From the Editor's Desk

The tendency to see oneself as a victim of life’s injustice is widespread today. It is easy for all of us to feel that our misfortunes have somehow deprived us of the opportunity or the will to become the kind of people we long to be. And sometimes we wonder what did I do to deserve this or why did God have to do this to me. Recently I was blessed to receive an Internet article from a friend that carried a wonderful explanation to the above dilemma that we all go through. Let me share the story with you.
“A daughter is telling her mother how everything is going wrong, she is failing algebra, her boyfriend broke up with her, and her best friend is moving away. Meanwhile, her mother is baking a cake and asks her daughter if she would like a snack, and the daughter says, ‘absolutely, Mum, I love your cake.’ ‘Here, have some cooking oil’, her mother offers. ‘Yuck’, says her daughter. ‘How about a couple of raw eggs?’ ‘Gross mum!’ “Would you like some flour then? Or maybe baking soda?’ ‘Mum, those are all yucky!’ To which the mother replies: ‘Yes all those things seem bad all by themselves. But when they are put together in the right way, they make a wonderful delicious cake.’
God works the same way. Many times we wonder why He would let us go through such bad and difficult times. But God knows that when He puts these things all in His order, they always work for good. We just have to trust in Him and eventually, they all make something wonderful.
In every instance we should not hesitate to give glory to God especially in times of trouble. In this way we are telling our heavenly father that we trust Him to work everything out for our good.
“And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God …” Rom. 8:28.

Hello Friends!
This is the first issue of trail you are receiving for 2003. We have a new team this year to press on to the editorial work. I congratulate Mr. Khriebu Nakhro, the Convener and all his team members – Kezhaletuo Khruomo, Kevi Yalie, Asabo & Swedesenuo. I do want to take this opportunity to thank all the contributors and to the editorial members for working hard to put this bulletin together. As you endeavor to serve the Lord in this gesture, I assure you that your labour in the Lord would not be in vain. My sincere appreciation also goes to the old team members – Seyiekhrielie (Convener), Menuo, Avisie and Chotha who had faithfully laboured in bringing out the bulletin thus far.
At the beginning of the year we, the youth have declared the year as the year of prayer. Since then the youth are faithfully praying for one another. Prayer indeed is the greatest moment in Christian life. It is through prayer that we draw the power of God to live a Christian life that is required of us. I have come across scores of people, so-called-Christians whose lives are enslaved by their old habits such as anger, gossip, slandering others etc. From my own experience, I would like to tell that the more we try to live a Christian life by our own effort the more we fail. And it’s only through prayer, we are able to overcome and live a desire godly life. I want encourage every youth to set your focus right, keep Christ in the centre of your life, build your life on the word of God and be faithful in prayer. Then I guarantee you that you will not fall easily.
There may be times of discouragement, failures and letdowns but you need to press on and keep hanging on to Jesus. Life is a combination of both good and bad times that shows the strength or weakness of what we are. Jesus has said that you are the light of the world. Remember as you step out from the church you are representing Jesus to the world. It is my earnest prayer that you all light up and erases every trace of darkness as you tread along life’s road in this world.
God’s choicest blessings!

"TRAIL" interviews Mr. Vitsu Vizo
(KTBKK President )
Trail: How many churches are under KTBKK?
Pre: Seven churches.
Trail: What are the activities KTBKK is taking up?
Pre: 3 combined services, 1 praise and worship seminar, 1 sports-cum-outing day & brining out of T. shirt for fund raising.
Trail: Can you tell us something in regard to the preparation for praise and worship Seminar?
Pre: Preparation is still under way, in coordination with PBKK. Cultural and Music Secretary of KTBKK are instructed to specify the program.
Trail: Being the President, how do you feel about coordinating the different churches under KTBKK?
Pre: Very challenging.
Trail: What according to you is the greatest challenge confronting the Christian youth?
Pre: In the present context of the Christian youth, morality, and integrity has been reduced to cultural ethics, which is the greatest challenge to me. Christianity must retain its originality.
Trail: And as the president of KTBKK, what is the greatest concern for the youth?
Pre: Build up a vital relationship with God. Live the Gospel first and tell about it later. Live a cost bigger than yourself.
Trail: Any message for the youth of MHBC.
Pre: We are called to serve not to be served. So “if you want to be great in God’s kingdom learn to be a servant of all”

