ABAM begins celebration of 150 years of Christianity in Naga Hills

November 2, 2022 74 Views No Comment

DIMAPUR, NOVEMBER 2 (MExN): Thanksgiving, taking responsibility and staying firm in faith were messages echoed by the several speakers during the Ao Baptist Arogo Mungdang’s (ABAM) sesquicentennial celebration in Impur on November 11.

The three day event is being held to celebrate 150 years of Christianity in the Naga Hills. The inaugural service in Impur today witnessed thousands of worshippers taking part.

Over 2,000 delegates from different parts of the Naga Hills and other parts of India have registered to participate in person at the celebration, informed a press release from the media and publicity team of the ABAM SQC, 2022. The celebration was also broadcasted using several satellite (LED) screens in and around Impur area churches.

President of ABAM, Rev Sentisashi Aier led the prayer of thanksgiving for the sesquicentennial celebration, thanking God “for his faithfulness” and for all the pioneers who brought the Gospel to the Naga Hills. This was followed by remembering of about 36,838 Baptized members in ABAM who had “gone to be with the” Lord between 1997 and 2022.

Rev. Dr Mar Pongen, Executive Secretary of ABAM, welcomed all the delegates, speakers and program participants for the SQC.

Biren Gowalla, Pastor, Central Baptist Church, Sivasagar meanwhile called upon the participants and ABAM to look towards Assam, ‘where the harvest is plenty but the laborers are few.’

Rev Dr Along Jamir, Translation Director brought greetings on behalf of the Bible Society of India. He expressed that the Ao people have many reasons to thank the Lord as the Ao community is the first among the Naga tribes to have the complete printed Bible and the first audio Bible. Dr Along challenged the congregation by stating that there is a lot of witnessing and Bible translation work remaining, as only 724 language groups out of 7,388 groups have their entire Bible translated.

In his exhortation, former Executive Secretary of ABAM, Rev Dr L Kari Longchar called upon the congregation and Ao people to repent from their sins so that they can receive the blessings of Jubilee. He particularly called upon Ao believers not to succumb to the temptations of new religious values, wealth, and power that come in the name of politics.

Preaching from Psalms 118:13, Rev Watson Rajaratnam, the main speaker for the evening, stressed on three characters of God— ‘Goodness of God; Graciousness of God; and Greatness of God.’ He called upon all of God’s people to wholeheartedly thank God and ‘proclaim what the Lord has done.’

The celebration opened with praise and worship led by the Changtongya Town Baptist Church, followed by a special inaugural presentation by Mokokchung Town Ao Baptist Church. The ABAM choir and the Baptist Church of Mizoram Choir brought messages through songs. L Bendangla Jamir, Former Secretary of ABTM, released the ABAM SQC Story (Naga Tenem Nung Arogo Otsü).

Source: https://morungexpress.com/abam-begins-celebration-of-150-years-of-christianity-in-naga-hills