Started By
Message
re: Let's talk about photo-op "mission trips".
Posted on 1/4/17 at 9:45 pm to Kodar
Posted on 1/4/17 at 9:45 pm to Kodar
Read my prior posts, I absolutely support mission trips that serve impoverished areas in the US, my problem is with churches that do "mission trips" to first world countries while ignoring serious poverty in the US. Want to do good? Go to Flint, Detroit, Atlanta, Chicago....not fricking England or Sweden.
This post was edited on 1/4/17 at 9:50 pm
2
Posted on 1/4/17 at 9:49 pm to Kodar
quote:
Is doing something similar in a place like England a vacation?
And yes it is just a vacation when you can do as much good in a less "exotic" place like Memphis or Atlanta.
Posted on 1/4/17 at 9:57 pm to AUCatfish
quote:
And yes it is just a vacation when you can do as much good in a less "exotic" place like Memphis or Atlanta.
Christianity has no borders.
Posted on 1/4/17 at 9:59 pm to AUCatfish
quote:I understand what you're saying, and I see your point. The thing is, and I said it earlier, God calls us to different walks of life. He may have a purpose for someone in a place like England while having a purpose for you in a place local to the USA. It could be anywhere, because everywhere on Earth has mission opportunities.
Read my prior posts, I absolutely support mission trips that serve impoverished areas in the US, my problem is with churches that do "mission trips" to first world countries while ignoring serious poverty in the US. Want to do good? Go to Flint, Detroit, Atlanta, Chicago....not fricking England or Sweden.
So, I don't believe it's a case of ignoring poverty somewhere, but a case of being called elsewhere.
Posted on 1/4/17 at 10:56 pm to AUCatfish
quote:
Go to Flint, Detroit, Atlanta, Chicago....not fricking England or Sweden.
Inner city Atlanta is being taken over by well to do millennials. Not your target audience. Atlanta doesn't fit in with the other three.
Posted on 1/5/17 at 7:40 am to Numberwang
quote:
This "college kids" globetrotting is wasteful and narcissistic.
I'd argue that kids need to get out more and see the world. And see the pros and cons of living in the US versus elsewhere.
I don't have issues with mission trips. If that's how churches want to spend their money then so be it. But I don't disagree with the notion that their best work could be done stateside. And that many larger churches have gotten away from servicing their own communities. I would like to see more community-based outreach.
This post was edited on 1/5/17 at 7:41 am
Posted on 1/5/17 at 9:50 am to Chazzy McRamzee
quote:
Christianity has no borders.
yeah, so screw the people 2 neighborhoods over, I want to go to Zambia!
Posted on 1/5/17 at 10:17 am to WinnPtiger
To live above with the saints we love, won't that be grace and glory!
But to live below with the saints we know, now THAT'S a different story
Don't ask me why I posted that
But to live below with the saints we know, now THAT'S a different story
Don't ask me why I posted that
Posted on 1/5/17 at 10:41 am to WinnPtiger
quote:
yeah, so screw the people 2 neighborhoods over, I want to go to Zambia!
#Blessed
Posted on 1/5/17 at 10:42 am to Numberwang
don't get me wrong, I think most missionaries do fantastic work assuming they don't force conversion prior to said work. but the locality(or lack thereof) of their focus is a legitimate question IMO
Posted on 1/5/17 at 10:51 am to WinnPtiger
It is self-focused, self-discovery nonsense for the most part.
Actual doctors, physical therapists, etc, sure. Send them to an orphanage to provide services that can't be provided.
Leave the fat marketing PR cat-lady and the totally unskilled college kids at home. It's tourism, and churches spend far too much on that while neglecting many needs in their congregation and local communities.
Actual doctors, physical therapists, etc, sure. Send them to an orphanage to provide services that can't be provided.
Leave the fat marketing PR cat-lady and the totally unskilled college kids at home. It's tourism, and churches spend far too much on that while neglecting many needs in their congregation and local communities.
Posted on 1/5/17 at 10:59 am to Numberwang
I do think that some mission trip programs are all show and no go as they don't impact the people at the destination that much. Many do good work though. There is also something to be said for the impact exposure to poverty can have on people who go on the trips.
Some have gotten stupid. I know people who went to England to spread the Word. I understand that many there have turned away from Christianity but there are plenty of people there already trying, often unsuccessfully, to reignite the fire. I would think it would make more sense to go somewhere with very little exposure to Christianity.
As a Catholic I am amused how oftentimes the missionaries see areas with lots of Catholics as places that need to be brought Christianity.
Some have gotten stupid. I know people who went to England to spread the Word. I understand that many there have turned away from Christianity but there are plenty of people there already trying, often unsuccessfully, to reignite the fire. I would think it would make more sense to go somewhere with very little exposure to Christianity.
As a Catholic I am amused how oftentimes the missionaries see areas with lots of Catholics as places that need to be brought Christianity.
