Dimapur, Oct. 29 (EMN): The Nagaland Baptist Church Council (NBCC) has expressed serious concern over the infiltration of the “Church of Almighty God”, which it termed as a cult, into the state after doing the rounds for years in other parts of the country.
The General Secretary of NBCC, Rev. Dr. Zelhou Keyho, in a statement, said the “Chinese cult” is penetrating into schools and church youth groups by ‘using credible Christian organisations to lure the people into their teachings’.
“It is always difficult to distinguish truth from falsehood. What the cult usually does is build their case from the truth of the Bible. But when a person shows interest in the teaching, they slowly decode the fundamental truth in the fundamental belief system and replace with new teachings to suit their interest,” it said.
“The council has warned the school authorities to watch out for such group coming and getting in touch with the students in the guise of counseling, conducting chapel and running camps for the student community. We must be on our guard,” it added.
Sesquicentennial jubilee of Christianity
In view of the state government’s order directing all the AHODs and HODs to be in station for the visit of the President of India, the NBCC has requested the government to provide a viable alternative and allow the people to celebrate the 150 years of Christianity in the state, saying that ‘the Ao Baptist Arogo Mungdang (ABAM) Sesquicentennial celebration is not only historic to the Ao community but also to the whole state’.
The Sesquicentennial to mark 150 years of Christianity in Nagaland will be observed from November 1 to the 3rd, coinciding with President Droupadi Murmu’s visit to the state on Nov. 2 and the 3rd.
The council said “the church will certainly not impose its programme on the state in this matter” but maintained the government’s order, which came just days before the jubilee, has “created an uneasy situation” as it has been a while since the preparation for the sesquicentennial celebration had started but many ABAM members won’t be able to attend it now.
Therefore, the NBCC has requested the state government to allow the community to celebrate the occasion free from interference.
It also stated that the people of the state ‘have all the reasons to celebrate the history of Christianity’.
“The Gospel came to our land through the soil of the Aos. We are what we are today because of the gospel. In spite of our weaknesses exhibited in different corners, we must admit that we are transformed people. We have all the reason to be thanking God for the gospel because ‘people walking in darkness have seen a great light’,” it added.