Clark with his wife, Mary

Edward Winter Clark (E. W. Clark) (February 25, 1830[1] – March 18, 1913) was an American missionary. Clark is known for his pioneering missionary work in Nagaland and for his work on transcribing the spoken Ao language into a written script. Clark created the first bilingual dictionary of the Ao language and along with his wife, Mary Mead Clark, set up the first school in the Naga hills region of North-East India.[1] Clark documented their experience in Assam and the Naga Hills in A Corner in India. The Clarks are buried in the Island Cemetery in the town of Amenia in Dutchess County, New York.

Early life

Clark was born on February 25, 1830, in North East, New York, and baptized into the Baptist faith at age 14. He attended Worcester Academy from 1839 to 1841, earned his master's degree from Brown University in 1857, and was ordained a preacher in 1859.[2] Mary Mead was born in Amenia, New York.[3]

Ministry in Nagaland

Rev. Edward Winter Clark, a missionary of the American Baptist Missionary Union along with his wife, Mary Mead, arrived in Sibsagar, a town close to the Naga Hills in North-East India on March 30, 1869, to oversee the Mission printing press and work as a missionary. There, they encountered Naga tribespeople who would come down for trade to the Assam plains. Clark immediately got interested in converting them to Christianity. With the help of an Ao Naga native named Supongmeren from the village of Molungkimong (then called Deka Haimong by the outsiders), who had befriended the Assamese evangelist and Clark's assistant Godhula Rufus Brown, and converted to Christianity, Clark started laying the foundation for his missionary work among the Nagas. Language was a barrier and Supongmeren was hired as a tutor by the American missionary couple to teach the Ao Naga language, customs and traditions. He acted as the interlocutor between his village elders and the American missionary. The Molungkimong villagers, who were amused by the sight of printing press and children learning from a blackboard in the classroom at Sibsagar, repeatedly asked Clark to come up to their village and teach their children too. But Clark was unable to travel to the Naga Hills because of restrictions set by the British Raj and because his own mission did not grant him permission due to safety reasons. Surprisingly, his assistant Godhula, volunteered to go with them to the hills, thereby, becoming the first missionary to set foot in the Naga Hills. After making several trips, Godhula took up residence at Molungkimong along with his wife Lucy where they preached the Gospel. In November, 1872, Godhula and Lucy were successful in bringing nine converts of the village to Sibsagar who were baptized by Clark. They were registered in Sibsagar Baptist Church and on their return to the village, a chapel was built. Clark made his first trip to Molungkimong and reached the village on 18 December, 1872. It was an important day in Naga history when the first Baptist Church was established with the baptism of 15 new converts by Clark on 22 December, 1872 in the village pond. It is no wonder Clark knew his calling would henceforth be with the Nagas. "'I believe I have found my life-work,' exclaimed Mr. Clark, as he entered the old press bungalow on his return from his twelve days' absence in the wilds of barbarism."[4] He took care of the Naga Christians in Molungkimong from Sibsagar Mission Station until he was released for the Naga Mission.

On receiving permission, Clark moved to Molungkimong in March 1876 (an Ao Naga village in the Mokokchung district of Nagaland) and lived there until October 24, 1876.[5]

The glorious moment for Clark was not without troubles as the village became divided over the new religion. The Nagas opposed anything that would promote alliance with the encroaching British power and soon, the village was receiving threats from the neighbouring villages for harbouring the 'white man'. The situation was further escalated by a power struggle within the village council which had led to a political turmoil and a division of the villager was imminent. On October 24, 1876, few of the villagers along with Rev. Clark established Molung village.

Molung (Molungyimsen) is the first Christian village in Nagaland because this is the first village formed with Christian prayers. It was in Molungyimsen that the first Naga Christian Association was held. Molungyimsen is also known as the Cradle of Education because the first school in Nagaland was established in Molung (Molungyimsen) in 1878. The first book in Nagaland was written and printed in Molungyimsen. In 1894 Clark moved the Naga Mission Center to Impur which is now known as the Ao Baptist Arogo Mungdang (Ao Baptist Arogo Mungdang).[6]

In 1905 Clark saw a record one hundred and ninety baptisms. The work was truly blessed of God but Clark saw that better days were yet ahead. The Nagas were well aware that to accept Christianity would mean drastic changes in their social life. "Adherents of the old, cruel faith were quick to see that the gospel of peace and love would rapidly empty their skull houses and put to rout most of the old customs handed down from forefathers, for whom they held the greatest reverence. The missionaries presence and his teaching had spread like wildfire from mountain peak to peak and everywhere was fostered the suspicious spirit. Clark died on March 18, 1913 at age 83."[7]

Legacy

Christianity brought an end to the practice of headhunting and destroyed most of the traditional culture and oral knowledge of the various Naga tribes. Clark's vision for a Christian Nagaland came true, with the high price of destroying the Naga's indigenous culture though it has advantages like marking end to cruelty like headhuning. By 1980 the Naga population was 572,742 and the Baptist population was 185,987.[8]

Today the Census of India, puts the numbers of Christians to more than 90% of the population of Nagaland thus making it, with Meghalaya and Mizoram, one of the three Christian-majority states in India and the only state where Christians form 90% of the population. Nagaland is known as "the only predominantly Baptist state in the world."[9]

Archives

A biographer of Clark conducting archival research at the American Baptist Historical Society at the Mission Center noted that much of Clark's correspondence was difficult to read, "written on both sides of onion skin paper".[10]: 262 

See also

References

  1. 1 2 McFayden, Narola (2016). Traveling in Time with Pioneers of Our Faith. Nagaland: Knowledge Foundation.
  2. ↑ Bendangjungshi (2011). Confessing Christ in the Naga Context: Towards a Liberating Ecclesiology. LIT Verlag Münster. pp. 38–. ISBN 978-3-643-90071-5.
  3. ↑ "Historical societies host special event April 10". Poughkeepsie Journal. April 9, 2015.
  4. ↑ Clark, A Corner in India: p 15
  5. ↑ "Historical Beginnings of the Baptist Church in Nagaland". Nagaland Post. December 21, 2019.
  6. ↑ Jamir, A Study on Nagaland: p 18
  7. ↑ Jamir, A Study on Nagaland: p 168
  8. ↑ Joseph Puthenpurakal, Baptist Missions in Nagaland (Calcutta: Firma KLM, 1984): p 255
  9. ↑ Olson, C. Gordon (2003). What in the World Is God Doing. Cedar Knolls, NJ: Global Gospel Publishers. ISBN 9780962485053. Retrieved March 24, 2020 – via Google Books.
  10. ↑ Vibha Joshi (September 15, 2012). A Matter of Belief: Christian Conversion and Healing in North-East India. Berghahn Books. ISBN 978-0-85745-595-6.

Bibliography

  • Kijung L. Ao, Nokinketer Muncgchen (Impur: Nagaland, Ao Baptist Arogo Mungdang, 1972)
  • A. C. Bowers, Under Headhunters' Eyes (Philadelphia: Judson Press, 1929)
  • F. S. Downs, Christianity in North East India (Delhi, Ispeck: 1976)
  • Tegenfelt, A Century of Growth
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