Posted on 1/5/17 at 11:01 am to Kodar
quote:
The thing is, and I said it earlier, God calls us to different walks of life. He may have a purpose for someone in a place like England while having a purpose for you in a place local to the USA.
My counter to that is that you can't always attribute your choices to do things that don't make a lot of sense to God's purpose. Sometimes people are just indulging themselves.
This post was edited on 1/5/17 at 11:02 am
Posted on 1/5/17 at 11:38 am to GnashRebel
quote:
As a Catholic I am amused how oftentimes the missionaries see areas with lots of Catholics as places that need to be brought Christianity.
Church here did a mission trip to Ireland...not to work with people in poverty, but to proselytize to Catholics. Oy vey.
Posted on 1/5/17 at 12:07 pm to Numberwang
Everyone seems already set in their opinion, so I'm not trying to sway anyone, just throwing in my $.02-
I took a 10 day mission trip when I was 16 to Jamaica. No social media to speak of at the time, but I did take pictures. It was a fantastic trip and was my first real exposure to the third world and real poverty. I gained perspective and grew as a person. Did I help some Jamaican kids? I'd like to think so, but I know it helped me.
My daughter, also took a mission trip to an orphanage in Mexico around the same age. She raised the money to fund the trip herself. She loved it and sincerely loved the children and returned to the same orphanage the following summer. The trips definitely gave her a new perspective. This spring break, she's returning to the same orphanage on her own $, while her friends go to the beach or skiing. I am thankful that she's found a place and a group of kids that she's passionate about and I could see her moving there full-time after college.
So, sometimes mission trips provide as much for those who attend as their target audience.
Are there opportunities here in town? Sure and we try to take advantage of that too. Our church boarders an impoverished section of town and we provide outreach in the neighborhood.
So you have fun on a mission trip, is that wrong? I didn't get that memo.
I took a 10 day mission trip when I was 16 to Jamaica. No social media to speak of at the time, but I did take pictures. It was a fantastic trip and was my first real exposure to the third world and real poverty. I gained perspective and grew as a person. Did I help some Jamaican kids? I'd like to think so, but I know it helped me.
My daughter, also took a mission trip to an orphanage in Mexico around the same age. She raised the money to fund the trip herself. She loved it and sincerely loved the children and returned to the same orphanage the following summer. The trips definitely gave her a new perspective. This spring break, she's returning to the same orphanage on her own $, while her friends go to the beach or skiing. I am thankful that she's found a place and a group of kids that she's passionate about and I could see her moving there full-time after college.
So, sometimes mission trips provide as much for those who attend as their target audience.
Are there opportunities here in town? Sure and we try to take advantage of that too. Our church boarders an impoverished section of town and we provide outreach in the neighborhood.
So you have fun on a mission trip, is that wrong? I didn't get that memo.
Posted on 1/5/17 at 5:37 pm to GnashRebel
quote:That's absolutely true. At that point however, if we have no evidence of wrong intentions, then it becomes a matter of speculation. At that point, the best you can do is leave it between that person and God. Reminds me of the lesson Jesus taught regarding those who pray in public with intention of being honored, praised, or whatever by the public.
My counter to that is that you can't always attribute your choices to do things that don't make a lot of sense to God's purpose. Sometimes people are just indulging themselves.
Posted on 1/5/17 at 5:43 pm to wmr
quote:
The perpetually single but slutty fat white girls on my instagram are always posting pics hammocking in Honduras and other such places. Instagrams with brown children is hip.
i knew a girl in college who I thought was similar. she ended up moving back to central america after college, worked at local schools and ultimately adopted a child from the village. I'm not a christian, but if it makes their lives better in any way, I say do it. Not like they're using gov't funding.
Posted on 1/5/17 at 6:04 pm to Numberwang
Spent 2 weeks in Zimbabwe/botswana and south africa in 2007, my senior trip as a mission trip. we went to the schools way out in the bush and did our thing. You would've thought we were the Beatles when we came into the town, it was crazy how much the kids loved us . WE did real safaris and rode elephants and toured Victoria Falls as well. So we did spread the gospel and also got a vacation of a lifetime out of the deal.
The craziest part was seeing how the North Face jacket and fossil watch and new balance shoes I was wearing then could've fed some of those kids for several months really hit me hard. I've tried not to be as material - centered after this.
The craziest part was seeing how the North Face jacket and fossil watch and new balance shoes I was wearing then could've fed some of those kids for several months really hit me hard. I've tried not to be as material - centered after this.
This post was edited on 1/5/17 at 6:12 pm
Posted on 1/6/17 at 1:42 am to Lawyered
My Grandparents went to Africa/South America on several church sponsored mission trips and preached to the locals and also gave free dental work. I'd hardly call them hip or narcissistic
Posted on 1/6/17 at 2:00 am to Lawyered
quote:
North Face jacket
quote:
2007
This post was edited on 1/6/17 at 2:00 am
Page 3 of 4
Popular
Back to top
Follow SECRant for SEC Football News