Recently, the Lahu-inspired Naama Church, located in Lancang Lahu Autonomous County, Pu'er, Yunnan, held its dedication ceremony recently with 1,300 believers attending the event.
According to the CCC&TSPM, the president of the county's CCC, Rev. Duan Sanmei, presided the ceremony. Rev. Tian Yanping, the vice-chairman of the provincial TSPM, and Preacher Lang Song gave sermons, which were also translated into the Lagu language, in the thanksgiving service and musical worship service respectively.
Situated in the southwestern part of Yunnan and named after a river in the east, Lancang County has two villages with the largest number of Christians: Nuofu Township and Donghui Township's Banli Village. The minority groups in Banli Village- the Wa, Hani, and Lahu people- account to 79.4% of the population. Local Christians take up 34%, majority of whom are Lau and Wa people.
Lahu believers use the Lahu-translated version of the Bible published by Amity Printing Co. Ltd. The hymn book they are using is the 2007 hymn book, which was translated into the local dialect. It has 585 hymns with numbered musical notation. Some of these hymns were written recently, while some have been passed down.
The people usually sing hymns and songs acapella in four parts or accompanied by a keyboard.
Translated by Karen Luo
