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Home / Resources / Current News Stories / The Amazing Trip to Naga Hills
February 18, 2010
by John M. Lindner, D.Miss.
Ko Htwe, a young missionary in Myanmar [Burma], sent me this story of his arduous trip to the Naga Hills last September—during the rainy season. Though the story is several months old, it shows you what missionaries in Myanmar overcome to preach the gospel and disciple their people, and may perhaps shame some of us for complaining about too much rain or snow.
 Most of us in Western churches may take worship for granted. Who ever heard of “learning” to worship? But Ko Htwe shows people the importance of worship, teaches them what God expects in worship, and illustrates different ways to worship. As a result, these simple Naga Christians probably outshine the rest of us in the Western world with their heart expression of worship to Christ.
The story is longer than usual, but it needs the length to show the endurance needed to complete such a trip in the rain. Ko calls the people Narga, but we have used the more familiar Naga. Ko Htwe tells his story:
The trip begins
I had a chance to go to the Naga Hill area in Sagaing District to teach at a Bible seminar last September. It was the toughest trip I've ever made so far, and it was only by the grace of God I could get there.
The pastor who invited me came all the way to Yangon [Rangoon] to accompany me back to his village. We left Yangon the afternoon of September 16th by express bus and arrived in Mandalay the next morning. It was raining heavily. We bought supplies for the trip and continued on to Mon Ywa, where we stayed the night.
12-hour trip by “express” motorboat
 We had to rise at four the next morning, to continue our trip by “express motorboat” (as the local people call it). The riverboat carries about 200 people. The seats are like the public bus seats, and not suitable for long travel, yet we endured them all day long. The boat left at 5 a.m., stopped at several places along the way for people to alight and board, and stopped again for lunch. (Passengers on the express motorboat.)
Finally it stopped again for the night, since it is very dangerous to navigate the boat at night. The river is cluttered with big pieces of floating trees that could damage or sink the boat if struck. Also there are many tributaries coming into the river, and it is easy to get lost at night.
Holing up in Homalin
 Some people slept on the boat, and the pastor and I and a few others slept at a guesthouse in the village. Again we got up four, since the boat was leaving at five, and we didn’t want to miss it. The boat traveled up the river nearly the whole day and finally arrived at Homalin about five that evening. It was still raining. (Express motorboat on the Chindwin River)
The road rose about 30 feet higher than the river. Many people stayed on the boat to avoid climbing the treacherous bank. We stepped carefully up the slippery slope and were drenched by the time we reached the guest house.
The next day, September 20, was Sunday, and I had an invitation to preach at morning and evening services at a Brethren church there. To bathe we had to go down to the Chindwin River, which was the color of tea with milk in it. We could see a floating pig house near us, and people were living in floating huts. Local people even drink the river water after they ran it through a filter.
Slow boat to Naung Pin
 Monday morning we continued our trip to Naga Hills by a small motorboat that the local ministry owned. The trip started out fine, but soon we noticed the motor was running but the boat was not moving. The operator stopped twice to find out what the problem was, but found nothing. Each time we started we went a little ways and then stopped moving. The third time the pastor himself looked at the engine and saw that the belt was loose. He adjusted the belt, which solved the problem, and we continued our trip. (Looking at the motor)
By this time it was already getting dark and we still had more than two hours to go. We had no choice but to put in at a village called Naung Pin for the night. The village bordered the river, but we had to walk for more than 10 minutes in the dark through the village with a flashlight to get to where we could spend the night. There we finally had dinner and slept.
Landing at Naga “Hill”
 At 7:00 the next morning we left the village to complete our journey. Shortly upstream the boat turned from the Chindwin River into a small river called Nan Wel. (Arriving at Naung Pin village)
By this time I thought to myself that I had made a really long and tough trip so far, and began to praise God that it was coming to an end. But I didn't realize the challenges that still awaited me.
The pastor said, “It’s a good we came during the rainy season so the Nan Wel River had water, and I thank God He has given us this motorboat. If we came during the summer, or if we didn’t have the boat, we would have walk all the way from the nearest port on the Chindwin River, and it would take us all day.”
I was beginning to wonder why they called the area Naga “Hill,” since we were going there by boat! I was soon to find out.
When the boat stopped, and they said, “We’re here!” I was relieved, thinking we had arrived at the “hill.” I soon learned otherwise.
Where is the “Hill”?
 I looked around and saw no houses or buildings, only a field. Was the “hill” only a name?
As we got off the boat, the shore was so muddy our feet sank wherever we stepped. I was thinking the village must be just behind this field we could see from where the boat stopped. (At a bathing area of the river)
We started walking. And we kept walking. After a long walk we started going uphill, carrying our bags. The ground was soft and wet and slippery and I had to be careful not to slip backwards or lose my balance. After a short distance, one of the locals took my big bag, so I carried only my backpack.
Even so, I struggled. Despite the rain my mouth was dry, and I wanted a drink of water badly, yet nobody had remembered to bring a bottle of water. My sandals got so clogged with mud I finally decided to just take them off. The hike actually lasted only about 20 minutes, but it seemed like an hour.
I was exhausted, but not discouraged or disappointed. I had joy and peace in my heart. The joy of the Lord became my strength.
Trek to Prayer Hill Village
 We finally arrived at the main ministry compound of Naga Revival Churches. You wouldn’t believe there were people living in the middle of the jungle like that unless you could see it for yourself. I was ready to drop and rest. (Prayer houses at Prayer Hill village)
Then the pastor told me that after cleaning up we had to go to Prayer Hill Village on the next hill for lunch and rest. He said that the church was having a seminar there that evening, but since the place for us to sleep was not ready yet, we would have to come back here for the night.
