tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7776387418775994830.post145315968092358253..comments2024-03-15T00:16:07.218-07:00Comments on STUFF CHRISTIAN CULTURE LIKES: #211 Taking pictures with poor foreign children during missions tripsstephyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10047873385595074389noreply@blogger.comBlogger104125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7776387418775994830.post-50111521224410425902020-03-09T13:28:28.462-07:002020-03-09T13:28:28.462-07:00شركة نقل عفش من الرياض الى المدينة المنورة شركة نق...<br />شركة نقل عفش من الرياض الى المدينة المنورة <a href="https://khalejmovers.com/%D9%86%D9%82%D9%84-%D8%B9%D9%81%D8%B4-%D9%85%D9%86-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B1%D9%8A%D8%A7%D8%B6-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%89-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%AF%D9%8A%D9%86%D8%A9-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D9%86%D9%88%D8%B1%D8%A9/" rel="nofollow">شركة نقل عفش من الرياض الى المدينة المنورة</a><br />شركة نقل عفش من الدمام الى مكة <a href="https://khalejmovers.com/%D8%B4%D8%B1%D9%83%D8%A9-%D9%86%D9%82%D9%84-%D8%B9%D9%81%D8%B4-%D9%85%D9%86-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AF%D9%85%D8%A7%D9%85-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%89-%D9%85%D9%83%D8%A9/" rel="nofollow">شركة نقل عفش من الدمام الى مكة</a><br />شركة نقل عفش من الرياض الى الدمام <a href="https://khalejmovers.com/%D9%86%D9%82%D9%84-%D8%A7%D8%AB%D8%A7%D8%AB-%D9%85%D9%86-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B1%D9%8A%D8%A7%D8%B6-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%89-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AF%D9%85%D8%A7%D9%85/" rel="nofollow">شركة نقل اثاث من الرياض الى الدمام</a><br /><br />salmahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03219516317527096835noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7776387418775994830.post-7621587996939243592016-06-18T00:18:16.193-07:002016-06-18T00:18:16.193-07:00You have done a great job. I will definitely dig i...You have done a great job. I will definitely dig it and personally recommend to my friends. I am confident they will be benefited from this site .<a href="http://www.biotech4business.com" rel="nofollow">www.biotech4business.com</a> | <br><br />Briley Celiahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09358663071421609392noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7776387418775994830.post-6414480462996518952016-06-16T00:21:54.511-07:002016-06-16T00:21:54.511-07:00Hey what a brilliant post I have come across and b...Hey what a brilliant post I have come across and believe me I have been searching out for this similar kind of post for past a week and hardly came across this. Thank you very much and will look for more postings from you.<a href="http://www.4rce4health.com" rel="nofollow">www.4rce4health.com</a> | <br><br />Ayer Baileyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11996516820271588392noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7776387418775994830.post-25315023601310392762016-06-14T21:34:11.771-07:002016-06-14T21:34:11.771-07:00I like the way you described the topic with such c...I like the way you described the topic with such clarity. Thanks for Describing Everything.<a href="http://www.anaheimcarealestate.org" rel="nofollow">anaheimcarealestate</a> | <br><br />Ayer Baileyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11996516820271588392noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7776387418775994830.post-75208132321573788052013-08-15T12:19:35.803-07:002013-08-15T12:19:35.803-07:00i wuv you stephyi wuv you stephyAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7776387418775994830.post-84342970745193743472013-07-17T14:13:29.797-07:002013-07-17T14:13:29.797-07:00I am a Christian...and I am going on my first miss...I am a Christian...and I am going on my first mission trip to Thailand next month. But, I felt the need to clairfy somethings first.<br /><br />My church, Water of Life Community Church, has international outreach trips every year...to Kenya, Cambodia, Thailand, Nigeria, Malaysia, etc...we send teams there at least 2-3 times a year. however, we have monthly outreaches to our local community, we feed the homeless twice a week at a local park (my family and I have been involved in these many, many times), have fundraisers to help with local schools, Goodwill clothing drives, collect shoes for the poor drives, Food baskets and toys for Thanksgiving and CHRISTmas, we work on cars for FREE for local single moms, etc...we also have outreaches to the poor in Detroit and run a couple of orphanages.<br /><br />And if the people we aid are not Christians themelves, so what! Not all "Christians" are as pathetic and clueless as you claim. We are out there, working for the Lord and loving others, regardless of race, creed, religion, sexual choice, etc....<br /><br />Christ loves everyone...and we are called to as well. If any of you, have at any time, felt that Christ does not love you because of a person that calls himself/herself a christian but does not treat you as one....on their behalf, I am sorry. Please forgive them.