Amethyst Posted April 9, 2006 Share Posted April 9, 2006 I recently got a letter from one of my more fundy relatives. Their collage-age daughter now wants to be a missionary and was asking for money. Now, her parents make darn good money and are definitely upper middle-class. So why is it that she cannot get money from them, and she has to beg everyone else for it? I was actually rather annoyed, because my relatives know I don't make as much as they do. I most certainly am not going to send their kid any money for a mission trip so she can brainwash other people into the cult. So then, I went to my parents' house for dinner today and find out they're sending her $50. It's like, why? Her parents are certainly not poor people. There are many more people who could put that money to *good* use that does not include brainwashing (of course, I didn't say that to my parents). But it is so frustrating to see their hard-earned money going towards a cult, and there's nothing I can say or do to convince them not to send it because they think it's going "for a good cause." And then to top it off, my stepmom will NOT send her money to any non-religious charities because she thinks they're all scams. Arrrrrgh! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Taphophilia Posted April 9, 2006 Share Posted April 9, 2006 I wonder which one it is. They have these missionary things for high school and collage age kids that are basically camps in different countries. I knew one such "Missionary Leader" in the Philipines. They stayed in the compound the whole time, rarely venturing out of it, except to get supplies and food then as a group would pass out tracts. It wasn't exactly like you'd think of missionary work. More like an away bible camp in another country. I think the kids had to raise their own money for their own trip to teach them an important missionary lesson of begging for money. Taph Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amethyst Posted April 9, 2006 Author Share Posted April 9, 2006 Her family is Baptist (they're the odd ones, most of my relatives on my dad's side are Lutherans and generally non-fundy). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Taphophilia Posted April 9, 2006 Share Posted April 9, 2006 Her family is Baptist (they're the odd ones, most of my relatives on my dad's side are Lutherans and generally non-fundy). The one's I knew were Missionary & Christian Alliance. It's not much different from Baptist, except the adminitrative structure is set up a little different. Don't ask me how, that's just what they told me. Are they Northern Baptist or Southern Baptist? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amethyst Posted April 9, 2006 Author Share Posted April 9, 2006 Well, I live in MN, so they're not Southern Baptist. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Taphophilia Posted April 9, 2006 Share Posted April 9, 2006 Well, I live in MN, so they're not Southern Baptist. I didn't know if they were in MN with you. I don't know that much about SBC (Southern Baptist Convention), but I do know a lot about ABC (American Baptist Convention). I have relatives that are American Baptist and they are pretty damn nutty. Taph Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pandora Posted April 10, 2006 Share Posted April 10, 2006 I think they ask for money so they can say "God provided." In the groups I was involved with, they said that raising money was a practice of faith... and that if you used your own (or parents') money, it showed that you didn't rely on God enough. From my experience, this is really common for missionaries... they always send out letters asking for support. I can't think of any group or person that went with their own money... even short term mission trips were funded through letters to church members, family, and Christian groups on campus. In college, the people who used their own money were seen as having the wrong motivation, like wanting to go for tourism only. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amethyst Posted April 10, 2006 Author Share Posted April 10, 2006 I think they ask for money so they can say "God provided." In the groups I was involved with, they said that raising money was a practice of faith... and that if you used your own (or parents') money, it showed that you didn't rely on God enough. From my experience, this is really common for missionaries... they always send out letters asking for support. I can't think of any group or person that went with their own money... even short term mission trips were funded through letters to church members, family, and Christian groups on campus. In college, the people who used their own money were seen as having the wrong motivation, like wanting to go for tourism only. And I still can't believe that with all this begging for money, people don't recognize Christianity is a cult. I guess it must be nice living in a river in Egypt. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RankStranger Posted April 10, 2006 Share Posted April 10, 2006 My cousin is a Wesleyan missionary in New Guinea. She went there the first time while she was in college (pre-med), fell in love with one of the missionaries, and went off to New Guinea rarely to be seen again. That was maybe 15 years ago. Nowadays she raises younguns and tries to steal the souls of the natives. She was a damn smart and likeable gal, too. What a waste. My parents still send me her newsletter now and then, along with their polite requests for money. I give it a quick look-over to see how many second-cousins I have nowadays... and toss it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amethyst Posted April 10, 2006 Author Share Posted April 10, 2006 I think this may be a one-time church group thing, not an actual career choice, but who knows? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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