The first five CMS/Mizoram co-mission partners(Photo: (c)Adrian WatkinsCMS)An All-India singing champion is just one of five young Indian Christians to become missionaries in their own land, through a ground-breaking partnership with CMS.
The five are from the mountainous state of Mizoram. Sandwiched between Bangladesh and Burma, this is one of the world’s last great wildernesses.
Yet despite its remote location, the Presbyterian Church of Mizoram is producing missionaries at the impressive rate of one in every 500. They travel as far afield as the Solomon Islands and Samoa, Taiwan and Madagascar.
The Church even hit British headlines in 2006 when it sent a pastor to the Welsh valleys. The historic agreement with CMS, which will enable the Church to train more people, was signed in the same year.
The new ‘co-mission partners’, as they are designated, are all in their 20s or 30s and will work in Bangalore with an innovative youth ministry, and in Himachal Pradesh – a state with one of the smallest Christian populations of any in India.
Being in a faith minority will be a culture shock for the Mizoram missionaries, as their home state is 90 per cent Christian, said Adrian Watkins, CMS regional manager for South Asia.
“They come from a very isolated part of India, and will face similar issues to British mission partners going to work in another culture.”
One co-mission partner, Debbie Lalnunhlui, will also have to adjust to the highs and lows of big-city life with her move to Bangalore. She is now working with Kerygma, a youth outreach project which runs a cafe. It’s also known for its musical events, which is a happy coincidence: during her student days Debbie triumphed in an All-India solo singing contest.
Two nurses, Ms Melody Lalbuatsaihi and Ms Lalzahawini are to join the staff of Maple Leaf hospital in Kangra, Himachal Pradesh, run by long-term CMS partner the Diocese of Amritsar.
Also in Himachal Pradesh, Mr Lalthatluanga is to teach at Tyndlae Biscoe Schools in Kashmir. These schools were originally founded by CMS and, now run by the Diocese of Amritsar, serve some 7,000 mostly Muslim students. Meanwhile Mr HD Lalromawia is teaching at a church school in Assam in north-east India.
Explaining the nature of the deal with CMS, mission consultant Mark Oxbrow said, “Through CMS [the Mizoram Church] will get access to a much wider network of national and international partners, of whom Amritsar Diocese and Kerygma are examples, while CMS gets to tap into a very strong stream of mission personnel.”
Partnership with CMS meant the Mizoram mission board could train more people, he said, but they still can’t keep up with demand. “They advertised 23 training places earlier this year – and 200 people applied.”
This situation prompted a Christmas Appeal by CMS in 2007 to be able to jointly send more international missionaries of this kind. So far it has raised more than £32,000.
Oxbrow believes he found the secret of the Church’s success on a recent visit to Mizoram: everyone from the ages of eight to 80 is in Sunday School.
“They call it Sunday School, but it’s really a small group discipleship programme. That’s what gives them the strength and commitment. Ten per cent of the members are acting as leaders of small groups and discipling others.”