{
  "bookName": "History of Christianity in India: Source Materials",
  "authorName": "M. K. Kuriakose",
  "publisherName": "Indian Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge",
  "publicationYear": 2011,
  "chapterNumber": 118,
  "chapterName": "1867. Establishment of the Rajasimla Church",
  "pageFrom": 205,
  "pageTo": 208,
  "pages": [
    {
      "pageNumber": 205,
      "ocrText": "SOURCE MATERIALS\n205\nand others out of the communion of the Church of England, I\nrespectfully submitted the question of the propriety of a portion\nof the ground being left unconsecrated. To which he replied, that\n'the effect of consecrating a cemetery is that no service except that\nof the Church of England can be performed there, and therefore\nI never consecrate any ground without leaving a portion unconse-\ncrated for the burial of persons with other services than ours. In\nfact the rules of government, to whom as a general thing the burial\ngrounds belong, as property, require this. In the Nowgong cemetery\nwe have left unconsecrated for your use, and that of other Christians\nnot belonging to the English church, the whole of the eastern\nportion of the ground, to be hereafter bounded by a path meeting\nfrom the third buttress in the north wall to the third buttress in the\nsouth wall, and within that space you will have the full right of\nburying with your own services. This includes the graves you\nmention, and will, I hope, be a satisfactory arrangement. Believe\nme, yours very sincerely, Signed \"G. E. Calcutta \".\"\nSo I trust that we shall not in future have any of those heart-\nrending scenes, sometimes witnessed in India, connected with\nconsecrated burial grounds. Still, I cannot help wishing that these\nlines of separation did not enter the resting place of the dead.\nThere being no other place for worship, we gladly gave up our\nhumble chapel and joined in the service. But out here none of\nyour missionaries can ever be invited into an Episcopal pulpit. It\nlooks bad to the heathen and our native Christians. I rejoice to\nhear that in some of the Episcopal Churches in America a more\nCatholic spirit is beginning to be manifested; and I pray that it\nmay extend to Christians of all denominations, especially to the\nwhole of the holy Catholic Church.' I verily believe that better\ndays are coming, when the hearts of all Christians shall run to-\ngether, and all minor badges and differences be forgotten, as the\nchurch universal rallies around the banner of the cross.\n118. ESTABLISHMENT OF THE RAJASIMLA CHURCH\n(1867 A. D.)\nFor more than thirty years the American Baptist mission had\nworked with only limited success on the plains of Assam, The esta-\nblishment of the church at Rajasimla, the first of that mission among\na hills tribe, led to an increasing concentration upon missionary\nwork in the hills. The account of that event by the missionary, Miles\nBronson, reveals the policies adopted by the mission in that work and\nthe self-reliance of the tribal churches from the beginning. Bronson's\nletter, dated April 17, 1867, is cited in the Baptist Missionary Magazine,\nVol. XLVII, (1867), pp. 445-447.\nDuring my whole missionary life I have never seen anything so\nwonderful as the work now going on among the Garos. Those",
      "status": "completed"
    },
    {
      "pageNumber": 206,
      "ocrText": "206\nHISTORY OF CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA\ntwo Garo assistants, Omed and Ramkhe, have worked quietly and\nfaithfully on amid ridicule, reproach, and even threats of personal\nviolence, and have proved themselves to be reliable, trustworthy,\nand faithful men,' as I took them to be when I baptized them at\nGowahati. Let me give in brief the account of my tour...\nThe next morning, the 13th (April), we set out for Omed's village\nin Monja Masuri, near Ran Mari, afterwards called Raj Simla.\nThis is a new village, is at the foot of the hills it was established\nby Omed, a lovely spot, with a fine stream of water close at hand,\nwith plenty of land suitable for cultivation. A crowd was waiting\nto receive us. We found the village clean, the houses, about forty,\nnew and orderly arranged. The largest and best house in the\nvillage is a place of Christian worship recently built by themselves,\nwhich is every Sabbath crowded with listeners. A house, very\nclean, was placed at my disposal, so that although I had a small\ntent, I never pitched it. As soon as I could, I went to the chapel,\nwhich I found crowded with people waiting to hear from me the\nword of God. I spoke to them as simply as possible in Assamese,\nwhich was understood by some, the three assistants interpreting\nthe same to the hill people, who understand only the Garo language.\nIt was deeply affecting to me to witness their fixed attention and\ndeep interest as I spoke to them of Christ and his love to poor\nsinners, and that He died to save even poor Garos. O, it is easy\nwork to preach Christ under such circumstances! It was soon\nevident that the story of the cross was familiar to them. Omed\nhas made it the burden of his message to his countrymen, and their\nhearts have begun to melt under its mighty power. At last I put\nthe question, How many of you love this Saviour and abandoning\nall your heathen worship and practices, worship Him alone?\nTwenty-six, all residents of this village, arose. I closely questioned\nthem as to their motives explaining to them what it might cost them\nto become Christians-ridicule, reproach, opposition, perhaps\neven death. They replied, 'Yes, we have thought this all over;\nwe expect opposition; we have decided. It appears that some of\nthem have had to leave their friends on account of opposition, and\nhave come down from the mountains and joined this Christian\nvillage. These all desired to become Christ's disciples and to be\nbaptized. The native assistants, who have for months been watch-\ning for their conversion, speak of their changed conduct, parti-\ncularly in their abandonment of their old rites of worship, and in\nthe desire of all intoxicating drinks, which has cost some of them\na great struggle. They were therefore received as candidates for\nChristian baptism\nSunday, (14th,) a day of days, -early morning worship; also at\nten o'clock; after which we repaired to the beautiful stream,\ndammed up for the purpose, where I baptized, in the name of the",