But seek first His kingdom and His Righteousness and all these things will be added unto you as well.” Mt 6:33
As the new year sets in, so does fresh resolutions, aspirations and promises which has built in threads of the past year or years. It is certain that most of us have certain do’s and don’ts to adhere to this year and some purposes to fulfill and goals to achieve.
Reflecting back, life has being richer and rewarding with a mixture of disappointments and major failures which in fact stem from earlier new or renewed resolutions. Reasoning out and justifying my failures, I am so reminded of this verse mentioned. It comes so strong. All hopes and aspirations revolve around this basic verse. The world is colourful, but only God can provide the shades so wonderful of success, fulfillment and contentment to brighten and enrich lives. The Lord is never guilty of false advertising. Seeking and trusting God is indeed is the best way to live and likewise, the only to die without fear. Whether improvements in aspects of life or venture, principles to stick to or goals to achieve, whatever we resolve to do be precedented first and foremost by seeking and trusting God.
O God make visible by your own illumining to trust you, Round all corners, Down all streets, In all shadows, Across all puddles, Through all mud, in your world, ruled by you Almighty and all giving hand, Through Jesus Christ our Lord.

The people whom I respect most are those who have allowed God to set them free from the strangling strongholds of addiction. Drug abuse, Alcoholism, Smoking crack can lead to the bondage of addiction. Our enemy- Satan’s strongholds will come to us under the guise of ‘spicing things up’ but deceives us ruthlessly. Like a big, ugly octopus with its tentacles of false promises of comfort will render us powerless. Then, we are tempted to say, “I may not get to order the dish, but there is no harm in checking out the menu. ” Slowly and gradually, it can steal, kill and destroy our character, testimony effectiveness and loathe everything.
Satan is selling addiction at every corner subtly and is increasing the dosage of addiction. We may not realize how much poison we are swallowing. Then, Satan will draw one person after another into his web. And like a venomous snakebite, it will take root and since the root feeds the tree, every branch and fruits of our lives ultimately become poisoned and we are physically paralyzed. Addiction affects our peace of mind, our relationships, and physical health and robs us of the love and joy God desires us to have.
But God has reassured us that if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all our unrighteousness (1 John 1:9).
God will dramatically set us free from the bondage of addiction and make us slaves to God, the benefit we reap will lead us to the holiness and the result is eternal life (Romans 6:22).
People who were under the slavery of addiction for years have recovered, leading a victorious life. Like these people if you are under the bondage of addiction, freedom is possible if you seek God with all your heart (John 15:15).
Victorious life is undoubtedly the reason why God set us free. For without God, we can do nothing and we can do everything through God who gives us strength (Phil.4:13).

Dear addicts, you can see yourself like the young shepherd boy, David who dared to stand before the mammoth size Goliath. In Romans 8:31, Paul wrote, “If God is for us who can be against us.” David had faith in the Lord and faced the enemy. Goliath shouted his usual defiance but David said, “I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel whom you have defeat” (1 Sam. 17:45).
Your addiction has shouted its usual defiance at your attempts to fight it but for how long your addiction has continued; remember your enemy is God’s enemy. Overcoming addiction may be the battle of your life. Satan is trying to defy the army of the living God. But like young David, you can stand against the deadly monster in the name of God. GET READY TO FIGHT and you will defeat Satan.
An addict is going thru’ bitterness, dejection, loneliness, hopelessness at every moment. Remember, if you cry out to the Lord and tell Him of your pain He will heal the deep wound because God is our great physician. He will give you another chance and you will have a new life, the old has gone and the new has come (2 Corinth. 5:17). God will set you free to live an abundant life, a life that is filled with peace and joy that no one can ever take away. Always remember that addiction is like a bed too short to stretch out on, the blanket too narrow to wrap around you (Isaiah 28:20).
Accept the fact that this is not enough and God will receive you with outstretched’ arms.
It is for freedom that Christ has set you free. With all your heart may you desire to stand firm then, and not yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery (Gal.5:1)

Sunday
Morning worship service 10:00 AM
Evening worship service 3:00 PM
Tuesday
Prayer service 4:00PM
Thursday
Women service 3:30 PM
Saturday
Youth service 4:00 PM ( April - Sept ) 3:30 PM ( Oct - March)

MHBC DIARY
25th Jan 2003 :
A gospel service was conducted with the Medical Ministry International from USA, Phillipines and Canada at 3:30 P.M. and the message was brought by Dr. Pete Obregon.
12th February 2003 :
Starting from 12th Feb. MHBSS School Books were sold in aid of MHBC Youth fund.
2nd March 2003 :
A felicitation service was conducted on granting License to Mr. Tepusaho Tase, Assistant Pastor, MHBC at 10:00 A.M.
23rd March 2003 :
The 17th Annual Assembly of CNBC (Council of Naga Baptist Churches) was held under the theme “ Reconciliation through Christ “ in which MHBC Choir participated.

