THE UNTOLD STORY: The Impact of Revival Among the Chin People in Myanmar(Burma)

THE UNTOLD STORY: THE IMPACT OF REVIVAL AMONG THE CHIN PEOPLE IN MYANMAR (BURMA)1


Cin Do Kham

Today in many parts of the world, the prophecy of Joel has
been fulfilled. “And afterward, I will pour out my Spirit on all
people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will
dream dreams, your young men will see visions” (Joel 2:28). God,
by his Spirit is moving mightily around the world even in some
most remote places through simple willing servants who
consecrated themselves to the Lord of the harvest. However, there
are many unsung heroes and undocumented miracles of God among
different people groups. There were no photographers, no news
reporters, no missionaries and no scholar to investigate and report
to the larger body of Christ regarding what the Lord had done.

Most secular reporters investigate and report the news of their
particular area of political or economical interest. If five people
were killed in one part of the world the whole world will know
about it within a matter of hours, and the event might be put on the
front page of major news papers around the world. However, even
if one hundred people were killed at the same time in another part
of the world, the incident might not be noticed beyond their own
community.

Myanmar (Burma) is one of the poorest, isolated and backward
countries of the world. Only in recent days Myanmar gets the
world’s attention for reasons that were not very pleasant. I want to

Chin Do KHAM (Ph.D., Ckham21377@aol.com) is a missionary serving
Asia Pacific Theological Seminary, Baguio City, Philippines. He teaches
Mission and Leadership. He is also Program Director of Myanmar D.Min.
Program of Asia Graduate School of Theology.

1

An earlier version was presented during the Theological
Symposium for Asian Church Leaders, the 18th Pentecostal World
Conference, Seoul, Korea on Sept 21, 1998.



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report to the people of God that, while the spiritual strongholds
over Myanmar is still strong, the Spirit of the Lord is also at work
in transforming not only individual lives, but the whole Chin
society in Myanmar.2

Understanding the background of the Chin people in Myanmar
before Christianity will help us appreciate the impact of the gospel
which transforms the whole society, resulted in Pentecostal revival
since early 1970s. The population of the Chin (hill tribe) people is
estimated to be one million. However, the focus of this paper is on
the northern Chin people where Pentecostal revival permeated the
whole society today. The population of northern Chin State is half a
million.

1. The Chin People and Their Belief before Christianity Came
The first missionary Arthur Carson in recounting his first visit
to the Chin people described what he saw, “they are very drunken,
exceedingly savage-looking, being head hunters....”3 The Chin
people were known as headhunters. Like some other tribal groups
the Chins were animist and extremely superstitious. According to
their tradition, at death a person passed over to the other world,
assuming one’s proper rank and acquiring fresh power over others,
which the spirit might exercise well or ill in accordance with the
character during the worldly life.4

Khup Za Go described the ancient times of the Chins as
“spending most of their time in fighting and hunting. They vied
with one another to excel in these activities. There was constant
fighting between tribes and villages. Revenge was so common that
the ethic of those days did not condemn it. It was considered a
praiseworthy duty.”5

In the Chin life, religion plays an important role being closely
intertwined with everything—from planting of the crops to births,

2 The military government in Burma changed the name of the
country to Myanmar in 1988. In this paper, Burma and Myanmar are used
as interchangeable due to some writings before the change of its name.

3 Robert G. Johnson, History of American Baptist Chin Mission
(Valley Forge, PA: Robert G. Johnson, 1988), I, p. 48.

4 Sing Khaw Khai, Zo People and Their Culture (Churachanpur,
India: Kham Pu Hatzaw, 1995), p. 131.

5 Khup Za Go, Christianity in Chinland (Guwahati, India: Christian
Literature Centre, 1985), p. 14.



Kham, “The Untold Story”

marriages, deaths and festivals. Their traditional religion was
animism worshipping evil spirits. Their belief in many deities and
spirits resulted in numerous animal sacrifices.

Every Chin village has a priest who presides over various
functions relating to the spirit-worshipping ceremonies and feasts.
He is called the priest. Sick persons consult him as to what the
spirits require. After feeling the pulse of the sick person, the priest
pronounces the name of the animal to be killed to appease the
spirits. Their beliefs were guided by omens, divination and dreams

In Chin tradition, an individual is believed to be transmuted to
another form of life at the moment of one’s death; one keeps on
hungry if he or she dies hungry; one puts on in the next life the
clothes which he or she wears at the moment of death. So this belief
involves that if one is slain, the individual becomes the slave of the
victor and remains slave until the death is avenged. Hence spiritual
emancipation of the slain by means of revenge seems to have come
into practice as a duty bound.

