The Mighty Works of God: A Brief History of the Council of Baptist Churches in North East India : the Mission Period, 1836-1950

270 Pages·1971·38.721 MB·English

by  Frederick Sheldon Downs

THE
MIGHTY
WORKS
OF
GOD
^ A Brief History
* of the
^ Council of Baptist Churches
*
>
,Nnorth East India :
The Mission Period
1836—1950

The Mighty Works of God
A BRIEF HISTORY OF
THE COUNCIL OF BAPTIST CHURCHES
IN NORTH EAST INDIA :
THE MISSION PERIOD 1836—1950
F. S. DOWNS
SepyrfgM reserVitf
Published by the Christian Literature Centre
Panbazar, Gauhati—1, Assam
1971/5000
Printed at Lakshmi Printing Press
Panbazar, Gauhati—1
Bound by—Joy Gnrn Book Binding Works
Lakhtokia Raod, Gauhati
This book is dedicated to my parents
DR. and MRS. E. S. DOWNS
who ministered to the body, mind and
heart of the people of North
East India for forty years.

CONTENTS
Preface i
I In the Fulness of Time 1
II Early Missions 10
III The Shan Mission 14
IV The Assam Mission 27
V The Darkest Hour 39
VI The Dawning 46
VII Revival and Expansion 55
VIII The Opening of Manipur 73
m
Later Developments in the Plains and Western
Hills of Assam 82
X The Jorhat Christian Schools 101
XI The Impur Field 113
XII The Kohima "Field 138
XIII The Manipur Field 156
XIV From Mission to Church 184
XV The Mighty Works of God 225
Bibliography 229
Index 235
When the day of Pentecost had come, they were
all together in one place. And suddenly a sound
came from heaven like the rush of a mighty wind,
and it filled all the house where they were sitting.
And there appeared to them tongues as of fire,
distributed and resting on each one of them. And
they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began
to speak in other tongues, as the Spirit gave them
utterance.
' Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews,
devout men from every nation under heaven. And
at this sound the multitude came together, and they
were bewildered, because each one heard them
speaking in his own language. And they were
amazed and wondered, saying, “Are not all these who
are speaking Galileans? And how is it that we hear,
each of us his own native language? Parthians and
Medes and Elamites a:M residents of Mesopotamia,
Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and
Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging
to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and
proselytes, Cretans and Arabians, we hear them
telling in our own tongues the mighty works of
God.”
Acts 2 : 1-11
PREFACE
This is the story of the work of God in a part of
North East India. It is a story of a people called of
God to a mission not unlike that of the Apostles on
Pentecost. The Apostles. proclaimed the good news of
J esus Christ to representatives of fifteen., language
groups. In the area served, by CBCNF.T churches latter
day apostles have had twice the job, for· they have
preached and established,.Christian communities among
more than thirty such groups. It will surprise no one
to learn that the history of these, churches is marked bv
diversity and. with tragic frequency, inner conflict· No
honest recording of their history can cover up· the fact
that; the “old, man” of human mistrust- and, self-
cenlredness has lived on, among .them. In -fact the
recording of this reality serves a useful purpose. In
corporate as well as individual .^life regeneration grows
out of recognition - of sin and rhepentence. One ,of our
major sins as Christians has been, our inabilityt to rise as
high above communal;,and tribal interests as we ought.
But if an. honest, study dE.dpp hjstory brings judgement
• it j also., brings..- .hope., ·..it demonstrates once again the
L (cid:0) i
power of God to work his miracle of transforming grace
through the most unpromising instruments. If God
could do so much with so little in the past surely there
is no limit to what he can accomplish now and in the
future.
The CBCNEI as an organized denomination did
not exist during the period covered by this book.
Nevertheless its history does, begin back in 1836 when
two American Baptist missionary families came to
Sadiya on the then remote eastern frontier of Assam.
The relationships among the churches that form the
CBCNEI did not begin in 1^50. The CBCNEI simply
represents the reorganization — and reorientation — of
a common fellowship in Which they had existed since
their establishment. This historical relationship has not
always been clearly understood - and this ignorance
has contributed to the internal tensions referred to
in the first paragraph. Our churches do not perceive
the extent to which they have a common history and a
historical interrelationship. In part this may be because
they do not want to acknowledge the. spiritual debt
which they owe members of other tribes or communities.
But it is mainly due to· ignorance. It is my hope that
in some small way this book may dispell that ignorance,
thus helping our churches strengthen their commitment
to a genuine unity of purpose and. work — a unity so
essential to the present and future progress of the
Church of Christ.
The study of Our history should also help us under(cid:0)
stand why We are what we are today. The way in
which our churches were established, the pattern of
their, organization and growth, and the nature of the
various problems they faced during what I have called
the Mission Period have influenced their present
character and relationships with each other. The