Jill, Derick and Israel- Part 15

[Imagine20]

I wish I could see the ocean from my house every day. I didn't get to see it at all until I was 19. I also love snow, have been known to wear flip flops while walking in it.

My apartment is in the suburbs. We don't get any wildlife beyond the rogue deer family and squirrel.  Even growing up, that was the most exciting thing to see in the yard.

My sisters in law (in Sri Lanka) would walk back to their college dorms after class and see monkeys wearing their clothes (they even put scarves over their heads lol).  Apparently monkey raids were pretty regular if the windows weren't locked. When I see moneys in the wild, I get super excited and make sure to take all kinds of pictures. They giggle at me for it. I would've love dorm life much more of there were roving bands of thieving moneys on campus.  

At another SIL's I was sitting on the sofa minding my business, reading my iPad, when all of a sudden there were things jumping loudly and clopping around on the roof. I was sure it was killers and we were all about to be crime victims.  I was in mid-panic when she casually came out and said it was just the monkeys that live in the forest behind the house, they're very annoying in the morning! Then she went back to getting her daughter ready. Like monkeys jumping on the roof is completely normal. 

Maybe Derrick and Jill also have roof monkeys? How dangerous, and exotic. Moneys, coyotes, spiders. It's so scary there in CA (or whatever they are). 

Not investing a minimum of tech support or camera people tells me either this entire show is an afterthought for TLC to prove once and for all there's no reason to continue or that the CA story line is not one they're willing to support. We'll know which of they cancel it or if the next incarnation includes Derrick and Jill back in AR. 

[RabbitKM]

If we're talking about wildlife where we live, my boyfriend sent me a snapchat yesterday of a subway rat. 

[EmCatlyn]

3 hours ago, marmalade said:

Yes, SOS built them a house. Pickles posted the SOS blurb about how they needed $20k and it had to be completed by July 2015 (which is when the Dullards first left for Danger America). 

Secondly, they are based in Antigua, Guatemala, not El Salvador. 

Are we sure?  Didn't someone on the Counting On show recently say that they were in El Salvador?  Of course, for the Duggars El Salvador may be just another name for Central America.  .   

As for their being in Antigua, has that been confirmed by anyone?  Seems odd that they would go back to be missionaries in the same place they were taking Spanish lessons before and not mention it.  Of course, they are Dug-Dills. Why should anything make sense?

In any case the point about patriarchal machistic culture holds true for all of Latin America to some degree.  And whichever country they are in, they really should come home now.

 

[nastyhobbitses]

10 hours ago, ClaraOswin said:

I am so annoyed that SOS Ministries built them a house. All the money could have been better spent on housing or other basic needs of local people.

For just $20,000 of your hard-earned money, you can provide these voluntarily unemployed white fundies with a relatively huge house with state-of-the-art appliances, security, and air conditioning in a country where a large swath of the population lives well under the poverty line. Please, give what you can to these lazy white people so they don't have to actually work for anything in their lives, be a useless drain on already strained resources, and act like arrogant White Saviors who know better than the actual denizens of the country. They truly need your help.

[nst]

I can see dear on the sunshine coast.

 

[Swamptribe]

6 hours ago, nastyhobbitses said:

For just $20,000 of your hard-earned money, you can provide these voluntarily unemployed white fundies with a relatively huge house with state-of-the-art appliances, security, and air conditioning in a country where a large swath of the population lives well under the poverty line. Please, give what you can to these lazy white people so they don't have to actually work for anything in their lives, be a useless drain on already strained resources, and act like arrogant White Saviors who know better than the actual denizens of the country. They truly need your help.

Yes, they went to Danger America to convert people who are already Christians to another form of Christianity.  They begged money from people to do this.  And they won't give anyone any details on how they are actually doing this or spending the money.   Ah, yeah.

[anotherone]

19 hours ago, artdecades said:

 So not only are Derick and Jill completely out of their depth in dealing with the actual problems down there, but they are trying to discourge people from one of their sources of relief and comfort by telling them its wrong and sinful because they are the "wrong type of christian"

But, like, does anyone actually listen?  Are there stats to say how many are actually converted, or how many just like the free stuff they're handing out.