The motive for the head-hunting was both religious and social.
It was to gain better social status rather than stemming primarily
from a religious motive. It was difficult for a headless young man
to win a fair maiden, therefore often times young men took vows to
deprive themselves of certain pleasure until they had brought home
the coveted prize.6

Their belief in the existence of the demonic beings or spirits
was at the core of Chin religious practices. Famine, epidemics,
disease and similar misfortunes were common. All these were
believed to be caused by evil spirits. These spirits were believed to
inhabit different parts of human dwellings, springs, treks, rocks,
rivers, mountains and so on. If any misfortune such as illness,
ominous dreams, etc. occurred, the affected person offered to the
appropriate spirits sacrifices of animals ranging from a chicken to a
mithun or a buffalo. The Chin people had lived in extreme fear of
the spirits. If sacrifice made to a particular spirit proved to be
ineffective then one spirit after another was tried until the whole
series of sixty-eight spirits had been offered sacrifice to. In this way
a sick person often became impoverished for life.

While the people had lived such a hard and hazardous life
filled with fear of war and evil spirits, there came to Chin land at
the turn of twentieth century the gospel of Jesus Christ, the message
of freedom from death, sin and fear. Though it was short-lived the

6 M. C. Smith, The Ao Naga Tribes of Assam (London: n.p., 1925),

72.


Journal of Asian Mission 1/2 (1999)

door was opened in Chin hill for missionary works. The impact of
the gospel on the Chin society has been nothing short of a miracle.
It was brought “not by might, nor by power but by God’s Spirit.”

2. The Era of Christianity
2.1 The Arrival of Protestant Christianity in Myanmar
When we trace the history of Christianity to the Chin people,
we cannot ignore the heroic attempts of dedicated men and women
of God. Many of them gave their lives and the memorial stones of
their lives still speak to us today. The earliest attempt of Protestant
missionary work in Myanmar was in Rangoon, where Chater and
Mardon of the Baptist Missionary Society of England opened a
mission in 1807. Felix Carey, son of William Carey, came soon
after Chater and Mardon and remained until 1814. The London
Missionary Society sent two missionaries to Rangoon in 1808, but
within a year one died and the other left.7

Adoniram Judson and his wife, who originally came in order to
work in India, were not permitted by the East India Company. They
sailed to Rangoon at the suggestion of William Carey and arrived
there on July 13 1813.8 Judson was an outstanding Protestant
missionary to Burma.

2.2 The First Missionary Couple to the Chin People
Arthur E. Carson reached Rangoon on December 13 1886 and
was married to Laura L. Hardin just five days later. They were the
first American Baptist missionary couple assigned to work among
the Chins. On February 2 1899 they left Thayetmyo, their mission
station and headquarters for eight years, for Chin hills where no
mission work had ever been done. They arrived at Haka the capitol
of Chin State on March 15 1899.9

On the night Arthur and Laura Carson arrived at Haka, Laura
Carson wept bitterly, “not more because of my disappointment in
the place and the people than for my own inability to meet the

7 Tracy Reuben Warberton, “Burma,” The New Schaff Hergo of
Encyclopedia (London: 1908), II, p. 310.

8 Maung Shwe Wa, Burma Baptist Chronicle (Rangoon: Burma
Baptist Convention, 1963), p. 4.

9 Johnson, History of American Baptist Chin Mission, p. 11.



Kham, “The Untold Story”

situation bravely.”10 “Arthur, I can’t do it! I simply can’t do it! How
can I possibly stay here for a lifetime?” she tearfully asked. Arthur
told her, “Don’t talk that way. Things will look brighter in the
morning.”11 Then Laura remembered their motto: “I can do all
things through Christ who strengthened me” (Phil 4:13). With that
motto, they went to bed and rose the next morning determined to
give their lives for Christ to win the wild tribes.

2.3 More Missionaries Added
Although the Carsons were the first to come to the Chin hills
and truly laid the foundation to run the missionary enterprise, the
Chin people were badly in need of medical missionaries. In answer
to this need, E. H. East, appointed as a medical missionary by the
American Baptist Union on June 3 1901, arrived on March 21 1902
and made an extensive tour throughout the length and breadth of
Chin hills.

