The year 1972 marked the Billy Graham crusade in Nagaland and is considered to be the greatest revival crusade in our land till date. Indeed it brought a tremendous change and transformation to the Naga people. The impact of thiscrusade remains fresh to many peopleeven to this day. With the on-going transformation crusade, it reminds us of the bygone days of spiritual revival and restoration. In this place,the demonstration of the work of the Holy Spirit through healings and deliverance from the bondage of Satanism is not only witnessed but the total transformation of the hearts of our people. This religious festival is a call to the Naga Churches to come together and pray for the rebuilding of our broken walls and homes.Although there are some misconceptions arising within Christendom about this crusade; a person attending the services will automatically feel the genuineness of the Spirit of God manifesting in the place. It is truly a vision from the Lord to revive and restore our people back to where we began. The spirit of oneness and collaboration of all denominations in one place gives a picture of hope to our land. These religious festivals are the only way to revive our people again. Psalmist 85:6 declares, “Will you not revive us again, that your people may rejoice in you?Believershave been praying to God fordecades to bring a true revivalin the land and these religious Crusades are the door to God’s answer to their prayers.
The Transformation crusade started in 2013 with the theme “Arise and Shine,” (Isa. 60:1) having a positive response from people to the message of God’s word. We believe God gave the convenor, KhotuoYaotsu, the same burden for our people as that of evangelist preacher ReinhardBonkkefor the African people. This year we had the opportunity of being a part of this Crusade. At the first convention all the organisers, officials, counsellors, volunteers gathered, and the convenor gave a short reflection on the three types of God’s servant; Serving God for fame and publicity, serving God with a burden for the lost souls and lastly, serving the Lord out of compulsion or for earning a livelihood. The talk really brought out the truth to the table. It also helped us realize that Godis raisingleaders like Moses and Nehemiah in our times that have a true burden for our people.
The first day kicked off with a miracle where God once again proved that He was not an impotent but an omnipotent God. It began to rain during the first day heavily around 4-5pm and everyone was worried about the response of the people for the crusade.So all the organisers, officials, volunteers and counsellors who were present in the ground gathered with one voice and one spirit prayed to God to control over the rain and miraculously the rain stopped within 5 minutes and Kohima is a witness to it.
From the day 1, the responses of the people have beenrespectable where thousands of people cameflocking to be a part of this festival. Many have responded to the altar call of Jesus to rededicate their life to Jesus Christ. Many have been set free from the shackles of sin and Satan and a legitimate rejoicing was seen when the sons and daughters of God were totally freed. It is said in Luke 15:7 “I say to you that there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents, than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.” Likewise, this crusade has observednot just one single soul but hundreds of souls coming to Christ and is apparent that Heaven must be rejoicing over the transformation crusade here in our land. But on the other hand, our heart grieves for those people who are confined to their own comfortable homes criticizing what they have not seen with their eyes.
With the promotion of several other cultural and traditional festivals, the Church has no other option except to popularise this kind of religious crusades by blending all different churches in one common platform to pray and intercede for our land. These inter-denominational crusades will bring proper understanding and cooperation among different churches to become more united in the pursuit of our common goals, that is, in preaching the gospels and making disciples of all nations.
Recently, there was a poll taken in Morung Express on whether the religious Crusades are really having a significant effect in Naga society and out of 100, 42% voted as yes, 45% voted as negative and 13% others uncertain, which is quite surprising because most of the number of believers in the Church today began their journey with Christ in religious crusades but not in an institutionalised Church. Not only that, scores of drug addicts, alcoholics, and substance abuses are being transformed through these religious crusades. Most of the believers in the pews today are a result of religious crusades. Therefore, if religious crusades are not organised, the number of members in the churches will decrease rapidly. These religious festivals are the ways and means for the churches to increase and thereby make a positive impact upon our society.
Now, having said that, the Transformation Crusade has positively impacted upon our land in a very huge dimension; it has brought towns and families together, it has brought spiritual awakening in the lives of the believers, demolished the enemies territories, it has brought kingdom of God in the satanic dominated areas, and has ultimately, brought our people together. Although the crusade will come and go, it has not gone without its imprint every time. Hence, our people need to encourage more of these religious crusades in our towns and localities. God bless.
Husezo Rhakho & Vebu Khamo,
Kohima Bible College.
