There are several Reformed and other Christian denominations in India, which together include over 24 million Christians, or a little more than 2% of India’s population. Christianity is India’s third largest religion, after Hinduism and Islam. One of the Reformed bodies that partners with the PC(USA) is the Church of North India, a unified denomination which comprises all but the southernmost third of the nation and which is divided into 26 separate dioceses.
Dr. Vinita Eusebius lives and works in the Lucknow Diocese, in north-central India. Its central offices are located in Allahabad, a city of over one million people in the state of Uttar Pradesh. Her main job is as a professor of zoology at Ewing Christian College in Allahabad, established by missionaries in 1902 and situated on a beautiful campus astride the Yamuna River. She has had 32 years of teaching experience and possesses 3 baccalaureate degrees, one master’s, one doctorate, and is currently pursuing a master’s in theology.
She is also very active in church work and is an ordained deaconess. In 2005, she gave a series of lectures on child welfare and children’s rights within her denomination and is also a resource for the issue of women’s rights and empowerment. She currently serves as the chair of the Student Christian Movement of India.
The Church of North India has adopted, as part of its mission statement, the objectives of “breaking down the barriers of caste, class, gender, economic inequality, and exploitation of nature.” India’s most serious social ill is perhaps the caste system, a rigid and inflexible system that assigns people to certain social classes and occupations based on birth. The lowest of these classes is the Dalit, also known as the Untouchables. Relegated to doing the most menial of labor, Dalits are routinely scorned by and segregated from much of the rest of Indian society. More than simply being poor, Dalits suffer stigma because of their membership in their social class, and although discrimination against them is technically illegal, accounts of violence against them and overt, unfair treatment of them are commonplace. The Church of North India seeks to help Indian society move beyond this historical societal norm into a place of grace and acceptance of all God’s people.
Vinita is prepared to speak on the topic of class and gender inequality in India, of the extreme poverty of some pockets of Indian society, and what the role of the church, government, and people is in addressing the needs of those who have not, and on the rights of women and children in her nation.
To request a visit by Vinita Eusebius to your presbytery, synod, seminary or college, please fill out and return the request form (PDF) by June 15 by e-mail to bryan.reiff@pcusa.org, by fax at 502-569-8115, or by mail to Debby Vial, International Peacemakers, 100 Witherspoon Street, Room 3229, Louisville, KY 40202-1396. For more information on Vinita and the other International Peacemakers, call 888-728-7228, extension 5702 (Debby Vial) or 5786 (Bryan Reiff).
Written by Bryan Reiff