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1.1.The First and the Founding Christian Missionaries in Mara Tribal People

The first and the founding Christian missionaries ever to set foot in Maraland were Rev. Reginald Arthur Lorrain and Mrs. Maud Louisa Ulander Lorrain, Congregational Church from London, England. Rev. R.A. Lorrain was strongly challenged to reach the Maras, after learning about the Maras’ from his elder brother James Herbert Lorrain, who was a Baptist Missionary Society (BMS) missionary to Southern Lusheis (Mizo). God spoke to the Reginald Arthur Lorrain and his wife to come over to the Maraland (known as Lakher Land) when they were in England. To respond this inner calling of God, they decided to come into the Maraland which was thousands of miles far away from their comfortable place. However, they left their home for the Maras on January 18^th 1907 and arrived there in September 26 in 1907.

1.2.Brief History of Christian Missionaries in Maraland

History is replete with the feats of great men and women whose exploits have changed the course of humankind’s march in civilizations and of the destiny and fate of many nations and tribes in numerous ways. There are those explorers and adventurers who would venture out into the unknown, treading the thin line between death and fame, courting indignation or applause. Theirs is a heart that is restless like a child’s, ever eager to know-all, and try-all. Which is why it is no wonder that, in history, we come across certain explorers and adventurers who had wiped away almost the entire native inhabitants; and, also, of the savagery of some conquerors who would trade-away all their human sensibilities for cruelty and “barbarianism” in their lust for fame, greed for wealth and thirst for power.

One striking similarity in almost all the ventures of the pioneer adventurers and explorers is that: more often than not, they usually have either a Monarch or a wealthy merchant who would bear the costs of their expeditions and voyages. So was the case with even the pioneering Missionaries who pierced in to the heart of the Dark Continent, Africa and of those, who carried forward the Whiteman’s Burden to almost every nook and corner of the globe. There are those big and wealthy Missionary Societies and those individual philanthropists, with a burden for spreading the Gospel, like Mr. Arthington and his Arthington Trust mission, whose benevolence even we in this remotest part of North East India had benefitted from. Amidst these trends of patronages and sponsorships, there are those few brave-hearts who dare to challenge the odds and resign to fate, and only to fate alone, for their tryst with the unknown in obedience to the mandate of Jesus Christ to spread his Gospel.

I feel blessed to be a living testimony to the venerable deeds of a God-fearing gentleman and his family, who had tremendously transformed beyond imaginations, the fate and history of Mara people (also known as the Lakhers). At the early age of 22 years in 1902, he had accepted upon himself the burden of carrying forward the message of the Gospel to those who had never heard or experienced it. The gentleman in question is Reginald Arthur Lorrain (1880-1944), founder of the Lakher Pioneer Mission and the pioneer missionary to “Lakher Land”. Ms. Violet Lorrain Foxall-Anne Mark, the granddaughter of R.A. Lorrain, and the lone surviving member of the Lakher Pioneer Mission missionaries, is still with us today in their humble, yet, blessed abode at Lorrainville, Saikao, our spiritual El Dorado. It would be a gross underestimation here if one were to mention the name of his spouse, Ms. Maud Louise Ulander (1875-1960) only in parenthesis. For, her contribution is no lesser to that of her husband’s towards the work of the Gospel of Christ to the Mara people and in the improvement and transformation of their temporal existence. There are a couple of other missionaries too who had faithfully labored for the work of the Lord and for the welfare of the Mara people. However, herein, I will be stressing the list of the Missionaries alone only for want of space and other considerations.

Mara (Lakher) Pioneer Missionaries Who Worked In Maraland (Lakher Land)

Lifetime Missionaries

1.      Rev. Reginald Arthur Lorrain                                     (1880-1944)

2.      Mrs. Maud Louise Ulander Lorrain                            (1875-1960)

3.      Mrs. Louise Marquerite Tlôsai Lorrain Foxall            (1909-1968)

4.      Rev. A.B. Lorrain Foxall                                            (1903-1977)

5.      Mrs. Violet L.A. Mark Lorrain Foxall                        (1938-……)

Part-time Missionaries

6.      Mr. John Mark                                                            (1924-1925)

7.      Miss. Gladys Ramsay                                                 (1921-1923)

8.      Miss. Gladys F. Ghorst                                               (1928-1929)

9.      Miss. Irene E. Hadley                                                 (1928-1934)

10.  Mr. Jelly with his three children 1931- (Mary, Susan, and   Johnny)

1.3.Missionaries and their mission activities

After three years of hard labor, the LPM got the first convert named Mr. Thytu on September 16, 1910, the second convert Mr. Chiahu in 1911, and the third convert Mr. Laila (the Mara poet) in 1914. By the year 1921 there had been already 98 believers all over the land. Rev. R.A Lorrain organized “the Soldier of Cross” from the native Mara believers who traveled throughout the land, preaching the