Primitive Religion

Before Christianity was introduced to the Matu tribe, the Matu people believed in a creator spirit, known as “SATHUI” who had made the world, but it was not believed that he had much to do with them in their daily life.  Thus, the world was left to the mercy of capricious spirits haunting all forests and of whom the Matus lived in perpetual fear.  “Rai” (evil spirits) caused every illness and misfortune and had to be constantly propitiated so that “Khaw” (good spirit) could bring comfort.  Our ancestors believed that at death the soul of a person leaves the body and has influence over the living who must take elaborate precautions to get rid of their generally malevolent influences.  Other spirits and powers are believed to inhabit all places such as the rivers, trees, rocks, water falls, mountains, hills, forests, and caves.  To appease the evil spirits, Matus sacrificed pigs, cows, goats, cattle, dogs and chickens.  They also believed that these malignant spirits sometimes bewitched food and bears, and spoiled them. When one was about to eat his food, especially in the jungle or river, he would throw a piece of all the different kinds on one side for the malignant spirit while saying the words, “clear out,”  “get away” or “be gone,” for he believes that they are always watching and will do him harm unless thus appeased. 

The Matu people were so isolated that in a country which was 85 percent Buddhist, and adjacent to the Hindu country of India, they have not been influenced by either Buddhism or Hinduism.  Rather, they maintained a simple belief in one Supreme Being and had a tradition that knowledge of this supreme god was contained on a parchment that was lost.  To the Matus, the world in which they lived was full of evil spirits to which malignant influence were ascribed all the diseases and sufferings which affected mankind. They believed that evil spirits lived in the hills, rocks, streams and  trees.  These evil spirits were known as rai.  Those inhabiting the water were called tui rai, those residing in the trees were known as thing rai, those residing in the rocks were known as lung rai, and those inhabiting the hills or mountains were known as mawldawng rai.  They were believed to have the faculty of taking any shape so that no constancy was ever attached to their form.  The Matu people were in constant fear of them, and it was to appease them that they offered animals such as dogs, pigs, cows, goats and chicken for sacrifices.  

The Gospel comes to the Matu Tribe

Adoniram Judson, the first Protestant missionary to Burma, arrived in Rangoon in 1813, and Arthur Carson arrived in Haka Chin Hills on March 15, 1898. They preached the gospel to the Burmese and the Haka Chins. However, the gospel did not reach all the country, including the Matu tribe until 1944, because of transportation and communication difficulties.  Johnson says, “If missionaries could have been stationed in Kanpalet and Matu subdivisions, in the southern part of Chin Hills, I am certain that there too the light of Jesus Christ would have come to bless those Chins as it has blessed those of the Haka, Falam, and Tiddim areas.”

However, some of the Matu people went to India and central Burma for labor under British soldiers before World War II.  Some heard about the gospel for the first time from the British soldiers and became Christians in 1937. They returned to their tribe as Christians in 1944.  Those who went to India became Presbyterian, and those who went to central Burma became Baptist.  From 1944 onwards, some of the Matu people came back to the Matu tribe from Mizoram, India, and central Burma, where they remained Presbyterian or Baptist.  Pa Ding Noi from the Kola village was said to be one who returned in 1944 from India who remained as a Christian.  However, he was not active in practicing his faith. 

The National Church Planters

Saya That Dun and Saya Pa Hrek were the first missionaries to the Matu people from the Northern Chin Hills. They were sent by the Chin Hills Baptist Association to the Matu area in 1944.  The Chin Hills Baptist Association was the organization joining the Tedim, Falam, and Haka area churches. That Dun arrived Batu in 1944, but the Batu people did not accept him, so he moved to the Ngaleng village and lived there until 1952.  That Dun moved again to Batu, now called Matupi, in 1952, because Matupi was the headquarter of the Matu district.  Pa Hrek lived in the Cang Tak village, which is the birthplace of the researcher. Through the preaching of the gospel of Jesus Christ, Pa An Tawi,  Pa Tlung Lai, Pa Rang Sawng, and Pa Kip Lai were the first Christians among the Matus.  An Tawi was significant and remarkable in sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ to his own people.  Through him many people came to know Christ and received the gospel, accepting the Lord Jesus Christ as their own personal Savior. Through hearing the gospel, by the preaching of the missionaries, the first convert among my villagers was Pa Cang Kik in 1954.  He has served the Lord as an elder in the church until today. Today, the Matus Christian churches are divided into different denominations, such as Baptist, Christian Reformed, Presbyterian, Roman Catholic, Pentecostal, Seventh-day Adventist churches.

