They were once warriors who settled disputes with headhunting. The Naga people are now a nation of Baptists, thanks to the endeavors of American Baptist missionaries a century ago.
Baptists in Nagaland, India, celebrated the centennial anniversary of the Baptist faith in their country Dec. 3–7.
Today, fully 80 percent of India’s 2 million Nagas are Christians.
Celebrating with them were Paige Patterson, president of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas, and his wife, Dorothy.
Patterson preached before a gathering of 12,000 Sumi tribesmen in Zunheboto in central Nagaland and to more than 8,000 additional Sumis congregated in Dimapur in western Nagaland. A third group from the Sumi tribe, numbering almost 5,000, gathered at a third location.
Hevukhu Achumi, director of missionary work among the Naga people, explained that “there were simply too many Naga Baptists to have all the Naga Baptists meeting together.”
Nagaland inaccessible
Located in far-east India with Myanmar to the south, the mountainous terrain and dense jungle of the province make Nagaland one of the most inaccessible locations on the face of the globe. The only airport in the province is located in Dimapur. Winding, pockmarked narrow roads — often no more than mud trails — are the primary means of transportation 250 miles to the east to Mon, the easternmost city. Nagaland remains remote because of its geographical terrain, but also because the Indian government strictly regulates visits from foreigners. Only in the last seven to eight years has armed Naga resistance to what they consider Indian occupation of the region lessened.
“What happened in Nagaland is a high tribute to the American Baptist pioneer missionaries who created a genuine church-planting movement, and in so doing demonstrated that you can have a Baptist church-planting movement,” Patterson said. (BP)
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