Some time ago, Christian priests in India conducting ceremonies for people based in Western countries made news as a new form of outsourcing. The practice has since increased with several ceremonies and services being regularly outsourced to chapels in India for a fee.

But the globalisation of religion is clearly a two-way process. In a reversal of the path trekked by Western missionaries in the 19th century to remote tribal areas of India, the converted tribes are now returning the favour by moving to places such as Wales to meet a shortage of priests there.

One of the first to arrive in Wales to preach Christianity is Rev Hmar Sangkhuma, from the Diocese of Mizoram in northeastern India. Mizoram has a majority Christian population that was initially converted by missionaries from Wales between 1840 and 1960. It was then called the Lushai Hills district of Assam.

Sangkhuma has been offering spiritual guidance to the local Welsh population in Maesteg, near Bridgend. A second priest from the Diocese of Mizoram, Rev John Colney, is expected to arrive in Wales in April.

During the colonial regime, Christian missionaries were encouraged to spread the gospel in India's tribal areas, including the northeast. Much of the work was undertaken by missionaries from Wales, Ireland and Scotland.

Wrote former Home Secretary B.P. Singh in his book, "The Problem of Change: A Study of North-East India": "(The) impact of Christian missionaries on the tribal population was spectacular.

"The Nagas, Mizos and Khasis in particular have undergone profound changes as a result of the spread of Christian ideals among them. Christianity taught these tribes the value of peace, tolerance and co-existence."The familiarisation of these tribes with new ideals, coupled with the subsequent independence and democratisation of the polity, have taken them into the modern world, with all its strengths and dangers.

"The picturesque region of Wales is traditionally seen as one of Britain's most religious areas. From the middle of the 18th century to the mid-19th, Wales experienced some 15 major revivals, resulting in its reputation as 'the land of revivals'.

However, things have changed in recent times. The 2001 census showed that fewer than one in 10 people in Wales regularly attended church or chapel that also faces a shortage of priests.

Church leaders in India's northeast maintain close links with their counterparts in the West. However, this is the first time that a priest from the region has travelled West to offer spiritual guidance in a church that is considered the 'mother church' - as the Mizos consider the Welsh Presbyterian Church.

Sangkhuma, 49, is married with four children and runs yoga classes for the elderly and works as a 'mission enabler' in Maesteg. He believes that the church in Wales has been "decimated" and has called for preaching as a form of evangelism in the area.

According to him, many people in Wales are suffering from a "spiritual void". "There is a perceived lack of relevance of Christianity to lives based on materialism", he said.

Rev Dafydd Jones, mission secretary for the Presbyterian Church of Wales, told the local media that Sangkhuma was helping with the fact that there was a shortage of ministers in the church.

"It is quite moving for us to hear and see how the Mizos describe us as their mother church," he said.

The Rev. Zosang Colney of the Diocese of Mizoram said churches in Wales seemed to be "declining physically and spiritually".

He added: "Many church buildings have been closed down. The Mizos, therefore, have a burden to do something for their mother church in Wales"

Meanwhile, due to the shortage of priests, requests to conduct services and ceremonies are emailed from Western countries such as France and Germany to churches in Kerala and other places in India. The requests are then carried out for a fee, marking yet another dimension to the idea of outsourcing.

One of the first to avail of the prayers-for-cash market was a German fan of sports hero Michael Schumacher. After he won the Australian Grand Prix in 2004, the fan paid for a thanksgiving mass in honour of his hero in Kerala.

After requests are received by email or post, each mass is reportedly said in front of a public congregation in Malayalam. Rates for the service vary from country to country: a request from North America or Europe can net a priest three pounds or four pounds; poorer countries pay less.

Church officials believe that prayers for the dead have been outsourced for decades but the tradition has been thrust into the spotlight only because of the controversy over corporate outsourcing in Western countries.

Courtesy: http://www.newkerala.com