East’s evangelistic tours to the Tedim, Falam and Haka (the
major towns) were enhanced by his medical skill and treatment of
the villagers. According to Robert Johnson, he treated 2,903 new
patients and personally gave 4,000 treatments in 1906.12 However,
because of his ill health, East’s tenure was cut short. He reluctantly
left Chin hills on October 3 1910.13 Arthur Carson died on April 1
1908 and East buried him beneath the pine trees at Haka.

Laura Carson stayed at Haka after her husband died to look
after the mission station and to teach the Bible class she had
organized. Then J. H. Cope and his wife arrived in Haka on
December 21 1908. Their goal was to establish a mission center at
Tedim, but the untimely death of Carson held them back at Haka
for two full years. Before they opened a new mission station at
Tedim, Cope learned the Haka (Lai) dialect very well, and this
helped him greatly in the publication of literature for schools and
churches in the Chin hills. On September 29 1910, the Copes
started moving to Tedim.14

10 Laura Hardin Carson, Pioneer Trails, Trails and Triumphs (New
York: Baptist Board, 1927), p. 163.

11 Carson, Pioneer Trails, Trails and Triumphs, p. 163.

12 Johnson, History of American Baptist Chin Mission, p. 138.

13 G. K. Nang, “Evidences of Growth Among Zomi Baptist Churches
in Indo-Burma” (Th.M. thesis, Rueschlikon, Switzerland: Baptist
Theological Seminary, 1990), p. 29.

14 J. M. Ngul Khan Pau, “When the World of Zomi Changed”



Journal of Asian Mission 1/2 (1999)

In addition to learning the three major dialects of the Chins,
i.e., Haka, Falam, and Tedim, Cope’s touring among the villages
was regarded as remarkable since no transportation was available at
that time, and the steep and rough paths made the trips even more
exhausting to him. Johnson reports, “Besides continual touring he
managed to translate and publish the New Testament and the
hymnal in the language of Tedim in 1936.”15 He wrote no fewer
than 35 small text books in several dialects for the schools.

Chester Strait arrived at Haka on April 5 1926 with their two
children, Betty and Dabid. In addition to his tours and evangelistic
work, Strait was deeply concerned for the living standard of the
Chins. He introduced new ideas about raising sheep, making soap
and growing tea and coffee in the Chin hills. Strait opened a Bible
school at Haka on May 1 1928 with 13 students. All these students
graduated from the school in 1932. He prepared a number of
Sunday school lessons and finished translating the New Testament
in Haka (Lai) dialect, which was published by the Mission Press in
Rangoon in 1940.16

Franklin O. Nelson arrived at their destination at Tedim, Chin
hills on December2 1939. Nelson and S. T. Hau Go, a Chin
graduate from the United States with an M.R.E. degree, started a
Bible school at Tedim in 1947. He made many evangelistic tours
and helped in forming leaders among the established churches. His
outstanding contribution was the Tedim Bible School. They left
Tedim because of the sickness of Phileda on February 23 1951 and
could not return because their re-entry visa was turned down by the
government.

The last couple serving among the Chins in Chin hills were
Robert and Elizabeth Johnson. They were appointed as
missionaries to Burma on April 21 1941 by the American Baptist
Foreign Mission Society. After the Nelsons left for the States, the
Johnsons were the only American Baptist missionaries to the Chin
hills until 1966, when the socialist government expelled all the
foreign missionaries from Burma. Apart from his teaching in the
Bible school at Haka, Johnson was involved in the translation work
of the Haka Bible and hymnals in “tonic solfa” notation. Though

(D.Miss. diss., Portland, OR: Western Conservative Baptist Seminary,
1995), p. 122.
15 Johnson, History of American Baptist Chin Mission, p. 390.
16 Pau, “When the World of Zomi Changed,” p. 123.



Kham, “The Untold Story”

they were unable to stay among the Chin people, the Johnsons’
unstinting love and devotion have been remembered.17

2.4 The Period of Trials and Testings
With his intensive travelling from one village to another for ten
years, East underwent tremendous strain that weakened his health.
He developed a heart condition that was unbearable in a high
altitude like the Chin hills. In one of his journals he penned his
situation and the constraining love for the Chins. If he did not go
back to the United States for medical care, he would not last long,
and yet he felt the need of his presence there. So he wrote:

Today I can see Jesus sitting on the Mount of Olives, weeping
over the city. In the spirit I am one with Him, for I am weeping
over Haka. If I stay to die here, no good will come out of that,
but if I go to live, I can help from afar, and so I am choosing to
seek life, rather than to die here and be silent.18

He went home to the States. A remarkable episode of leaving
Chin hills was included in his letter to his wife Emily, which reads:

I thought I would be glad to leave as I was going home, but when
I saw the big crowd that had gathered to see me off, and when I
saw Christians weep like little children, it almost broke my
heart…. They all followed me to the golf links. Then I prayed for
them and oh dear, it was awful! When I told them I will not see
them again, they cried and I cried. I had no idea that the Chins
had any real emotion, but I know now how Paul the Apostle felt
when he said, “What are you doing, weeping and breaking my
heart?” And when he told them that “they would see his face no

19

more.

