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Girl Talk 13w
Mission trips to developed countries aren’t mission trips, they’re glorified Bible camps.
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Anonymous 13w

And mission trips to third world countries are 90% voluntourism that hurts the local economy’s growth and stability

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Anonymous 13w

America is such a big country and has so many charities that need volunteers I feel like that’s the place to do your “mission work”. If you’re so desperate for it to include travel, just go to another state and help with one of their established charities for a week. Even in another state you shouldn’t be going and doing your own thing but working with people who have roots in the community and can give you things to do to make their load easier

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Anonymous 13w

my old choir teacher went on a mission trip to china and talked about how she was bringing democracy and it was like 😭

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Anonymous 13w

i hate most mission trips with a burning passion. most of them do a lot of harm.

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Anonymous 13w

Not all of them! I’ve been on three and they’ve been nothing of that sort! Some give us a bad rep for sure, but others, like us, just wanna spread the word and it does NOT get done forcefully. At least not with my church

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Anonymous replying to -> #1 13w

How in the world do they hurt the local economy’s growth and stability? If anything they would benefit the economy by having more ppl spending money in said country

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Anonymous replying to -> #4 13w

You mean gentrification?? It hurts bc there’s people who get paid for those jobs.

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Anonymous replying to -> #2 13w

Oh I know it’s not forced but those countries also have churches and churchgoers. It’s no different than spreading the gospel in the USA, difference is the location, esp when it’s a touristic place.

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Anonymous replying to -> #4 13w

If a group of volunteers pulls up to say build a school (a common project), yes, some funding goes to their accommodations and meals and maybe the materials are sourced locally. But then the would-be builder doesn’t get that business, funds are diverted for plane tickets, and the work often is subpar. On a large scale, that can create an economy that cannot thrive independently. It would be better to use those funds to hire local labor to more efficiently build while also stimulating the economy

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Anonymous replying to -> #4 13w

Just look up the term voluntourism and you can find more info about how these “mission trips” are doing more harm than good.

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Anonymous replying to -> #2 13w

Having the inharent power of I’m “helping” but look at our god while ur at it is unethical. People will feel obligated to convert because they are relying on the aid. In that situation, they are not your equal and the tempting to convert somebody when they are not your equal is unethical.

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Anonymous replying to -> OP 13w

It’s more of reaching people that have never heard the Gospel, or any of the sorts

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Anonymous replying to -> #2 13w

even if they’ve never heard it, that doesn’t necessarily mean they want to. some of you only help BECAUSE you are religious and if you weren’t religious you wouldn’t necessarily be helping them at all. you only do it to look good in gods eyes whereas you wouldn’t if god didn’t exist in your mind. do you see where this is going?

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Anonymous replying to -> #5 13w

I certainly see what you’re saying and im asking you to see what I’m saying. “Some of you” but not ALL. That is my point. We present the Gospel and give people the choice. It is not forced upon them, they have the opportunity to decline and say no. If they do then so be it. But i want people to hear the good news, so im gonna share it. Whether or not they do something about it is up to them

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Anonymous replying to -> #2 13w

Having power over someone with aid doesn’t give them a choice to hear it. There is a story of a indigenous man asking a missionary if they would go to heaven if they had never heard of Jesus after being told they would go to hell if they didn’t convert after hearing the gospel. The missionary says they would go to heaven if they never hear it. The indigenous man then asks why would you then tell me it if hearing it and not converting sends me to hell. The threat of eternal damnation is evil

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Anonymous replying to -> #7 13w

People go on mission trips to native reservations which adds another layer

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Anonymous replying to -> #1 13w

No funds are extracted from the local community. All funding is done independently by the groups running these missions. Also the “would-be builders” don’t exist. That’s the reason these philanthropic groups exist. If these places had no need for philanthropy these groups wouldn’t be going there

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