Beyond the Next Mountain DVD

Beyond the Next Mountain DVD

Beyond the Next Mountain is an incredible film released in 2004 that tells the story of Chawnga and the Hmar people. Toward the end of the 19^th century, the British labeled the Hmar people as the "worst headhunters." Based in northeast India, this group was a vile and vicious tribe, full of murderers. But in the year 1910, one copy of the Gospel of John from the New Testament came into the village and changed the entire tribe. After reading this one copy of the gospel of John, they came to revere its words and they turned their lives around, becoming a group of people dedicated to worshipping Jesus.

After reading the words of John, Chawnga chooses to follow these words and he begins a revolutionary new life through Jesus Christ. He, along with several other tribesmen turned their lives over to Jesus and chose to follow Him wholeheartedly. However, they quickly discover that this is not an easy task and they begin to face many different challenges after their conversion. Chawnga explains the gospel to his son Rochunga Pudaite and explains that he believes Rochunga to be the key to bringing the scriptures to the entire tribe of Hmar. Beyond the Next Mountain tells the incredible pilgrimage of Rochunga and his journey and dedication to bringing the gospel of John to the rest of the Hmar people. This powerful film that was shot in India, Hawaii, Scotland, and America, is an encouraging tale of a true historical event.

Rochunga Pudaite

Rochunga, son of Chawnga, is the main protagonist of Beyond the Next Mountain and this film follows his incredible journey into belief in God. Rochunga grew up in the Hmar tribe, a group of people that was formerly known for killing and causing havoc. They were branded by the British as being the very worst of headhunters, after the tribe beheaded over 500 plantation workers and British soldiers. In 1910, however, that all changed with a visit from one missionary. The British had hoped that by bringing missionaries into the village, they would be able to turn some of the Hmar people to Christ and they would then stop killing the British people. The British had been unable to occupy any of the Hmar territory, for every time they did, they would be killed by the Hmar people.

In 1910, a missionary visited the Hmar people, spending five short days with the people, explaining the gospel and telling them about Jesus. This one singular visit, however, would change the course of the Hmar people forever. This missionary, by the name of Watkin Roberts, spent the days with the Hmar people focusing mainly on the teachings of Jesus and explaining how Jesus had died for them so they could be saved. He focused on the gospel of John, explaining the life of Jesus and his eventual death and resurrection. Watkin was successful in converting the Hmar tribe over to Christianity, and he reasoned that because they had made this choice, they needed to stop killing and give up their "headhunting" life. The Hmar people were so devoted to following Christ that they did as instructed.

However, this was just one tribe, and the Hmar people had numerous tribes and sects. While Chawnga and his tribe were fully sold out to Christ, they couldn't say the same about the rest of their people. And so, when Rochunga was born in 1927, his father Chawnga came to believe that his son would be the tool to spreading the gospel to all of their people. As Rochunga grew up, he came to understand Jesus' sacrifice for himself. When his father Chawnga explained his desire for Rochunga to help spread the name of Jesus to all of their people, Rochunga was willing. Rochunga pursued a relationship with Jesus for himself and he also became convicted that he needed to get the message out to other believers.

When he grew up, Rochunga studied at St. Paul's Cathedral Mission College in Kolkata and then the University of Allahabad. He then came over to America to finish his studies at Wheaton College in Illinois. Here he began translating the New Testament from Greek into the Hmar language. In 1958, he completed his work, a very difficult task as it included Romanizing the Hmar language, something that had never been done before.

Around this time, he also had the opportunity to meet Watkin Roberts, the very missionary that had originally spoken to the Hmar people all those years ago. Rochunga was able to tell Roberts that the work he had done was flourishing and that his message of the gospel had single-handedly changed the whole course of the Hmar tribe.

In 1958, at the age of 31, he was named the executive director of the Indo-Burma Pioneer Mission. He continued for the rest of his life to spread the good news of the gospel to the Hmar people. His translation of the gospel of John had a powerful impact on the Hmar people and the tribe as a whole gave up its headhunting lifestyle to pursue Christianity. Today, the Hmar people is considered almost entirely Christian with roughly 98.58% of the entire tribe being Christian. Beyond the Next Mountain is a powerful story of how one man's mission work was able to change an entire tribe around and convince Chawnga and Rochunga to spread the gospel to a group of people who would otherwise have never known about it.

Conclusion

If you are looking for a powerful missions story, look no further than Beyond the Next Mountain. This is an incredible film that tells an inspiring story of Rochunga. Through the work of Watkin Roberts in 1910, Chawnga was able to inspire his village, who was able to inspire Rochunga, who was then able to translate the gospel and evangelize to the entire tribe. This incredible 2004 film chronicles this incredible true event in an exciting and informative manner. Beyond the Next Mountain is a powerful Christian movie with an incredible look at a true story.