Jill, Derick, and Israel Part 12

[caszandra]

Honestly the way he talks about approaching kids is really creepy to me, a strange man coming up to my child trying to get her to go somewhere with him would scream this is a bad man, a very bad man run away as fast as you can.  Why would they even think it is at all appropriate to approach kids?  Not getting a good feeling about this at all, even if it is totally innocent.

[DuggarWatch]

4 minutes ago, caszandra said:

Honestly the way he talks about approaching kids is really creepy to me, a strange man coming up to my child trying to get her to go somewhere with him would scream this is a bad man, a very bad man run away as fast as you can.  Why would they even think it is at all appropriate to approach kids?  Not getting a good feeling about this at all, even if it is totally innocent.

In some countries (Israel, for instance)  it's illegal to proselytize anyone under the age of 18.  When his kid is older, I wonder how Derick would react if someone tried to convert him to Islam or Scientology and whisk him away to go to services.

 

[jcanglin991]

26 minutes ago, Bad Wolf said:

I have a picture in my mind of Derick sitting down to write the blog, trying to please the leg humpers and the snarkers. It comes across as very stilted. Then he adds the mystery of the hard time they went through. Doesn't come across well at all.

I thought the same thing when I read it. In fact, I thought someone else wrote it. It doesn't really sound like his previous writing. It seems like someone is ticking off the complaints people have voiced about their activities in Central America. It's just too coincidental. Then there is the fact that he throws in the possibility of drama for sympathy and to keep people hooked. It looks like damage control.

[choralcrusader8613]

It kinda makes me think of a story in my area where people offered poor kids free pizza...if they went to a church service with them. I can't remember if it was just going to a church service or if they also had to get baptized, but either is pretty awful.

[DuggarWatch]

3 minutes ago, choralcrusader8613 said:

It kinda makes me think of a story in my area where people offered poor kids free pizza...if they went to a church service with them. I can't remember if it was just going to a church service or if they also had to get baptized, but either is pretty awful.

Only perverts approach kids they don't know and offer them things.  They should be reported to the police.

[choralcrusader8613]

Just now, DuggarWatch said:

Only perverts approach kids they don't know and offer them things.  They should be reported to the police.

Yeah, I don't remember the outcome, and googling it is turning up about jack crap (I know it happened, just don't know how to search for it), but it at least hit the news.

[jcanglin991]

There is a Baptist church near my niece's house that makes the rounds of the neighborhood. The church people try to talk the kids outside into agreeing to go to church on the bus the following Sunday. My niece is Catholic  and quite opinionated for her age. She told them she already has a church and they should not be driving around talking to other people's children.  Her mother and two of her neighbors reinforced that thought by going to the church and telling them not to engage their children. Now, these people actually were from a church and quite safe, but I wouldn't want a child to think it is okay to go somewhere with a stranger under the guise of being from church. I just think this particular church had a really bad idea about appropriate outreach.

[caszandra]

12 minutes ago, DuggarWatch said:

In some countries (Israel, for instance)  it's illegal to proselytize anyone under the age of 18.  When his kid is older, I wonder how Derick would react if someone tried to convert him to Islam or Scientology and whisk him away to go to services.

 

I'm glad that in some countries it is illegal to proselytize to kids though it should be illegal everywhere, if I saw something like this where I lived the first thing I would be doing is dialling 999 then I would approach the situation myself to make sure the kid was ok until the police turned up.

Can you imagine what would happen if someone tried to convert Israel? They would hit the roof, you might even hope it would give them a taste of their own medicine and they would then stop doing it to others, but who am I kidding they don't have the self awareness for that kind of epiphany.

[jcanglin991]

Exactly, no self-awareness. They think they have the secret to a perfect Godly life and we are all just waiting to be enlightened. Most of us would be able to read the room, so to speak, because we have been exposed to differing viewpoints and lifestyles.  I don't know what Derrick's problem is since he has been out in the world. Maybe he was just searching and found what he was looking for in the Duggars. And maybe, he got in too deep and is now stuck, so he doubles down to convince himself that it's okay.

[KSmom]

Previously someone mentioned the novel The Poisonwood Bible in reference to the Dillard's "work", this newsletter really seems to fit in with this.

My random impressions of the newsletter:

1. This is nothing but a bunch of Christianeese BS - a bunch of coded phrases strung together that doesn't really say anything.

2. I cannot imagine how anyone is financially supporting them without knowing more details of where they are and they have been very obtuse about what they are doing - this is the most that they have shared so far. 

3. It is so preachy and condescending, and at the same time you can tell that they have no idea what they are doing. 

4. As far as his attitude about humanitarian aid - it disgusts me really, we are called to love others without condition. If the opportunity comes up to talk about God, fine, but otherwise we should just be serving and giving others the kind of help that is the best for them (BTW, I could get into a long rant about aid/relief that hurts those in need more than it helps, and how these types of mission organizations can do more harm than good).

[Bad Wolf]

In WWII in England, the GIs would come by in a truck and invite the kids to a party at the base. My brothers would jump on, go to the base and get fed. Strict rationing in those times. Then they'd pile back on the truck and be driven home. I don't think my brothers ever asked if it was OK. Different times, different motivations. I hadn't been born, so I missed out.