<br /><br />Please do bear in mind though...we are humnan, flawed, screwed up individuals, just like every other human being on the planet...we are NO different from you... We are ALL made in God's image and are ALL loved by the Lord. Christ died for every single person that ever lives, whether they choose to love Him back or not....<br /><br />just wanted to clarify that not every Christian is a fraud...and NOT all Christians choose to help those in other countries while ignoring the need fo their family man right in their own city, county, etcAnonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09188955787276159385noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7776387418775994830.post-6546622647472446552013-02-13T02:52:05.984-08:002013-02-13T02:52:05.984-08:00I don't remember what I searched on Google tha...I don't remember what I searched on Google that brought me here, but I am so glad it did. This website sums up everything that has caused my disillusionment with the church today.<br /><br />As someone who grew up in a very conservative branch of Christianity, it's interesting to me to see the practitioners of evangelical Christianity condemn the churches I grew up in for legalism and say that we were sending people to Hell, while promoting their Pharisaic agendas and boasting what their church is achieving and shoving their lifestyle onto other people. It just feels kind of like the pot calling the kettle black, and I think more than anything that bickering is what destroyed the Church for me.<br /><br />(And then when I tell people these things, they warn me it's the devil coming to attack me and to fight him or that they'll pray. Maybe it goes back to that whole avoiding a relationship thing?)Jonathanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10242807124858142093noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7776387418775994830.post-24106759254482891412013-02-07T12:59:28.880-08:002013-02-07T12:59:28.880-08:00The other thing that I find troublesome about the ...The other thing that I find troublesome about the mission trip phenomenon is the number of mission trips that go to Christian countries to convert other Christians to their brand of Christianity. That's the mission, to save those heathen Christians from the wrong kind of Christianity. All the mission trips I hear about around here go to South America in order to "convert those Catholics to Christianity."Wine in the Waterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16142633311407145793noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7776387418775994830.post-46813486019370485532012-11-05T18:20:15.377-08:002012-11-05T18:20:15.377-08:00so funny and true at the same time. this idea that...so funny and true at the same time. this idea that you can go and help a person, when really it is YOU that must be helped and changed, and preached to. but that whole empirical mindset is so dangerous. we want to speak but not listen...change but not be changed... thanks for sharing.kevinnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7776387418775994830.post-59252783238195756032012-06-12T04:07:26.080-07:002012-06-12T04:07:26.080-07:00I have now defined the phrase 'missions trip&#...I have now defined the phrase 'missions trip' as: An excuse for a 19 year old to claim world travel, self importance and to get pictures holding little black babies to help boost their scholarship applications. Boom.Charityhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17450350419264382667noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7776387418775994830.post-57483886642568241702012-01-04T10:10:57.550-08:002012-01-04T10:10:57.550-08:00That does seem to be the verdict.That does seem to be the verdict.stephyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10047873385595074389noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7776387418775994830.post-53893533501598065712012-01-03T20:23:28.932-08:002012-01-03T20:23:28.932-08:00With that, the verdict is in! Christian Culture li...With that, the verdict is in! Christian Culture likes taking pictures with poor foreign children.Chrissyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12292892513290420145noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7776387418775994830.post-4164148656887800292012-01-03T19:32:45.576-08:002012-01-03T19:32:45.576-08:00@stephy: Thanks, I wasn't really expecting ans...@stephy: Thanks, I wasn't really expecting answers, just expressing my thoughts.<br /><br />@Brandt: I very much agree with you. Any thing I'm doing to make myself look awesome (hopefully nothing) after the fact isn't important. But some people who donated to me might like to see pictures; a church might want me to speak, pictures might encourage others to go in the future... <br /><br />I think there are pros and cons to pictures, a lot of it is about the attitude when showing them. At any rate, the team leader will be the one taking (lots of) pictures, and I know they'll end up in slide shows somewhere.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01196192120985293918noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7776387418775994830.post-47754072791998148972012-01-03T17:21:05.839-08:002012-01-03T17:21:05.839-08:00Shaun, let Matthew 6 1-4 answer your question.
