Southwesterner Twinkle Hauhnar recalls ‘mixed beliefs,’ drastic changes on path to faith

Twinkle Hauhnar says her mother chose her name because she wanted her daughter to be “a light in people’s lives during dark times and a blessing to many.” Now pursuing her second master’s degree in biblical counseling at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary—a Master of Theology after earning a Master of Arts last December—Hauhnar is further equipping herself to bring the hope of Christ to people who are hurting.

Growing up among the Mizo people in northeast India, where Christianity is the dominant religion, Hauhnar “was raised in a very mixed culture, mixed beliefs,” she said. Today, “by the grace of God,” members of her entire family are believers.

Hauhnar explained that her mother is a Nepali Indian whose family is Hindu. Her mother was Hindu as well until she married Hauhnar’s father, who is a Christian. Hauhnar said growing up with half of her family who were Christians and half who were Hindu was very confusing for her.

“I would often joke around, saying I was searching for a golden ticket to heaven [when asking questions about salvation],” she said with a laugh. She remembers asking her parents at age 6 or 7 if Christians and Hindus worshiped the same God.

“My dad wanted to answer me,” she said. “I remember seeing him just breathing out, about to answer me, and my mom sharply says, ‘Yes.’ For quite some time, I was what people would call a pluralist. At that time, I believed that there was one God, and every religion led to Him.”

Things changed when she was 8 years old and attended a church event. Hauhnar vividly remembers hearing the story of a little girl whose parents gave her, their only child, everything she needed and wanted. Sadly, the young girl passed away, and as she lay dying, she told her parents, “‘You taught me how to live, and I lived well, but why didn’t you teach me how to die?’

And the story ends, and I was like, hold on,” Hauhnar said. “She was everything I wanted to be: she was kind, sweet, smart, she obeys her parents, her teachers, … but those things don’t lead her to heaven. And then I realized, oh, wait, hold on. Good deeds cannot get you to heaven?”

Hauhnar said she started searching again for the way to heaven.

“And it was not a sudden revelation that I had, but I believe [it was] a continual process of growth in understanding,” she said.

She also was able to watch her mother coming to faith at a church conference. Hauhnar, who was around 9 years old at the time, also attended and remembers a “healing” ceremony where a young boy near death was brought in. When the preacher prayed over him, he stood up and walked, she said. When her mother saw that, Hauhnar said, her tears flowed, “and that’s when she started really having a paradigm shift in her life, saying, ‘Maybe what I believe was not right; maybe Jesus is the way.’”

Hauhnar said much of her own growth in faith came after her mother’s conversion, adding, “My life and our life as a family drastically changed, specifically my life, because that’s when a lot of understanding and conviction started happening in my life.”

While attending a church summer camp, the counselor over Hauhnar’s group taught them Jesus’s parable of the prayers of the Pharisee and the tax collector from Luke 18:9-14.

“And she mentioned the tax collector prayer, and somehow the prayer could not die in my heart,” Hauhnar said. Later at home, she said, “I remember just feeling like I need to pray this prayer because I’m a sinner.” Hauhnar added that she didn’t really understand what sin is, but “the realization, the conviction that I’m a sinner was so clear.”

She knelt beside her bed and started praying, asking God to forgive her for her sin.

“And I truly meant it, with every fiber of my being,” she said.

Her calling came sometime later as she thought about how her family members’ lives had “drastically changed when we had Christ all together as a family, and all I could say was, ‘Thank You, God. I am so thankful. If You want to use me for Your ministry, I give my entire life for that,’” she said.

Hauhnar completed a Bachelor of Education degree, then began studying for a Bachelor of Divinity degree at Aizawl Theological College in her hometown. Believing God had called her to be a counselor, she began searching for schools in Europe that offered counseling degrees, “but I couldn’t find a seminary or college where my heart settled,” she said.

A professor at the college recalled communicating with a pastor in Texas many years before and suggested she contact him through Facebook. That pastor, an alumnus of Southwestern, suggested she check the seminary’s offerings and see if anything interested her. She chose biblical counseling because of its strong biblical foundation and Christ-centered focus, she said.

The pastor she contacted, Emmanuel Lalfelkima (’19), now is her pastor at Southpointe Baptist Church and Texas Mizo Christian Church, both in Arlington. At both churches, Hauhnar is involved in children’s ministry and is active in the churches’ nurseries, youth programs, and worship teams. She also works at Southwestern Seminary as an administrative assistant in the campus housing department.

Hauhnar said her professors at Southwestern have taught her patience and understanding, but “Grace is one of the biggest things I learned because of how much grace that the professors [have shown] not just towards me, but … towards students in their lives.”

She also learned intentionality.

“[Professors are] very intentional and personally involved in the life of a student,” she said. “And I have seen professors who are absolutely open to their students, so that they don’t mind involving themselves when it comes to the questions they have, life problems that they have, and I find this amazing because it’s all part of grace.”

Hauhnar said she has at times mapped out her future, but each time, things didn’t work the way she planned. However, she believes she now is where she’s supposed to be, “and I’ve never been happier.”

As for future plans, Hauhnar said she is prepared to go wherever God leads her.