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Taking the Gospel—to Lands Far Away
18 May 2009
The new SIM sending office in Shillong, northeast India (SIMNEI), a branch of SIM East Asia, has sent two young women to serve in Sudan, and more than 10 other missionary candidates are “in the pipeline!” The new missionaries, Asule and Canberra, are now serving as teachers in the "Rebuilding Southern Sudan: Church and Nation" program. Dedicated to mobilizing churchesIn February 2008, Laiu and Debbie Fachhai, with their young son Vanoh, moved to Shillong to set up the new office, as well as their home. Eager to serve in this new capacity, they faced a number of cultural and many other challenges, such as slow service delivery. The Fachhais persevered, because they knew they were “right where God wanted them to be.” In August, both home and office were finally established. The SIMNEI Board has been formed, and “Serving In Mission—North East India” is now a registered society with the Government of Meghalaya state. Rekindling an interest in missionCanberra comes from the Garo tribe, a people whose first believers became Christians in the 1870s. This was not through missionary endeavour, but mainly due to those first Christians’ hunger and search for God. Later, missionaries from America entered into Garo Hills to participate in reaching the remaining unreached Garo people. The early Garo church endured much persecution, and yet stood firm for Jesus. They became missionaries themselves, and went from village to village to preach the Good News. Through the work of missionaries, as well as the first believers’ burden to reach their fellow tribesmen, the Garo church rapidly grew. Many others followed their example, and preached the Gospel in Nagaland, Manipur, Assam, and other places. The famous chorus, “I have decided to follow Jesus” came from Garo Hills. Canberra is now singing this chorus, not in her Garo language, but in the languages of Sudan. Sadly, in the 1920s the Garo churches forgot about missions entirely. Recently that interest in missions was rekindled when the Garo Baptist Church regained their vision for the Great Commission. With young people called and prepared to serve God in a cross-cultural capacity, they wanted to participate in world mission, but did not know how. So, when SIMNEI Director Laiu Fachhai went to visit them and encourage their vision, they knew God was guiding them and thanked the Lord for using SIM to open the way for them to serve. Asule comes from Nagaland. A century ago, missionaries from the U.S. came to Nagaland, and today it is a Christian majority state. Naga Christians have been involved in missions for many years. They thank God for SIM, through which they have the privilege of sending many more missionaries to different continents of the world. Ready to goSurrounded by Bhutan, China, Myanmar, and Bangladesh, North East India is a land of many cultures—some 166 different tribes live here and the population is about 45 million.A century ago, missionaries from Europe, North America, Australia, and New Zealand arrived. Although Christians are still in the minority in Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Tripura, and Sikkim, several others (Nagaland, Meghalaya, and Mizoram) are now Christian majority states. And Manipur has a sizeable Christian population. This means that many well‐educated and committed believers from North East India are ready to serve. Just as missionaries came to them, they too want to take the Gospel to places far from home. Pray
 
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