On the the theme of Missionaries to Africa-Meet the Cormiers

[debrand]

I was curious about The Wilkinson family and accidentally wandered into a wikipedia page about Bruce Wilkinson, the author of The Prayer for Jabez

.

The details of the events that led to Wilkinson's departure from Africa were provided in an article in the Wall Street Journal. As reported in the article, among the reasons for his pullout were the complications in establishing a planned "African Dream Village" in Swaziland. Wilkinson had plans to build this African Dream Village to house 10,000 orphans. These homes were to form a village and be based on themes — such as Wild West rodeos or Swazi village life — to entertain tourists. The orphans would be trained as rodeo stars and serve as safari guides at nearby game reserves. The idea, Wilkinson said, was to "try to bring experiences to the kids they could only get at Walt Disney or a dude ranch." [3]

Apparently, the Wall Street Journal had an article about this incident but I can't access it. Does anyone know of a source other than wikipedia?

His plan sounds horrible! The man is an idiot.

This article from Christianity Today doesn't even mention his plans to train orphans to perform for tourists.

christianitytoday.com/ct/2006/march/13.26.html

[tabitha2]

She seems a sweet women who really loves the culture and her work with the deaf of Kenya.

http://joyunspeakableinkenya.blogspot.com

[Glass Cowcatcher]

Holy passive voice Batman!

I stood before them, two new Deaf visitors at church last evening. Swahili songs were being sung. My hands waited. My brain frantically grasped at whatever words I could understand. About half of it was interpreted, very piece-meal to say the least. I could have wept. My heart cries out, "Nimeshindwa!" (I'm defeated.) Yet, my Lord speaks softly to my heart, "You are only defeated if you let yourself be defeated." And He brings a precious verse to my remembrance.

And, I disagree with you about respecting the culture. Embarking on a mission trip in the first place is pretty much a sign that you don't respect the culture and think it needs fixing.

[DCmilly]

And, I disagree with you about respecting the culture. Embarking on a mission trip in the first place is pretty much a sign that you don't respect the culture and think it needs fixing.

Thank you for saying this. Good intentions on behalf of the missionary or even good works do not change this basic fact.

[Glass Cowcatcher]

Thank you for saying this. Good intentions on behalf of the missionary or even good works do not change this basic fact.

You're welcome. I know lots of Christians who would loose it if Muslims or Hindus or whatever started preaching in their neighborhood and i think those overseas would feel the same.

[Alecto]

And, I disagree with you about respecting the culture. Embarking on a mission trip in the first place is pretty much a sign that you don't respect the culture and think it needs fixing.

I think it depends on the mission work. Evangelism? Absolutely. But not all mission work is evangelistic in nature. There are plenty of missionaries working in healthcare, education, civil engineering, hydrogeology and other highly needed fields in developing countries. I have a distant cousin who is a nurse in an AIDS clinic in Africa who is classified as a missionary since her work is supported by her denomination's mission fund.

[Glass Cowcatcher]

I think it depends on the mission work. Evangelism? Absolutely. But not all mission work is evangelistic in nature. There are plenty of missionaries working in healthcare, education, civil engineering, hydrogeology and other highly needed fields in developing countries. I have a distant cousin who is a nurse in an AIDS clinic in Africa who is classified as a missionary since her work is supported by her denomination's mission fund.

That's semantics. I don't mean people like her that are "classified" as missionaries. I mean the ones that are there specifically for evangelism.

[Alecto]

That's semantics. I don't mean people like her that are "classified" as missionaries. I mean the ones that are there specifically for evangelism.

It's not semantics. It's a fact. Not all missionaries are evangelistic in nature.

I say this as someone who hates the idea of evangelistic missions.

[Glass Cowcatcher]

It's not semantics. It's a fact. Not all missionaries are evangelistic in nature.

I say this as someone who hates the idea of evangelistic missions.

What I'm saying is I'm not calling out people like your cousin who are there to do much-need social work, but are technically classified as missionaries.

[Wolfie]

I think it depends on the mission work. Evangelism? Absolutely. But not all mission work is evangelistic in nature. There are plenty of missionaries working in healthcare, education, civil engineering, hydrogeology and other highly needed fields in developing countries. I have a distant cousin who is a nurse in an AIDS clinic in Africa who is classified as a missionary since her work is supported by her denomination's mission fund.

This. There are "missionary" groups that really do the same thing that relief groups would do. One that comes to mind is Mennonite Central Committee.

I also have friends who are supported as missionaries, but are doing things like teaching in schools that were established by the locals.

But I agree that evangelism is not the way to go to respect a culture.

[VintageJen1984]

When you said Cormiers, I thought you meant Brandy and Jason. :lol:

Talk about sending the people to be evangelized into a tailspin! Can you imagine THOSE Cormiers as missionaries? :o

You must cover your head!

