Ask A Missionary A Question

[lacktheknack]

NOTE: THIS IS NOT MEANT TO BE ABOUT THEOLOGICAL FIGHTING. That's why I put it in Off-Topic. Throw my weary ass a bone here and don't turn the thread into whether God is real or not, please.

So I'm in Thailand. I finally ship my carcass back home tomorrow. For the past six months, I've been in Russia, Cambodia, India and Thailand for missionary training and religious outreach. So I haven't been on the site as much recently (which I'm sure a few of you noticed).

And now I'm weary, tired, and REALLY want to go home, and my phone has been lost and my computer wiped (I'm running it off a Linux USB stick right now with effectively no hard drive), my Internet connection is really dodgy (albeit better than the total laack of connection I've had for a while) AND this little hotel has blocked all of Google's sites and Facebook, so I've got no way to pass the time beyond reading my Bible and relogging onto this site to see what's been happening.

So... hi, guys. Wassup?

If anyone has wondered where the heck I've been for the last three months and/or wondered what the heck missionaries do, I'm open to questions/comments/concerns/angry rants/whatever.

 

[Asita]

Alright: When I hear the word "missionary", my mind tends to immediately jump to people going door to door and asking if the occupants have "heard the good news". Is that at all reflective of your experience, not the whole story, or is it a misconception (at least as far as your denomination is concerned)?

 

[lacktheknack]

Alright: When I hear the word "missionary", my mind tends to immediately jump to people going door to door and asking if the occupants have "heard the good news". Is that at all reflective of your experience, not the whole story, or is it a misconception (at least as far as your denomination is concerned)?

We call those "Door-to-Door Salesmen".

The missionary organization I worked with (Youth With A Mission, which is non-denominational) doesn't do that type of thing at all. Obviously, it's a little bit difficult to do it any other way in North America, Europe and even Russia (most of our local outreach attempts ended up involving on-the-street surveys and church events), but in Cambodia and India? You don't need to do door-to-door stuff. In India, we took a couple hundred Bibles out to a crappy little Cricket field and read the New Testament out loud, and so many passerby wanted Bibles that we actually ran out half way into the time we had set up for it. Then they all started inviting us into their homes anyways, so we didn't even have to approach them for home visits to happen anyways.

So yeah... door-to-door stuff is unneeded. And I'm human too, I know how really, really annoying it is when they show up at your door.

Fun fact: In Russia, if two men approach you to talk about God, they're assumed to be Mormon. Two women: Jehovah's Witnesses. One of each gender: Non-Orthodox Christian. We were actually told to hand out surveys in mixed groups specifically to avoid being mistaken for Mormons/Jehovah's Witnesses.

 

[FalloutJack]

Okay, I'll ask some things. Russia as of late has been...dicks. Particularly, Vladimir Putin. So, I'm kinda' surprised you were in there, as in LET IN. It confounds me, so naturally I have questions.

{1} Did you have any trouble actually getting in and out of Russia?

{2} Are they the reasons the computer got wiped?

{3} What is the Russian 'Man on the Street' saying about the state of country?

{4} And finally, any trouble doing your job in there?

 

[Elfgore]

I've got one, do you provide physical aid to the locations you visit? I'm not looking for any thing monumental like building a hospital or school, but something just like a soup kitchen or give a homeless person a place to sleep?

I'd continue my train of thought, but it goes down a road this thread doesn't need to become.

 

[lacktheknack]

{1} Did you have any trouble actually getting in and out of Russia?

Yes. The Visa process is off its meds. But once I finally pulled all the teeth required to GET the Russian Visa, I had no problems actually crossing the border. Heck, that was easy, they even filled out my immigration card for me.

{2} Are they the reasons the computer got wiped?

No, IndiGo (India airline) is probably the reason for that one.

{3} What is the Russian 'Man on the Street' saying about the state of country?

While the average Russian is pretty nationalistic, they're generally on the "why is this happening" side of things when it comes to Ukraine. They're unhappy with how the Rouble has plummeted and generally don't really like what's going on politically. Now, this could change drastically if I went west (I was on the far east side of the country, well away from Ukraine and Moscow), but mostly, the average Russian I met was comparable to a mellower Canadian on these things.

{4} And finally, any trouble doing your job in there?

No. The Russian Orthodox Church is pretty much convinced that Catholicism/Protestantism are devil-worshiping cults, but there's no law against that. Makes it a bit hard to talk to people, but it's easier to do in Russia than, say, Canada.

