This is just flat wrong.?

Question

I know an individual who is leaving on a mission trip to a third world crisis zone next week. This person is a RN, who is an excellent medical caretaker.

I asked them, "So, this is a medical mission trip, right?" They said, "no". Are you bringing vaccines? No. Medical equipment? No. Food? No. Water? No. Clothes? No. AIDS and sex education? No.

Are you building infrastructure, and helping the people help themselves? No.

So what ARE you doing? Preaching.

These people are starving. Dying. For lack of clean food and water, and immunizations and medical care, and you're bringing them CHICK PUBLICATIONS!?!?!

What kind of mindset makes people think this is OK?

How can anyone be so naive/arrogant to think that their particular brand of religion is more important than saving human lives? They need food and medicine, but give the Jesus? And that's IT?

This is sick.

Answer 1

She could reach a lot more people by using her skills as an RN to heal and provide a good example by doing, not preaching. The "sermon" should be good works, which will get the attention and earn the respect of those cared for so much more effectively than a Chick Tract, which is just a scare tactic. Chick might have an effect in a world without major life or death strife, but I can't see it working on someone whose main concern is getting food day-to-day and fighting just to stay alive. Convince her to take medical supplies if you can. Maybe her nurse instinct will kick in.

Answer 2

My husband has been on several mission trips, all to run medical/dental clinics in remote areas. They are not ashamed to say they share Christ with the people they help. In our way of thinking, and perhaps your friend's, to help a person's body will do a little temporary good, while helping their soul will do eternal good. Which is more important?



However, what you've described really puzzles me. The mission trips we've been involved with have invested heavily in food/clothing/medical aid. The resources are given freely whether the people accept the religious message or not. To alleviate suffering is part of the gospel.



Of course, people fly off on vacations all the time when they could stay home and give their travel money to help people in 3rd world countries. They don't seem to think it's arrogant or sick to spend plane fare on themselves when people are dying. I guess it's all in one's perspective.



Add--For the record, I believe you. It bothers me they are doing this kind of trip, but I don't doubt it. But I still wonder, of all those who are criticizing in their answers, how many are going to join the Peace Corps or stop traveling so they can support Doctors without Borders? Or is it easier to just criticize?

Answer 3

it's very easy to blame the many for the fault of the few, but not very easy to credit the many with the achievements of the few.



you'll see the same percentage of religious people who are stupid as you see in society as a whole. don't blame religion, blame stupidity. religion, contrary to popular belief, does not make one stupid. neither does atheism make someone a genius. sometimes there is no correlation between intelligence and religious affiliation.



there are many religious organizations that will offer care and services to individuals regardless of those individuals' personal religion. a portion of these people convert without having to be told to. I think that these organizations have the right idea, and that the person going simply to preach has the wrong idea.



but who knows. maybe jesus may be of some help to those people after all, in subtle intangible ways.

Answer 4

Christians have faith each little thing the lord has written for them in the holy Bible. It does communicate approximately how the earth became created despite the fact that it would not say something appropriate to the form of it or outerspace each and all the beginnings of creation are in Genesis. The lord left some issues a mistery for us! So it wasn't purely christians who believed the earth became flat, purely Europeans believed it to be around. so a strategies as we are able to tell no one ever seen the international to be flat. The very earliest writings constantly describe the international as a dome or an upturned bowl or as a pile of soil or comparable descriptions. so we are able to anticipate that individuals on no account concept the international became flat. That is sensible because of the fact that every physique who climbed even a small mountain could see extremely needless to say that the international curves away on all factors. as a effect they assumed it became formed like a dome, with their area close to the best.So the guy who first stumbled on that the international became around became possibly some Persian or Babylonian astrologer 3, 000 years in the past. i assume the guy who 'proved' the international became around became Ferdinand Magellan, who became the 1st guy to sail around the realm. That became the 1st time it became conclusively shown that the international became around.

Answer 5

Yes, I agree with you.......Food and medical care first, unless you want people to go see Jesus a lot sooner than planned......Religion doesn't do a lot of good to dead people, now does it?? I know this is straying from the issue, but it seems like we again have to be the Police of the Planet......People IN THIS COUNTRY ARE MALNOURISHED, WHY CAN'T WE START HERE WITH OUR OWN???? START HERE!!!



Here's the joke:





This was nominated for best joke of the year - worth sharing.



A Somalian arrives in Minneapolis as a new immigrant to the United States .



He stops the first person he sees walking down the street and says, "Thank you Mr. American for letting me in this country , giving me housing, food stamps, free medical care, and free education!" The passerby says, "You > are mistaken, I am Mexican."



The man goes on and encounters another passerby. " Thank you for having such a beautiful country here in America !" The person says, "I not American, I Vietnamese."



The new arrival walks further, and the next person he sees he stops, shakes his hand and says, "Thank you for the wonderf ul America!" That person puts up his hand and says, "I am from Middle East , I am not American!"



