(Left) A file photo of late Rev. Longri Ao, who passed away in 1981. (Right) Rev. Boon-itt Buraparong travelled with his daugther to Nagaland with the faint hope of meeting his old aquaintance.
Dimapur | May 16:Forty one years after his first encounter with late Rev. Longri Ao, a 90-year-old Thai preacher of Chinese descent travelled more than a thousand miles to Nagaland with the faint hope of meeting his old acquaintance. After reaching Nagaland, the Thai preacher Rev. Boon-itt Buraparong heard that Rev. Longri, known for “crying in the wilderness” for peace, had passed away on 6th August 1981. However, over breakfast with three of Rev. Longri’s children at the residence of the youngest son in Dimapur last week, the Thai preacher narrated his first meeting with Longri during the Baptist World Alliance congress held in Tokyo way back in 1970.
Thai church leader comes in
search of old acquaintance “He (Rev. Longri) was such a happy man and always made meetings very lively. I always hear about Naga people and that they are strong and leading in mission works,” Boon-itt recounted his first meeting with Rev. Longri in Tokyo and said that they met a second time in Pennsylvania, USA, while attending another
Baptist meeting. Rev. Longri was known for spearheading the gospel mission amongst the Konyaks, his leadership in the Naga Baptist Church Council and founding the Naga Gospel Outreach Mission. He was also honoured by the Nagaland State Govt. with the title of ‘Man of Peace’ on 7th August ’81. Expressing delight to meet the children of the Naga preacher, he said the children were “blessed under the shade of his (Rev. Longri’s) big tree.”
Boon-itt and his daughter Arunee Wangwannalat were part of the ten-member delegation from the Church of Christ, Thailand (CCT), who attended the seminar organized by Nagaland Baptist Church Council (NBCC) on child protection and Sunday school teachers from May 3-6 last in Kohima. Arunee said that when CCT proposed to visit Nagaland her father, though a bit old for long distance travel, volunteered to come along in the hope of catching up with his old acquaintance Rev. Longri. After reaching Kohima, the first Boon-itt did was to enquire about Rev. Longri.
When asked what made him remember late Rev. Longri after all these years, the nonagenarian’s eyes lit up as he said, “He was a very outstanding leader and impressed me in the first meeting. Later on, I use to frequently hear of him through the American Baptist Mission that he was doing a good job.” Boon-itt also said that he was just a ‘layman’ when he first met Rev. Longri back in 1970. Though age has crept on the old preacher, Boon-itt’s sense of humour has not deserted him. Asked his impression about Nagaland and its people, the old preacher said, “marvelous land, very nice people, food very delicious.”
“If my son was not married already, I would have advised him to marry a Naga girl. When I go back to Thailand, I’ll recommend all the men there to take Naga women as their wives,” he quipped.
Before his departure, late Longri’s children presented Rev. Boon-itt an Ao Naga shawl and a biography of Rev. Longri Ao. In his memoir “Under the Shadow of His Protecting Wings” Rev. Boon-itt recalls how he was initially hesitant when his Church “honestly voted” to ordain him at the age of 65, when many would contemplate retirement, since he did not receive conventional training. However he was inspired to accept the ordainment when he came across a Chinese poem: ‘Carefully, I walk as if on the edge of a deep valley, and as if on newly frozen ice. My speech, my conduct, my standpoint, and my heart should never spoil the great Name of my Master.” Today Rev. Boon-itt continues to minister and preach the Gospel to his people in the Church of Christ, Thailand.
