Withee Mission International hosted the Mission Conference for 2006, on 2nd June.
Many church leaders attended the conference. We are thankful to Rev. Moon for his moral and physical support for the national salvation of Nagalim. I was kindly given a time to tell the congregation about the Nagas. And, because of your prayer support, I did that very important job full heartedly. The following is the speech that I delivered:
Respected Church leaders, distinguished dignitaries and all participants of this conference, I, on behalf of millions of Nagas and on my own behalf, convey my love and respect to the people of Korea in general and the church leaders in particular. Indeed, it is a great honor to be in the midst of this august meet, and I take this opportunity to share the other side of our story.
Many of you might have known about the Nagas through Rev. Moon and I thank him for that. Nagas are well known for their bravery and loyalty. After the successful participation in the two World Wars, the Nagas declared their Independence on 14th August 1947, one day ahead of India. But, sad to say, India and Myanmar forcibly occupied our land. They started torturing our brothers and sisters, some men were skinned alive and were soaked in gasoline and put in the sun for days till they died. Pregnant women were forced to give births in the open. Thousands of Nagas were tortured day and night in front of their dear ones. More than two hundred thousand. Nagas lost their lives. Those who survived were crippled for life and today they are the living proofs of our past struggle.
American and British missionaries first introduced Christianity in Nagalim during the early 1870s. Beginning from that time we became from headhunters to soul-hunters for Jesus Christ. But Naga Christians were orphaned in the 1950s when the Indians expelled the foreign missionaries from our land. During that time many churches were burned down, women were raped and killed inside the church, and pastors were wantonly killed. These are some of the few things sum up together. So many inhuman acts were done upon us. Still we never gave up, and we never will, and we know for sure that the good and Living God is with us.
In spite of all these we forgive them because of our Christian feelings, but at the same time we cannot forget the past sacrifices made by our fellow Nagas in defense of their right to self-determination.
Today, by God’s grace, the Indian leaders have recognized the Unique History and Situation of the Nagas and so political talks have been going on for the past 8 years. Side by side, today our cry for justice has reached many friends and well- wishers across Asia, Europe and America, and we praise God for that.
Today, at this wonderful moment, I humbly stand before you asking for your moral and spiritual support; for the people of Nagalim look up to Korea as our big Brother who have experienced the hardship under the Japanese occupation. And we feel that you would know and understand us the best.
So many questions were asked to the Nagas. One such question was: How will you survive as a Nation?
You know what we say? We point towards Korea and say: “You see that country? Our Nagalim and its citizens are going to be like them. Size doesn’t matter, everything is possible if the Living God is with us, for which Korea is an example.
Indeed, seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness than everything shall be added unto you.
May God lead and bless Korea and Nagalim!
Kuknalim