[EmmieJ]

6 hours ago, RosyDaisy said:

AMEN! You don't harass people to come to your church as a condition to receive aid. That's not evangelicalism, it's spiritual blackmail. As an Evangelical, I find that horrible and definitely not Christ-like.

I want to know why Jill and Derick don't arrange to deliver some needed food and/or other items to this bed-ridden mother and her 15-year old son, instead of making the son leave his mom alone to come get these things?  Gah! 

Derick is hugely full of his soul-saving self.  I think a lot of the people they meet are probably impoverished and so if they have to sit through a sermon to receive some food, then they sit through the sermon.  Only jackasses would make them do so.  Derick and Jill - I'm looking right at you.

[EmmieJ]

50 minutes ago, caszandra said:

Honestly the way he talks about approaching kids is really creepy to me, a strange man coming up to my child trying to get her to go somewhere with him would scream this is a bad man, a very bad man run away as fast as you can.  Why would they even think it is at all appropriate to approach kids?  Not getting a good feeling about this at all, even if it is totally innocent.

That was my thought as well.  If someone approached my son when he was hanging out with friends playing basketball and tried to get him to come to their church, I would be really pissed off.  Keep away from my kid - I am his parent and I will decide if and when he needs to go to church or learn about religion.  Which is perhaps one of the reasons why missionaries might prefer to go to other countries rather than try this approach in the States.  And how do we know there aren't some child molesters in the bunch? 

It smacks of taking the easy way out.  Approach kids, tell them they have a new sports complex - hey, wouldn't you love to come play basketball on our new court, with our nice new equipment?  All that's missing is the white panel van.

[jcanglin991]

Exactly,  why not visit the bedridden mother and find out what she needs, then bring it. Why can't Jill go there and sit with her so her son can go out for awhile and get a break. Derrick says the fifteen year old doesn't get out, make it possible. Oh, wait, that would require caring about someone and  making a difference in another person's life. If the boy goes to church to get supplies he is touted as a possible convert. Can't have anybody thinking they are there for unselfish reasons.

[choralcrusader8613]

Jill could even stay there and, in addition to giving actual help, pray with her and evangelize in a much more natural and less creepy way than the actual situation that transpired.

[nst]

maybe JB is pressuring Jill to get pregnant - and they don't want to - yet

so on camera JB says something to Derick about planting a seed and Derick can't take it 

 

[HereticHick]

Gah--

I hate the (very plausible) idea that Michelle & JimBob flew down there so Jill & Derick could be filmed telling them that Jill is preggers, they've prayed about it, and they are going to stay in Central America in spite of the Zika virus.

That is the kind of (actually real) drama that TLC [and the supermarket tabloids] would eat up.

Derick and Jill will talk about how they prayed and prayed and decided that the heathens of Central America need them too much.

Michelle will look concerned & there could even be a teary eyed close up while she opines about her future precious grandchild being in danger.

Jim Bob will manage to mispronounce "Zika"

More prayer, side hugs, and vague pro-life comments. The words "precious" and "brave" will be used multiple times.

There will be pop-up factiods about the dangers of the Zika virus.

/Endscene

 

 

[choralcrusader8613]

Just now, HereticHick said:

Jim Bob will manage to mispronounce "Zika"

I can believe this part. The man says Hola while in China and says "Back-o out of the way-o".

[caszandra]

8 minutes ago, EmmieJ said:

And how do we know there aren't some child molesters in the bunch? 

That is the first thing that crossed my mind, not that I in anyway think that Derick is a child molester, a bumbling fool yes but not a child molester, that title is reserved for teenage Josh!

I think that thought comes from watching Charley says infomercials when I was growing up, it was drummed into our heads that you never go with strangers.

 

 

[twinmama]

6 minutes ago, HereticHick said:

I hate the (very plausible) idea that Michelle & JimBob flew down there so Jill & Derick could be filmed telling them that Jill is preggers, they've prayed about it, and they are going to stay in Central America in spite of the Zika virus.

Then they can name the baby Zika! Or Ziko if it's a boy of course. No lady names for a Dillard man.

Honestly, if they are pregnant and choose to stay in a country where there is a real chance of a horrible complication, they are asking for whatever they get. I bet a LOT of the people who are pregnant there would give anything to have the means to go elsewhere until their healthy baby is born. I don't want any possible Dillard baby to suffer (don't know much about microcephaly or what Zika does to the fetus), but if Jill and Derrick have the option to leave and the option to prevent pregnancy and don't avail themselves of either, I will not feel sorry for them one tiny bit.

[Mercer]

1 hour ago, caszandra said:

Honestly the way he talks about approaching kids is really creepy to me, a strange man coming up to my child trying to get her to go somewhere with him would scream this is a bad man, a very bad man run away as fast as you can.  Why would they even think it is at all appropriate to approach kids?  Not getting a good feeling about this at all, even if it is totally innocent.

Agreed. I do think it's innocent in that Derick doesn't mean to harm the children, but I still don't think it's acceptable conduct.