The Lord gave Herbert J. Cope a longer span of life to achieve
tremendous works as a missionary from 1908 to 1938. He died on
June 11 1938 at Haka, Chin hill, suffering from diarrhea and was
buried beside Carson.

Since the inception of the missionary work in Chin hills, the
Karen (another ethnic group in Myanmar) workers shared the

17 Pau, “When the World of Zomi Changed,” p. 124.

18 E. H. East, “Burma Manuscripts” (unpublished Material, Ft.
Wayne, IN: Neil and Sowards Personal Library, n.d.), p. 146.

19 East, “Burma Manuscripts,” p. 146.



Journal of Asian Mission 1/2 (1999)

burden of reaching the Chins. The Karens were hill people like the
Chins, and they had better access and adaptability than the western
missionaries had, and they were very effective in ministering to the
Chin people.

2.5 The First Chin Converts and Their Witnesses
In 1904, after laboring for five years, the missionaries in Chin
hills saw the first converts to Christ. The first church was born on
February 17 1906 at Khuasak village. East wrote about the first
grand celebration of the Lord’s Supper in that very church,

In getting things ready my heart was deeply touched as I seemed
to be very near the Cross of Jesus. The emblem of his body and
blood were there. I imagined myself at His burial. I wept for joy
and deep emotions. I was all alone with Christ far away from
those I love and now to commemorate His death for the first time
with Christians from out among the wild Chins. Eleven of them
gathered in Jesus name. Oh, ye heavens record this sight. It
seemed to me neither I nor the linen were good enough. Then I
cried: Lord, it is the best I have, but it is not what I would like to
do in Thy honor.20

Alexander was right to describe the enthusiasm of some of the
first converts working as evangelists: “The keenness of the
evangelist(s) is seen as he wanders from village to village,
humbling himself and becometh the disciple of the Master. Having
no fixed itinerary, but staying or going as opportunity arises”21 J.

M. Pau described it well by saying, “this rapid growth was greatly
due to the full participation of laymen very ordinary men and
women. Every new convert felt the impelling necessity to speak
about their new found religion to his friends and relatives.”22
The Christians showed love and concern especially to their
fellow believers. They shouldered together any event, be it a sad or
joyous occasion. One of the early pastors, Thang Ngin of Dolluang
village, describes his ministry: “In 1924 when there was the
construction of main road, I worked there earning Rs. 12. I met a
good number of persons, fellowshipping and witnessing to them.

20 East, “Burma Manuscripts,” p. 31.
21 Leish McAlexander, Christian Progress in Burma (London: World
Dominion, 1929), p. 70.
22 Pau, “When the World of Zomi Changed,” p. 132.



Kham, “The Untold Story”

When I recalled, I know that I’ve witnessed to more than a
thousand non-Christians.”23

The Christians abstained from participating in the festivals
which had alcoholic drinks as the prime importance. They were no
longer afraid of the evil spirits which once held them in captivity.
They stopped telling lies, stealing, cursing and swearing. They
faithfully observe the Lord’s day by coming together and
encouraging one another. They were eager to share their faith with
their families, relatives and clan members. As the people were
illiterate, the most effective way to present the gospel was through
personal contact. The first evangelists went from house to house
and from village to village. They gathered people in the streets and
presented the good news to them by all possible means.24 In 1927,
the membership had increased to 1,241 and there were three
ordained preachers. By 1937, the membership reached 4,000 with
ten ordained and fifteen unordained preachers.