“B...Shaun, let Matthew 6 1-4 answer your question.<br /><br />“Beware of practicing your righteousness before men (A)to be noticed by them; otherwise you have no reward with your Father who is in heaven.<br /><br />“So when you give to the poor, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they may be honored by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full. But when you give to the poor, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving will be in secret; and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you.'<br /><br />In other words, you will have greater reward and satisfaction if you just go build the school instead of telling people what you pay for it, and instead of bringing back 'proof' of what you did. Just do it. Showing others pictures might make you feel good, and hearing a church applause your good works might make you think you are Captain Awesome, but is it really important?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7776387418775994830.post-69042236645837159402012-01-03T15:17:11.344-08:002012-01-03T15:17:11.344-08:00Hey Shaun,
I can't answer any of these questio...Hey Shaun,<br />I can't answer any of these questions for you. Only you can. I'm not trying to be slippery or anything. I'm just not in a position to tell anyone what to do.stephyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10047873385595074389noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7776387418775994830.post-10842938263794810612012-01-03T13:24:41.966-08:002012-01-03T13:24:41.966-08:00At the end of this month I'm scheduled to go o...At the end of this month I'm scheduled to go on a mission trip to Haiti that is going to cost...$2500.<br /><br />The trip is going to be for the purpose of construction - building a church and school. I think both will be of benefit to the community, the school in particular. I fear they may indeed be made of cinderblocks. We will be working alongside Haitians and providing material support, not doing the work for them.<br /><br />I'm NOT trying to be snarky but I'm trying to express my response to this post - these questions are the best I've got:<br /><br />-If I go, but don't take pictures nor speak of it upon my return, is that better?<br />-Is there a minimum amount of relationship needed before I am in a photo with someone (name, conversation, shared a meal, more?)<br />-I'm raising much of the funds (link with photo of Haitian children: http://bit.ly/wXaDJp), so it's not like I'm deciding what to do with my own $2500. Should I be asking my friends and family for money to help the poor in my own city?<br />-If, at a later date, I'm asked for money from someone going on such a trip, do I deny them and tell them to do more at home?<br /><br />Sorry if that got long-windedShaun Somershttp://shaunsomers.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7776387418775994830.post-65703732285956450992011-09-13T11:45:30.206-07:002011-09-13T11:45:30.206-07:00May I suggest a book? The book is The Road to Hel...May I suggest a book? The book is <b>The Road to Hell: The Ravaging Effects of Foreign Aid and International Charity</b>, by Michael Maren. It is mostly about secular aid organizations in Africa, though there is a chapter on the organization Save the Children. The book raises a very important point, namely:<br /><br />It's not just here in American cities where your efforts to help - say, giving someone a dollar on the streets - might end up hurting instead - by enabling an addiction, for example. A lot of foreign aid in Africa has lead - inadvertently - to disastrous outcomes: worsening droughts and starvation, the destruction of arable land, encouraging corruption and crime, and even starting and perpetuating horrific wars. <br /><br />It is a hard book to read. It challenged a lot of what I "knew" and made me feel bad, but I think it the book provides a very strong support for Stephy's larger point: If you really want to help, you have to be humble, <i>listen first</i>, and take the time to really understand without judgment - as opposed to rushing in full of enthusiasm, self congratulation, and arrogant, preconceived ideas of what's best for poor people.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7776387418775994830.post-3701769136658183872011-08-31T15:21:09.528-07:002011-08-31T15:21:09.528-07:00emillikan,
thanks for everything you've writte...emillikan,<br />thanks for everything you've written here. You're totally right.stephyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10047873385595074389noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7776387418775994830.post-35318376203916463052011-08-31T00:11:09.908-07:002011-08-31T00:11:09.908-07:00Frederick Buechner said, "The place God calls...Frederick Buechner said, "The place God calls you to is the place where your deep gladness and the world’s deep hunger meet." I happen to come from a family with one adopted child from an Eastern European country, and various members of my family are still involved in ministry there. My sister is a ministry director overseas, my mom is the get-everything-done person here, and I'm the administrative/promotional guru. We get as much non-family help as we can, and we're gradually working toward a board with fewer family members. <br /><br />I believe firmly in spending as little as I can on myself and my physical needs, which are few. I just moved to a little town in MA (den of evil liberals!) a few months ago, and already I've run into a local gentleman, older, who clearly needs help of some sort. I'm not sure where he lives. But I've bought him coffee and cigarettes and a haircut, because he asked for them, and I had the resources to do it. My church works with the local food bank, and we have an apartment in the church building where families in need of housing used to stay.