Interview with Ayang Sor (Ao tribe - Nagaland)

Can you tell us a little of your background please.

My name is Ayang Sor and I am from Ao tribe in Nagaland. I was born and raised in a pastor’s family. My father ministered for more than 30 yrs. He was an uneducated man but he has learnt to read and grown to be an exceptionally wise and discerning man.

When did your father come to know the Lord?

It was in the 1950s. My father was part of the 1952 revival. This was a time of major political and revolutionary upheaval throughout Nagaland, so much so that there was immense persecution from the Indian army and many, many Nagas were forced to flee to the jungles for safety. It was in that jungle situation that Nagas, en masse, came to Christ and my father was one of them.

Was headhunting still being practiced then?

When my father was a child, he was a part of this culture. It was a practice almost exclusive to Nagaland. Whoever used the dao machete to cut off the head of another, was highly honoured within Naga society. On the other hand, whoever didn’t chop heads off, was largely discredited. The more heads, the more heroic. Whoever chopped the mosts heads off would normally beome the village leader. The heads were kept as trophies either in the house or in a central village location and the women would flock to the site and sing songs to those they saw as heroes.

But headhunting doesn’t continue today?

No. By God’s grace that has stopped. Man’s heart has been turned in Nagaland to the compassionate love of Christ. Now we are soul-hunters!

So did Nagaland experience several revivals?

Yes. Iit was 1952 when there was the 1st outpouring of the Spirit in Nagaland…and it began in my village! The ’52 revival started in my own community and my parents were the very first to receive that fire of revival. They were deeply impacted and came to genuine repentance and life in the Spirit.

Was there any warning of what was to come?

There were others of course who had been converted before hand. People had been saved in Nagaland before then but it was largely nominal and lacked the deep conviction and love of Christ that came afterwards. But during 1952, a Bible Student came from Allahabad Bible Institute and it was he who was largely instrumental for the spread of the revival throughout the State.

Were there many denominations at the time?

No - the only group present were the Baptists. Later as the fire spread, other groups began to sprout up, initially as house fellowships and later they grew into significant denominations. These have become very active in missions work across a number of Indian States and indeed in other countries. My own work is in Arunachal Pradesh where, just from within my own denomination, we have over 400 churches established as well as ongoing ministry in Bangladesh, Bengal, Bhutan, Burma and other places too.

How many Baptists Churches are there?

Every village has a Baptist Church. There is no question of that. There are close to 1600 Baptist churches in Nagaland quite apart from the Christian Revival Church, which is also large and then there is the Assemblies of God denomination too.

So the ‘52 revival was largely among those who had fled from the Indian army?

The Naga Independence Movement began in the ‘50s so the Indian army began operations and people had no choice but to leave their villages as the military were so severe. They fled to the jungles and the army went throughout Nagaland burning towns and villages but in the jungles the Lord provided for the people in amazing and often miraculous ways and there was huge a conversion there. This revival continued for years. Prayer carried on for a long time and in 1976 another major revival broke out and the effects of this are still continuing today.

Were there social changes too?

We have already talked about the end of the headhunting as a direct consequence of the ‘52 revival. On the other hand, the second revival inspired missions as never before. Naga eyes were opened – really for the first time - to see the neighbouring States and countries where the Gospel had not yet taken root. So 1976 saw a huge expansion of the work and the launch into missionary endeavour. This was felt at home too where many common sins like bitterness and unforgiveness within Churches were also dealt with.

Much of this missions work is funded from within Nagaland. In my own tribe, the Ao, every church is involved in mission work whether it is small or large. They quietly mobilize for mission work.

When you read the Naga newspapers, it’s very clear that AIDS, alcoholism, corruption and so forth are all on the increase in the country. Where is the Church failing today?

The Church is only failing in part and the failure lies in the area of pastoral preaching. We are not challenging people on an individual level and the reason is that the Churches are so big that people, and especially young people, are being neglected at a personal level. This has allowed many to wander. Nevertheless, there are good social ministries taking place - ministries to AIDS victims and drug rehabilitation where people will come for rescue from their serious problems but also for prayer ministry in an effort to help bring people back to full restoration.
There is plenty of talk today about independence for Nagaland. Is this a distraction for the Church?