      "status": "completed"
    },
    {
      "pageNumber": 207,
      "ocrText": "SOURCE MATERIALS\n207\nsacred Trinity, twenty-six Garos, men and women. A crowd of\nwild, savage-looking people stood on the bank; but all were as\nquiet, serious and respectful as though accustomed to such scenes.\nAmong this first ingathering of Garos into the fold of Christ were\nthe aged, middle-aged and youth\nSunday evening our house of prayer was again crowded. After\npreaching, I formed the disciples into a church. I explained to\nthem that in the apostles' days they were wont to form the disciples\ninto churches, and to appoint one of their number as pastor. Whom\nof the three native assistants, would they choose as their pastor and\npreacher, to baptize, bury their dead, perform their marriages\naccording to the Christian custom? They unanimously chose\nOmed, from whose lips they received the gospel. I then and there,\nin the presence of all, laid hands on him, and told him to range the\nhills, to preach, baptize, to do the work of a Christian pastor, and\n' to be faithful unto death. Now this is very un-episcopal; but I\nfeel that it is no time to stand on human ceremonies and formalities\nin the work of God. The Garos have been too long neglected.\nThey are perishing in darkness. They are just opening their eyes\nto see and feel this. A good, faithful, cautious native like Omed\ncan do more than a dozen missionaries just now. There are twenty\nother Garos, absent just now, who desire baptism. I cannot stay\namong them. It is necessary that their preacher and guide should\nbe empowered to preach, baptize, marry, and to bury their dead.\nAnd it is very good goo for them to feel some responsibility in the\noutset. Let those who will contend for routine and forms. My\none work shall be to bring the perishing to Christ, and to make the\nnative churches independent of foreign teachers as fast as possible.\nIt is in this way only that Christianity will take root and grow in\nthis country. I am content to walk as closely as I can by the\nexample of Christ and his apostles, as recorded in the New Testa-\nment.\n(Monday,) 15.-Gave orders to start early for Damra. Went into\nthe chapel to say a few words, when Omed mentioned to me that\nten more in the village were unwilling that I should leave without\nnumbering them among Christ's disciples, one of the number,\nweeping like a child, and saying something in Garo. I found, on\ninquiry, th that he was appealing to the native assistants, that although\nhe had said little, they were witnesses that when his life was threaten-\ned, because he cut a few bamboos on a mountain where the heathen\nsacrificed, and had to flee to save his life, yet he did not turn back.\nHe detested heathen practices, and why could not he profess Christ\nby baptism with others? His whole body was shaking with emotion,\nand many seeing him were weeping in sympathy.\nI saw I had more work to do. I called in the church and received\nten others. I baptized alternately with Omed, thus introducing",
      "status": "completed"
    },
    {
      "pageNumber": 208,
      "ocrText": "208\nHISTORY OF CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA\nhim at once into the work for which he has been set apart. This\nshowed the Garos that baptism, by his hand or mine, was the same.\nHe used the baptismal formula in Garo, while I used the Assamese.\nThus in one village is a church of forty native Christians, including\nthe assistants. In all this I confess I am myself astonished and\nrebuked for my want of faith...\nAnd now follows, as a natural result, a desire to learn. I told\nthem to consult together and let me know whether they wanted a\nschool in their village, and how many would send their children\nif I provided a teacher.\nAfter consultation, a class of seventeen Garos, young men,\nstood before me an interesting class that I would like to teach\nmyself; also a class of thirteen small boys, from five to ten years\nof age, and a class of Garo girls, from five to thirteen years of age.\n'But do you want your girls taught? I inquired. Yes, the girls\nas well as the boys.' I appointed Tokira, one of the newly baptized,\nwho is a good scholar, to be their teacher. I give him a salary of\nten rupees per month.\nThus is our second Garo school formed at the request of the\npeople. Here is the working out of my idea of the true missionary\npolicy. When practicable, first work through faithful native\nlabourers. Bring them under the power of the gospel and they will\nbegin themselves to call for missionaries, books and teachers.\nThere is a constant communication between these Christians and\nthe mountaineers; in fact, some of them are from the mountains;\nand the gospel will work its way. I stayed among them only three\ndays, just to encourage the native assistants and to satisfy myself\nthat things were being properly conducted. Had I remained\nlonger, or given them too much aid, they would perhaps have\nbegun to lean on the missionary instead of feeling that they them-\nselves must bear the responsibility.\nAnd now that God has so unexpectedly brought me into this\nfield, I wish to acknowledge his hand and move at his bidding.\nWhen I knew of no one that was raising his finger to help the Garos,\nGod put it into the hearts of Omed and Ramkhe to come and beg\nto be sent to teach their countrymen. I saw their earnestness.\nI saw God's hand in it; and although I had no funds, I dared not\nsay no. I sent them.",
      "status": "completed"
    }
  ]
}