<br /><br />I also have the resources to spend hours every week this summer putting together a website and promotional materials for Last Bell (lastbell.org), which provides Ukrainian family - houseparents and staff - for kids who graduate from a particular orphanage in Ukraine at 15 or 16 and would more than likely end up in prison, a psychiatric ward, as sex slaves, or dead. <br /><br />The Ukraine thing grew out of short-term trips - Americans partnering up with Ukrainians to provide month-long camps for orphans. Some of those Americans went for the experience, and some went because they cared about people. My sister happens to be gifted to love kids no matter how terrible their behavior is. Her deep gladness, and that of the Ukrainian houseparents, is meeting a great need in Ukraine. <br /><br />It's complicated, us Westerners going elsewhere. I'm repulsed by the idea of rich fundies going to Africa for the experience, to feel good (and I love this post). But I think God's working in the world is bigger than the rules we can set for it either way. <br /><br />I'm not sure the question is where the greatest poverty is, but how each of us can serve others with the talents and strengths we've been given. Though I would tend to think that there are some universals, too, like choosing a lifestyle that will allow us to really give. There's a reason for the parable of the rich young ruler.<br /><br />This sounds kind of individual-centric, doesn't it? I guess I just mean that some people are meant to help feed thousands of starving people; some are meant to help one or two people heal from trauma and abuse; some are meant to adopt kids in their own city, some from overseas, ad infinitum.emillikanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05397529521870787823noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7776387418775994830.post-53978938398971653522011-07-26T21:40:34.238-07:002011-07-26T21:40:34.238-07:00I like this blog and I see your point... BUT... as...I like this blog and I see your point... BUT... as someone who's spent a little time with US homeless people and a bit more time in developing countries(expat kid) it's pretty glib to compare the life of the US poor to that of people in sub-Saharan Africa, etc. <br /><br />I believe Christians etc. should focus more on the local poor because it's easier for us to do so, but in terms of money for the poor I think it's much better spent helping the majority of mankind who lives on less than $2 a day. <br /><br />And while very poor people in the US often have some issue (addiction, criminal past, mental illness, abuse) which seems to easily explain their state, the vast majority of the world's poor lack that. Their poverty is based on history and politics, which in my opinion is far more necessary and uncomfortable for first-world people, Christian or otherwise, to deal with.leifhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04433493221614711266noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7776387418775994830.post-4161404519724158532011-07-06T17:35:05.993-07:002011-07-06T17:35:05.993-07:00I agree with this article, to a point.
What about...I agree with this article, to a point.<br /><br />What about non-religious people who adopt children from other countries versus adopting an orphan from America? Or think of how many ads you see on tv for helping orphans or villages in other countries? Now think of how many you see for the US.<br /><br />Charity applies to more than just Christians. Helping poor people in other countries is the 'trendy' thing to do, regardless of your religion. Celebrities are always doing it too!Ondreanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7776387418775994830.post-5779364231878751172011-04-06T21:18:43.655-07:002011-04-06T21:18:43.655-07:00That about sums up my feelings for the whole thing...That about sums up my feelings for the whole thing. Even in my post-Christian days. I had a boyfriend who went on and on and on about the Peace Corps. I just sat around waiting until he figured out that perhaps he could have put that energy into doing something around town.<br /><br />P.S.: Love the new site!OrangeBoyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07833289007379993201noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7776387418775994830.post-10261607495605690332011-04-05T22:18:10.127-07:002011-04-05T22:18:10.127-07:00I often wonder how much our desire to aid developi...I often wonder how much our desire to aid developing countries stems from materialist, capitalist thinking. “Oh poor things, they have no shoes, cell phone or air-conditioning, we are so blessed here in (insert Westernised country), we must go and save them”. How much does this materialistic view influence the depression of our own homeless? Perhaps Christians in the west should better establish what it means to be content with whatever we have. We should be modelling what it is like to be satisfied with our identity in Christ so that we don’t feel the need to wear designer clothes to make a statement, to own a house with a pool to be adequate. I think if we can achieve that beyond a smugness in our excess and a platitude towards those who don’t, we will be in a better position to reflect the character of God, be more relevant to our own culture, be better able to reach the homeless in our own culture and have more stuff (willing) to give to those in need in third world countries.<br />I think wearing designer clothes can be telling of our own values, and when Christian leaders feel the need to wear those in order to be relevant I think we have lost our saltiness.Aarannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7776387418775994830.post-67410556757887549242011-04-03T18:00:04.483-07:002011-04-03T18:00:04.483-07:00Certainly some short-term mission trips, especiall...Certainly some short-term mission trips, especially with youth, have questionable benefits to the supposed recipients. However, on balance, I'm glad that my church seems to take a balanced and responsible approach to missions. <br /><br />Yes, we have teams that occasionally to go Africa, but it's usually less about evangelism and more about providing medical care and the like. We also have developed a deep bond with a sister church in Cuba that has been mutually beneficial to both sides. <br /><br />Finally, we also support local missionaries within our church--one family lives and works with disadvantaged youth in a poor part of town, and the other works with homeless youth. Overall, I wish more churches would strike a reasonable balance of foreign and domestic charity/mission work that is intentionally beneficial to everyone involved--certainly, there is need everywhere.Bnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7776387418775994830.post-56922940898536875932011-04-03T16:45:50.098-07:002011-04-03T16:45:50.098-07:00Kevin, I guess I was projecting. Oopsy!Kevin, I guess I was projecting. Oopsy!Chrissyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12292892513290420145noreply@blogger.com