He finally sees a nice lady and asks, "Are you an American?" She says , "No, I am from Africa !" Puzzled, he asks her, "Where are all the Americans?"



The African lady checks her watch and says..."Probably at work!!!!!!



IF YOU DON'T PASS THIS ON TO ALL YOUR FRIENDS, TOMORROW AT 11:30 AM YOU WILL RECEIVE THREE ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS ABSOLUTELY FREE.



Ah - Only in America

Answer 6

There was a great South Park episode about just this. The natives would ask something in their native tongue, and the person would respond "No food, bible...bi-ble. First Jesus, then food." So the natives would all pretend to be interested in the bible because they thought that is what they needed to do for the person to give them food. Then the preacher said they had a present. And that natives would again ask something and the response was "no, no water, cross." And they would give them a cross on a necklace.



It was hilariously sad.

Answer 7

Allow me to explain how medical missions work. The medical team goes there and runs immunization clinics, provides primary care, emergency treatment, etc. In the course of that, they also share the Gospel. They cannot acknowledge these missionary works because most of the countries where they do this, it is illegal and can land the missionary in prison or dead in a ditch someplace. It has happened many times in the past.



Yes, they are going to provide care, but they are going there because they care about the people’s souls, not just their physical bodies. My church has sent several medical missions out to places like Myanmar, Peru, and sub-Saharan Africa. They risk their lives to bring healthcare and the Gospel to people.

Answer 8

Your friend needs to read 'The Poisonwood Bible'.



It is a really good story about a guy who is an overzealous catholic missionary who drags his entire family along on an extended mission trip to Africa.



It shows how people who assume that they have everything all figured out will always be proven wrong when they step outside of their comfort zone and are confronted with reality.

Answer 9

I remember a scene from an old movie I saw as a kid that really made an impression on my young mind. It was James Michener's Hawaii, and it involved missionaries coming to the islands. I can't recall the details, but there was a scene where a native girl died, but her life could have been saved by the head of the missionaries, who had failed to convert her. His wife complained that he had not saved her, and he was only upset that he hadn't saved her soul.



There's very little you can do to make people who think this way see clearly. As long as they think that there's a life after this one which is more important than this one, they won't care as much about what happens while people are actually alive.

Answer 10

Many religions believe that their number 1 job is to spread the word.

Then they can come back to their congregations and tell everybody how they achieved great success in getting out their message.

You and I both know that religions push their agenda, Anything outside of that is, well, not their agenda.

I live in a small town.

The Jehovah's used to stop by my house now and then. It was their job to get their message out. I was always nice to them, Let them in, talked with them, bought their books, mostly because so many people were very mean to them. The same ones never came by twice. Like they really didn't care if I was interested. Just that they got their message out. I never did figure that deal out...

Answer 11

Definite waste of time and money. If I were sick, starving, living in fear, the LAST thing I'd want is some stack of fools coming to preach their religion at me.



Best to stay home if not offering real, concrete help.



Special may be too "special" for most of us, but I agree - print this all out - our opinions and all - and hand it to your mom to read.

Answer 12

There is the idea in education that people have no attention to spare if their basic needs aren't met. At least physiological and safety needs have to be met before anybody will be ready for education or religion.

Guess they missed this class.

I've been taught it even as a volunteer tour guide in a museum: don't try to educate people who mainly want to know where they can right now find the next bathroom.

Answer 13

I have heard of Messiahanic Jews doing this . Sort of like taking a vacation to do what you want . Some people like to swim , other like to ski , some like to preach and hand out pamphlets . If they are doing it on their own dime, fine ! If the people that donate to this cause don't mind , fine !

But you are right it is terribly stupid to go somewhere and ram your religion down poor peoples throats !

Answer 14

This is a new trend in traveling I call the "feel good vacation." Spreading the word my ***. More like seeing the sights, stuffing yourself at the hotel, and then praying with some starving kids for that uplifting feeling. Well, at least their tourist dollars get spent there and that is probably needed.

Answer 15

Wow, thats really disgusting. Im sure the preching will help with the whole starving/sick problem. Thats just insane to me



Katiee are you crazy???!! religion is just as important as food?

Do you really believe that starving people and children give a damn about god? Do you really think you would be concerned about god if you had no food?

Thats just absurd and if you really believe that you should be institutionalized



Tigris is absolutely right. Maslows Hierarchy of needs. Your basic needs (i.e food, shelter, safety) Must be met before you can focus on things like religion

Answer 16

In many areas, the church hasn't saved people from AIDS--they've saved them from condoms.



At one point, the Archbishop of Kenya told the population that the use of condoms INCREASED the chance of contracting HIV.



The utter arrogance, self-centeredness and self-righteousness required of religious individuals to pull this sort of thing off astounds and infuriates me.

Answer 17

Isn't it mind boggling?



They seem to think that those people are getting AIDS left and right, not going to school, starving to death, and doing without clean drinking water because they need Jebus.



They're doing that stuff because they live in a third world country and they need help with making changes from people like us who CAN help them!!11111111 Argh.

