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Baptist Mission Convention; the Hopa |
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All day a stream of villagers has been coming down the hill from Aichasagami and passing through the camp on their way back from the Hopa. This is a great Baptist Mission convention, a kind of 'Keswick', held every cold weather for each of the tribes. The Sema Hopa has been on for the last three days at Aichasagami. All the Christians bring contributions of food and it is an American picnic with free food for all. It must be the great event of the year for Christian Nagas who have lost all their other festivals. Here they meet friends and for two hours every afternoon and two hours every evening they fervently sing and pray. But we gather from the Sema interpreters that there is a growing dissatisfaction with these celebrations. Over 6000 people attended, and many Semas are beginning to feel that so large an assembly is too great a strain financially. They say that in the last few years the expenses in money and kind have risen from 3000 to Rs 10,000. These contributions, combined with the house tax and subscriptions to schools, fall too heavily on the poorer villager. Evidently these difficulties were explained to the Church council this time and it is hoped that different arrangements can perhaps be made for the coming year's assembly. (157) |