To get to Prayer Hill Village we first had to walk downhill, cross a stream, and then walk up the next hill. It was strenuous walking up a steep hill—and, of course, it was still raining. I inwardly groaned but joyfully accepted the assignment and headed out with the pastor.
 After dinner we conducted the opening service and then came back to the ministry compound in the dark. Returning on the slippery slope in the dark with only a small flashlight was an even greater challenge than going. Even walking down and up the hill without bags was really hard work for me. The local people, however, made it without seeming effort. Even the women could carry a big basket full of rice up and down the hill without appearing to be tired. They go back and forth between the two hills every day. Thank God I made it. (Evening meeting)
Perpetual meetings
The next morning’s meeting began at 7 and I taught until 9 without a break. During the rest of the day others gave Bible teachings from 10:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., with a few short breaks. The evening sessions ran from 7 to 8. This continued for seven days.
 About 150 pastors, gospel workers and church people attended. The closest had walked a whole day to get there, and others had walked for four days. They said if I had taken their journey, it would have taken me twice as long. (Ko Htwe teaching.)
One minister told me walking a whole day up and down the hills on slippery ground was not a problem. The real problem, he said, was the big land leeches that clung to him from the bamboo trees all along the way. But he said it was worth the effort to get to hear the Word of God concerning true worship.
It was quite an intensive short-term training. I taught on worship from beginning to the end of the seminar. The teaching opened their eyes to see what worship is all about. Afterward, they thanked God for the teaching on worship, so that they could now know what God desires, and the things they were doing wrong in their Christian lives. But I also learnt so many things from them, as well.
The place for us to sleep was now ready, so after the afternoon teaching session I went back to the ministry compound to bathe and fetch my suitcase. Actually, a local minister carried my bag, since he knew that I couldn’t walk down and up the slippery slope with it, as it was raining again.
Crash landing
 Again my sandals filled with mud couldn’t grip the ground. The minister said, “Pastor, take off your sandals. If you don’t, you won’t be able to walk.” (Trail from Prayer Hill to the Nanwel River)
So I took off my sandals and walked barefoot. When I was near to the bridge over the stream between the two hills, I slipped and slammed into the bamboo bridge. I heard the minister cry out loudly, but didn’t know why.
Once my body stopped sliding, I stood, and the minister said, “I saw you slide toward the bridge and I thought your face would be torn by the edge of the bridge.” I hadn’t thought about that. God protected me from serious injury.
There was no vehicle, not even a bicycle, in the village. Their only transportation between each Naga village was by foot. They had no school, no clinic, no market. People from civilized areas have no idea how they live.
But the church does have a generator to provide light. They also have a 3KVA hydro power station that provides electricity during the rainy season. The villagers grow their own rice and vegetables, and some have pigs and cows. One or two house shops sell things they bring from Homalin, like bread, instant coffee, etc.
The people support themselves by growing rice on 13 acres of paddy field, but that still doesn’t provide much support for the ministers. Believers made trails through the jungle by hand, but they are very treacherous, as you can imagine.
Relief from the rain
 The last two days of the seminar there was no rain. I was really grateful. One of those days the pastor took me to their paddy field and asked me to pray for it. He said if they had a pipe to bring in irrigation, they could grow two crops a year instead of one, and double the support for their workers. (On way to waterfall)
He also took me to a waterfall. There was no road or path to it. He went ahead with a big machete and slashed away tree branches so we could get through. We also passed some paddy and vegetable fields.
When we finally got to the waterfall, he explained, “If we install a 50 kilowatt hydro-electric station here, we can have electricity most of the year.”
He also said that the electrical power would enable them to do more work, such as have a one-month discipleship-training seminar there. He works very hard for his people to know God more closely.
On the last day of the seminar, pastors came to me and asked respectfully about the biblical solution to some of the problems they were experiencing in their churches.
“Please come again and teach us more,” they pleaded.
The boat is grounded
 The next day morning we went back to the ministry compound on the other hill, and from there we would leave for Naung Pin village. Then someone came and said that the motorboat was on the ground, as the water level dropped since the rain had stopped. So we had to drag the boat overland to put it back into the water. Some little girls came and asked us to let them carry our bags to the boat. (Pushing and pulling the boat to the river)
When we arrived to the Nan Wel River, people, including ministers, were trying to drag the boat from the half-dried stream into the Nan Wel River. They put bamboo poles ahead of the boat and pushed the boat over them again and again as they shouted in unison. After several minutes of step-by-step tugging and pushing, we reached the Nan Wel River. We said good bye to the brothers and sisters in Christ there, got in the boat, and left.
The water level had dropped so much that we hit sand bars all along the way, and each time the men had to get out of the boat and push the boat off the sandbar. That afternoon we arrived in Naung Pin village and waited for the ferry to Homalin.
Lessons learned
 While in Homalin we conducted a two-day Bible seminar at an Assembly of God church. Finally, on October 3 we headed back home. I arrived back home October 6 after a 20-day journey. It was a great privilege for me to go there and teach these people, and I’m hoping that God will send me there again. But I also learned something.
The trip showed me how comfortable we are, and yet we still want to complain to God when we have some small difficulties. As civilized people, we have no idea how the believers at Naga Hills and other such places live. God let me experience the real joy of the Lord through that hardship and what He really means by a living sacrifice and a lifestyle of worship. Glory be to God. (Ko Htwe wearing blanket given to him by the Nagas)
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