Jana and Jill on a Mission Trip to Peru

[ophelia]

I don't know if this was posted before, but apparently Jana and Jill went to Peru on an ATI/IBLP mission trip. Anna's older sister Priscilla was also with them and even the master himself Bill Gothard.. Priscilla posted some pictures in her picasa album. Iam really wondering who helped J'chelle to handle the little ones.. Jessa and Jinger don't seem to be really into that little kids stuff and Amy might be too busy posting nonsense on fb and twitter..

[lilwriter85]

I don't know if this was posted before, but apparently Jana and Jill went to Peru on an ATI/IBLP mission trip. Anna's older sister Priscilla was also with them and even the master himself Bill Gothard.. Priscilla posted some pictures in her picasa album. Iam really wondering who helped J'chelle to handle the little ones.. Jessa and Jinger don't seem to be really into that little kids stuff and Amy might be too busy posting nonsense on fb and twitter..

I think Jessa and Jinger were probably pushed into taking on extra duties while Jana and Jill were gone.

[demgirl]

I agree. I only think Jessa and Jinger get away with what they do because Jill and Jana are there to pick up their slack. I'm sure that when Jill and Jana are away, Jessa and Jinger have to deal with all the crap they normally avoid. Also, I really think Joy-Anna has started to take on a huge share of the J'slave responsibility.

[luckylassie]

Does anyone remember the episode "Trading Places Duggar Style" where the boys had to cook lunch. I think Josiah said that "we were basically starving from all the work" or something to that effect. Imagine what he'd be like after a full eight hour day of "work". He only had to make lunch one day and clean a few bathrooms right? Luckylassie must do "brain exercises" daily at the college of secular demons. I think smuggar Junior would be exhausted from all the thinkin'

[Markie]

Priscilla posted some pictures in her picasa album.

Do you have a link for these pictures. I guess JD didn't need to go along on this ATI trip with the girls. Probably Jill was slated to go last year, but since the had the problems with Josie was left at home to help out and JD went along. Teaching kids, putting on skits and trying new foods do not seem to be his forte, so kudos on JD for going to SE Asia. Wonder if there were any TLC cameras with the group in Peru?

[ladeedum]

There's a bunch of photos here: https://profiles.google.com/csp3.10/pho ... 5422324337

Those aren't Priscilla's photos but from this other guy who went on the trip. It's totally fundie approved for sure.

[demgirl]

There's a bunch of photos here: https://profiles.google.com/csp3.10/pho ... 5422324337

Those aren't Priscilla's photos but from this other guy who went on the trip. It's totally fundie approved for sure.

Wow. Did they do anything at all useful while there? It mostly looks like all of them eating, sightseeing, holding a balloon with a small child, smiling sympathetically and patronizingly at an old lady or a teen girl, etc. Sigh. At least Jana looks happier than I have seen her look in a good while.

[GeoBQn]

Looks like they also did some street proselytizing with spiral-bound materials that they also gave to the doctors at the cancer hospital.

[Jessica]

Ok I want John David to marry the girl in the pink shirt: https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-4mIh ... 5%2529.jpg She's cute, she doesn't have a jacked-up nose or crazy eyes, and she looks like she might have some attitude (just the vibe I get from this picture https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-u0hH ... 5%2529.jpg Some old guy is talking to her and she's just like, "Mmmhmm, yeah, whatever, thank God for my iPhone!").

[johnhugh]

Did they spend the whole 'holiday' in suits? :roll: It looked like some business trip!

The impression in some of the photos is they thought they were superior to the local people.

Have to admit https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-juMkqyi0qFc/Ti9KXsB9o1I/AAAAAAAAEZg/QfukGuiY9kQ/s912/IMG_6771.jpg is a hot guy.

[marmalade]

Is that Gothard in Chad's pic #25 (a group of doctors with the Big Pharisee in the middle with shoe-polish dyed hair and a red tie)?

[higgledypiggledy]

What is the purpose of these short term mission trips? I kind of get when people feel called to a mission field and serve for a few years or even decades. They really come to know the local people, their culture, challenges, values, hopes and dreams. I would hope on some level they come to love the people in their mission. But a few weeks? Several local churches in our area sponsor 1-3 week mission trips. Really it sounds a bit lit a tourist trip with special uniforms and pamphlets. Can they really know and care and love all those strangers while having a quick dip into culture shock. If I was in a cancer hospital, I don't know if I would care one fig about a missionary who stopped by for an afternoon to share their story of heaven and hell. I might care a great deal if some one respected who had become a member of community came and held my head while I was ill, fed me when I was weak and cared for me without the expectation of conversion. Am I just too much of a cynic? I can't buy that these trips impact anyone other than the people paying to go on them.

[Markie]

Have to admit https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-juMk ... G_6771.jpg is a hot guy.

