Mormon Church Alienated Indian Woman from her Family - Sirisha Shumway | Ep. 2051

When the Missionaries Came to Her Door: The Story of Sirisha Shumway and Mormon Conversion in India

Sirisha Shumway was a teenage girl in India when a group of American strangers walked into her neighbor's living room and changed the direction of her life. Her story, told in full on the Mormon Stories Podcast (Episode 2051), raises questions that go well beyond one woman's faith journey. It asks something harder: what happens when a religious organization targets emotionally vulnerable minors in countries where that religion is virtually unknown, without the knowledge or consent of parents?

That is not a rhetorical question. It is what happened.

Background: Mormon Missionary Work in India and the Limits of Context

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints began missionary work in India around the early 1980s, according to Sirisha's account to podcast host John Dehlin. Progress was slow. The average Indian family had no idea what Mormonism was. As Sirisha put it plainly, if you said "I'm a Mormon" to most people in India, the response would be a blank stare.

Sirisha grew up in a Hindu household, spending much of her childhood with her grandmother in Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh. Her father drank heavily and was physically abusive. Her mother prioritized education above almost everything. The home was volatile, and Sirisha had absorbed all of that chaos by the time American missionaries showed up in her neighborhood and neighborhood kids crowded into a small living room just to get a look at the foreigners.