To my dear Ruopfukhrielie. From Kevi Meru
In Hebrews 11:4, it says of Abel the second son of Adam and Eve that “…. by faith he still speaks, even though he is dead.”
Every individual carries a message in life, and today we are here to remember our fellow Naga and dear brother Roupfukhrielie Angami, aka Rove Sey. In the early 1980s, a year before Rovi came to America, I went to his village called Mengujouma to preach on a weekend --- Friday, Saturday, Sunday. One message I can recall was about honoring our parents.
Rovi’s mom had passed away before that, but I was told it was her prayers that brought revival to the village. She would pray and heavenly angels would even visit her and talk with her. I believe it was her prayers that brought Rovi to the ministry and also sustained him in life. She loved God so much that she wanted her son to be of service to God, and so she named him Roupfukhrielie, meaning “lover of souls” --- and true enough Rovi became an evangelist and preached the gospel.
I saw Rovi for the first time when I was in grade 8th studying in Baptist English School, Kohima, Nagaland. I joined a singing group in school, and one morning we visited Kohima Bible College, where Rovi was a student then. Interestingly, Kohima Bible College was founded by Rev. Neihulie Angami, a wonderful man of God. His son Atouzo Angami is here in our midst, doing the heavy lifting in organizing all these for the ‘memorial’ of Rovi. Again, thank you all for participating in different capacities.
And God bless America! Baptist missionaries from America gave us the gospel, and believers in America initially and for quite some time funded Kohima Bible College.
When I saw Rovi ushering in the morning service that I attended in the college, he appeared handsome, bright, and impressive.
During the middle 1970s, a revival broke out in my community called Nagabazar. Prior to that, membership in the Nagabazar Baptist church was sparse and the pastor had to do cleaning work for the city to support his family, as the church was too poor to pay him properly. But along with revival came increase in membership, generous giving, and financial abundance for church activities. Rovi was invited to preach there and the people liked him right away, and he ended up being designated and supported as the evangelist of the church. Rovi was in some ways responsible for being part catalyst and guide during the revival years.
During that time, I was in the wilderness, spiritually speaking, pursuing my own things. I have an older brother who was an alcoholic who was transformed during the revival. I believe his prayers reached me and I too came to experience the revival, as a latecomer. So in a sense, Rovi’s ministry reached and enriched my family and me.
And here I am, taking this opportunity to offer a eulogy for Rovi Sey. It’s a small world after all. In a eulogy, we are supposed to say nice things about the person. But as a believer in the Bible, I feel it would be more appropriate to share certain things honestly to clear the air and put things in perspective.
Moses was called to lead the children of Israel into Canaan, the promised land. But because of a weakness or failure of his, Moses was denied entry into Canaan. Only centuries later, he entered Canaan in his glorified being when he appeared with Jesus in his transfiguration as recorded in Matthew 17.
Samson was called to provide leadership to the children of Israel, but because of his own weaknesses, he was captured by his enemies the Philistines. They gouged his eyes, put him in prison, and mocked him and his God. He lost his ministry. But he cried unto God for another chance and regained his strength. He brought his enemies down and died along with them. I don’t know whether to call that suicide, or he died in battle. But in Hebrews 11:32, by inspiration, he is mentioned as a man of faith. He found redemption in the end.
In 1 John 2:15-17, we are admonished not to be caught up with the system of this world that is in opposition to the things of God. “Turn your eyes upon Jesus…. And the things of this world will grow strangely dim in the light of his glory and grace.” But if we turn your eyes off Jesus, the things of God will grow strangely dim and we will be caught up with the greed, the glitters and the fantasies of this world.
Samson turned his eyes of f God and was blinded by his enemies. Metaphorically, this is what happened to Rovi along the way in his life here in the US. He got into certain things and brought grief and sorrows upon himself and many others. In the popular song Amazing Grace, there is a line that says, ‘through many dangers, toils and snares, I have already come.’ Sometimes we go through all those through no fault of our own; sometimes we go though all those through our own weaknesses and errors.
So yes, Rovi made many mistakes in his life, just as we all do. There is no righteous throwing of stones here. But to the end, I believe he loved the Lord, as evidenced by his daily prayers and his witty monthly newsletter, Nagaland for Christ, which he published until he died. Until the end Rovi loved Nagaland and he loved God. And he loved America.
God is gracious and compassionate. He remembers our prayers and fulfils them when it is good for us. I believe God remembered the prayers of Rovi’s mom for him and sustained his life until the last week of November 2008. He was 51 years old when he died. According to the coroner’s record, Rovi was able to celebrate his last traditional American Thanksgiving. I believe God said to him in mercy, we’ll talk later but just come home, and took his life away graciously. Yes, Rovi was not perfect and he had mistakes and weaknesses of his own; yet, in the course of his life, he was also able to bring many into the kingdom of God.
To God be the glory.
To my friend Ruopfukhrielie, lover of souls, I’ll say this: “I’ll meet you in the morning.”
