Kohima, Feb. 13: Ancient time in Nagaland is often measured by the year Edward Winter Clark, the first Christian missionary to ever set foot in the state, landed in a village called Molungkimong.
It was an arduous trek that Clark and his wife Mary took, a 60-km walk from Sibsagar, now Sivasagar, through dense forests to reach the Naga village in 1872. The villagers never forgot the favour and came up with an idea to commemorate the walk.
They sent messages to all those interested in the mission walk and as 51 young pilgrims made a journey from Amguri in Assam to Molungkimong village last week, they retraced the feat of the missionary after 131 years. Among the young pilgrims were three Americans who came to know of the walk and evinced interest.
Clark and his wife Mary Mead Clark were commissioned by the American Foreign Missionary Society in 1868 at the Sibsagar mission centre. A group of villagers from Molungkimong had invited Clark to teach children in the village after their interaction at the missionary?s school in Sibsagar.
The Naga mission was launched then, by the ?Sibsagar trio?. This included Clark, an Assamese Evangelist Godhula Babu, better known as ?John the Baptist? in the history of Naga mission and Supongmeren, a native of Molungkimong. ?This walk will link the history of the Naga mission with the history of the village,? said Y. Tems?imla Longchar from Molungkimong.
After his first trek, Clark went back to his base in Sivasagar but returned in 1892, bringing the Bible for the first time to the state to Impur, a village near Mokokchung. He set up a school, the first in Nagaland.
The school is the alma mater of leading personalities of the state like former chief ministers Hokishe Sema and S.C. Jamir and Olympian footballer Talimeren Ao.
In the village museum, Clark?s personal belongings are still on display ? the press on which he printed his Ao translation of the Bible, The Gospel according to John. In the Impur mission compound, a lichi tree still bears fruit every year. That tree had been planted by Clark.
For the young trekkers, it was a tribute to the man who had done so much for Nagaland. ?The villagers had cleaned the approach road to Molungkimong for the walk,? said Asenla Imchen who had taken part in the walk.
The trekkers took seven hours to reach Molungkimong with the villagers having constructed breakfast cabins, toilets and other facilities. ?It was the mix of adventure and faith that motivated the youths,? she added.