Answer 18

Oh, it gets worse. In India, for instance, the vast majority of Christian churches take advantage of the poverty by paying people to come on Sundays. Many devout Hindus make more money taking their family to church (every person gets payed) than they do during the week. The mindset is that saving the soul is the only real priority. my friends in India do their Puja, then go to church and sleep.

Answer 19

I agree it is sick. If all you are going to do is preach at them, why bother. They'd rather have food, clothing, medical attention. Personally, I think they shouldn't be allowed into countries just to preach.

Answer 20

Dear Barstool,



I think most people have a perverted view of salvation.......! Salvation is NOT freedom from oppression, disease, or hunger! Salvation is freedom from God's wrath for the sins we so readily commit each day. Every single person is condemned to damnation from the moment of conception. This is why you don't need to teach a child to lie.....they know how to do it from birth! And if a person is not redeemed/saved/born from above by the tiem their last breath leaves their body, they will be exterminated for all eternity!

The charity of Americans is wonderful....! People need food...they need medicine....they need many things! But if I give a hungering man a meal today, he is still going to need to eat tomorrow! People need medicines or treatment on a daily basis. However, Christians look to a far greater need..... the need for salvation from sins. That is why Christ gave the commission to preach the Gospel to the whole world.....incidently, Chick tracts teach a "false gospel". One of the thieves that were crucified with Christ got saved hours before his death.....he had no time to get baptized (as if water could wash away sin). He had no time to learn "church doctrine" as if salvation is based on religious IQ. He (the thief) had no time to do any "good works".....as if good works give us access to heaven (Titus 3:5; Galatians 2:16). He was saved by the Lord right there on the cross! The Bible says, "So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God." "FAITH is a synonym for Jesus Christ (Revelation 19:11). If God is going to save anyone, it will occur in the environment pf hearing God's word. One does not need to have the intellect to understand all the doctrines of the Bible either.....check out the child conceived by the adulterous act of David with Bathsheba (2 Samuel 12:21-23).

There are humanitarians who will give food, clothing, and medicine to the needy....but the mission of the Christian is to give people the true Gospel.

Answer 21

Yeah its disgusting humans have done this stuff for thousands and thousands of years. Of course that doesn't make it right but I'm sure it's not going to change anytime soon if at all.

Answer 22

Jesus is the bread of life. Wow. Why don't you ask a starving person what they would prefer? I'm pretty sure it wouldn't be Jesus.

Answer 23

I am a Christian, and I find that sick. How can she, as an RN, go with nothing to help ease suffering! Tell her I don't think she is a Christian. Remind her that she is commanded to feed the poor.

Answer 24

Sounds like this person needs a copy of Mazlow's Hierarchy of Needs.

Answer 25

I can not explain to you how much I agree with you. It's disgusting. While their intent may be to bring some good, it is obvious there are much more important things to these people then just "god."



Just as Plato taught, we should learn to care for human beings, before we worry how to care for the "gods."

Answer 26

Why not take the money in the collection plates and help with food and bills for people? Not use it to create their own crusades.

Answer 27

If I could give a thumbs down to the person I would, or a frying pan to the head to get them to wake up.

Answer 28

And if the shoe were on the other foot, they'd be screaming bloody murder too.

Answer 29

rebel very valid q

it's the reverse of food for thought.

it's thought for food.

Answer 30

Jebus said if you see someone who hungers, thirsts, ect. you have to tend to their needs or you'll be condemned. I guess they missed that part in the bible.

Answer 31

While I would have to class your question as a "rant," it is a pretty good one.

Answer 32

Truly sad if truly true.



I honestly believe that most of these people are only doing it to assure their own salvation.

Answer 33

The religion is saving lives. People who just get medicince will still die and go to Hell if they don't have Jesus. But if they accept Christ, then they have everlasting life with the Father in Heaven, reguardless when they die.

Answer 34

What a waste of time and money.

Answer 35

Stupidity is encouraged within these religious organizations.

Expect more of it.

Answer 36

That is wrong and wasteful and just.. wow.

Answer 37

In my opinion that is pretty shitty.

Answer 38

Oh please. Christians feed lots and clothe lots and lots of people, dig wells, ect. But the primary mission of the church is to preach the gospel.



Why are all of your posts Christian bashing? That is sick.

Answer 39

Give me a break, you made that up. No one goes on a mission like that just to preach.

Answer 40

oh stop MAKING STORIES UP, it's so obvious it's pathetic!!



**edit** oh she's ASSuring us it's true folks, I suppose now we have no choice but to believe



*EDIT2** THAN PRINT THIS PAGE OUT AS EVIDENCE OF WHAT PEOPLE THINK, STOP WHINING TO US AND TALK TO HER ABOUT IT!!!!

Answer 41

Jesus is the bread of life , The bible says once you drink from the water Jesus gives you will never thirst again. Jesus is the best gift you can give anyone .

Answer 42

no its not, religion is really important.

sure food and medicine would be good also.

but religion is just as important.