1 month later:

Head covering is legalistic and bad! But you have to eat organic food!

3 weeks later:

You can eat all the non organic food you want, but you better be wearing skirts!

And so on. It'd be pretty funny, actually, because unlike their blogs, which they just shut down and start up to avoid this, the missionized people will be quick to tell them how hypocritical they are!

[debrand]

My first impressions were that the young wife has a very sweet face. Her children are adorable but so are most children.

Like other posters, I hate the idea behind evangelical missionaries.(I don't hate the individual missionaires) In America, most Christians would not respond favorably if Muslims or Hindus were actively trying to convert their children away from their family's faith.

http://joyunspeakableinkenya.blogspot.c ... uinea.html

I didn't recognize the foreign number on my cell phone.

This line made me curious as to why their training didn't include how to read numbers.

[pomology]

It's not semantics. It's a fact. Not all missionaries are evangelistic in nature.

I say this as someone who hates the idea of evangelistic missions.

Yeah. I met somebody once who was a missionary in Africa (and a Lutheran pastor) who I would not say that he had evangelistic intentions. He basically helped set up a community center in Dakar, Senegal that was entirely and consciously non-religious.

He then went to a program to study African Islam, merely because he found it fascinating and wanted to learn more about it. I'd say that amounts to a respect for the culture.

[debrand]

Is there a reason that someone who goes to another country mainly to do charity work is called a missionary and not a relief worker? I understand that not all missionaries focus on saving people's souls. Does the word, missionary mean that an individual works with a religious organization and not a secular one? I'm not arguing any point. The difference between the word missionary and relief worker just made me curious.

[Alecto]

Is there a reason that someone who goes to another country mainly to do charity work is called a missionary and not a relief worker? I understand that not all missionaries focus on saving people's souls. Does the word, missionary mean that an individual works with a religious organization and not a secular one? I'm not arguing any point. The difference between the word missionary and relief worker just made me curious.

Usually a missionary is sponsored by a church, church association or denomination, where as a relief worker is sponsored by a non-profit or governmental agency.

[clibbyjo]

I poked around and am disturbed. I don't like how the poor little 4 year old is so fixated on "the end of time" that he felt he had to get saved already. What kind of mother instills that fear in her baby and is then all proud he accepted Jesus. Poor kid had no choice. Why is the 4 year old wanting to talk about the end of the world and will he have wings to fly to Jesus with. Cringe, poor kid.

Like others have said , they have no respect for the customs and feel these poor people need saved and only they(as Christians )can save them..

[She Who Laughs]

There are places in the world where female genital mutilation is just part of their culture, where crapping in a ditch that is dug right next to where their kids play is part of their culture, where abandoning newborn twins to die is part of the culture because they are seen as a curse, where women are abused and treated worse than livestock because it is part of the culture, and I could go on and on. So then wouldn't it also be disrespectful of their culture for relief workers to go in and try to educate to stop mutilation, teach proper sanitation to lessen diseases, to educate so they won't see twins as a curse, to try to help women who are being abused, etc. ? Just having an outsider show up for a visit in their nice clothes and nice possessions could be seen as disrespectful to a culture. If all the churches and religious organizations were to decide they needed to abandon their work and go back to their country of origin because their work was disrespectful to the culture, the death toll in third world countries would rise significantly. I have been involved with missionaries and mission agencies most of my life and I don't know of any of them whose work involves strictly evangelizing. Most of these people/organizations realize that physical needs must be met first before any spiritual need can even be evaluated.

Just a personal gripe of mine that people think that humanitarian work doesn't affect a culture. It can affect the culture in a huge way. I have read a lot about Haiti and one of the concerns there about all the humanitarian relief and money that has been put into that country through the years has actually had a devastating effect on their own economy, on the people's desire to work, etc. Money and humanitarian aid flowing into a country can affect the local cultures just as much as religious teaching flowing into a country.

[debrand]

I poked around and am disturbed. I don't like how the poor little 4 year old is so fixated on "the end of time" that he felt he had to get saved already. What kind of mother instills that fear in her baby and is then all proud he accepted Jesus. Poor kid had no choice. Why is the 4 year old wanting to talk about the end of the world and will he have wings to fly to Jesus with. Cringe, poor kid.

Like others have said , they have no respect for the customs and feel these poor people need saved and only they(as Christians )can save them..

Even though I am agnostic, there is much about Jesus' words in the first four gospel that I find beautiful. Helping the poor, not judging others, not being violent etc is a lovely message.

There is nothing redeeming about some Christians' interpretation of Revelation. Jesus(the same person who told us to turn the cheek) is going to bring tremendous suffering to those who accept a mark inorder to feed their children. I've known people I considered otherwise normal who were very excited that they would escape the genocide god promises.

Not all Christians think that Revelation is discussing a future event. Some believe that the AntiChrist was Nero.