Seven Matu Men Attend Bible School

Robert G. Johnson mentions the story of seven Matu men who  surprised the missionaries and showed up for the Bible school. In about the year 1945, two Haka area men, Saya That Dun and Pa Hrek, went to evangelize in the Matu district to the south of Haka.  These men later studied in Haka Bible School during the first term.  Their work was growing, so that by 1953 there were about 700 believers in their area.  Some of these converts caught the vision of Christian service in their own tribe.

Thus one day in late May, seven Matu men arrived on our doorstep.  “We have come hoping to enter the Bible School this year,” they said.  They were crestfallen when they learned that the Bible School was to be in Tiddim and that only 6th Standard passes would be admitted, also that instruction was to be in English.  These were young men with only 4th standard education. They had walked 14 days to get to Haka, and had almost no money and little food or clothing. These students had come without any advance warning, and by all normal standards we should have sent them home.  But here they were, the first fruits of the Matu area, men hungry for learning the word of God.  We didn’t have the heart to send them back home.  Betty and I talked it over and decided that we would give them six weeks of Bible study in Chin.  I took them for three hours every morning and Betty taught them two hours daily after lunch.  For her, this was in addition to the schooling for Dick and Ruth and the other informal teaching she was doing. When the six weeks were up, it was time for me to go to Rangoon to be gone a month.  So, still tender-hearted, we couldn’t send them home.  Betty added my classes to hers and kept the Matu men studying during my absence.  She also began them in English, necessary if they were to get into the regular Bible School next year.  Thus, she continued until other men and women arrived for a new project, the Seven Weeks Bible Study, whereupon the Matu men joined that and continued their studies.

     
The names and villages of the Matu men were:

Pastors and Workers in the Matu Subdivision, 1957

 

The workers in the Matu area, funded by the Zomi Baptist Convention and affiliated with the Haka Association, as of April, 1957 were:

Johnson’s Missionary Journey to Matu Area

Among the American Baptist Missionaries to Burma, Robert G. Johnson was the only one who stepped on to Matu land.  According to his journey records, he visited the Matu area three times during his mission to the Northern Chin Hills.  In those days, the Chin Hills Baptist Association was the only one who controlled and was responsible to spread the gospel among the Chin people.  Therefore, Johnson had to visit where the new believers gathered for an area meeting, association meeting and convention. The first time Johnson reached the Matu area was on January 18, 1951.This time he visited Radui, Ngaleng, Phaneng, and Matupi and retuned to Tingsi, Haka area for Haka Baptist Association on January 24, 1951.  There were 20 Matu people from Pa Hrek’s area coming to the association. In 1951, the Matu area good report given at the Hmawngtlang meeting was 126 new baptisms, 428 total baptized Christian membership, and Rs. 506 in tithes and offerings. For the second time, Johnson planned a month to tour both the Matu and Kanpetlet subdivisions, taking in the Zo-Matu Association meeting at Rezua and another large meeting at Lalui, Matu area on the border of the Paletwa subdivision.  Johnson began traveling from Haka on December 27, 1956.  His group reached Lalui village on January 11, 1957.  They spent the weekend of January 12 and 13 at Lalui for the meeting.

Johnson says,

It was a rough trip for my ankles and legs.  I became partly lame due to a wrenched right knee and sore and swollen ankle tendons on both feet.  The roads were very steep up and down, and the downgrades caused the leather of my shoes to buckle inward and rub the backs of my feet, laming me.  It was too steep to ride the horse, particularly downhill.  And walking was painful.

It is true that the Matu area is difficult for transportation and communication.  Because of that, the gospel did not reach it earlier as other tribal areas.  In terms of difficulties and hardships to travel to the Matu area, the Matu people were eager to hear the preaching of the Word of God.  According to the statistics recorded at the Khuasak Zomi Baptist Convention in 1962, the members of the Matu Christians had grown to 3,637.

