Mizoram church condoles death of Wales missionary

AIZAWL, Jan 5 — Mizoram Presbyterian Church Synod has sent a condolence message to the relatives of Ms Gwen Reef Roberts, 86, the last Christian missionary to leave Mizoram, who died at Bala in Wales on Thursday. Synod sources here said that the condolence message was also sent to the Presbyterian Church of Wales where Roberts, fondly known by the Mizos as “Pi Teii”, was a church elder. Born in Wales on March 2, 1916, she came to Mizoram as a Christian missionary in December 1944. She quickly learnt Mizo dialect and became the first headmistress of the Presbyterian Church Girls School when it was established in January 1945. The school is till today called by the Mizo people as “Pi Teii School”. She was forced to leave Mizoram in 1968 when the tiny hill district of Assam was reeling under insurgency, then alleged to be instigated by foreign missionaries, and was the last Christian missionary to leave Mizoram. She returned to Mizoram in 1985 and again in 1994 to attend church centenary celebrations where she delivered a speech in almost flawless Mizo dialect.