Fundies and Mission Trips

[roddma]

I know some Fundies likely have good intentions for mission trips. However, given the Shraders or even Duggars, it still begs a question about their true intentions other than proselytizing . I especially feel for the Shrader kids. They have no real stability and have to live away from family. It is one thing to go on short trips, but another to be a 'career' missionary because you don't want to face real life.

[SPHASH]

I have gone on missionary trips to Indian reservations in the Midwest. But we did not proselytize. We didn't even evangelicize. Our mission was to build homes and make the residents lives more comfortable. That's what Jesus taught. Unfortunately Shrader and Duggar must have been absent from Sunday School when that was taught.

[DGayle]

I have gone on missionary trips to Indian reservations in the Midwest. But we did not proselytize. We didn't even evangelicize. Our mission was to build homes and make the residents lives more comfortable. That's what Jesus taught. Unfortunately Shrader and Duggar must have been absent from Sunday School when that was taught.

Too bad this isn't all mission trips, for the one and only purpose of helping without an ulterior motive. Too often these mission trips are for the purpose of trying to convert. Some people, like Mormons, are more open about it, but then you've got people like a girl I know who go to countries needing help, like for her it's Mexico, and do good deeds while making sure her faith is very obvious hoping that the people she's helping will ask more about it, which gives the "in" she needs to start proselytizing.

[RosyDaisy]

At my church missionary work has more to do with taking care of essential needs like food, clean water, and clothing. These are the things Christ told us to do. When people see that you actually care about their suffering and physical needs, they tend to be more receptive to hearing the message. And if they don't want to hear it, that's ok. We're still there to offer assistance.

[August]

At my church missionary work has more to do with taking care of essential needs like food, clean water, and clothing. These are the things Christ told us to do. When people see that you actually care about their suffering and physical needs, they tend to be more receptive to hearing the message. And if they don't want to hear it, that's ok. We're still there to offer assistance.

But dollar for dollar and in terms of real, continuing good those people would be better off being trained to do the job themselves.

Unless you're a highly skilled individual with skills not present in that town/region/country, the people are better served if you stay home and hire locals.

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[DGayle]

But dollar for dollar and in terms of real, continuing good those people would be better off being trained to do the job themselves.

Unless you're a highly skilled individual with skills not present in that town/region/country, the people are better served if you stay home and hire locals.

I actually agree, August. Or go and train those people to do it themselves since there will be maintenance.

Rosy, by receptive do you mean you start talking to them and hoping they want to hear? Or are they approaching you randomly asking about your religion? If they're approaching you, it means you are doing something to make sure they know you're Christian. If you're approaching them hoping they want to hear, a lot of people will listen because they don't want to appear rude after getting your help. Either way, the ulterior motive is hoping they'll want to listen. I do a lot of volunteering, and never, ever get asked about my beliefs, because it's not a part of things, I don't bring it up, I don't do anything to give any clue what I might believe, and most people don't go around asking random people what they believe about God.

Funny how missionary work is almost always in the middle of areas where there aren't a lot of Christians.

[DifferentGurl]

In our school district, we have to do volunteer hours in order to graduate. Volunteer hours from doing mission trips don't count. The reason is because mission trips involve pushing your religion onto another person. One of my classmates was unable to graduate because a lot of his volunteer hours came from mission trips and such. Note that my school is a public school.

Just thought I would mention that since we're talking about mission trips.

[feministing]

I am appalled by the concept of missions as to me pushing your religion on others is wrong and disgusting.

[nokidsmom]

I am appalled by the concept of missions as to me pushing your religion on others is wrong and disgusting.

Missions have always bothered me because of this. I have never cared for the idea of going out and converting others to your religion; it's disrespectful and shows unwillingness to accept others as they are. If it's strictly to provide help such as building homes, providing medical, teaching, etc. because it's the right thing to do and there's no strings attached on part of the people being helped, then fine. But if it's about proselytizing at any point, I don't care for it.

[nokidsmom]

In our school district, we have to do volunteer hours in order to graduate. Volunteer hours from doing mission trips don't count. The reason is because mission trips involve pushing your religion onto another person. One of my classmates was unable to graduate because a lot of his volunteer hours came from mission trips and such. Note that my school is a public school.

