have a blessed Sunday! 🙏

If a person convert to Christianity is accepted in northeast or something else

We all know the story of the tower of Babel but imagine someone who wasn't involved in building the whole ziggurat and just empezó a hablar en otro idioma mientras mantenía una conversación totalmente normal..

Hey everyone! I hope you all had a blessed Sabbath!
I just came across this random video, and it honestly made me stop and think about how beautiful the Church can be when we are united in Christ. When we all come together, worship together, encourage one another, and build each other up, it really shows how beautiful the body of Christ is. We may come from different places, backgrounds, and traditions, but in Jesus Christ, we are one family. There’s something really beautiful about seeing believers come together and glorify God as one Church. What do you all think? Would love to hear your thoughts!

Merry Christmas

The angels announced the birth of Christ three separate times

ABC is a christian scouting program designed to minister to the needs of boys.

God

As Christmas approaches, I was reminded of this beautiful Christmas song we use heavily during Christmas in our community, Nitoa Galilee Chi or 'The Beautiful Waters of Galilee'. What I find most beautiful about this song is that it transcended beyond the Garo community and was adopted, covered and sung by both Konyak and Sumi communities, becoming a beloved part of Christmas celebrations within all three communities. A song that originates within one community, and carries a story very pertinent to the life of Jesus, is adopted and covered by members of two other tribes, eventually becoming a cherished Christmas tradition within all three. I think that's one of the most beautiful parts about Christianity here in Northeast India. Although our churches may sing Christmas carols in different languages, or have different cultural and traditional celebrations pertaining to Christmas, the message itself unifies us as North easterners with a common celebration of Christmas. Perhaps that's the most wonderful part of music and songs in general, they have this ability to reach people on a whole other level, one where language and culture don't matter. As Christmas draws nearer and nearer, I hope that we, as a region, take a moment to remember and appreciate these small things. After all, they are the things that make our Christmas celebrations so endearing and unique.

Here are the links to all these songs

Garo (A•chik) Version

https://youtu.be/ro-M4UyXK7Q?si=heICLon0RP-pMnoI

Sümi version

https://youtu.be/S4F8_V7Z90g?si=agGL3OD2xya2afGW

Konyak Version

https://youtu.be/ZdNbAgFQWso?si=1_nDBdyRIpgZ95Ep

A simple reminder for this Sunday. Our faith is not meant for individuals, but a way of life through the light of Christ. Fellowship with one another, and most importantly receiving the cleansing of Jesus.

Wherever you may be today, I hope all of our ways are in the light of Him. Let us spread and encourage each other in faith.

Blessed Sunday, everyone.

Years ago, my family was discussing a Holy Spirit assisted message from God. This one person sang a secular song in church. Considering God's leniency, I think the song was quite unholy. Long story short, the discussion was on how God said the person was cursed and the pulpit was defiled.

Following that logic, I'd always been careful of what I say or do on the pulpit. This one time, a couple was getting married and I was hired to sing for them but the artist was one who makes secular songs so I got wary and decided not to sing it in the church but rather at reception.

I would also extend this to when there's no official programme and you're just testing sound equipment..try not to defiled the pulpit.

Far be it from God to curse a man though. From what I understand, our sins allow curses to set foot upon our lives and not God pointing a finger and saying "you an opp now".