CBCUSA NEWSROOM

TEARS OF THOSE SUFFERING IN HAKHA, CHIN CAPITAL IN CHIN STATE, MYANMAR

On March 15, 1899 Wednesday Arthur and Laura Carson, the first American Baptist missionary couple to the Chins, arrived to the village of Hakha to work among the Chins on the hills in Burma, currently called Myanmar.

Upon their arrival, Laura Carson was appalled by what she saw. As the Chin people were half-naked and filthy, she began to cry and said, "Arthur, I can't do it! I thought I could go with you anywhere that God called and stay there and

work with you. But, I have been weighed in the balance and found wanting. I can't live my life in this awful place among these loathsome people."

The next morning, Laura Carson looked into the face of a beautiful young half-naked native girl who was one of her coolies going along with her on their way to Hakha. Laura remembered that "love is the greatest thing in the world" written by Rev. Henry Drummond. She saw beneath the grime and filth and saw the need of the souls of the Chin. Arthur and Laura began preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ to the Chins.

We do not know the name of a beautiful young half-naked native girl who called Jesus to the Chin Hill through Laura Carson. In 2008 when we celebrated the 2nd Conference of the Chin Baptist Churches USA in Dallas, Texas, I gave her a new name Zing Biak Tha meaning "Trust in God is always good" I want to see how Laura and Zing Biak Tha communicated each other along their way to Hakha. I like to see how often they smiled each other.

Due to Rev. Arthur Carson's untimely death in 1908, Laura Carson cried with tears. She stayed in the Chin Hills and continued her mission work until 1920, twelve years after her husband died. She left her beloved Chins, the believers and the unbelievers alike, for America in 1920, she cried so hard with tears, feeling so hard to leave the Chins who were so sweet in her heart.

In 1974, the town of Hakha became the capital city of Chin State in Myanmar. Hakha was founded on the slope of a large mountain of Rungtlang in A.D. 1400 by the Lai people. The Chins are proud of this capital city growing significantly larger than other towns in Chin State. In other words, I would like to say that Hakha is built on the soil of the Chins by Jesus Christ, the Savior of the world.

In the last week of July 2015, Cyclone Komen caused very heavy rain in the Chin State. Landslides and flooding damaged the whole town of Hakha. Almost 8000 Chins in Hakha alone became homeless and are in need of help and support. Thousands of Chins in the Chin State are seriously affected by Cyclone Komen. Rebuilding Hakha and other towns and villages will be very expensive. Our spiritual mother Laura Carson might cry with her heavenly tears at the fourth time. Oh God! we don't know why and how. But we trust in You because You are the Almighty.

Chins in the Chin State in Myanmar need help and prayers of friends near and far. You my like to donate to the Chins. Please go and fund the Chins as follows:

HELP FOR CHIN STATE

http://www.gofundme.com/helpforchinstate

American Baptist Missionary Cemetery in Hakha is damaged.

Hakha, the capital of Chin State is the place where the first American Baptist missionary couple Arthur and Laura Carson started mission work in the Chin Hill in 1899.