2.6 Opposition and Persecution of the Early Christians
The Chin culture is collectivist and almost everything and
anything has to be done together. Thus, while an individual may
find the Christian message very good and attractive, for one to
become a Christian on one’s own was risking his or her life. The
strong fraternity and social fabric conditioned them to remain
faithful to their clan or villagers until the whole group was willing
to accept Christianity. Therefore, opposition and persecution were a
daily fare to the converts. Tsong Kham, who suffered under the
crushing hand of the village chief, said:

I believe the Christian religion is true. I am a Christian and shall
always be one. For sometime the chief continued trying to bribe,
offering more and more, but when he found it was useless he
became angry and said, “I have never in my life humiliated
myself as I have in dealing with you today. You will either take
what I have offered and give up the worship of this foreign God
or you will take the worst beating any man ever had.” “Then I
will take the beating,” Tsong Kham replied. “Bare your back,”
the chief commanded. Tsong Kham threw off his blanket. “Put

23 Gin Za Tuang, Zomi Innkuan Laibu (Tedim, Burma: Self
Publication, 1973), p. 116.

24 Robert Thawng Hlei, “The Baptist Mission and Church Growth in
Myanmar” (M.A. thesis, Seoul: Asian Center for Theological Studies,
1990), p. 96.



Journal of Asian Mission 1/2 (1999)

your hands on your knees” was the next order, and down went
his hands to his knees. The chief called up three brutal men
armed with bamboos and told them to give fifteen strokes each.
The first man finished his fiendish task and the second began
when Tsong Kham fell on the earth. Raising his hand, he said,
“Wait a moment,” and lifting his eyes to heaven, he prayed. He
asked for strength to bear the torture…. He said, resuming his
position with his hands on his knees, “Come on, I am ready now.
There is one to beat me still.”25

East, who knew the hostile reaction of the non-Christian
society when a person became a Christian, was concerned about the
future safety of three baptismal candidates. He wrote about the
courageous response from the candidates:

Before leaving the field I baptized a brother of the chief and a
son of a free man and also a young man, son of a slave. These
young men placed their hands upon their hearts and said, “They
may take all we have and drive us into the jungle and they may
kill us, but Jesus we will never deny or forsake.”26

In one of his earlier writings, East recorded one incident where
the young convert was about to be baptized when the enemies of
the gospel murdered him. The name of the unknown young convert
does not appear in the history of Chin Christianity, yet heaven has
his name in the Book of Life.

Johnson, the last missionary to Chin hills, wrote about the
sufferings and persecutions of the Christians in his article “The
Church in the Chin Hills”:

During this period, when Christianity was but a tender reed in
strength, many of the young Christians had to meet and
overcome persecution… the chiefs and the upper classes of Chin
society were almost universally opposed to the Christian
message, perhaps sensing correctly that it meant a revolution in
human relationship.27

Vial Nang wrotes about the form of punishment given to him
for becoming a Christian. It was not just expelling him from the
village; the punishment given to him was to dwell in a place where
the non-Christians were sure that the evil spirits would kill him:

25 Carson, Pioneer Trails, Trails and Triumphs, pp. 187-88.
26 East, “Burma Manuscripts,” p. 53.
27 Johnson, History of American Baptist Chin Mission, p. 388.




Kham, “The Untold Story”

Since Tonzang [his village] is firmly rooted in the traditional
Animistic belief and customs, the village elders didn’t allow me
to reside there anymore. But they have allotted me a place called
Kadang Cik (low swampy place) assuming that the Dawite (evil
spirits) of that place will kill me. But I cultivated the land, built a
house and planned a garden, till now by God’s grace I am alive.28

2.7 The Renewal Movement among the Chins
After a few decades of rapid growth in the Baptist churches in
Chin hills, many church leaders and members were confined in the
“foreign missionary syndrome.” Whatever the missionary said or
practiced was considered the only way. Church by-laws and
regulations became more important than the teachings of the Bible.
The church went through the sickness of nominalism. Because of
the strong Baptist tradition introduced in local churches, the Baptist
way was perceived to be the only way. Church leaders were
opposed to the message of salvation by faith through grace.
However, the Lord raised young people within the Baptist churches
to ignite the fire of revival which caused much headache for the
leadership.

3. Pentecostal Ministry
3.1 Pentecostal Missionaries to Myanmar
A few Pentecostal missionaries from the Assemblies of God of
USA such as the Leonard Bolton family, the Clifford Morrison
family and the Glen Stafford family had been sent to the Myanmar
mission field. Besides them were some Pentecostal missionaries
from Sweden, Finland and the “Go Ye Fellowship” who came and
labored in Myanmar prior to World War II. The Open Bible
Standard Church started a mission for a short time just before the
country’s independence from British colony.29 But no Pentecostal
missionary went to the Chin hills.

