One evening, sitting by a fire, he began to sing. The words were not borrowed from Western tunes. The melody was not a harmonized European chorale. It was a raw, repetitive, chanting-like tune reminiscent of chheih lam or sadawi —traditional Mizo folk forms. The lyrics were brutally simple:
A hnuaiah hian he hla chungchang leh Mizo Kristian hla chanchin tlangpui report tawi a awm e: Mizo Kristian Hla Hmasa Ber Report 1. Hla Hming leh A Lo Chhuah Dan Hla Hming: mizo kristian hla hmasa ber better
Why is this hymn "better" or "first"? It was the first time the Mizo people heard the Gospel sung back to them not in translated English meters, but in their own Lengkhawm style—a rhythm that mimicked the beating of the heart and the swaying of the hills. One evening, sitting by a fire, he began to sing