I think some missionary-types don't see the people they are ministering to as fully human. They would of course not admit that even to themselves, but that's what happens when another person becomes a prop in the story they're telling about their good deeds or is treated exclusively as a charity project rather than a separate individual with their own needs, wants, and dreams.

It's an attitude where it never occurs to ask, "Would I want my own child to be treated in that manner?"

Because they can't put themselves in the other person's shoes - or don't see why they should even try - it never crosses their minds that if they wouldn't want a stranger luring Izzy off the street, it might not be an okay thing to do to someone else's kid.

[lascuba]

The thing about approaching children in that way is that while Derrick might not have ill-intent, there are undoubtedly members of SOS and other missionaries that do. Because there always are. This isn't a slam against missionaries or Christians, it's a fact of life that predators know where to seek out opportunities, and no way do the likes of the tptb at SOS know how to screen them out.

[Valerie3kids]

I am not sure Derrick wrote that. It doesn't match his previous writing. But, I am very snarky when it comes to this family and especially this couple.

I am appalled they asked a child with a bedridden mother to leave her to get supplies. Good grief. Why could they not have delivered what ever that family needed? With no preaching or going to church. Just to like actually help someone? Who is obviously in great need? Um no can do, doesn't fit our agenda.

Approaching children rubs me all kinds of ways wrong. Period. If I were the parent I would be livid and in their faces.

He seems to have such a large ego and is so condescending. It is gross. What has happen to actually helping people with their basic needs? Why does it all come with a sermon? It should not!

I think their "stress" has been the mean ugly wildlife such as bad snakes and Jill dealing with it all. I am sure she is not equipped to handle a tarantula, snake or anything else without screeching and screaming for Derrick. The entire neighborhood probably knows when it happens to Jill. She is probably perched on a chair acting like a banshee. Or maybe their stress was that Jill had to cook for all their guests? We know how well she does that. Not. Plus, having JB around in a foreign country is always embarrassing. He sounds like such a dork and thinks he is sooooo funny. We know neither he nor Mechelle would try any of the food without some type of scene.

Again, Jill has had visitors from her family many many times in the short time she has been away. She is very fortunate. My grandparents were missionaries and we saw them every three years when they went on furlough. That was it.

This couple is appalling. I feel they can not understand why they are not being worshipped and adored for the wonderful things they are doing. They can not see the forest for the trees. They do not understand what they are doing is offensive to many. They do not see they are putting themselves on a plateau above all others. What makes them right? What makes them perfect? I think they both expected more "pats" on the back for being so wonderful. But instead they are in over their heads, can not really speak the language and can't be left alone as they have no idea how to cope.

[nst]

11 minutes ago, Valerie3kids said:

I am not sure Derrick wrote that. It doesn't match his previous writing. But, I am very snarky when it comes to this family and especially this couple.

I am appalled they asked a child with a bedridden mother to leave her to get supplies. Good grief. Why could they not have delivered what ever that family needed? With no preaching or going to church. Just to like actually help someone? Who is obviously in great need? Um no can do, doesn't fit our agenda.

Approaching children rubs me all kinds of ways wrong. Period. If I were the parent I would be livid and in their faces.

He seems to have such a large ego and is so condescending. It is gross. What has happen to actually helping people with their basic needs? Why does it all come with a sermon? It should not!

I think their "stress" has been the mean ugly wildlife such as bad snakes and Jill dealing with it all. I am sure she is not equipped to handle a tarantula, snake or anything else without screeching and screaming for Derrick. The entire neighborhood probably knows when it happens to Jill. She is probably perched on a chair acting like a banshee. Or maybe their stress was that Jill had to cook for all their guests? We know how well she does that. Not. Plus, having JB around in a foreign country is always embarrassing. He sounds like such a dork and thinks he is sooooo funny. We know neither he nor Mechelle would try any of the food without some type of scene.

Again, Jill has had visitors from her family many many times in the short time she has been away. She is very fortunate. My grandparents were missionaries and we saw them every three years when they went on furlough. That was it.

This couple is appalling. I feel they can not understand why they are not being worshipped and adored for the wonderful things they are doing. They can not see the forest for the trees. They do not understand what they are doing is offensive to many. They do not see they are putting themselves on a plateau above all others. What makes them right? What makes them perfect? I think they both expected more "pats" on the back for being so wonderful. But instead they are in over their heads, can not really speak the language and can't be left alone as they have no idea how to cope.

This is brilliant 

and what I don't get if Derick is supposed to be fluent in Spanish and Jill is "learning" why the need to send Mr. Shadt's younger son who apparently is younger than either of them 

maybe he is to report back to what he find outs about them to the SOS head office 

maybe the SOS head office don't have faith in The Dullards either 

Can they be fired from this

 

[OyToTheVey]

I'm not Christian so correct me if I'm wrong but isn't it like a principle of life to do good on to others and not request something in return. Like all those soup kitchens and nun charities. Maybe I'm missing something with all these missionaries. Doctors Without Borders don't ask for anything in return. The church in my neighborhood always has some bake sale or another. Come to think of it the 12 Step Program is religion based, forgiveness, charity, clarity of the mind. Jill and Derick if they were a little smarter would and should be embarrassed.