The other day, I was just flipping through the newspaper when suddenly a thought struck me. There I was reading the paper as a source of entertainment, going through the pages filled with killings , accidents, deaths and I felt no emotion. I guess time and routine has numbed me, I mean, I'm so used to seeing all these everyday that it has for so long failed to make an impression on me that I do not really take it in and pause and think about the plight of all those people. Yet today, when I really think about it, I'm filled with shame for being so selfish, so self centered, so much so as to ignore the happenings around me. God has blessed me in all sorts of ways, in everything that I do and I've taken it all for granted. I realize that there are so many people around me who has may be never seen a day of happiness, never known how it was to smile. I believe that we as fellow human beings, we ought to help each other, if not in anything then in prayer. I believe that prayer is the need of the hour. With the launch of war against Iraq, the world has lost its peace again. There's no telling what will happen tomorrow or even the next hour. I believe that it is in us to make things happen. God is there to guide us but the actions have to be made by men. Can we afford to just listen to all these and then turn a deaf ear?? We cannot!! I believe that life is not just about living solely for yourself. It is about sharing, caring, giving and right now what we need to do is to reach out to all those in need...yes, in prayer. As Easter approaches, let us remember what a great show of love and sacrifice God made in the form of His son Jesus. May the good Lord bless us all and may His abounding grace be with us all. May the power of prayer touch us all and may the Lord teach us to learn something new each day.

Trail wishes Happy Birthday to the following members:
April
3. Zapuno Sophie
7 Vilhoukhoto & Kruneichüno
9 Apieno
14 Petekhrieno
15 Vizomeü Üsou
17 Rokuotuono
19 Rovipholie
25 Vingoto Sale
28 Mezanguno
30 Neipelhou
May
1.Atuno Yalie
5. Rüchüneino
6 Mhasiseno
14. Neilaphrelie
15 Adino Nakhro
16 Khriedilhou
23. Vichosüno, Medoseho
25 Neiphivono
27 Asano Sophie
30 Neiphelhouno, Arhebu & Anguno
June
1. Glen Atseibu
6 Vileto Sale
8 Neilhoukhoto
9 Lhouviheno, Visetono, Aleho Tase
10 Esther
15 Vikhor
19 Rokothono
21 Meguosieno Meguovito
22 Pelevino Sophie, Khriengulie
24 Kelhousano
26 Keduolhoukho
27 Medovino
28 Thepfüphrüto

Many thanks to Zakiesalie, Trail’s (unofficial) photographer
- Editors.
Seyiekielie,
Waiting to go shopping with you in the forthcoming gospel camp. Till then, keep alive!
Eagerly, The team!!
Zhovi,
Keep the faith! and teach your children well. Knew you were called to be a Sunday school teacher.
Anxious friends, Khriebu & Seyie
Alo & Abodi,
Our congratulations to your new Jr.(Valentino). We are really proud of you!!! “For unto you a guy is given”.
In fellowship
Tosovi Tase, Kuovizol Savi, Seyievizo Tetso & Zakie T
Savi (Avizo )
Congrats! Keep up the good work in your new venture. Our support and prayers are always with you.
Fan’s Avi, Tetso & Zakie
Hey Apeno.. Athozo.. Rüchü…Vinu… exam fever running high these days huh??? Well all the best.. God bless ya all… will be praying for ya.. .. Atu Khatso (on e-mail)
Wishing.. Mezang and Rüchü an advanced happy birthday.. I know..I know.. we aren’t getting any younger.. so you better enjoy while you are still young huh?? Anyways...God bless you dahlings!! am blessed by your friendship!!!................atu.
Congratulation
We would like to congratulate Mr. Tepusaho Tase, Asstt. Pastor, MHBC, for being granted License for three years by the ABCC. May the Lord bless you bountifully and use you mightily.
- Youth Department

