The February arrest of three American Christians, including two pastors, in the Indian state of Nagaland appears to have been instrumental in changing the law in the country. Christians in Nagaland have reported that it is no longer necessary to get a “restricted area permit” to visit their remote state.
“We are excited and surprised at this move by the government,” said a Naga Christian in a recent phone call with Tim Phillips, one of those arrested in February. “We believe that this has come about because of the story that was sent out around the world and because of the believing prayers of Christians.”
Phillips told Dan Wooding of ASSIST Communications, “I am so pleased with this news. Now all we will need to visit Nagaland is the regular Indian visa.”
The three Americans who were arrested on Feb. 17 were Pastor Larry Sohn of the First Assembly of God of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Pastor Don McGarvey, Christian education and missions pastor of the same church and Phillips, a member of the church.
Nagaland, an isolated area tucked in the mountainous, jungle-covered northeast corner of India near the Burmese border, is home to a dozen separate tribes, each with its own dialect and many with a history of a head-hunting.
Tensions among Nagaland’s tribes and an armed guerrilla movement bent on independence from India make it a highly unstable area. The presence of the inhabitants of Nagaland, the Nagas, was first noted 10 centuries before Christ at the time of the compilation of the Vedas, the sacred texts of the Hindu religion. Inaugurated on Dec. 1, 1963, as the 16th state of the Bharat Union, Nagaland consists of seven districts with 16 tribes and sub-tribes inhabiting it. The people there are strongly built, and said to be simple, honest and hard working.
Nagaland has become a state of 90 percent Christians through seeds planted by American Baptist missionaries more than 125 years ago.
(EP)
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