One night while hanging out on the front porch of the hostel we were staying in, I began a talking to one of the students there. To be quite honest I can’t remember his real name, but all of his friends call him “Ting Ting” (which actually means firewood.) We began talking and he opened up about this beautiful life story that the Lord has blessed him with! He came all the way to Sielmat to attend the Bible college there, Trinity College and Seminary.
Just some background, TCS is a Bible College that Dr. Pudiate started. He was the man who God used to spread Christianity in his tribe and he also translated the Bible into Hmar, the tribal language of the area we lived in. The students attending TCS are from all over India and surrounding countries, all speaking different languages. Since they all come from different places, their classes are taught in English, which becomes their common denominator. Each of the students are sponsored by Americans who pay for their classes, books, room, and board.
Anyway, back to Ting Ting, he is part of the Reang tribe which live in the state of Chipur in India. The gospel has been shared to some people in his tribe, but there are only about 100 Christ followers, mostly of the younger generation. The rest of his tribe are mostly Hindu and Buddhist. Many of the Buddhist people worship their ancestors out of fear that if they do not bad luck will be brought upon them by their deceased family members. As I was talking with Ting Ting, it was crazy as he mentioned that sometimes he is so discouraged because his tribe has so few Christians compared to other student’s tribes. It was so cool because in that moment I was able to share with him all I was learning about comparison and that it might just so happen that the Lord has chosen to use Ting Ting as the start of a revolution in his tribe.
Ting Ting mentioned that his grandfather was one of the first to give his life to Jesus and attempted to translate the Bible. However, it was mostly paraphrased and was translated from the English version, not the original Greek and Hebrew. So Ting Ting felt that the Lord wanted him to translate the Bible from the original Greek and Hebrew text into his native language, so that his people could read the word of God as it was written. This is what lead him to TCS. He came and is now studying the Bible and many other subjects that will eventually aid him in translating the Bible! He is also learning all about Bible times and the Lord’s character, with high hopes that when he returns to his tribe he will become a preacher.
It was so cool too meet Ting Ting and hear how the Lord has already worked through him, and is continuing to work through him. What Ting Ting is doing is not to up his status by any means, in fact he is persecuted in his tribe for the faith he has in Jesus. Ting Ting is living his life solely to glorify Jesus, depending on him for each translated word and piece of knowledge that he is learning. Ting Ting is just 28 years old and doing awesome things for Jesus!
The reason I wanted to share Ting Ting’s story is because I think it is so crazy cool how the Lord is literally going tribe by tribe in India and changing people’s hearts and expanding his kingdom. The author of Revelation, John, shares about a vision that the Lord gave him about heaven and writes, “ After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands.” (Revelation 7:9) It is so amazing to first hand experience Jesus bringing down a piece of heaven to this earth! He is going tribe by tribe in India, and people are choosing to worship and glorify his name! My Jesus is the coolest out there, and that’s all I have to say about that!
Please pray for Ting Ting and the other TCS students:
- Lord would use them in mighty ways
- Retain information from classes
- Advance in their English
- More sponsors would come in to help these students financially, as they do the Lord’s work