Yes, and there were a few other hot guys on that trip. Jana? Jill? Priscilla? I feel yucky trying to pair up a Duggar with potential spouses; I would never think of my nephew(21) or neice(18) as ready for marriage, but it appears that's what they want. It's not as if they are likely to get a job, go away to school or backpack through SE Asia with friends. (I did the Europe backpacking, but Asia seems to be where more young adults are going now). Perhaps one of the girls will do a stint or two as unpaid labour for ATI/IBLD. Priscilla already appears to be doing pretty much that.

[annalena]

Wow, have we ever seen them so dressed up? Jana looks really good though. No Flip-Flops are doing great things for her. And- scandal!- that one girl standing next to Jana's skirt in of the pictures (the group one) DOES NOT EVEN COVER HER KNEES!!

[formergothardite]

The purpose of these trips is to show the leaders of the city the "shiny, clear eyes" of ATI youth and that way they will ask Gothard to come and start some sort of ministry there, therefore making Gothard more money. Also, has Gothard ditched navy blue and white for black? Back in the day navy blue and white were the only acceptable colors of skirts and suits. I can't remember the biblical reasoning for those colors, but I'm pretty sure there was one.

[demgirl]

What is the purpose of these short term mission trips? I kind of get when people feel called to a mission field and serve for a few years or even decades. They really come to know the local people, their culture, challenges, values, hopes and dreams. I would hope on some level they come to love the people in their mission. But a few weeks? Several local churches in our area sponsor 1-3 week mission trips. Really it sounds a bit lit a tourist trip with special uniforms and pamphlets. Can they really know and care and love all those strangers while having a quick dip into culture shock. If I was in a cancer hospital, I don't know if I would care one fig about a missionary who stopped by for an afternoon to share their story of heaven and hell. I might care a great deal if some one respected who had become a member of community came and held my head while I was ill, fed me when I was weak and cared for me without the expectation of conversion. Am I just too much of a cynic? I can't buy that these trips impact anyone other than the people paying to go on them.

I really and truly think it depends on the mission and who is organizing it. I'm not big on "mission trips" myself, since I often think they end up like the Gothard one, with a bunch of smug, self-satisfied, condescending young people telling another culture that they don't understand how wrong that culture is.

OTOH, my mom, while an atheist herself, works as a nurse for a Catholic medical organization that is part of Catholic Charities. She volunteered to go on one of their missions that was specifically a medical mission. Two nuns went with my mom and a bunch of other medical providers and basically, the nuns were awesome. They sat and listened to sick people, they prayed with them if the people requested, they comforted them with hugs and back rubs... whatever. They were just awesome, according to my mom. The two nuns also basically took charge of making sure none of the neighborhood gang violence affected the health services -- like, the gangs were afraid of them. My mom was so enthusiastic about the nuns, and seriously -- she's an atheist and has never even been inside a Catholic church to my knowledge. And everyone else provided basic health care, vaccinations, stuff like that. I view that as a really useful mission!

And I know some churches have overseas "missions", but the focus isn't really on converting... they usually involve going with some purpose -- distributing food, building wells, building homes, building community centers, etc.

[O Latin]

What is the purpose of these short term mission trips? I kind of get when people feel called to a mission field and serve for a few years or even decades. They really come to know the local people, their culture, challenges, values, hopes and dreams. I would hope on some level they come to love the people in their mission. But a few weeks? Several local churches in our area sponsor 1-3 week mission trips. Really it sounds a bit lit a tourist trip with special uniforms and pamphlets. Can they really know and care and love all those strangers while having a quick dip into culture shock. If I was in a cancer hospital, I don't know if I would care one fig about a missionary who stopped by for an afternoon to share their story of heaven and hell. I might care a great deal if some one respected who had become a member of community came and held my head while I was ill, fed me when I was weak and cared for me without the expectation of conversion. Am I just too much of a cynic? I can't buy that these trips impact anyone other than the people paying to go on them.

They could be for people who feel called to go but don't have months or years to take off from their lives back home. My church likes to do youth mission trips for a couple of weeks during the summer, because obviously the youth are all in school during the year, so they only have a short window of time to go. I believe they usually help with building projects or something like that.

[fundiefan]

I have a friend who does week long 'missions' with her church like the youth missions you described. She just spent a week rebuilding some homes in Nashville that were destroyed by last years flooding. That is going to work and work they did. That is going to help, to accomplish something, to get down and dirty and do something for others. The pictures she shared of that trip were all of the project, the work, the sandwich lunches at the job site...not dinners in fancy restaurants where everyone is perfectly groomed and ready for photo ops.

These little jaunts the Duggars go on show nothing of the sort happening on their trips - at least not in pictures and other things made public from them.