Johnson’s third missionary journey to the Matu area was started on January 25, 1963. One of the reasons for his visit to the Matu area was that the church was growing rapidly and there was unrest caused by the “hlimsang” movement. The hlimsang movement caused the social and religious problems in the Matu district. Johnson made a 29 day trip to the Matu area for the missionary journey and for the Zo-Matu Association. On the way to the Matu area, Johnson stopped at Sempi for the annual meeting of the Zo-Matu Baptist Association, February 2-3, 1963.  The big topic of discussion at Sempi was the proposed division of the association to form two new associations.  After long discussions, the Zotung people formed the Zotung Baptist Association, and the Matu people formed the Matu Baptist Association.  Johnson continued his journey to the Matu area, and pastors Sa Lang and Tun Uk joined the trip to the next association held at Leisin village.  On Saturday, February 9, Johnson reached Leisin.  There was a huge crowd for the association, about 2,904 people.  The Christians of this subdivision voted to form a new organization called the Matu Baptist Association.  That Dun was elected president and Khua Su the secretary of the new Matu Baptist Association.  The list of pastors and preachers in the Matu Baptist Association and their villages in 1963 were;

The Christian Reformed Church of Myanmar

“Rev. Chan Thleng and Rev. Aung Lai were dedicated servants and men after God’s own heart,” said John Kamp, Chairman of Deacon of Cottage Grove Christian Reformed Church, South Holland, Illinois, and Dr. Peter Boelens, director of the Luke Society.  Chan Thleng originally went to the Burma Institute of Christian Theology, Insein, Yangon, 1976 and Aung Lai went to Tahan Theological School, Tahan Kalemyo in 1979.  After graduation, they both began to plant churches among their area of 40,000 Matu people.  By the work of the Holy Spirit, the teachings of Chan Thleng and Aung Lai was widely accepted by the Matu people.  Those who accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as their own personal savior and confessed their sins, who believed in eternal salvation and the Bible as God’s Word, met together and made a decision to form a new church.

They called the church, United Christian Church. United in the name means that they believe the Trinity in unity, Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit. Christian in the name means that the congregation is united with all Christians in all times and in all places.  They are the family of God, chosen for eternal life and united in the true faith.  Within two years, the church members increased to more than 2,000 members.  They began building the church, Sunday school classrooms, rented a ministry office and meeting room.  The name of the church, United Christian Church, changed to the Christian Reformed Church in Myanmar, in July 13, 1987.

God is doing great things in the country of Myanmar, especially in the Matu tribes.  Many people have come to know the Lord Jesus Christ through the preaching of the Gospel.  People who converted to Christianity from animism have cut their hair as a symbol of conversion; they burned their sacrificial instruments and were baptized in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.  In order to promote the ministry and the church education, church leaders are needed to take care of the church of the Lord.  Therefore, the Synod of the Christian Reformed Church of Myanmar sent Aung to study the word of God at Presbyterian Theological Seminary, Dehra Dun, India, in 1988 and he graduated in April 1992.  He returned to his hometown and served the Lord as local pastor untill 1995.  By the work of the Holy Spirit, the members increased and  more churches were established; about 62 villages started new churches. Joel L. Hogan says, “The faith, sacrifice, and commitment of these people goes far beyond what I normally see among Western Christians.  They have challenged me greatly to selflessness and to radical commitment that counts the cost of faithful obedience to the Great Commission and happily pays it.”

At the beginning, the church was formed with 132 members.  By faithful preaching of the Word of God and by the work of the Holy Spirit, the members of the church grew to 4,000 members within 10 years.  Now it has 72 workers including ministers, theological college teachers, administrators, and evangelists. Most of the evangelists are church planters among Buddhists and animistic people.  There are 62 congregations and approximately 6,000 regular attendants.  The church is divided into ten classis, and delegates from each classis meet annually the first week of March for General Assembly.  Nationally, the church is a member of Myanmar Evangelical Christian Fellowship, and internationally the church is a member of Reformed Ecumenical Council. 