[lascuba]

10 minutes ago, anotherone said:

But, like, does anyone actually listen?  Are there stats to say how many are actually converted, or how many just like the free stuff they're handing out.

I wonder about this a lot. I think they probably get a significant number of converts--enough to justify the whole mission industry--but it's similar to how the Catholic Church counts its membership by number of people baptized regardless of actual practice. I was baptised so the church counts me as a member even though I'm an atheist. I suspect that if all the foreign missionaries were to pack up and leave, the local SOS-approved Christianity would dry up quickly without the industry their to reinforce it. 

[bingbangboom]

But where do the funds come from for the single crayons that are handed out to cougars and gang member children?

[ksgranola1]

I don't think they are trying to convert Catholics. They are looking for the "unchurched."

Our church group left for Appalachia this morning.  They take tools, basic food stuffs,

and clothing. last trip they fixed a porch for an elderly couple. There was a huge hole in the floor & the husband, in his 80's just wasn't up to it. The fixed a cpl of roofs, too. They dug a well & last fall,helped a mother put up some tomato sauce for the winter. Included in the trailer of stuff was also several cases of mason jars. Now they will help then turn over a garden .

That's what missionaries do.

[EmCatlyn]

3 hours ago, lascuba said:

I wonder about this a lot. I think they probably get a significant number of converts--enough to justify the whole mission industry--but it's similar to how the Catholic Church counts its membership by number of people baptized regardless of actual practice. I was baptised so the church counts me as a member even though I'm an atheist. I suspect that if all the foreign missionaries were to pack up and leave, the local SOS-approved Christianity would dry up quickly without the industry their to reinforce it. 

The evangelicals actually have an increasingly strong presence in Latin America.  In El Salvador, the number of Evangelicals is estimated at 40% of the population. (50% are identified as Catholic).  Washington Post April 2015

The current president of Guatemala is, I think, Pentecostal, and the number of Evangelicals is estimated at 35%.  Gospel Coalition article 2015. Wikipedia cites a a 2013 survey that estimates 40%, but the difference may be that the Gospel Coalition is only counting Protestant evangelicals and the Wikipedia article talks about Orthodox evangelicals as well. Wikipedia:Religion in Guatemala .

According to a 2007 survey, roughly the same numbers are true in Honduras.  36 percent of those surveyed identified as evangelical Protestant, and 47 percent of respondents identified themselves as Roman Catholic.  Honduras Religious Freedom Report 2008 (US Dept of State)

The appeal of Evangelicalism in many cases is that it is seen as an alternative to the RC Church which in some areas is seen as complicit or turning a blind eye to abuses of power, crime, etc. Another is that the whole idea of evangelicalism is that missionaries set out to convert.  Lastly, in many cases, converts are helped by sponsoring churches in the US or elsewhere to "get ahead."

According to All Things Catholic (blog)  "Belgian Passionist Fr. Franz Damen, a veteran staffer for the Bolivian bishops, found that conversions from Catholicism to Protestantism in Latin America during the 20th century actually surpassed the Protestant Reformation in Europe in the 16th century."

Now, some of what SOS is doing is just coasting on what other, more effective evangelicals (who actually help people in practical ways) do.  And you are right that a lot of the converts turn out to be "in name only."  But we should not underestimate the impact of evangelicalism in Central America.

 

[Coy Koi]

7 minutes ago, ksgranola1 said:

I don't think they are trying to convert Catholics. They are looking for the "unchurched."

I don't see why they wouldn't be trying to convert Catholics. If they believe Catholics are just as hell-bound as atheists, why wouldn't they?

[bashfulpixie]

1 hour ago, Coy Koi said:

I don't see why they wouldn't be trying to convert Catholics. If they believe Catholics are just as hell-bound as atheists, why wouldn't they?

They probably see it as easier as well.  Catholics already believe, but they don't believe the "right way".  Not trying to convince someone who doesn't believe to believe.  If that makes sense.

[VeryNikeSeamstress]

Posting this here because I haven't seen it anywhere else yet.

www.enstarz.com/articles/154396/20160416/jill-duggar-baby-bump-update-derick-dillard-accidentally-reveals-pregnancy.htm

I don't think there's any accidental reveal of anything. It's entirely possible that Jill is pregnant, but these people are famous for breeding, so 'no siblings yet' is a fair statement whether she is or not.

