Perched on the top of a hill in an easternmost corner of India, Pinehill Adventist Academy is making a difference in the lives of hundreds of students each year. Lately it has embraced dozens of refugees escaping a deadly civil war in Myanmar.
The Adventist K-10 school, located near Champhai, Mizoram, is not far from the border with Myanmar, where decades-old internal strife has intensified since a successful military coup in 2021. Sometimes, school leaders say, they have seen helicopters in the distance and heard sounds of the fighting. But amid the turmoil and instability, Pinehill is a city of refuge and a supportive community, they say.
Welcoming Refugees
Beyond the border, in Myanmar, the fight between government forces and hundreds of insurgent groups has left thousands of people dead and many more internally or externally displaced.
As government forces close in on militias fighting for self-determination, people living across hundreds of villages have been forced to flee. It is estimated that during the past few years 3.5 million people have been displaced within Myanmar’s borders, and an additional 1.1 million have fled to neighboring countries. Many of them escaped to the northeast state of Mizoram in India, which shares a border with Myanmar.
“There were fights in the villages; people lost their homes, and they had to flee,” shared Biakzidinga Renthlei, president of the Mizo Conference. “Many crossed the international boundary and fled to Mizoram.” Among the many organizations helping those who arrive as refugees, the Adventist Church seeks to feed and shelter them, Renthlei explained.
Presently 35 students, or 10 percent of the student body at Pinehill, are refugees from Myanmar. Not all of them arrived with their families, and the school is providing for their needs. [Photo: Marcos Paseggi, Adventist Review] Refugees stay in old houses such as the one in the photo, or in rented rooms near the school. [Photo: Marcos Paseggi, Adventist Review] Despite their difficult present, refugees from Myanmar have lofty dreams and are eager to get an education so as to give back to society and Adventist mission. [Photo: Marcos Paseggi, Adventist Review]
Sound Christian Education
As the church seeks to follow in the footsteps of Jesus, they have embraced initiatives to welcome and provide for refugees arriving from Myanmar, Renthlei said. This includes providing them not only physical and spiritual food but a sound Christian education, he added. It is then that the role of Pinehill Adventist Academy, currently with 350 students, has become more prominent, school leaders said.
The school curriculum includes math, English, science, environmental studies, and social science. Also, a class called morals explores ethics from a biblical perspective.
“We learn certainties from the Bible that other schools don’t, and that gives us more knowledge about God,” shared student Grace Lillalmuanpuii.
Pinehill Adventist Academy principal Zothhanzauva Pachuau agreed, adding that they are receiving extremely positive feedback from the students’ parents, many of whom belong to other faiths. “You are teaching them to be good members of society,” Pauchau said they tell him.
Students also attend skill development classes, including sewing, cooking, welding, art, music, soccer, and volleyball. After the school introduced these practical classes in 2019, enrollment increased, Pachuau reports, as education changes their lives, giving them options to support themselves and their families.
Beyond Education
Pinehill is currently serving 35 refugees from Myanmar, or 10 percent of the student body. Those refugees live in rented dormitories in a neighboring hilltop, and they eat meals in a temporary cafeteria. These children and teenagers have fled the violence that has torn their homes apart, but the trauma they experience is harder to leave behind, school leaders said.
Ninth grader Khaisiansang shares his experience. “[In my hometown] there was a constant firing of guns. . . . Civilians and soldiers are constantly firing at each other. Between the battles, the civilians no longer have food to eat. And it’s very difficult to travel between villages, but there’s nothing we can do about it,” he said.
Khaisiansang’s physical safety was in danger, but on top of it, many boys are being forced to serve in the military. Some of them were snatched from the street and forced into military training, learning to handle firearms that will be used against their own.
In contrast, Khaisiansang said he appreciates his current school environment and the new friendships he has found at Pinehill. “I had no one before, but [other students] initiated conversations and befriended me. . . . At Pinehill I’m happy because I have many friends.”
Khaisiansang, who grew up in an Adventist family, wants to follow in his father’s footsteps. “I want to be a pastor,” he said with a bashful smile.
The new school building for Pinehill Adventist Academy in Champhai, Mizoram, India, as of March 2025. Church leaders hope that once finished, the building will be able to welcome at least 500 students. [Photo: Maranatha Volunteers International] As of March, walls are already going up at the new Pinehill Adventist Academy school building. [Photo: Maranatha Volunteers International] An aerial photograph of the progress at the building site of the new Pinehill Adventist Academy school building in Champhai, Mizoram, India. [Photo: Maranatha Volunteers International]
A Place of Refuge
For Hau Sian Len, a tenth-grade student, Pinehill has provided the refuge and support she so desperately needed. “In this school there’s no fighting and there is peace,” she said. “It is the reason my parents sent me here.”
Just one month after arriving at Pinehill, Hau Sian Len’s parents were forced to run away, moving from village to village to avoid the armed conflict. Because of their situation and poor cell phone reception, she rarely hears from them. “I really, really miss them,” she said, adding that she often wonders if they are still alive.
Friends she made at Pinehill have helped her to settle and adapt to her new environment. While most local students speak the Mizo language, refugees from Myanmar often speak the Chin language. Besides English, learning Mizo helps them to embrace their new place. Hau Sian Len said her friends have been very supportive. They are also there when she gets apprehensive about not getting news from her family. “My friends listen to me and share my joys and moments of sorrow,” Hau Sian Len said.
Hau Sian Len said that if things ever go back to what they were before, she wants to go back to Myanmar. “I would like to open a business in my village,” she said.
Renthlei said that no one knows how long the fighting will continue. “As the fighting goes on, more and more people are coming in. And once they come, we must give them shelter, especially children, and that’s what we are doing now,” he said.
Growing Pains
Pinehill Adventist Academy growth has brought, however, a different sort of challenge.
“When I came here in 2016, we had only 180 students,” Pachuau said. “School buildings were inadequate.” Things began to change as church leaders and members stepped up to improve learning conditions. But despite major improvements, the school is behind in its efforts to welcome all the students that would love to get sound Christian education.
Pinehill current infrastructure is severely limiting the students’ development, church and school leaders acknowledge. “Classrooms are small and very crowded,” Pachuau said.
In September 2024 Maranatha Volunteers International, a supporting ministry of the Adventist Church, broke ground on a project that seeks to solve the school’s need for academic space. The future large building—which can include 10 classrooms and offices—is the largest structure Maranatha provides. “It will be a great help to accommodate more students,” Renthlei said. “We are anxiously waiting for its completion.”
The project will significantly expand Pinehill’s reach, allowing the school to reach 500 students. “Parents are contacting me,” Pachuau said. “They tell me, ‘If you finish your building, we will send our kids to your school.’ ”
According to Maranatha leaders, the new facilities will help the school welcome at least 500 students after completion. They hope the story of Pinehill can inspire supporters and advocates around the world. The love of people who love children and Adventist education can have the power to “preserve the hope that remains and help build a brighter tomorrow,” they said.
Maranatha Volunteers International contributed to this story. The nonprofit supporting ministry is not operated by the corporate Seventh-day Adventist Church.