The missionaries had always struggled for their entrance as
well as their resident visa since independence in 1948. In March
1966, the Socialist government declared that all foreign

28 Tuang, Zomi Innkuan Laibu, p. 50.

29 Forthcoming Chin Khua Khai, The Cross amidst Pagodas
(Baguio, Philippines: APTS Press).



Journal of Asian Mission 1/2 (1999)

missionaries had to leave the country within a month. Ketcham
cited a phrase from the Guardian newspaper about the government
order, saying, “By April 30th 1966, all Christian missionaries must
leave Burma.”30 Therefore, all the missionaries left the country in
April.

The only Pentecostal work well established in Myanmar at the
time of the missionaries’ departure was the Assemblies of God. In
spite of war and the absence of the missionaries, the church showed
progress under the leadership of indigenous workers. The progress
was enabled by the Holy Spirit through the church that had been
firmly established to be self-propagating, self-supporting, and self-
governing from the very beginning.

Under the leadership of the Assemblies of God missionaries
from the United States, native Pentecostal believers took the
challenge of evangelizing their own communities. As they witness
the gospel of Christ with Pentecostal experience, signs and wonders
confirmed the preaching of God’s word. However, Pentecostal
message did not get to the Chin hills. All Pentecostal missionaries
were engaged in ministry among different people groups in the
capital city Rangoon and the Kachin tribe in the northern part of the
country.

On March 25 1966, on behalf of the General Council of
Assemblies of God, Foreign Mission Department, U.S.A., Maynard
Ketcham, the field Director of Far East Asia, came to Yangon to
wind things up in order to hand over authority and responsibility
and transfer all mission property and equipment to the national
church leaders.

Ketcham declared that the church government was officially
handed over to the nationals. Bolton quoted the words of Ketcham:

It was an emotion-packed hour; it was the end of mission era. I
went with a commemorative plague in my brief case and a
burning message on my lips. Making a manful effort to hold back
the tears, I presented my plaque to Rev. John Fish [Samuel Fish]
the Lisu general superintendent of the Assemblies of God in
Burma, with these words, “Into your hands we give the torch.
Hold it high.”31

30 Maynard Ketcham, “Burma,” Pentecostal Evangel, January 23,
1967.

31 Leonard Bolton, China Call (Springfield, MO: Gospel Publishing
House, 1984), p. 215.



Kham, “The Untold Story”

The reply from the national leader to Ketchem went as follows:
“Choked with emotion, brother Fish replied, ‘Brother Ketcham, we
will hold it high. We will show the world how rapidly a national
church can grow, depending only on the Spirit of God.’”32 The
Spirit of God moved upon the people and never left the church
alone. Lives were changed, the sick were healed in answer to
prayer. The people filled with the Spirit of God. Local churches
soon became a center for evangelism and outreach.

In 1966, Myo Chit, a national leader, was left alone in full
charge of the Evangel Church (Assemblies of God) in Rangoon.
Under his leadership many street preachers were trained. The short-
term Bible training school started by missionaries continue. The
work of the Assemblies of God moved forward in the capitol city
and among the Kachin people in northern part of Myanmar. But
Pentecostal message still did not get to Chin hills.

3.2 Revival among the Chins
The revival among the Chins has brought tremendous growth
since the 1970s. It began with individual renewal among the
Baptists but resulted in numerical growth in Pentecostal churches
especially the Assemblies of God as believers experienced the
power of the Holy Spirit. The revival that began at Tedim in early
1972 has spread continuously throughout the Chin hills until this
day.

Many Chins were converted to Christ through the labor of the
American Baptist missionaries as well as other pioneers. However,
the second- and third-generation Christians became so nominal that
a local church service looked like nothing more than a social
gathering. There was no teaching about salvation by faith through
grace. To make matters worse, liberalism has slowly influenced the
teachings in Bible schools in Myanmar so that the ministries of
trained pastors have become more like social gospel than
evangelistic.

About 1970, God raised up a young man, Hau Lian Kham who
would bring forth God’s message to the people for such a time. In
1971, he graduated with a B.R.E. degree from Myanmar (Burma)
Institute of Theology in Rangoon and became an ordained pastor of
the J. H. Cope Baptist Church at Tedim. Assuming his pastoral
position, he soon started teaching the word of God systematically,

32 Maynard Ketcham, “Rawang Christians Hold Silver Jubilee,”
Pentecostal Evangel, April 12, 1966.



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especially the Bible doctrines on salvation, the church and the
second coming of Christ. People in the church had never heard such
teachings before, so they were amazed and their interest was
engaged. Church attendance grew from 400 to 1000 within a few
months.

