God Opens New Doors for the Word

by John Roughton

October 1, 2008 -- Dimapur, Nagaland

A prominent Baptist church in Dimapur, Nagaland recently asked Zhepi to speak at a Women’s Conference. This may not seem especially newsworthy to many readers, however, the fact is that most Baptist churches in Nagaland have opposed our ministry. Some Baptist churches have gone so far as to publicly call my name from their pulpits and declare that I was the anti-Christ! In a state where nearly 90% of the population are Baptist, this has been unhelpful. (It should be noted the Baptists in Nagaland are not affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention in America, and are generally not evangelical.)

Early this year a young Baptist pastor met me in my office. He invited our youth group to attend a meeting he was planning. But before leaving he said, “There is one other thing I want to talk to you about.” He began to ask me about being baptized with the Holy Spirit. I opened my Bible and shared with him. He was open and asked for prayer.

I should point out that while it is relatively easy to get Nagas saved, it is comparatively hard to get them filled with the Spirit, speaking in tongues. Along with Zhepi and the church secretary, we prayed for this young pastor. But he did not receive.

I was about to give up when he mentioned something interesting. He said, “I have been praying and wanting know more about the Holy Spirit. And last night I had a dream. I saw you and God told me, ‘Go ask him about it.’”

When I heard this, I decided to pray for him again. This time he received and began speaking in other tongues, praise God! For us in Nagaland, this was like Cornelius asking for Peter having seeing an angel (Acts 10).

And it was this pastor who invited Zhepi to speak at their church. Zhepi reported that the people were open and in fact she noticed others in the church leadership lifting their hands as they praised God.

Thank God, after years of criticism and opposition, the Baptist churches in Nagaland are beginning to show signs of a new hunger for the Word and the Spirit.