Mizo Kristian Hla | Hmasa Ber

To understand the weight of the first hymn, one must understand the spiritual vacuum of pre-colonial Mizo society. The Mizos believed in a cycle of Pathian (a benevolent sky god) and Ramhuai (malevolent spirits). Their rituals, often bloody and fear-based, were accompanied by specific chants. When the Welsh missionaries of the Arthington Aborigines Mission arrived in 1894 at Sairang, they brought with them the Gospel of Luke and a collection of English and Welsh hymns. However, the initial message was verbal and textual. The missionaries realized quickly that the Mizo—a tribe with a robust oral tradition—would learn doctrine faster through melody than through sermons alone.

Mizoten Sap hla ni lo, mahni thiamna leh irawm chhuaka hla an phuah hmasak ber hi kum atang khan a inṭan a. Hemi hma hian harhna a lo thlenin, Sangha vuakna hmun (Tuivai sangha tlangvuakna, 1906) ah te ringtu hmasate chu Thlarauva khulin an lo zai tawh a ni. mizo kristian hla hmasa ber

Mizorama missionary hmasa berte, Sapupa (F.W. Savidge) leh Pu Buanga (J.H. Lorrain) te khan kum 1894-ah Mizoram rawn lutin, hemi kum vek hian hla hmasa ber chu an lo letling a. Chu hla chu English hla, “Jesus Loves Me, This I Know” tih, Anna Bartlett Warner-i phuah kha a ni. Mizo ṭawng chuan “Isuan min hmangaih, ka hria” tiin an letling a, hei hi Mizo Kristian hla hmasa ber (Hla No. 1) a ni ta a ni. To understand the weight of the first hymn,

"O God, I rejoice / You have saved my soul / I am no longer afraid / Of the punishment of sin." When the Welsh missionaries of the Arthington Aborigines