Mizo Kristian Hla Hmasa Ber -
Thangchuha (often remembered as "Thangchuha, the hymn writer") was not a missionary. He was a Mizo man, a former ramhuai (spirit-priest) who had been among the first to accept the gospel in 1904. He had fought in tribal wars, chewed tuai (opium), and once believed that great khuasak (evil spirits) lived in the forests. But when he heard the message of Jesus—a God who loved, not a god to be feared—something broke open inside him.
One evening, sitting on a log outside his hut, watching the mist roll over the Tlawng River valley, Thangchuha began to hum. It was not a Welsh tune. It was a lengkhawm melody—the kind his grandfather used to sing when traveling alone through dangerous jungles. But the words were different. They were not about avoiding spirits or boasting of headhunting. Instead, they were about grace.
He picked up a scrap of mission paper and, using the newly learned romanized Mizo script, scratched out the first verse: mizo kristian hla hmasa ber
Ka Pathian, ka Lal Isua,
I hming ropui ka lawmpui e.
Khawi hmunah pawh ka kal vang,
I kut thianghlim min hruai ang che.
In English:
My God, my Lord Jesus,
Your glorious name I rejoice in.
Wherever I may go,
Your holy hand will lead me.
The next Sunday, at the little chapel in Mission Veng, Thangchuha nervously stood up. The congregation—perhaps fifty souls, mostly former zawlbuk bachelors and a few families—watched him. He cleared his throat and sang. No harmonium. No notes. Just his voice, rising in that old, aching Mizo scale, but carrying a new hope. Ka Pathian, ka Lal Isua, I hming ropui ka lawmpui e
By the second line, some women were weeping. By the end, old Pu Vana, a former chieftain’s advisor, stood up and shouted, “Hei hi kan hla a ni!” — “This is our song!”
Mizo Christian hla thu leh hla phuahtute chanchin zir chuan, a hnar bul lam pan kual chhin a ngai a. Tunlai khawvelah Mizo hla phuahtu hmingthang tak tak an lo awm ta ngei mai. Mahse, heng hla mawi tak tak leh hla thar chi hrang hrang hi an lo awm hma khan, Mizo Kristian hla hmasa ber a lo awm a. He hla hi Mizo fate zinga Kristian hmasa berte’n an sak hmasa ber a ni. a hla thumal chiah
He thusawi hi “Mizo Kristian hla hmasa ber” i zawnna chhang a ni a; a hla thumal chiah, a phuahtu, hla sak hmasa ber hunlai leh a pawimawhna a rawn sawi vek dawn ni.