Ethnic Kachin Baptists inaugurate Diamond Jubilee Hall

Ethnic Kachin Baptists inaugurate Diamond Jubilee Hall
by -
Kachin News Group
The fifth day into the Diamond Jubilee celebrations of the Kachin Theological College (KTC) in Northern Burma today, ethnic Kachin Baptists inaugurated the Diamond Jubilee Hall with traditional Christian worship, Baptist participants said.
The fifth day into the Diamond Jubilee celebrations of the Kachin Theological College (KTC) in Northern Burma today, ethnic Kachin Baptists inaugurated the Diamond Jubilee Hall with traditional Christian worship, Baptist participants said.
 
The Diamond Jubilee Hall has been built inside the school compound of KTC in Nawng Nang village, 10 miles north of Myitkyina Township the capital of Kachin State.  A special inauguration service in the morning was attended by thousands of worshipers, locals told KNG.
 
Eyewitnesses told KNG, N'ban La Awng, one of the most powerful leaders of the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO) flanked by his armed bodyguards joined the inauguration service.
 
The construction of the three-storey Jubilee Hall cost over 186 million kyats (approximately US $ 169,091), said school sources.
 
Today afternoon, a special Kachin cultural Manau dance programme called 'Ramma Hpaji Manau, Nau Baw' meaning Youth Wisdom Manau Opening was performed by specially selected 760 young people including KTC graduate students, teachers and local youth, participants added.
 
This Manau dance was different from the regular dance where people dance with their cultural suits.  All men and women participants danced with their theological and secular graduate suits on, participants added. 
 
Tomorrow evening there will be a closing Manau dance called 'Ramma Hpaji Manau, Nau Gup' and this will conclude the manau dance programme, according to Jubilee committee sources.
 
Till now, temporary sleeping tents for 5,000 people in the KTC compound is full of domestic guests from outside Myitkyina Township and over 9,720 people have been officially registered including over 200 guests from the USA, Japan, India, China and Thailand, according to figures of the ceremony registration centre.
 
The 75th anniversary ceremony of the KTC is being organised under the management of the Kachin Baptist Convention (KBC) and will conclude on Sunday (March 30, 2008).