Chin Churches Agreed to Resume CCOC Mission
18 July 2012: Leaders and representatives of CBCUSA (Chin Baptist Churches USA) made a unanimous decision during their recent conference to restart the mission work of CCOC (Chin for Christ in One Century).
CBCUSA, a 57-member umbrella organisation of the Chin Baptist Churches based in the US, voted for the recommencement of CCOC missionary program, a proposal presented at the 4th biennial meeting by Rev. Dr. Stephen Hre Kio.
Rev. Dr. Stephen Hre Kio said during his sermon that mission works must continue until every Chin becomes Christian as he recalled the successful results of evangelical mission works among the Chin people through CCOC program.
Details of the program including how and when it will be implemented are yet to be discussed.
Conducted under the leadership of the Zomi Baptist Convention (ZBC) since 1983, the Chin indigenous missionary program of CCOC concluded its works in 1999 after 16 years of service across Chin State as well as in adjoining areas inhabited by the Chins.
Salai Za Uk Ling, of the Chin Human Rights Organization, noted the CCOC converted a large proportion of non-Christians despite several restrictions and persecution committed against the missionaries by the Burmese authorities.
More than 20,000 people were converted into Christianity at the end of the CCOC program carried out by 1,894 Christian volunteers, of which seven missionaries sacrificed their lives.
Chin scholar and historian Dr. Lian H. Sakhong indicates in his book In Search of Chin Identity: A Study in Religion, Politics and Ethnic Identity in Burma that the Chin indigenous mission program called ‘Chin for Christ in One Century (CCOC)’ began as ‘Chin Hills for Christ’ in 1964.
Reporting by Thawng Zel Thang