Just thought I would mention that since we're talking about mission trips.

My nephew is attending a Catholic high school and a certain number of volunteer hours are required per year. His activities at the Lutheran church he's attending does count in his volunteer hours. He does other things but a lot of the hours are at the church.

[momof2treasures]

I wonder about that too. I was raised in a devout catholic home. Doing for others was a big thing, I was frequently taken to a local nursing home to volunteer, assisted with veterans events, and donated food and money to less fortunate. I never heard of anyone trying to spread religion. It was taught that you give without acknowledgement or recognition, not for self serving purposes. It's an ugly side of many christian religions to push faith , especially under the guise of providing aide on impoverished areas.

[louisa05]

I wonder about that too. I was raised in a devout catholic home. Doing for others was a big thing, I was frequently taken to a local nursing home to volunteer, assisted with veterans events, and donated food and money to less fortunate. I never heard of anyone trying to spread religion. It was taught that you give without acknowledgement or recognition, not for self serving purposes. It's an ugly side of many christian religions to push faith , especially under the guise of providing aide on impoverished areas.

Confirmation students in my parish are asked to do service in the community, for their families, and in the parish itself. There is no discussion whatsoever of doing that to push the faith on anyone else. Believe me, I know there is not. I am a confirmation teacher.

On the other hand, the idea that the fundagelicals are only taking these trips to places where there are not a lot of Christians is inaccurate. Many trips are intended to convert Catholics in Latin America. And years ago, I had a roommate who was going on a trip to a place in Mexico where there were already evangelical churches. There just did not happen to be any churches of her particular denomination so they were hoping to convert evangelicals from other sects to their sect. :angry-banghead:

[ILikePie]

I am appalled by the concept of missions as to me pushing your religion on others is wrong and disgusting.

From the viewpoint of a lot of the people going on the missions trips, they're just doing what's best for the people. As a former Evangelical Christian, we were taught a lot about the importance of spreading the (Evangelical) message to the unsaved. People in my church often claimed to have visions of their non-Evangelical friends and family in hell which often inspired them to go into the missions field.

As for people like John Shrader...well, that's a different story. :shifty:

[Rebelwife]

But dollar for dollar and in terms of real, continuing good those people would be better off being trained to do the job themselves.

Unless you're a highly skilled individual with skills not present in that town/region/country, the people are better served if you stay home and hire locals.

Our church has a long standing relationship with a church (of the same denomination) in Cuba. We do take small groups down once a year, as a way of strengthening that relationship, but they always go down with a purpose. One of the most recent trips involved several members of our parish getting trained by an NGO type group on installing solar powered water purification systems. They then went down and installed two systems, one for the church property and another in a nearby village. The biggest focus of all that, however, was training the Cuban church members to install similar systems so that they could continue doing it in other local villages. Now our efforts are very directed at raising money to supply the equipment needed to do this. We do have a group of youth going down in August to run a 2 week camp for the kids of the parish - not something you would necessarily pay a local person to do, but it is good for the youth to go - it keeps the relationship going for another generation. We do support a seminarian from that parish; paying for all of his schooling.

Because it's Cuba, it is a bit of a weird situation. The supplies have to be taken in, we can't just send money. We have to get state department permission to go and also have to have permission (obviously) from the Cuban government. We are only able to do it because we are partnering with the local Anglican church - we'd never be able to prostelytize. (Not that Anglican/Episcopalians are much into that anyway. :lol: ) That is about as much of a foreign mission as I'd ever be comfortable with.

[Firiel]

I know some Fundies likely have good intentions for mission trips. However, given the Shraders or even Duggars, it still begs a question about their true intentions other than proselytizing . I especially feel for the Shrader kids. They have no real stability and have to live away from family. It is one thing to go on short trips, but another to be a 'career' missionary because you don't want to face real life.

