Ringa Pachuau

Mr Lalringa Pachuau
1948 – 2011

Lalringa Pachuau spent his life devoted to serving God in all different aspects. Originally from Mizoram, India, Ringa (as he was known) represented the strong ties which have existed between BMS and the Baptist Church of Mizoram over the past 200 years.

Ringa was appointed as a BMS missionary in 1994. While working for the Baptist Church in Mizoram, he saw an advertisement for mission work in Zaire (now DR Congo) with BMS. He responded very positively to this advertisement and assumed that this would be his calling in life. With his wife, Diki, and their four children, Jennifer, Kim Kim, Zuala and Te Te, Ringa prepared himself for service in Zaire, including language training. However, the Pachuau family would receive a different call.

In the 2003 May/June issue of World Mission magazine from BMS, Ringa says, “After having continual fervent prayers for almost a year, the whole Pachuau family finally made the decision to leave everything to go out to any place where God wanted us to witness him. When we found out we couldn’t go to Zaire, the next possible option was to go to Nepal. We submitted ourselves to the Lord again for Nepal and finally trusting in God we moved towards the country.”

While in Nepal, Ringa was primarily involved in non-formal education work and a broader health and community education project. He worked with the Nepal Baptist Church Council in the branch known as CHEP (Community Health and Education Project), of which he was the leader. He used his expertise in teaching to provide non-formal education and skills training to the impoverished people of Itahari, in east Nepal.

Later in his time in Nepal Ringa worked very closely with the local mayor and leading church officials to maximise the programmes activities and goals. When commenting about being a BMS missionary, Ringa once said, “Being the second generation of the BMS evangelised, we are proud to be a BMS missionary family. I hope to see the people who are with me…someday themselves be a source of blessing to others. This hope gives me joy.”

The Pachuaus’ time in Nepal was full of uplifting and rewarding experiences. However, a great sadness struck the family when their only son, Zuala, died, in 2001. He is commemorated each year at the Zuala Cup, the annual basketball tournament at the Kathmandu International Study Centre. 

Ringa and his family retired from BMS in 2008 and returned to Mizoram where he, for the last part of his life, worked with the Baptist Church of Mizoram. His life was one of devoted service to God – committed to showing Christ’s love and work to all people.

He was diagnosed very late in his life with leukaemia which, ultimately, caused his death on 10 September 2011.