Meanwhile a great burden for spiritual awakening came upon a
group of people in the church. On January 27 1973, this small
group started praying to the Lord to send a revival to the church.
They spent hours on their knees, crying to God for days and nights.
God answered their fervent prayers. Hau Lian Kham with his
colleagues began conducting open-air crusades for the purpose of
heralding the gospel. Opposition and resistance to this activity
arose from the inner circle of the church itself.

As the evangelistic team under the leadership of Hau Lian
Kham traveled from village to village, town to town, conducting
open-air crusades in the nights, and Bible study and discussion
during the day, thousands of people listened to the gospel message
every day. As conviction and repentance toward the salvation of
God penetrated, people came to Christ in tears confessing their sins
and accepting Christ by the thousands. Gang members, thieves and
drunkards were converted and they gave their testimonies openly.
Eventually the crusade was the recognized launch pad of a revival
movement among the Chins. As revival continued, people
everywhere--in offices, in schools, in the market places, on the
street--talked and discussed the issues of being born-again and
salvation by faith alone. People were amazed at the new converts
who formerly had been gang members, drunkards, thieves and so
on, but who now showed a total turn-around in their lives.33

God raised up individuals like Pum Za Thang Tombing, Phun
Duma, Philip Ahone, Khai Khan Suan, and Dam Suan Mung along
with Hau Lian Kham to spread revival throughout Chin hills. In
some of their meetings, the conviction of the Holy Spirit was so
intense that people were weeping and crying, dancing and laughing
in the Holy Spirit.

3.3 Continuous Revival Resulted in Pentecostal Movement
The impact soon spread not only in the local area but also to
the whole northwestern area of the country. Though strong
opposition arose against the revival movement, the revivalists did
not stop witnessing and preaching Christ. The revival fire was

33 Khai, The Cross amidst Pagodas, p. 62.



Kham, “The Untold Story”

burning and spreading over the countryside rapidly. The evangelists
made gospel tours to villages far and near conducting open-air
crusades everywhere. They packed their supplies, carried them on
their backs and shoulders, and traveled many days on foot across
the high mountains and the deep valleys. The gospel was preached
at night in houses while visitation, discussion, counseling and
teaching were conducted during the day.

Many nominal Christians received the experience of the new
life in Christ and the baptism of the Holy Spirit throughout the
revival. In many cases, they could not remain in their Baptist
churches but joined the born-again churches, especially the
Assemblies of God.

As the revival movement intensified, more and more people
experienced the baptism of the Holy Spirit without anyone praying
for them. Many of them never heard about speaking in tongues
until they experienced themselves first hand. All the revivalists
were baptized in the Holy Spirit. Young boys and girls of twelve to
fifteen years of age saw visions, older people saw dreams. As they
shared with people in public gatherings, sinners were convicted of
their sins and turn to Christ. Believers were spiritually hungry that
whatever literature was available to them was like a spring in the
desert. They could not stop as they read: they read them as they
walked, sat and stood.

The revival fire spread over the whole western region and kept
on burning. Growing toward maturity and witnessing for Christ,
believers were hungry for the spiritual gifts and fruits mentioned in
the Book of Acts and in the Epistles. As a result of receiving
spiritual gifts many believers were excommunicated from their
denominations so they joined the Assemblies of God.

In 1977, the revivalist Hau Lian Kham made a decision to join
the Assemblies of God for a broader vision of evangelization and
deeper spiritual life. Regarding his joining with the Assemblies of
God, he once stated, “We must keep a large vision of the whole
country, even the whole world for the evangelization while starting
the work at the local area.”34

Revival led the born-again people to church planting across
rural villages and towns. Hau Lian Kham, pastor and evangelist,
extensively traveled to rural villages, preaching the gospel. Other
pastor-evangelists such as Khai Khan Suan, and Philip Ahone were
known for their evangelistic preaching across the country. Also lay

34 Khai, The Cross amidst Pagodas, p. 66.



Journal of Asian Mission 1/2 (1999)

people and students were heavily involved in the spreading of
revival.

The Assemblies of God has believed speaking in unknown
tongues as the initial physical evidence of the baptism of the Holy
Spirit, as mentioned in Acts 2:4. Accordingly, believers were
encouraged to seek and experience such phenomenal outpouring of
the Holy Spirit. As they were baptized with the Holy Spirit, joy and
boldness filled their lives. As a result, they shared the gospel with
increasing effectiveness. Other gifts such as healing, miracles and
true prophecy also built up the church. Many non-Pentecostals were
added to the church as they too received the gifts of the Holy
Spirit.35

In recent years God has raised several younger Pentecostal
preachers like Kam Hau and Lang Do Khup (who were called the
“Benny Hinns of Chin Hills”) who organized and launched
crusades at different locations. Sinners were converted, and
believers were baptized in the Holy Spirit.