As someone who works at a missions organization, I think long-term missionaries are generally better than short-term missions trips. Short-term missions cost a lot of money that could be better spent by sending it to the country and improving infrastructure. Like, instead of paying $4,000 to go to Africa and build some houses, send that money over. You can send several students to college to become contractors and then pay them to build the houses. I mean, not a perfect example, but you get the idea.

Long-term missionaries (in legitimate, service-based mission organizations) form relationships with the people they are working with and generally work to do things like build infrastructure in developing nations. I think spending years with communities also helps remove dangerous ideas like the "white savior" (which is certainly not limited to missionaries) because, well, getting to know people as people is integral to breaking down racial and cultural assumptions and barriers. Missions has moved forward by leaps and bounds since the days when it was nothing more than progressing the British then American empires, and respectable mission organizations rarely have many strings attached to the services they provide. Like all international aid, it's tricky to deal with the nuances, and I think that religious organizations are perhaps more likely than other organizations to be pushy about Western culture because Jesus. Missions is a problematic thing because all of what everyone said here about proselytizing. But if you are someone who truly believes that non-Christians will go to hell, I also understand wanting people to ask you about your faith so that they can have the option to choose that. It's tough. I still kind of struggle with that as a Christian, even one not sold on the doctrine of hell. I mean, I believe Jesus is God, and that knowing God's love will improve one's life. I'm not (ever) pushy about it, but since it's important to me and I believe it, I would like other people to at least have the chance to consider it, you know? So is it bad if someone asks me about what motivates me and I tell them a bit about my faith? I'm not sure!

Anyway, I know a lot of missionaries, and they are not people who want to avoid life. They are people who went to very specialized (and expensive!) schools to get trained in what they do (my particular organization is very specific). They could be in very lucrative positions, but because they see the need (material need!) for that service in developing nations, they've chosen to dedicate their lives to that instead.

Again, I want to add that all of this is for legitimate missions organizations. I've read about some cringe-inducing missionaries here! My organization is really well-respected and works with Christians non-profits and secular non-profits alike, as do plenty of other missionary organizations.

[RosyDaisy]

But dollar for dollar and in terms of real, continuing good those people would be better off being trained to do the job themselves.

Unless you're a highly skilled individual with skills not present in that town/region/country, the people are better served if you stay home and hire locals.

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I completely agree, August, and that is part of our missionary work and falls under essential needs.

[Ladycreo]

Confirmation students in my parish are asked to do service in the community, for their families, and in the parish itself. There is no discussion whatsoever of doing that to push the faith on anyone else. Believe me, I know there is not. I am a confirmation teacher.

On the other hand, the idea that the fundagelicals are only taking these trips to places where there are not a lot of Christians is inaccurate. Many trips are intended to convert Catholics in Latin America. And years ago, I had a roommate who was going on a trip to a place in Mexico where there were already evangelical churches. There just did not happen to be any churches of her particular denomination so they were hoping to convert evangelicals from other sects to their sect. :angry-banghead:

I'm Catholic also, and I have never known any Catholics to go and try to convert anyone. All of our "Missionary" work was (Volunteered) and geared toward the poor and less fortunate. We just did what we did and never forced our beliefs on anyone! In life I've learned to do what I do and that's between me, the person(s) and God!! I pray for those that do Charity or Missionary work and have to about from the highest mountain as to what they do (referring to people like Shrader), for all the wrong reasons!

I never understood those that went out and purposely pushing their beliefs on others. I'm personally appalled with Shrader (from the little I've read) about him and his guise to do Missionary work! I read the one where he accepted the $800 from the teen girl, no way I could have done that!!! God sits high and look low!!! Who's funding him while he and his family are there? Ma and Pa Keller aren't rich like the Duggars! Churches gonna collect for so long. Does he have a plan to come home? So many unanswered questions. I read on one thread that he's willing to sacrifice two kids or he (knows or will sacrifice) at least two will die over there, wtf? His wife had issues with childbirth and taking her over there where your getting minimal at best medical care...I could go on and on....I can't grasp how any parent could put their family in unknown harm or danger!!!

Btw, why is he so consumed as to want people are saying on FJ site?

(Can someone please PM or direct me to the thread as to how to post pictures, thank you in advance)