Of late we have seen a resurgence of the Hindu Fascism, and this has become dangerous for the minority groups like the Muslims and the Christians who are at the receiving end of the Hindu hate wave. Christians and Muslims have been portrayed time and again as ‘anti-nationals’ and foreigners. Where as the revisionist historians of the Hindutva call the Hindus (descendents of the Aryan) the indigenes of India, and India their pitribhumi (ancestral land). Therefore the non-Hindus are not welcomed in India anymore, because they are an impediment towards the achievement of the grand vision (viraat darshan) called Hindutva, an imagined time in (non)history when the Hindu ‘civilization’ was believed to have achieved perfection.
In order to achieve this ‘hallowed’ state of existence, and also prove to the world that Hindus are the ‘rightful owners’ of India certain manipulations have to be done. This ‘gloried’ past that the Hindutva propagandists talk about is actually the rural Rigvedic society (approx. 1450 BC). But, the revisionist historians of the Hindutva want to identify this culture with the grand Harappan civilization (approx. 2600-2000 BC), and, even project to the world that the Hindu civilization was the ‘cradle of civilization!’
. However this claim goes against historical, archeological, and linguistic findings. The Aryan tribe too came to India in waves from somewhere north of present –day Iran. History has shown us that even Sanskrit was not indigenous to India. But the Hindu propagandists are anti-migrational in their views and stubbornly claim to be indigenes and that they are not descendants of alien invaders.
Distinction in the food habit is another form of differentiating the ‘pure’ from the ‘impure.’ The Sangh Parivar claims that the Aryans did not eat beef. This again has been refuted by massive evidence from archeology and linguistics. Literary evidence from the Vedic period is plenty. A guest for example was called ‘Goghna’ which means one for whom a cow is killed. There are many instances of Krishna and Rama drinking wine and eating meat! (P.V.Kane, 1975) Ironically beef-eating declined due to the teaching of Buddha and Mahavira who were Hindu renegades. Today the RSS and the VHP has made cow slaughter such an issue. But India exported 2, 43, 355.58 metric tones of beef in the last two years. Someone said that in India cows and women are treated the same: both are worshipped and worked to death. The hypocrisy cannot be missed here. This hula bulla about cow-slaughter seems to be a ploy to differentiate the Hindu from the ‘others’, and frighten them.
These false claims are now earnestly taken up by the Sangh Parivar( ) so that the mass may be driven into believing the false and debunking the truth or history. And what better place and time to spread these distorted messages than the schools? The Sangh Parivar’s educational activities are overseen by the Vidya Bharati. It claims to have about 25,000 schools under its charge now (2002). But the unofficial record is believed to be about 70,000 schools! The Ekal Vidyalaya Foundation plans to add 1, 40,000 schools in the tribal areas. (Noorani, 2000) Obviously in these schools the textbooks will carry distorted messages, communally- colored history and even irrational knowledge (like studying Astrology as a branch of Science). The NCERT and UGC are under immense pressure to change the overall syllabi from the secular to the communal favoring Hindus. In this way the slow but sure communalization of India will be ensured. The secular is rational and associational whereas the communal is emotional and communitarian. Will India move from a democratic state to a Fascist State? At this rate this negative journey will not be long.
A general view of what actually is working behind all these would perhaps help us. The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) was founded in 1925 by Dr Keshav Baliram Hedgewar. Since then it has spread to nearly 30,000 shakhas or places. This is perhaps the only organization in India that has got into almost every sphere of social and political life of the nation. It has its student wing, education wing. It has organizations addressing literature, press, tribal issues, culture, intellectuals, historians, slum dwellers, industrialists, scientists, ex-servicemen, NRIs, teachers, Sikhs, cooperatives, religion and proselytization , etc, etc. Its political wing the Jan Sangh was founded in 1951 by SP Mookerjee in consultation with the then RSS chieftain MS Golwalkar. Later the Jan Sangh reinvented itself as the Baratiya Janata Party (BJP) on April 5, 1980. With a mere 2 seats and 7.4 percent of the popular vote in 1984 general election, it has grown from strength to strength securing 182 seats and 23.7 percent of the votes in 1999.
By addressing the ‘other’ as a danger to India, the Sangh Parivar claims that only Hindutva can save India. The RSS now has lakhs of volunteers who undergo training in the use of lathi, sword, and knives. Instead of focusing on more important issues like poverty, corruption, and unemployment the mass is now fooled into the street. In 2000-2001 there have been more than 900 cases of attacks against the Christians in India. God knows how many went unreported. Such kind of chauvinism and bully- behavior can arise only from a sense of inadequacy and inferiority. How does one otherwise explain the ‘insecurity’ of the Hindu majority. It is comical when we see that 80 people think the other 20 to be a threat to them. Christians do not comprise even 3% of the total population of India.
