On the 31st March, the bleak news came, that after a brief illness, the Reverend Kiezotuo Zhale had gone home to glory. It was dearly sad news. He was Pastor to many generations of his home church and was loved by all. He served for long years at the Baptist Mission Church in the capacity of pastor, and senior pastor and even in retirement, he continued to be a visiting pastor. Blessed with good health, he would rise early every week day and walk to houses of members to visit them and pray for them. He continued to do this well into his nineties for he believed there was no retirement in the Lord’s work.
Born in Rusoma, Pastor Kiezotuo lost his parents very early in life. After the Japanese war, he came to live in Kohima with his maternal uncle, Mr Vilalhoulie Belho, and he received an education which equipped him to be a teacher in his adult life. As a child, he lived in the village and was a first-hand witness when it was occupied by the Japanese in 1944. A born storyteller, Reverend Kiezotuo had a very interesting repertoire of stories from his childhood and all that his younger self had seen and experienced. He often used anecdotes from his life when preaching. Resultantly, his sermons were always interesting and full of life lessons. There was never a dull moment when he delivered his sermons for he had the knack of enlightening the Word further with his wide knowledge of native wisdom.
Blessed with a good memory, he narrated many stories of Japanese soldiers from what he had witnessed during the occupation of his village. A year ago, a Japanese team was directed to look specifically for him because he was the best source, and possibly the only surviving source, to show them the site where their captain had been buried.
As a young teacher, he was posted to a remote area in the east. There were no churches in the area. In addition to working as a teacher, he became a pastor for the village, leading morning and evening services. In the early years, Reverend Kiezotuo recounted his mysterious encounters with several men who were tigermen. Some of them narrated the terrors of their lives to him, expressing their desire to be free of the dark connection, and he took the opportunity to tell them about Christ and his power to save them from such a life. A number of tigermen were convinced to abandon the darkness of their practice.
Pastor Kiezotuo was a man who carried Naga history in his body and soul beginning from the occupation of his village by the Japanese army in the 1940s to the Indo-Naga struggle in the 1950s. For a period of time, he was chaplain in the army and had some amazing experiences with the spirit world. To combat it, he used his faith and combined it with his gift of native wisdom which he had imbibed from his early childhood years in Rüsoma. As an oral narrator, he was more than willing to share his profound knowledge of his culture. With great generosity, he shared his memories and stories with generations of scholars who have greatly benefited from their encounters with him. This is what true wealth is; it consists of sharing graciously with others the wisdom that was passed on to you. In the same way, Reverend Kiezotuo shared his faith, with the same generosity and desire that others should come to the light he had found. His place will be hard to fill. He has indeed left a beautiful legacy behind.