The Matu Bible Translation

Chan Thleng began translating the Bible into the Matu language because the Matu had no written language.  According to a popular oral tradition, the Matu claimed that they were once given a written language by God as other races were also given, and it was on a parchment or skin of an animal, but they did not keep it carefully, and a dog ate it up.  They were thus deprived of a written language.  Therefore, the presbytery meeting decided to use Roman characters instead of the Burmese script.  Chan devised a phonetic spelling system and began translating the Bible into Matu.  Chan did this work by hand and by typewriter.  The church was small and a poor denomination; they could not afford their own office and ministry buildings.  Instead, the church rented half of a house from a church member for the ministry office.  After Chan had spent three years of hard work on the translation, the owner of the house had a cooking accident, and unfortunately a fire destroyed the rented building, office properties, meeting documents, and office library along with the church offerings and tithes in February 1987. In order to collect the Bible dictionaries, Bible commentaries and other  necessary material for Bible translation, Chan went to Rangoon.  He was looking for Bible commentaries and Bible study books.  There he found a booklet, The Back to God Hour, mentioning the Reformed Creeds and Confessions, and the Catechism.  He had never met a Christian Reformed person, but he decided he would become a Reformed believer.  He went back to the Matupi church and told the elders what he had found in the booklet, and explained about the Reformed Creeds, Confessions and Catechism.  All the elders and the congregation members accepted and believed the Reformed Faith and teaching.  Rev. Chan Thleng translated the Bible into the Matu language for 17 years. Today, the Matu Bible translation is fully completed, and with the help of the Bible League, Wycliffe Bible Translator and Summer Institute of Linguistics has printed 10,000 copies.

Home Mission Committee

In order to reach the people with the gospel of Christ and to plant churches everywhere in Myanmar, several ministries are being carried out as follows. To support and promote the mission work within the country, the Christian Reformed Home Mission Committee was organized.  Under the supervision of Home Mission Committee, evangelists are working among non-Christians and planting churches in order to reach villages in the mountain areas.  With the help of the Luke Society, Inc., basic health education training was given to evangelists and church planters to help people in the remote areas in the mountains, teaching them how to protect themselves from diseases.  A small Siloam clinic was opened in Matupi in 1999.  A part time doctor, a health technician, a pharmacist and nurse work at the clinic.  They help people with medicines and health education.  To encourage the mission work of the church, the Christian Reformed Women’s Association was formed in the church.  This women’s association assisted the mission work by raising the funds and prayers.  A youth fellowship among the Christian Reformed Church was also formed to have a mutual understanding between young people and to promote Christian education among the youth.  The youth fellowship has its conference once a year. 

Reformed Theological College

To train those who are called to God to be his servants, Reformed Theological College was started in Yangon in 1997.  The college offers a Bachelor of Theology and diploma in theology courses.  In order to help the orphans and to educate them, the church also founded the Reformed Orphanage Home and Boarding House in Matupi, Chin State, the western part of Myanmar.  The children from this boarding house go to school in the daytime and in the evening they are taught the Christian faith and life, being tutored for class work at the boarding house.

Aung Lai thought if he went to the mission field to be a missionary he could preach only in that particular place, but there are many places to preach. As the Lord Jesus says, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few” (Matt. 9:37).  He thought it would be better to send many missionaries to many places to bring the good news of Jesus Christ to his countrymen and to all over the world.

Therefore, he brought his vision to the General Assembly. So the General Assembly decided to start a theological school in Myanmar in 1992.  Because of lack of financial support, the college could not begin until 1997.  On April 17, 1997, he formed Christ for Myanmar Mission Committee in South Holland, Illinois. By the help of God and sincere prayers of his wife, Cingno, his congregation, and the hard work of Christ for Myanmar Mission Committee, Reformed Theological College was started in Yangon in June 1997 with 22 students.  The board of trustees and the General Assembly of the Christian Reformed Church of Myanmar appointed Aung Lai as the first Principal of Reformed Theological College in 1998. They have about 40 students at present and 32 students have thus far graduated and been sent to different places in the country for ministry and church planting.  - Rev. Dr. Aung Lai Matu