The RSS bible is the We or our Nationhood Defined (Curran, 1951). This is a 77-page booklet written in 1938 by Golwalkar. A few excerpts from the book will perhaps give a glimpse to what the future of India would look like if the political, academic, and philosophical lives of the Indians were to be guided by such thoughts. According to this booklet non-Hindus do not belong to the ‘mainstream’ of India because they do not belong to the “Hindu race, Religion, Culture and Language”. All non-Hindus are “either traitors or enemies to the National cause, or, to take a charitable view, idiots”. They deserve “no privileges…not even citizen’s rights”. However the ‘idiots’ can be cured if they ‘adopt’ Hindu culture and religion! Such claims put to mockery human rights, and the Constitution of India which gives equal rights to all Indians and the freedom to practice ones own religion without fear. It is true Nationalism is a virtue but it is not a religion. When it is made a religion, God is removed and we only expect the birth of a Fascist State. India is still trapped in superstitions, hero-worship, untouchability, illiteracy, fortune telling, child marriage, infanticide, etc. She needs to first free herself of this inner ‘leprosy’. It is hypocritical that the desecrations of temple idols in India are seriously viewed as a crime, cows and rats and monkeys are worshipped, but no one really bothers about the slaughter of this chief image of God: man. Far from being the ‘mother of all nations’ as claimed in the book RSS: a Vision in Action (Seshadri, 1998), India was actually ‘never free’ till the Christian missionaries set foot here, according to Mangalwadi India’s foremost Christian intellectual today.
In Christianity there is an infinite-personal God who can reveal ‘Truth’ to man. There is also the duality of Good and Evil, and the biblical view that we are sinful. Whereas in Advaita (Non-Dualism), one of the most influential of the Hindu philosophies, good and evil are unreal, and that human soul is God itself. Brahman, the cause and ground of all existence, is in man, man is in Brahman, and indeed is Brahman. (Geoffrey Parrinder, Asian Religions). When such beliefs exist a murderer can go Scot –free, because even a murderer is god and hence holy. Morality becomes meaningless. In fact a Hindu gets deluded by the Maya doctrine that says that this material universe is not real. So when truth cannot be known culture (Hindutva) and race become necessary to hold people together, even if by coercion. And in order to achieve this nationhood ‘unwanted’ elements have to be done away with. The picture of Rama used to be a benign, smiling god, now he is portrayed as an aggressive and angry god with his bow. What an apt symbol for the Indian Hindu today.
Goodwill is a hallmark of Christianity. When force is used the result is usually disastrous. Let us see two examples from history which should be enough to show why force fails or brings only a temporary ‘solution’. The European Inquisition (roughly AD1200 –AD1500) was an attempt to impose belief. Suspected ‘non-believers’ were caught, imprisoned and brutally tortured to death. It is a blotch in Christian history. The American Prohibition (1920—1933) was an attempt to impose behavior that failed miserably. Instead of ending abuse of liquor it provoked and increased it. (John Kobler, Ardent Spirits: the Rise and Fall of Prohibition. 1974). You cannot force people to believe what they don’t believe.
To imagine that one can turn India into a Hindu Rashtra by either elimination of ‘non-believers’, or forced proselytization is totally unrealistic.
In the face of such odds what can one do? Speaking as a young Christian I feel we need to guard ourselves in two fronts. Firstly it is important that we are firm, even to the point of tenacity, in the defense of our faith. Christianity should help us not just get our salvation but it should also make us comprehend the reality of this world. Remaining firm is crucial because there are many philosophies and great ideas competing for our attention and mind. And this takes me to the second front. Relativism of truth or morality, or the lack of absolutes is the guiding principle of, especially, the West today. But in Christianity truth and goodness are absolutes, and man is burdened with the original sin that only Christ can relieve for us. This means without Christ no ‘grand vision’ or Utopia is possible because we are not perfect. We need to believe this seriously.
Charles Colson in his book, The Problem of Evil (2001), talks about the ‘cultural commission’ of Christ. We are commanded both to “ preach the Good News and to bring all things into submission to God’s order, by defending and living out God’s truth in the unique historical and cultural conditions of our age.” We need to shake off our exclusivity and continue as ‘salt’ and ‘light’ for the world. After all no one lights a lamp and puts it in a basket (Matt 5:15). This means continuing with life amid chaos. To a Christian everyone’s equal before God, and salvation comes to anyone who believes (Rom1:6). For one day we stand before Him whether ‘superior’ Aryan or ‘inferior’ non-Aryan, Jew, black or brown. And no one will claim superiority then. We are all, irrespective of our color, race, language, or nationality, one before God as the ‘multitude’ of Revelation 7 testifies.