Phungyo Baptist Church ( PBC) at a glance; recalling the days of Pettigrew
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Okluithan Addie Chiphang
Contd from previous issue
“So it was not until February 19 that the school was opened with 20 of the village boys including the most influential man of the village’? —~Raihao . Another 11 boys from Hundung joined the school later. Unlike the school in the valley, ho objection was made to Christian truth being taught. The school was open daily With singing and prayer. On Sundays they came together to singing and to listen to thy Gospel stories. The work thus gradually grew and co-workers were asked for, but objected to by the Chief Commissioner.
In September 1901, 15 students confessed to Christ but it was decided that only those who were willing to give up drinking of the village ‘Zam' mild or strong be baptised and so on 29th only 12 of them got baptised, and in 1802 a church was organised. The Church grew by and by but in 1908, it was broken up over a tribal feast and only 7 out of the total church members withstood the test, These seven in fact were the nucleus of the Tangkhul Church today.
During World War I, a contingent of labour corps was called for service in France. But the Political Agent, in spite of all his efforts could not raise the volunteers, because no one wanted to leave one's village for an unknown land. He therefore requested Rev. Pettigrew who was at that time temporarily stationed at Gauhati doing the Mission Treasurer’s work to come and help him in raising the volunteers. Rev. & Mrs. Pettigrew returned to Ukhrul and did the job - of the 2000 men who formed the Manipur Labour Corps, 1200 of them were from the Tangkhul tribe. Pettigrew was awarded the Kaisar-I-Hind Silver Medal for his distinguished public service.
He was also a recipient of a War medal for military service as a commissioned officer in the British army and we have a letter to say as to how he should be designated:
(No. 63/5809 (MS3) Military Secretary’s Branch Army headquarters, India Shimla 215t/24th July 22 You will be gazetted out as relinquishing your Commission in the IARO from 18t May 1922 with Permission to retain the rank of captain. You Should designate yourself in future as Captain the Rev. W. Pettigrew.
Captain the Rev, W. Pettigrew gave forty-four years of his life to the work, which the Lord laid upon his heart. He endured hardships as a good captain of Christ Jesus and of the State as well.
In 1933 he was compelled to leave Manipur owing to the sickness of his wife, which required a surgical operation. They reached the USA in December and had Christmas with their children Jesse, Douglas, Will and Peggy (Margaret). Alice Goreham Pettigrew preceded her husband in death on January 10, 1934 following a serious operation. Her funeral services were held in Cornwell, Conn. In the Church where Peggy's husband was the Pastor. Alice’s husband Pettigrew remarked at her grave: "This was like coming home, for the cemetery was on a hill at the foothills of the Lichfield hills, a hill like those in Ukhrul ''.
Months after, when Pettigrew was one day studying in the Boston Library, he met Miss Etel A Masssales, a single missionary who had first served at Impur, then at Nowgong and had recently moved to Burma (now Myanmar) to serve at the Girl’s High School in Mandalay and was home on furlough. That was a Jove at first sight. Their relationship grew and culminated in their marriage on November 3 1934 after which they sailed to London where they had ten happy years together.
During the Great World war I, Pettigrew again served as a Night-Fire Watcher during the Nazi blitz during which he wrote to his daughter Peggy in USA to “ Keep the faith that right would always win” and perhaps that was the last word Peggy heard from her father.Captain the Rev. W., Pettigrew died at Plymouth, England, April 10, 1944 and was buried in the Pinner Cemetery, London.
Contd from previous issue
“So it was not until February 19 that the school was opened with 20 of the village boys including the most influential man of the village’? —~Raihao . Another 11 boys from Hundung joined the school later. Unlike the school in the valley, ho objection was made to Christian truth being taught. The school was open daily With singing and prayer. On Sundays they came together to singing and to listen to thy Gospel stories. The work thus gradually grew and co-workers were asked for, but objected to by the Chief Commissioner.
In September 1901, 15 students confessed to Christ but it was decided that only those who were willing to give up drinking of the village ‘Zam' mild or strong be baptised and so on 29th only 12 of them got baptised, and in 1802 a church was organised. The Church grew by and by but in 1908, it was broken up over a tribal feast and only 7 out of the total church members withstood the test, These seven in fact were the nucleus of the Tangkhul Church today.
During World War I, a contingent of labour corps was called for service in France. But the Political Agent, in spite of all his efforts could not raise the volunteers, because no one wanted to leave one's village for an unknown land. He therefore requested Rev. Pettigrew who was at that time temporarily stationed at Gauhati doing the Mission Treasurer’s work to come and help him in raising the volunteers. Rev. & Mrs. Pettigrew returned to Ukhrul and did the job - of the 2000 men who formed the Manipur Labour Corps, 1200 of them were from the Tangkhul tribe. Pettigrew was awarded the Kaisar-I-Hind Silver Medal for his distinguished public service.
He was also a recipient of a War medal for military service as a commissioned officer in the British army and we have a letter to say as to how he should be designated:
(No. 63/5809 (MS3) Military Secretary’s Branch Army headquarters, India Shimla 215t/24th July 22 You will be gazetted out as relinquishing your Commission in the IARO from 18t May 1922 with Permission to retain the rank of captain. You Should designate yourself in future as Captain the Rev. W. Pettigrew.
Captain the Rev, W. Pettigrew gave forty-four years of his life to the work, which the Lord laid upon his heart. He endured hardships as a good captain of Christ Jesus and of the State as well.
In 1933 he was compelled to leave Manipur owing to the sickness of his wife, which required a surgical operation. They reached the USA in December and had Christmas with their children Jesse, Douglas, Will and Peggy (Margaret). Alice Goreham Pettigrew preceded her husband in death on January 10, 1934 following a serious operation. Her funeral services were held in Cornwell, Conn. In the Church where Peggy's husband was the Pastor. Alice’s husband Pettigrew remarked at her grave: "This was like coming home, for the cemetery was on a hill at the foothills of the Lichfield hills, a hill like those in Ukhrul ''.
Months after, when Pettigrew was one day studying in the Boston Library, he met Miss Etel A Masssales, a single missionary who had first served at Impur, then at Nowgong and had recently moved to Burma (now Myanmar) to serve at the Girl’s High School in Mandalay and was home on furlough. That was a Jove at first sight. Their relationship grew and culminated in their marriage on November 3 1934 after which they sailed to London where they had ten happy years together.
During the Great World war I, Pettigrew again served as a Night-Fire Watcher during the Nazi blitz during which he wrote to his daughter Peggy in USA to “ Keep the faith that right would always win” and perhaps that was the last word Peggy heard from her father.Captain the Rev. W., Pettigrew died at Plymouth, England, April 10, 1944 and was buried in the Pinner Cemetery, London.