"It is ridiculous that an attempt was made to convert a dead man back to Hinduism," said Rev. Richard Howell, general secretary of the Evangelical Fellowship of India. However, that is what villagers in the Indian village of Gurandi, Orissa attempted to do last week. According to an October 12 report from Compass Direct, the incident began on October 4, after Bala Tulasiga, a 35-year-old Catholic convert from Hinduism, was buried in the only cemetery in the area, a Hindu one. Although Christians had been buried there in the past, the district leader of the militant Hindu organization, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), organized a protest. As a result, Tulasiga's family was compelled to dig up his body. The body then went through a re-conversion ceremony before being re-buried using Hindu burial rites. Tulasiga's wife, mother and brother were also reportedly reconverted to Hinduism at the time.
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Pray for strength for Christians in Gurandi and other areas of India where pressure to return to Hinduism is strong. Pray for the family members who went through the reconversion ceremony, that Christ will speak to them and draw them back to Himself.
For more information on the challenges facing Christians in India, click here.
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