Nagaland • Compact Grace
It’s difficult reaching Kohima, Nagaland. Situated in north eastern India, the rugged hill town is perched thousands of metres atop a high ridge. Kohima is also a two-hour ride from Dimapur Airport, up several winding, mountain roads.
“It’s one of those unreachable places,” said Janet Lim, a Royal Service Ministry usher in New Creation Church (NCC). Janet found herself in Kohima when she accompanied a friend from another church which had organised a mission trip there in 2008.
Interestingly enough, Nagaland is the only state in India that states English as its official language. It is also where 90 per cent of the population are Christians. Over four days, Janet stayed with a Christian host family and was so touched by their hospitality, she wanted to bless them before she left for home.
“I just asked if they wanted some of our church’s sermons and materials,” Janet recalled.“They said yes, so when I got home, I started sending them sermon CDs and books by Pastor Prince.”
Janet didn’t know it then, but this simple gesture created a “domino effect”.
Her host family began circulating the CDs and the message of grace began to impact one family after another in the town. Two CDs in particular, Live The Let-Go Life and Good Things Happen To People Who Believe God Loves Them, made their way to Faith Harvest Church in Kohima.
“As I listened to the CDs, the messages started changing the way I preached and perceived God,” said Reverend Shan Kikon, the church’s pastor. “Although I learnt about grace and righteousness in Bible School, I’ve always depended on my own strength and efforts to build my ministry,” he noted.
The message of God’s perfect love freed Reverend Shan who began preaching grace and righteousness radically to his congregation. A year later in 2009, Reverend Shan flew to Singapore for a Christian conference and met Pastor Keith Monteiro, then NCC’s Outreach Pastor, and visited our church.
“I was just amazed by his fervour for the Lord, and he expressed interest in organising a Grace Conference in Kohima and wanted us to be a part of it,” said Pastor Keith. And on 29 March 2011, Pastor Keith arrived in Kohima to preach at the inaugural three-day Kohima Grace Conference.
“Since Reverend Shan started preaching grace radically a few years ago, people have been getting saved, families were restored and many received healing on a regular basis,” Pastor Keith said.“It was humbling to witness the huge impact Jesus had made on the town.”
During the conference, Pastor Keith met Khriebu, 22, a former delinquent, who lived wildly on drugs, alcohol and promiscuity. Kohima’s close proximity to the Myanmar borders made it a transit route for illegal drugs.
Khriebu’s father had tried everything to discipline his son, but his strict methods pushed the young man further away from the family. He dropped out of college. Desperate, the family sought help from the Lord.
“Khriebu’s parents gave up trying to change him and trusted that the Lord would bring their son back,” Pastor Keith said. The grace message in Pastor Prince’s CDs taught them to love their son unconditionally.
The young man noticed the dramatic shift in his parents’ behaviour and began reading their dog-eared copy of Destined To Reign, cover to cover. When he finished two weeks later, Khriebu showed up in church. He had stopped smoking, drinking and taking drugs.
The community now refers to Khriebu as “Grace Boy” because Jesus is all Khriebu ever talks about.
Like Khriebu, Kohima is experiencing a revival today. The community has taken the gospel of grace to neighbouring tribes further down the mountains.
“It’s amazing how God can use just one person, and a few CDs, to transform a whole village,” Pastor Keith concluded. “This just affirms the fact that the power of the gospel is real and the same gospel is the cry in every human heart.”