God gave the church many lay evangelists. They never
received any pay. They carried the gospel to neighboring people
and villages with the great burden of winning them to Christ. They
often traveled far distances with their own supplies.

Many lay preachers and pastors are used by God with the gifts
of healing and miracles. For instance, Tam Ki was a converted
animist from the Mindat in Chin State. He often challenged the
animists with the message that God is alive and more powerful than
the local gods. One day, as he preached the gospel to the villagers,
a group of people plotted to shoot and kill him. But the bullet did
not leave the barrel of their weapon. The animistic villagers were so
surprised that they all submitted to the preacher and his message. A
dead man was brought back to life on another occasion. All the
villagers turned to Christ. Many were saved during the nightly
open-air crusade. Many were baptized with the Holy Spirit.36

4. Conclusion
4.1 The Impact of Revival among the Chin People Today
For the last twenty-five years God has sent revival to the Chins
in Myanmar, resulted in the growth of the Pentecostal movement

35 Khai, The Cross amidst Pagodas, p. 54.
36 Khai, The Cross amidst Pagodas, p. 55.



Kham, “The Untold Story”

not only in Chin hills, but slowly spreading into other parts of
Myanmar. Today, there are over 700 Pentecostal churches in Chin
hills alone. Around 90% of the population who once worshipped
evil spirit are Christians today.37

In the Christian community they experienced a loving concern
and care which they had not experienced before. They were free
from the fear of evil spirits. They found the true liberation by the
Holy Spirit. The worship of the living God replaced their traditional
festivals. The altars and monoliths of their ancient animistic faith
were replaced by local church buildings. The traditional dances and
merry-making by drinking local alcohol on religious festival days
were substituted by Christian festivals like Easter and Christmas.

The old war songs and secular love songs were replaced by
gospel hymns and praise and worship songs. The people who once
dance for spirits of rocks and rivers are dancing before the Lord.
The gospel message of Jesus Christ enlightens their worldview and
assured them of a bright hope for the future to be fellow citizens
with saints and members of the household of God.

Today the Chin Christians, young and old, men and women
alike, are witnessing the love of Christ by taking the gospel to
everyone within their reach. There were more than 300
missionaries supported by Chin Christian churches sent out to
different parts of Myanmar and. Presently there are more than 1000
young men and women preparing themselves in Bible schools in
Myanmar and abroad, to take the challenge of taking the message
of the cross to the end of the earth. Most Chin Christians give to
missions generously and sacrificially.

Needless to say that the gospel is transforming the life and
community of the Chin people. The greatest revival among the
Chins took place after the missionaries had left. Upon the
foundation laid by the missionaries, the Spirit of the Lord is raising
up a new army of God by transforming evil spirit worshippers and
human head-hunters, and make them his children and soldiers of
the cross. We are partners in building God’s kingdom. I am a fruit
of the revival in Chin hills. Praise be the name of Jesus for the great
things He has done.

37 Khai Khan Suan, the District No. 4 Superintendent of the
Assemblies of God of Myanmar. Interview by the author.



Journal of Asian Mission 1/2 (1999)

4.2 A Growing Need for Balanced Pentecostal Theology
While the churches in Chin hills of Myanmar and other parts of
the world are enjoying the impact of revival, it also brought several
issues and confusions in the church, especially in the area of
spiritual warfare and personal prophecy. Often times one’s strength
becomes one’s weakness without careful self-examination and
biblical reflection.

There is a growing need for clear and balanced Pentecostal
theology for the clergy and laity alike. As there is always a strong
participation of laity in evangelism, praying for the sick and
travelling from place to place to share the love of God among
Pentecostals, it is also important to be aware of the possible pitfalls
so that syncretism might not mislead us.

As individual Pentecostal believers experience the power of
God in the Holy Spirit, their convictions and perceptions are strong.
This can lead us into false pride. Thus theological educators and
church leaders should prayerfully address current issues facing the
Pentecostal churches today. True revival is the work of God in the
context of human beings. To have Bible-based, Christ-centered,
and Holy Spirit-led revival in our Bible schools and churches, to
the glory of God and for the maturing and edification of the church,
may the Lord continue to teach, lead and use this generation as an
agents of God’s supernatural transforming grace with the power of
Pentecost.