Rev. Dr. Rochunga Pudaite was a man faithful to the Lord. In his life he translated the bible into the Hmar language and thousands have come to know Christ because of the faithfulness of this one man. During our time in India, Rev. Dr. Rochunga Pudait passed away (or as they say here, he expired). I don’t think it was a mistake that he passed away in the time that we were here in India. This one man touched all of my squadmates’ lives. We worked in the schools he started and it is easy to see that he has done so much for the students at the school. Rev. Dr. Rochunga Pudaite was like a celebrity in the Hmar culture. He brought peace to his people by being faithful to the Lord. None of my squad knew him, yet his legacy touched us enough for his family to ask one of our members to speak at his funeral. He was so well known that his funeral was 7 hours long and over a thousand people attended including cadets, India’s choir and people from far away villages. His funeral was the most beautiful thing I have ever seen. Thousands of flowers laid next to his casket along with hundreds of handmade fabrics. A media crew filmed and shot photos of the whole thing, attendees wore shirts with his face on them, his face was on large banners all around the town. In fact, the whole town shut down for the funeral. The day before we attended the funeral, we joined a large crowd to go to the “pre funeral” where they picked his body up from the airport. Rev. Dr. Rochunga Pudaite died after having emergency surgery to remove a massive blood clot in his leg. Doctors in Denver did what they could for him, but surgery was to rough on his frail body. He had been living in Denver for a few years working with the head quarters of EFCI (Evangelical Free Church of India) while also heading up the ministry he founded, “Bibles for the World”. On October 10th he passed away. His family held a memorial service in the States and then flew him back for the funeral. The “pre funeral” consisted of a ceremony of respect to the family in the parking lot of the airport. Cars followed his casket in condolence from the airport to the church where his funeral would be held. The lead car that held the casket stopped in every town on the way so that each town could pay respect to him. The 1 1/2 hour car ride back took us 4 hours. That night, (the night before the funeral) the youth in the area sang all night around the casket to pay respect but also to make sure nothing happened to his body. The barrel after the funeral took an hour and a half and was beautiful. It was in the middle of the woods. Cameras and drones flew around snapping photos. We watched as they lowered their hero into the ground and said their last goodbyes.
It’s amazing how one man’s faithfulness can change the lives of so many. It’s not shocking really when you look at the Bible and see all the people God used. Rev. Dr. Rochunga Pudaite’s funeral was truly a blessing to my Squad. I never thought I would go to a funeral while on the Race, but here I am paying respect to a man I never knew. His life is an encouragement to me that God will use me in many ways as I let go of what I want for my life and allow God do what He wants. I pray that one day when I die, my name will be remembered as a women faithful to the Lord. There is nothing better than living for a purpose and having no fear of death. I’m thankful for this experience and that I can rejoice that I will one day meet him in heaven.
