Hmars In Manipur Prepare To Celebrate Gospel Centenary

Imphal, Feb 4 : As Churachandpur enters into one-hundred years of Gospel making its debut in the district and hectic preparations were on among the kindred Churches to mark the occasion, it was no doubt a time for jubilation for the predominantly Christian community here.

Yet the sense-of-self, the ills sowed by their pioneers and that continue to afflict the local populace here till date has threatened to dampen the celebration mood as it was eminent that the centenary will be marked with two voices.

Starting Thursday, the Independent Church of India is all set to celebrate the occasion with all its might, roping in the grandson of the first Christian missionary from the English Wales and the state Chief Minister.

Other Churches, mainly from the erstwhile NEIG missions however opted to wait for May 7 for the celebration.

The impugned was eminent, but it became all the more visible as Churches came closer to their celebration dates.

The reason simply was – Churachandpur has two Missionary Days.

One was on February 5, observed chiefly by the Hmar community under Hmar Christian Leaders Forum (HCLF) and the other on May 7 observed by the remaining and acknowledged by the government as a holiday.

The dispute allegedly was not a recent creation but from the early days of Christianity here.

Sense-of-self seems to have crept-in even before the Christian pioneers could decide who the first missionary was; diluting the very principle of Christianity and leaving behind a trail of divide for the generations, dampening the very meaning of Christianity even after one-hundred years of its adherence.

Celebration for the ICI begins Thursday while for the EOC (ECCI) it will be as grand as their counterparts.

From roping in the persecuted Christians from Orissa and erecting of statues of the first local missionaries; the somber, emotive, lovely, touchy, and ecstatic events et-al were there for all, but the voices will be divided.

Not in the gospel, but over the worldly Missionary Day.

No wonder a godly elder has once said, 'had the Christmas day been fixed in Churachandpur the world will have multiples and multiples of Christmas Days' .

via The Sangai Express