My name is Supriya Mitchell and I am an Indian woman who was born and raised in Pune, India. I now live in Virginia but still have friends and family back home that I visit as much as I can. Although I was raised in a Christian home, I was taken to Hindu temples by our maid who was and still is a follower of Hinduism when I was a little girl. I love much of my Indian culture but also am burdened for so many of my people who worship false gods. I know the religions of my homeland from seeing them first-hand, and I hope my perspective helps in this matter. I am thankful that the true God preserved and protected me from many of the evils associated with following Hindu gods or the god of Islam.

The reason I am writing this is that I am here to plead with all my fellow brothers and sisters in Christ NOT to VISIT TEMPLES or MOSQUES. I have seen the things in temples that you all may not even think about. I have seen people getting possessed. As a little girl I have witnessed lots of Hindus and Muslims coming to the exorcist who had his little place next to my house and it is still bone chilling to think about it. I have heard the demon voice coming out of those people and so you can see why I am concerned with this practice of taking Christians and even groups where some may not even be true believers into these pagan places of demon worship. The leaders of the youth conference are aware that some who attend Momentum may not yet know Christ and so they preach the gospel to them and urge them to make sure they really know Him. But then, a large group of these young people will be taken into a temple or mosque when they may still not even be saved. Some hearts may be open to possession or oppression by the evil spirits being worshiped there. This is so dangerous and is heavy on my heart.

This is one of the reasons I am so concerned about these visits. I am pleading with you all not to go and send the people of your church or your kids into such a dangerous place where DEMONS are worshiped. Right before conference last year I called one of the leaders of these temple trips and was told that those trips were already planned and could not be canceled. Well, that was a year ago, and the decision has been made again to take conference goers of both the youth and adult conference into these places again. It is a burden in my heart for God's people and I plead with you all not to go. There are many other ways you can learn about Hinduism but caution needs to be taken. Going to temples or mosques and doing what they require is not necessary.

Just remember, coming from an Indian perspective that even removing your shoes is a worship to their gods ; removing shoes is respecting their gods. It clearly says in 1 Cor.10:14-33 not to fellowship with demons or do things that are known to be pagan. I have also been informed that in some trips in the past there was a buffet laid out for the people who visited the temples to eat after the tour. What is the reason to eat food offered to idols when the Bible says not to and there are many Indian restaurants to eat Indian food? This practice is definitely associated with dedication to false gods .All that food has been dedicated to whatever god or goddess is prayed to in there.

Please understand that I know we need to reach out for ethnic people and it so awesome and very exciting to learn about other cultures. But there are other ways to do it besides going in to their places of worship and actually doing rituals that mean something Hindu or Islamic . My suggestion is to make friends with Hindus and Muslims and just talk about Jesus and share the Gospel. There are many places and ways that we can do that that do not involve compromising our faith in Jesus Christ.

PLEASE I plead with you NOT to VISIT the TEMPLES.

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