[slickcat79]

And I know some churches have overseas "missions", but the focus isn't really on converting... they usually involve going with some purpose -- distributing food, building wells, building homes, building community centers, etc.

We used to do those when I went to church in high school. Actually, most of them were domestic and within driving distance of home. We usually had a specific task, like work on this Habitat house or do repairs in that neighborhood after a hurricane. There was bible study and stuff, but no converting going on. I think most of the time we figured they were probably already christians, and that wasn't the point of the trip anyway.

[auntdoc]

The Southern Baptist Church sponsors something called World Changers. Teens from all over the US go to communities and work with community action org, churches and other org to repair homes of handicapped, elderly, poor, etc for a week, then go to another community. They've come for the past 3 years where I live. My husband was one of the "leaders" of a group and we don't go to church at all. He loved it. The community cooked/packed lunches, etc. The local Christian college housed them. They worked 8 hours per day, then had some sort of meetings for the teens edification. Altogether it was a positive experience that got the whole community involved.

[TheJewAmongUs]

Wow. Did they do anything at all useful while there? It mostly looks like all of them eating, sightseeing, holding a balloon with a small child, smiling sympathetically and patronizingly at an old lady or a teen girl, etc. Sigh. At least Jana looks happier than I have seen her look in a good while.

Hopefully they put the cameras down when they were doing the real missionary work. (Whatever that is...)

Look at that Duggar girls, you can look nice without having crispy, crunchy hair. Please take note and try harder next time.

[lilah]

What is the purpose of these short term mission trips? I kind of get when people feel called to a mission field and serve for a few years or even decades. They really come to know the local people, their culture, challenges, values, hopes and dreams. I would hope on some level they come to love the people in their mission. But a few weeks? Several local churches in our area sponsor 1-3 week mission trips. Really it sounds a bit lit a tourist trip with special uniforms and pamphlets. Can they really know and care and love all those strangers while having a quick dip into culture shock. If I was in a cancer hospital, I don't know if I would care one fig about a missionary who stopped by for an afternoon to share their story of heaven and hell. I might care a great deal if some one respected who had become a member of community came and held my head while I was ill, fed me when I was weak and cared for me without the expectation of conversion. Am I just too much of a cynic? I can't buy that these trips impact anyone other than the people paying to go on them.

Yeah I read a blog recently that said a lot of those things, that short term missions are often thinly disguised poverty tourism and that a lot of the time the money raised to send the people over to do projects could have been used to pay people in the community to do it themselves and pay them a living wage, thus enabling them to be more self sufficient. It's a very tricky thing because people want to help and feel called by their religion to do acts of charity to people who were less fortunate but there has to be ways to do it that don't also insult and hurt the community they want to help.

Judaism has no real tradition of evangelism so the idea of coercing people into conversion, even going to the trouble of traveling to another country to tell people they need to change their belief systems seems very abhorrent to me. I wonder how fundies would feel if a bunch of muslims came into their neighborhood and told them they were going to hell if they didn't accept Allah in their heart, and hey here's a newly built school or community center for your community, doesn't that make us feel so much better to provide for you things you couldn't have provided for yourself?

Anyway I wouldn't be shocked if Jill and Jana are using all these mission trips to trawl for a hot fundie guy. JimbBoob even said he's looking for a guy with a minstery mindset and no one's good enough for his little girls. I bet they are trying extra hard to find that guy.

[GeoBQn]

Yeah I read a blog recently that said a lot of those things, that short term missions are often thinly disguised poverty tourism and that a lot of the time the money raised to send the people over to do projects could have been used to pay people in the community to do it themselves and pay them a living wage, thus enabling them to be more self sufficient. It's a very tricky thing because people want to help and feel called by their religion to do acts of charity to people who were less fortunate but there has to be ways to do it that don't also insult and hurt the community they want to help.

I've heard the same criticism directed at alternative spring break programs. Why pay locals to build something when you can get resume-padding college students to do it for free?

[Alecto]

I have gone on several 1 week mission trips, and we actually did a lot of work. Most of our trips, however, were helping at a migrant center right before it opened for the season (processing donations, cleaning, ect) and going to repair churches in poor, rural areas that could not afford the maintenance work. Not a lot of evangelizing.

[Kitten]

Wow...lots of EXPENSIVE cameras in use, unless they were just sharing. But that's to be expected - families that can afford to send their kids on a jaunt like this are not usually the ones stuffing their kids into closets.

What's with the random Peruvian kid snatched up for a photo opp? Seems like there were several where someone or another was holding some poor kid grabbed off the street...weird.

I was shocked at the number of pics where the men had their arms around a woman's shoulder - and in one case, she actually had her arm around his back. I know, that wouldn't give most of us even a moment's pause, but these are "cream of the crop" ATI'ers. You would think they would "guard" themselves a bit better... :lol: