Document Type

Dissertation

Publication Date

4-20-2026

Abstract

This dissertation examines the paradisal quest of the Zomi people, an ethnic Christian minority in Myanmar, through the lens of Pentecostal spirituality. Historically, the Zomi have experienced political displacement, loss of their ancestral homeland (Zogam), and ongoing marginalization. While existing scholarship has primarily interpreted Zomi struggles in terms of ethnic identity, nationalism, and socio-political resistance, this study offers a theological reorientation by interpreting Zomi paradisal longing through the Spirit-Restored Paradise framework, a Pentecostal theological model developed here. Employing a qualitative ethnographic methodology grounded in contextual theology, the research draws on semi-structured interviews with twenty-four Zomi Pentecostal participants from Myanmar and the global diaspora. The findings confirm and illuminate four interwoven theological themes: the theological framing of homeland, prophetic and eschatological hope, Spirit-shaped diasporic identity, and Spirit-empowered prophetic witness. Together, these themes demonstrate that Pentecostal spirituality functions as a theological-hermeneutical framework through which Zomi Pentecostals reinterpret loss, hope, identity, and vocation. Spirit-baptism, dreams, visions, and communal prayer constitute a lived theology in which paradise is reimagined not merely as a geopolitical aspiration but as a Spirit-formed horizon of hope shaped by biblical memory, ecclesial imagination, and prophetic expectation. Chapter One introduces the research problem, purpose, questions, and significance, and presents the Spirit-Restored Paradise framework as the guiding theoretical lens. Chapter Two reviews the relevant literature on global Christian paradigms of the paradisal quest, Zomi historical memory, and existing Zomi scholarship, and identifies the absence of sustained Pentecostal theological interpretation. Chapter Three details the qualitative ethnographic design, including participant selection, data collection, and an analytic strategy integrating inductive coding, abductive theological discernment, and deductive reflection. Chapter Four presents the empirical findings organized around the four emergent theological themes. Chapter Five offers a contextual theological synthesis, interpreting the findings in dialogue with Pentecostal and broader theological scholarship and exploring their implications for Zomi Pentecostal theology, diaspora identity, and prophetic engagement. The dissertation concludes that Zomi Pentecostal spirituality articulates a Spirit-Restored vision of paradise in which exile becomes vocation, suffering becomes prophetic witness, and diasporic life is reimagined as participation in God’s redemptive mission.

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