On a trip to India, the daughter of World Vision founder Bob Pierce reconnects with a Christian leader dear to her family.
Rochunga Pudaite and Bob Pierce
By Marilee Pierce Dunker
“My grandfather was a headhunter. But by God’s grace, today I am a heart-hunter.”
I was 10 years old the first time I heard Rochunga Pudaite make that statement, and I have never forgotten the vivid image it painted.
Rochunga grew up in a village deep in the jungles of Manipur, India. His tribe, the Hmar, was greatly feared because members took the heads of their enemies as trophies. But in 1910 a missionary named Watkin Roberts came to Rochunga’s village to share the gospel. Rochunga’s father, Changwa, was among the first to receive Christ; and when Rochunga was 10, he also gave his heart to Jesus.
Hungry for an education so he could learn more about the Bible and help his people, Ro (as his friends call him) began attending a mission school at age 11. It was a five-day journey from his village to the school, and he made the trip four times each year—alone.
As a child I loved hearing my father tell the story of the little boy who trusted God to keep him safe from the man-eating tigers, bears, and snakes of the jungle. His brave journey was featured in a 1960 issue of World Vision magazine and turned into a flannelgraph presentation for Sunday schools. So you can imagine my excitement when Ro visited us in Southern California for the first time. I fully expected him to walk through the door with a tiger by his side and a monkey on his shoulder.
Instead, Dad introduced us to a slender, gentle-spirited young man in his 20s, with eyes that sparkled and a smile that lit up the room. From that time on, Ro was part of our family, and my father and mother would often speak of him as their “spiritual son.” When my mother passed away last April, Ro and his wife, Mawii, came to California to be with the family and pay tribute to the woman we all called “Mama.”
God’s plan for Ro took him far beyond the jungles of his childhood. The boy who risked his life to gain an education and learn more about Jesus went on, with my father’s help, to earn a master’s degree from Wheaton College. While still in school, he translated the New Testament into the Hmar language and later founded the Evangelical Free Church of India, which now has more than 300 churches across northeast India.
Today, thousands of children from remote villages like Ro’s have received education because of the schools he and Mawii helped build.
In February 2011, the Pudaites invited me to visit their winter home in Seilmat, overlooking the hills and valleys of Manipur. My father had first traveled to Seilmat in 1957 to help Ro purchase land he would later use to build a hospital, school, and Bible college.
At 84, Ro is as active as ever, serving as president of Bibles for the World, chairman of the board of Partnership Missions, and moderator of the Evangelical Free Church of India. While visiting him, I spoke to several groups, including the new graduates of Trinity College and Seminary, which Ro had founded. During my five-day visit, I also visited the new hospital that Partnership Missions was building in Seilmat and some of the churches EFCI had built.
Marilee with Rochunga and his wife, Mawii.
In the evenings I became like a child again, sitting at Ro’s feet to listen to his amazing stories. “Begin at the beginning,” I urged on the first night. “How did you meet my dad?”
“It was 1951 and I was a [college] student in Calcutta,” Ro began, and I settled back to listen.
“One day my pastor, Dr. Walter Corlette from the William Carey Baptist Church, called. He said that a Youth for Christ speaker named Bob Pierce was coming to Calcutta on his way home from Korea, and he wanted me to help him gather a group of university students.
“I went from campus to campus handing out fliers, and 150 students showed up to hear your father speak. Your dad showed a grainy, black-and-white film called ‘Korea Vision.’ I will never forget it. The film showed a man—thin, dirty, and dressed in rags—singing the old hymn, ‘I must have Jesus … I cannot bear my burdens alone.’ The love of Christ shone on his face.
“After the movie, your father spoke about starving children and refugees living without shelter or food, and we all wept.
“Back then, I never cried,” Ro added with a twinkle in his eye. “Then your father looked at us and said, ‘You may not be able to give much, but you can give something to help these children. Don’t let me leave here with nothing.’
“What was remarkable about your dad was that, even though we were just poor college students, he treated us like people who could make a difference. I had my scholarship money from the government in my pocket, and when they passed the plate, I gave it all!
“That was my first introduction to your father,” Ro finished with a laugh.
After the meeting, Ro, my father, and Dr. Corlette went out to dinner, where they talked for hours about their visions for ministry. “At 23 my vision was simple,” Ro remembered. “I wanted to go to seminary, translate the Bible into the Hmar language, and lead people to Jesus.”
Recognizing God’s anointing on the young college student, my dad began helping Ro with his tuition in India and later at Wheaton College. In 1952, when Ro experienced an attack of appendicitis, Dad gave him the money for a life-saving operation.
When my father returned to New Delhi, India, in 1953, he sent for Ro. At the time, Ro was attending the University of Allahabad. But when his friend and mentor called, Ro dropped everything and rushed to my father’s hotel room to meet him.
“Ro, there is something I need you to do for me,” my father said. “I am going to be here for 24 hours, and during that time I need you to arrange for me to meet with Prime Minister Nehru.”
Ro’s eyes grew big at the memory: “I couldn’t believe my ears. He might as well have asked me to grow another head!
“ ‘I can’t do that, Dr. Pierce,’ I said.
“Your father fixed me with a look I would become well acquainted with over the years and said, ‘Never say you can’t do something until you have tried!’ Then he left to do a radio broadcast, adding as he walked out the door, ‘I am praying you will have my appointment when I get back.’
“I dropped to my knees, crying out to God.”
A few minutes later, a hotel bellman knocked on the door to ask if Ro needed anything. An idea popped into his head, and Ro asked for a telephone book.
“I looked up ‘government offices’ and saw a number for the ‘principal private secretary to the prime minister,’ ” Ro recalled. “With shaking hands I dialed the number and, amazingly, someone answered. ‘Hello,’ I said. ‘My name is Rochunga Pudaite and I am calling on behalf of Dr. Bob Pierce, a very important American. He would like an appointment to see the prime minister.’
“ ‘What does he want?’ the voice asked.
“ ‘I’m not sure,’ I replied honestly. ‘I only know that he has just come from Korea, and he has very important business.’
“ ‘Hold on,’ the voice said, sounding put out. I began to pray. A few minutes later the man came back on the line and said, ‘The prime minister will see him at 4 o’clock today, for five minutes only.’
“Of course,” Ro finished with a smile, “the prime minister talked with your father for 35 minutes, and the next day there was a big picture in the newspaper showing Dr. Bob Pierce, president of World Vision, shaking hands with the prime minister of India.”
The significance of this story can only be truly appreciated from the advantage of hindsight. I am struck by the audacity of my father’s faith: He believed that what God had given him to share was important enough to demand an audience with the first prime minister of India. I am also deeply moved by the simple, childlike faith it took for Ro to make that call.
And I am astounded by the way God does the impossible when we obediently serve him. The newspaper picture of my father with Nehru gave World Vision immediate credibility and helped open the doors for the organization’s life-transforming work among India’s poor.
>>Watch the full episode of “This is Your Life” featuring Bob Pierce.