[nst]

1 hour ago, VeryNikeSeamstress said:

Posting this here because I haven't seen it anywhere else yet.

www.enstarz.com/articles/154396/20160416/jill-duggar-baby-bump-update-derick-dillard-accidentally-reveals-pregnancy.htm

I don't think there's any accidental reveal of anything. It's entirely possible that Jill is pregnant, but these people are famous for breeding, so 'no siblings yet' is a fair statement whether she is or not.

I thought the same thing about what he put on his instagram 

[ClaraOswin]

I didn't read too much into the "yet" since it's a given that they plan to have a gaggle of children.

[CorruptionInc.]

27 minutes ago, ClaraOswin said:

I didn't read too much into the "yet" since it's a given that they plan to have a gaggle of children.

Also, correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't Jessa say the same thing about a week before announcing her pregnancy (in which she was a few months along?)

[lascuba]

8 hours ago, CorruptionInc. said:

Also, correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't Jessa say the same thing about a week before announcing her pregnancy (in which she was a few months along?)

Not sure about "yet," but she did say, "We have nothing to announce" several times.

These people are clearly banking on the lure of courtships and babies to keep audiences tuned in. Remember during the Counting On specials how many times Derrick and Jill kept saying, "We might come back a family of four!" Could be that not explicitly saying, "I'm not pregnant" means she is, but it could also mean they know that not saying it will ramp up speculation, so they're being deliberately vague.

[nst]

16 minutes ago, lascuba said:

Not sure about "yet," but she did say, "We have nothing to announce" several times.

These people are clearly banking on the lure of courtships and babies to keep audiences tuned in. Remember during the Counting On specials how many times Derrick and Jill kept saying, "We might come back a family of four!" Could be that not explicitly saying, "I'm not pregnant" means she is, but it could also mean they know that not saying it will ramp up speculation, so they're being deliberately vague.

since she is in barely 5 minutes of the "new" show - if she is her wifi better increase otherwise what will we do without her monthly door pictures ?

[Four is Enough]

As far as the "twins" thing... Israel is looking at himself in a mirror... that, to me, is where the "twins" comment comes in. Derick may be trying to flog interest in a  pregnancy , but since most of us expect that she's already pregnant or actively trying, due to the lack of current pictures of Jill in media right how..... ho hum... yawn..

[ClaraOswin]

The twins comment is 100% about Izzy and his reflection. I am not sure how so many people in the comments don't seem to get that.

[iweartanktops]

1 minute ago, ClaraOswin said:

The twins comment is 100% about Izzy and his reflection. I am not sure how so many people in the comments don't seem to get that.

SOTDRT, probably. It's actually kind of sad, and I would think it's pretty simple to understand, but apparently not. 

[MamaJunebug]

Just heard this author on NPR:

https://books.google.com/books/about/The_World_s_Emergency_Room.html?id=rYifCgAAQBAJ&source=kp_cover&hl=en

THIS, folks, is what aid missions are about. 

Unless you're a Dillgar, of course. 

[justmy2cents]

3 hours ago, lascuba said:

Not sure about "yet," but she did say, "We have nothing to announce" several times.

These people are clearly banking on the lure of courtships and babies to keep audiences tuned in. Remember during the Counting On specials how many times Derrick and Jill kept saying, "We might come back a family of four!" Could be that not explicitly saying, "I'm not pregnant" means she is, but it could also mean they know that not saying it will ramp up speculation, so they're being deliberately vague.

I thought that was their way of hinting that they may adopt in 'cintrul merica' and come back as a family of four.    Of course a pregnancy announcement soon would not shock me at all.

[Georgiana]

Regarding converting Catholics:

While Jill and Derrick have claimed to not be out to convert Catholics, many of the missionaries they are personally associated with AND have worked with are very open about converting Catholics.

If you take a look at the instagrams of J+Ds missionary friends, you'll find them going into Catholic Churches to try and "save" people and openly making anti-Catholic comments, especially about the Virgin Mary.  

I have a very hard time believing that J+D hang out with all these people, work with them, but ONLY work with them to reach the "unchurched".  If they really didn't believe in converting Catholics, there are many other groups of missionaries/aid workers in Central America for them to hang around (many with more prestige too!).