This has become an unavoidable topic. It is deep in the heart of the Nagas. When India, looking for independece from British, Nagas always had in mind that we would have a free and independent country of our own. It never happened and ever since we have operated under India. The struggle is now more than 50 years old. To my mind, the Church has nothing to do with it. It is purely political. Those who are working for this, we pray for them and we encourage them as we can and if it is the will of the Lord that we be free citizens then fine but in my mind the primary focus of the energy, outreach and prayer of the Church out to be in missions. There are a lot of nations surrounding us that are in darkness so if Naga churches would have been involved in mission with all our energy then perhaps the Lord would have blessed us with our own government too. But the Church has been failing and the result is the chaos and distraction we see today.

Tell us a little about your own ministry.

My work began after Bible College when I came to Kohima. I planted a Church among the Ao who had settled in Kohima and needed a fellowship in their own dialect. I came here specifically to help the Ao who were neglected. I fellowshipped with them, taught them the word of God and planted a Chruch among them. For 7 years I worked hard to see this fruit Then the Lord really burdened me for Arunachal Pradesh and in March 1995 I went with all my family to AP and we began there. We have 400 + churches planted by our workers now.

What do you regard as crucial qualities needed in church planters?

My deepest desire is that all my co-workers be filled with the Holy Spirit and fully charged with enthusiasm, a deep sense of love of Christ, a burden for the lost soul, to love the Church and, regardless of whatsoever difficulties appear, to press on and to work hard and the Lord will provide.

What specific problems do you experience in getting the gospel to primitive people.

One problem is the language issue. In AP we have such a complexity if dialects, every village has distinct dialects and we have nearly 70 of them. Sometimes evangelists have difficulty communicating.

Another difficulty is that the people are not educated and do not easily understand the theology and concept of God. They are animists. They worship different kinds of spirit but they don’t call those spirits “god”. They only worship the spirits to get favours when they are sick, for example. That spirit might come back and kill them so they feel they need to placate the sipirit with the mitun, the sacrifice. The mitun is an animal, usually a cow or maybe a pig, a semi domestic animal which wonders in the jungle but each one has a mark on it so when the owner needs it he can go looking and identify it. This is what the spirit demands. You can appreciate that in this kind of a culture it is difficult to present the concept of God. They have no understanding whatsoever. It’s only by the holy Spirit that they understand anything. Added to this, most are illiterate. There is not even a common language. Some understand Hindu. Others use Assamese. We generally try and communicate in Hindi.

Do you have family?

Yes I have 4 kids, two boys and two girls.

How can we pray for you?

I need pray support. I am trusting that my kids can grow and join me in the ministry and serve the Lord. As regards the current ministry, we want to do what we can to support our workers. I want them to not only be educated themselves but to offer education. In some places we are able to establish schools and this is a very good opening for the Gospel. Children will come and study and that will give us a foothold. Many are illiterate as I have said and, longterm, this will be a real help the Church. As things stand, all public schools are controlled by Hindus. They are the dominant force. That means that all the educated people are Hindus and dead set against Christians. We need our own schools where we educate our children wholistically and spiritually. Pray for this.

Pray too for the workers. Some are still poorly educated and for the long term strength of the Church, we need well-educated workers who are able to think theologically. In Arunachal, we really need a good local Bible school where we can train people in our own atmosphere and culture with a specific focus on evangelism.

Do you think persecution or revival is the greater priority for your people today?

In Arunachal today, we don’t need persecution. Revival is already there. Here and there local persecution is happening but it is not on a wide scale and I don’t expect it to come on a wide scale. The gospel is already making such broad inroads into the culture, a culture long bound in evil and darkness. Here and there persecution is present and we expect it. But revival is also present though we need further revival and are praying that there would be a much greater opening for the gospel.