shortage of Americans who pray
shortage of Americans who pray
Date: Wednesday, April 18, 2007 11:54 PM
<<<<< JOB DESTRUCTION NEWSLETTER No. 1675 -- 4/18/2007 >>>>>
Just when I thought I have covered every type of shortage shouting
imaginable a new one appears.
Now claims are appearing that the United States has a shortage of Americans
who are willing to say prayers over the telephone!
Be sure to catch the irony of the Hindu woman named Reha Jain. She used to
work at a Microsoft call center but changed jobs. Now she prays over the
phone and claims to have "many satisfied prayer customers." I say amen to
that, and hallelujah!
Oh, and by the way, be sure to read my comment immediately following the
first article.
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http://larknews.com/may_2006/secondary.php?page=1
Outsourced prayer lines confuse callers
DES MOINES - Last month, Lori Danes, 43, called the prayer line of a
major television ministry and requested prayer for her mother's persistent
ulcers. But her prayer representative, who called himself "Darren," prayed
in a strong Indian accent that "all the gods would bless her mightily."
"I was stunned," Danes says. "It was like I'd called a demon prayer
line."
The manager of India Prayer Solutions, located in Mumbai, India,
apologized for the incident and fired the employee who, he said, had not
been properly trained. But dozens of similar incidents have rattled U.S.
callers since major ministries began outsourcing their prayer lines to
India. The ministries insist they are overwhelmed by the growing number of
calls for prayer.
"There aren't enough Americans willing to sit in the prayer tower and
take calls anymore," says a prayer coordinator at a major ministry which
jobbed out its prayer lines last year.
But the interactions have left many callers baffled.
Rich Douglas of Orem, Utah, called a prayer line for the first time
this month, requesting prayer for his wife's cancer. His prayer partner,
"Stephanie," took him through a series of prayers that felt "pretty
clinical," says Douglas. "I definitely didn't sense the Spirit. It sounded
like she was reading from a script."
"Stephanie," whose real name is Reha Jain, is a Hindu woman who works
at a call center in Mumbai and has prayed with "many satisfied prayer
customers," she says. "It's like my old job at a Microsoft call center. The
caller is happy if you deliver quality customer service."
Her fellow worker Rajneesh Tuwalla likewise had never heard of a single
U.S. ministry, but was "sick of working at the Sprint call center," he
says. "The customers always got angry about their bill."
Tuwalla landed a job at a prayer center and learned to pray "Christian
prayers" by watching Kenneth Copeland.
"All the TV preachers pray good, but Copeland prays the best," says
Tuwalla, who mimics Copeland's style on the phone with callers. Like many
service reps, he uses an American name while on the job. In Copeland's
honor, Tuwalla calls himself "Ken."
Tuwalla has heard the rumors that U.S. ministries may repatriate their
call centers. He hopes it isn't true. At his Sprint job he would have to
"run around the block and maybe pull the head off a stray chicken" to
settle down every night because of the stress he felt serving demanding
U.S. customers. But the prayer center job is more relaxed.
"The callers are very nice," he says. "I like my life again."
VERY IMPORTANT -- PLEASE READ
LOL -- Sorry if I got you guys going, but I thought with all the grim news
right now we all needed a good laugh. The website does satire on religion
and its writers are sort of like The Onion.
You can verify that the website is a spoof by clicking this link:
http://www.larknews.com/april_2007/content.php?header=header&page=../disclaimer
When I first read the article I'll admit they had me fooled. I got
suspicious when Googling for "India Prayer Solutions" yielded no results.
The article may be satire but it's not far fetched. This newsletter in the
archive is no joke, it's for real:
2004-06-14 U.S. Catholics Outsourcing Prayers to India
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Here is another one to ponder -- but please
read the comment above
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http://sify.com/news/othernews/fullstory.php?id=13498514
US outsourcing prayers to India
Tuesday, 15 June , 2004, 12:04
New York: Following the outsourcing of software and other technological
work in recent years, Western nations have now begun "offshoring" of
Christian prayers to India.
"With Roman Catholic clergy in short supply in the United States, Indian
priests are picking up some of their work, saying Mass for special
intentions, in a sacred if unusual version of outsourcing," The New York
Times reported. | Discuss: Do you think India is the most popular job
outsourcing destination in the world? |
Joining Americans in sending Mass intentions, requests for services such as
those to remember deceased relatives and thanksgiving prayers, to clergy in
India, are Canadians and Europeans.
No other Indian state receives more intentions from overseas than Kerala,
where the Masses are conducted in Malayalam. The intention, often a prayer
for the repose of the soul of a deceased relative, or for a sick family
member, thanksgiving for a favor received, or a prayer offering for a
newborn, is announced at Mass. | Also read: Interview with Greg Spots on
his film on outsourcing blues. |
Generally individuals don't receive overseas requests, which are mostly
routed to churches in Kerala through the Vatican, the bishops or through
religious bodies. Such requests are increasingly arriving via e-mail,
though the regular mail and the word of mouth of traveling clergymen
constitute a majority.
The Times, quoting priests, said memorial and thanksgiving prayers for
locals are said for a donation of Rs 40, whereas a prayer request from
America costs 5 dollars.
Sebastian Adayanthrath, auxialiary bishop of the Ernakulam-Angamaly diocese
in Kochi, said his diocese received a monthly average of 350 Mass
intentions, which are passed to the needy priests. He added that in Kerala,
where priests earn about Rs 2,000, the overseas money is a welcome
supplement.
In Bangalore's Dharmaram College, Rector James Narithookil said he often
received requests for Mass intentions from abroad, which he disbursed among
the 50 priests in his seminary. Most of the requests from the United States
were for requiems, with donations of 5 to 10 dollars, he said.
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