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HANDFUL OF RICE
A Metaphor for Mizo Women’s Power
Lalrinawmi Ralte
Introduction
I would like to share with you the contributions women made in the Presbyterian Church of Mizoram. The participation of women from the beginning of Christianity was very important. Women had been the upholders of the Church; even before the church was not in an organized form. Mr. Hranga, the first school teacher recorded that:
The first converts were women, widows and the poor. They were very small in number and there were only a couple of them. They experienced hate and pain for being Christians. Later on, the family and the so-called average people joined them.
Christianity was not attractive at all at the beginning. In fact, it was risky to become a Christian because the persecution for being a Christian by the local chief was very severe. The women and the widows were the ones who took risk of the persecution by embracing Christianity. I want to underline that the first worship was held at the house of a widow. It was clear from Mr. Hranga’s record that only when the church was established and Christianity was attractive, then only, the chief, elders of the chief and the men in the village became Christians. Women certainly took the lead in order to build the church.
Bible Women
The Mizoram Presbyterian Church officially appointed Mizo Bible Women in the year 1913, that means 19 years later Christianity was introduced, and two years before the first Mizo Pastor was ordained in 1911, and one year later the Evangelists were appointed in 1914. Either the missionary church or the local church do not have money to pay for the salary of the Bible Women. Handful of Rice Project was introduced for the salary of Bible Women. And only women took care of the project.
One of the missionary pastor Rev. J.M. Lloyd commented that, “Mizo women played an early part in the growth of the church.” Bible Women were appointed to work with women. They were assigned to a particular area that might cover a good number of villages. It used to be a distant places, and the work was quite tough. The Bible Women were appointed to work specifically to women.
The missionary wife Ms. Katherine Ellen Williams, Ms. Siniboni, a woman from Khasi Church and Edward Roy’s mother (a Khasi mother) trained the Bible Women. They had three major areas such as: Bible training, nursing training and the household training. Their ministries were very important because they were a combination of spiritual and practical teachings.
Bible Women were known as spiritual healers, the physicians, mothers, and, most of all wonderful people. Upa Chalhnuna said Bible Women often started out as unmarried women. Later they got married and had children. Their marriage and their having children did not interfere with their ministry. They carried their babies on their backs and went everywhere with them. Their ministries were received by two different ways. On one hand, a rejection of women in some villages. They even threw stones and speak ill of them for saying the lazy people who tried to avoid work. On the other hand, the Bible Woman ministry were greatly appreciated by the Mizo people. Wherever they went, they received a warm welcome from the people. On the other hand, male evangelists were not welcomed by many villages. We do not know the reasons why women were more welcome than men, we can only speculate that women developed trust from the public that helped them to work with their purpose of appointment. There were 21 Bible Women in the church. The last service was ended in 1959.
Buhfai Tham (Handful of Rice)
Buhfai Tham (Handful of rice) project was started in 1913 at Mission Veng Church. It was started for the fund raising project specifically to pay the salary of the Bible Women. At that time, the church was too young to raise funds and most of the expenses were paid by the Welsh Presbyterian Church.
Buhfai Tham was a collection of small amount of rice to be cooked. They set aside the rice to be cooked and from that they scoop with their tip of fingers and put in a special container called Buhfai Tham Bel (Pot for handful of rice). This project was made in such a way not to disturb the family food, but could do a lot when they collected. Then they sold it and convert it into money.
At first, people could not understand the "handful of rice" project because they themselves did not know what the Christianity might be. They even threw some stones to Bible Women who introduced this project. Some said they were lazy and beg to people. Some said the Bible Women stolen the handful of rice project. In spite of all the negative comments, the handful of rice project became one of the most effective projects in the church today.
Nature of Bible Women's Ministry:
The Bible women ministry was very essential and important for the growth of Christianity in Mizoram, and specifically for the Mizoram Presbyterian Church. The major areas of training were:
1. They held Bible Class and taught about the "Good News" of Jesus Christ. They taught about God and about Salvation. Sometimes the training consisted of teaching a few scripture verses and hymns.
2. They also learned health. They started with first aid and midwifery. Whenever they traveled, they often helped people in need of health and healing. They strongly emphasized cleanliness. People trusted them and their ministries were very successful. They prayed with the sick which was very significant.
3. The Bible Women also learned household work including craft like knitting, sewing and weaving. They shared whatever they learned with other women. They not only focused on the spiritual life, but also recognized the need of the physical life.
It is very important to reflect on Bible Woman. They were in charge of the above mentioned responsibilities. It is likely that the Bible Women started working before the Evangelists. Possibly Bible Women were the first few church worker. We did not seem to have Evangelists at that time. Of course there were teachers, such as Hranga of Khandaih etc.
4. Women Fellowship service was started soon after the revival in Mairang in 1906. They met on Friday in Mission Veng church. Since its establishment, the Women fellowship service continues till today. Now they meet on Tuesday night.
Bible Women worked exclusively with women, and only women were employed for the job. The evangelists were mostly men. Since there was no sacrament or other religious rituals to perform, their ministry was considered as equal.
Since Bible Women were appointed at the very early stage of Christianity, the positions of women in the early Mizo Christianity was much more progressive.
The growth of Christianity was rapid in Mizoram. In 40 years of Christianity, Mizo can claim a hundred percent conversion to Christianity. The church also became well structured and well self-sufficient. Unfortunately, Bible Women were dismissed and their services were discontinued in the 1958. Dr. L.N. Tluanga beliefs the dismissal of Bible Women in the church was because of "the rapid growth of Christianity and the continued well structured of the church and self-support of the church. This may not necessarily mean women's participation was restricted, but to hold an important office was restricted."
It is important to note that the women missionaries trained Bible Women, but the trainers did not seem to work as Bible Women. There is no record of who continued Bible Women training program, whether the women missionaries, or the Mizo themselves. The last Bible Women appointed were in the 1950s, which shows that there were many women missionaries between the founders and the later missionaries. Unfortunately it is not recorded about the women missionaries.
[Source – In God’s Image, Vol. 19/4 2000]
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