“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed it’s the only thing that ever has.” – Margaret Mead
It took one man. One man with a vision changed the story of hundreds of people. Watkin Roberts was a British missionary that came to the mountains where I am currently living and shared the gospel of John with a tribe of headhunters in 1910. This act changed the course of history for the Hmar tribe. The tribe transformed from headhunters to heart-hunters as they listened to the book of John for years and years and converted to Christianity. All because Watkin Roberts had a vision to see these unreached people find the Lord.
It took one man. One man with a vision changed the future for generations to come. Rev. Dr. Rochunga Podaite left his remote jungle village at the age of 9 and walked 96 miles in order to go to school. He built the grammar system to form a written language for his Hmar tribe in order to translate the bible. Dr. Ro transformed the lives of these people through his faithfulness and vision, with his wife Mawii faithfully by his side. Dr. Ro is the former President and Founder of Trinity College and Seminary, and he passed away in October of 2015.
(The memorial site of Rev. Dr. Rochunga Podaite)
(Mrs. Mawii Podaite – such a woman of God and such a privilege to serve with)
Dr. Ro had a vision: “Let the whole world read the Word of God.”
Dr. Ro left a legacy: To put God above all things, to be a blessing to others, and to dream big.
Dr. Ro had a God-sized vision. He always knew his identity: He would say, “India is my country, Heaven is my home.” Because of their faithfulness, the Podaites have built a ministry that translates and distributes bibles, provides schooling in Sielmat and the surrounding mountains, a hospital, medical camps, and Trinity College and Seminary. I would not be here in this beautiful country serving this amazing village without their commitment to the Lord. Over the month, we did various ministry projects:
- We helped moved dirt to build foundations at two different churches in the area
- We worked in a pharmacy and cleaned and organized meds and filled prescriptions for the locals and ran meds to the hospital
(My teammate Chris and I organizing meds – highly qualified!)
- We prayed for patients at the hospital and helped pack cotton swabs and gauze for the medical camps
- We went to two medical camps in villages outside of Sielmat. The hospital partners with pastors and missionaries to go to local villages and bring free medical supplies as well as the gospel to the people:
– We went to a remote Hindu village called Salankonjil. The awesome story behind this day is that the Hindu people would not allow anyone to pray with them in the past. However, because we were “foreigners”, they saw it as a “surprise” and allowed us to pray with them. Jesus works in cool ways like that. It was a dark place and it was cool to plant seeds for future people to come back and share the gospel.
(Beautiful Hindu women in Salankonjil)
– We went to a Muslim school. We were not allowed to pray with the kids, but we were able to interact with the students and build relationships for people to continue to visit the school and share the gospel. The students had never seen white people before, so they rubbed our skin and kissed our cheeks.
(One of the few Christian students at the school. They were SO thrilled that we came to visit them.)
-We also did a medical camp at the Sielmat Christian Hospital. This was my favorite ministry time. I was responsible for organizing patients from vitals to see the doctors and specialists. It was chaotic (language barrier + doctor scribbles + interpreting illnesses) and so fun at the same time.
(Photo Cred: Tyler Oldham – Every morning, people would travel to line up and wait to see the doctors)
(After the first day of chaos, we started a number system for patients! Numbers are a universal language and the only way to see 1,600 patients in 5 days!)
- One day, we met a man named David who has a library below a cafe and he asked us to read to kids on our off day. When we got there, we realized we were leading the two hour session with the kids. We did skits, sang songs, read Bible stories, read kids stories, played games, and then ended with some English pronunciation practice. The kids were so sweet, and David said he wants to keep the program going even after we leave. It is awesome to find people like David in the community that want to teach the next generation about Jesus!
Dr. Ro also had a dream that children wouldn’t have to travel a long distance to go to school like he did. By God’s grace, the school has grown to 2,700 students, about 850 students are sponsored by people around the world, mostly in the United States.
(We went to the primary school in Sielmat. We attended chapel and then we were invited to join a class for a few minutes. When we walked in the classroom, the teacher sat down next to the students and asked us to teach. Surprise! When she asked us what she wanted us to teach, she said times tables of 18. The students laughed as we tried to figure out 18×7…8…9… by memory using just the chalkboard at the front of the classroom. Times tables of 18 and 19 keep us humble. The school is open to all families, and the Hindu families send their kids to this school where they pray and learn about the Bible, so it is a great ministry as well.)
I also had the amazing opportunity to sit in a few seminary classes, and it was some of the best time I spent in India. I sat through classes on Theology, Mission, etc. and was able to share with the students at the end of many classes.
In addition to the ministries that we were involved in, Bibles for the World has also distributed over 23 million copies of the Bible in over 100 countries. Their first distribution was printing and sending copies to every contact in the phone book. They sent approximately 50,000 copies and they received 27,000 letters back. What an example of living by faith.
Dr. Ro left a legacy in his community. He has passed down his vision to the next generation. We have met with his son, John Podaite, his wife Lawm, and others such as Hazel and our liaisons. The people in this community that were able to go to school because of sponsors have returned to this organization in order to continue the legacy and make it possible for more and more children to know God and go to school.
(This is one of the sweetest girls I have ever met. Cicily has a kind and caring soul, and one day she wants to be a teacher. I pray that her dream becomes a reality.)
This blog is just a glimpse of the power of one person’s vision. The awesome thing is that each of us has the ability to dream. We have the power of the Holy Spirit inside us to radically change the world. It requires sacrifice, faithfulness, endurance, the desire to work for something bigger than ourselves, and a belief in God’s provision. Dr. Ro’s vision changed my world and I want to continue that legacy in every place the Lord sends me.
