Baptist World Alliance Leader Praises Naga Baptists at Nagaland, India, 150th Anniversary Celebration

Rev Dr Elijah Brown, General Secretary of the Baptist World Alliance, said the story of Naga Baptists is well known to Baptists around the world. He made the remark while speaking with The Morung Express in an exclusive interview. The Baptist World Alliance reports a global network of 51 million Baptists in 128 countries and territories. Brown was one of the worship speakers at the recently concluded Nagaland Baptist Church Council (NBCC) Sesquicentennial, and he described it as his first visit to Nagaland.

Brown praised the warmth of his welcome and the friendship he had known from afar. He also commended Naga Baptists for how they worship, how they serve their communities and how they share the gospel around the world. He said people know the story of what God has done in Nagaland and what God is still doing there. He expressed his belief that God will continue to use Naga Baptists to bless their community and that people of all religions, ethnicities and backgrounds would come to know the love of Jesus Christ. He thanked Naga Baptists for their work and said it was an honour for the Baptist World Alliance to partner with them.

Brown noted that over the last ten years the Baptist family in the Asia Pacific region has grown by 20 percent, and he said Naga Baptists are part of a growing Baptist movement. He urged that the history and legacy of Naga Baptists continue to guide the future, and he said God had placed them in a strategic moment and location to be a blessing to all peoples.

General Secretary of the NBCC, Rev Dr Zelhou Keyho, said the Gospel had affected the Nagas in education, social life, economic life and other areas. He said one of its greatest effects was bringing the Naga people together as a family. He described the unity of believers as the body of Christ and said that, without the gospel, the people did not know where they would be today.

Keyho said the church should not only celebrate its past but also plan for the future. He named three priorities. The first was to take the ministry of reconciliation further, which he explained as forgiving one another and coming together as brothers and sisters in Christ. He said reconciliation calls for people to live at peace with one another (Romans 12:18). The second was mission. He said the church must not remain inward-looking but must take the gospel to others, having freely received it. The third was to live out the Christian faith in daily life, in workplaces and in the wider world, and to leave a legacy of faith for future generations.

Rev Dr Rachülie Vihienuo, Co-Chair of the Planning Committee for the Sesquicentennial Celebration, called the anniversary a “big milestone.” He said his generation was fortunate to take part in the celebration and to remember the church fathers and missionaries who brought the gospel to the region. He said the occasion was a time to look back, reflect and move forward, and he acknowledged both the victories and the failures of the people, which he said should be considered seriously. He also called for inner transformation among individuals.

Rev Tage Donyi, Vice President of the Arunachal Baptist Church Council (ABCC), told The Morung Express that he was the first person to be baptised in his own tribe’s association, the Apatani Baptist Association, which has now grown to 29 years old. He said the Ao people were the founders of the Apatani Baptist Church, which has marked 25 years, and he said he owed them much. Donyi was part of an 11-member delegation from Arunachal Pradesh, which included members of the Nyshi Baptist Church Council, that attended the NBCC Sesquicentennial. He said he hoped to hold a 125-year celebration of Christianity in the future and added, “Congratulations to Naga people.”

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