I've got one, do you provide physical aid to the locations you visit? I'm not looking for any thing monumental like building a hospital or school, but something just like a soup kitchen or give a homeless person a place to sleep?

I'd continue my train of thought, but it goes down a road this thread doesn't need to become.

Yes, we did. In Cambodia, we built an adorable old lady a house, taught English at an after-school program, and we also bought and donated rice to quite a few hungry families the local church told us about. In India, there wasn't as much opportunity to do that sort of thing (we were situated in a more "well off" area), but we still did what we could. Our outreach wasn't as aid-centered as some others from the same organization, but we didn't just walk past people who were hungry.

 

[FalloutJack]

Explanations

Okay, I'll bite. Why is IndiGo probably responsible for the computer-wiping?

Also, not savvy on why Canada's hard to talk to. (Whacha' mean?)

 

[lacktheknack]

Explanations

Okay, I'll bite. Why is IndiGo probably responsible for the computer-wiping?

Also, not savvy on why Canada's hard to talk to. (Whacha' mean?)

I don't know about the wiping, all I know is that IndiGo but my computer and backpack through "an extra security check" and it came out unbootable with the hard drive fragmented to hell and back with a whackload of missing files. Maybe they dropped it, maybe they put a magnet on it, I don't know.

Also, talking to people in North America about God is tough because an increasing number are atheistic and/or assume anyone who wants to talk about God is just out to make converts, which makes them closed (in my experience, anyhow). Since the average Russian is Christian by default, they're usually not put off by someone asking them questions about it.

 

[FalloutJack]

Explanations

Okay, I'll bite. Why is IndiGo probably responsible for the computer-wiping?

Also, not savvy on why Canada's hard to talk to. (Whacha' mean?)

I don't know about the wiping, all I know is that IndiGo but my computer and backpack through "an extra security check" and it came out unbootable with the hard drive fragmented to hell and back with a whackload of missing files. Maybe they dropped it, maybe they put a magnet on it, I don't know.

Also, talking to people in North America about God is tough because an increasing number are atheistic and/or assume anyone who wants to talk about God is just out to make converts, which makes them closed (in my experience, anyhow). Since the average Russian is Christian by default, they're usually not put off by someone asking them questions about it.

I would guess magnets. Dropping a laptop could do such lovely physical damage as jarring everything attached to the motherboard loose, making the harddrive permanently broken and unworkable with a nasty grinding sound, breaking any part that is thin and somewhat pliable like chips or delicate ribbon connections. Since you are here now, able to be online via the quick fix, they did something that affected the software...unless you see any suspicious dents along the case of the laptop.

 

[Elfgore]

I've got one, do you provide physical aid to the locations you visit? I'm not looking for any thing monumental like building a hospital or school, but something just like a soup kitchen or give a homeless person a place to sleep?

I'd continue my train of thought, but it goes down a road this thread doesn't need to become.

Yes, we did. In Cambodia, we built an adorable old lady a house, taught English at an after-school program, and we also bought and donated rice to quite a few hungry families the local church told us about. In India, there wasn't as much opportunity to do that sort of thing (we were situated in a more "well off" area), but we still did what we could. Our outreach wasn't as aid-centered as some others from the same organization, but we didn't just walk past people who were hungry.

That's reassuring to know. My only experience with missionaries in the past never really mentioned helping the local populace in a physical way, just spreading whatever religion they were. Thanks for the info, lacktheknack.

 

[Thaluikhain]

Did you learn the local languages? If so, to what extent?

I had a teacher at university who had been a missionary, and he did.

 

[lacktheknack]

Did you learn the local languages? If so, to what extent?

I had a teacher at university who had been a missionary, and he did.

I tried, but my learning style does NOT cope well with immersion. Like... at all. I need to sit down, classroom style, and learn language by reading and by lessons. I just felt lost and unable to cope in Russia with words flying everywhere, and I forgot most of the vocabulary I learned.

I plan to go to Russia again on a more long-term basis, but I refuse to do it unless I've learned a significant amount of Russian before I go.

As for Khmer, Bengali/Hindi and Thai... we didn't stay in those places long enough to justify extensive learning of the language, and we had good translators available, so we mostly relied on translators and surprising numbers of English speakers in those countries.

 

[Fieldy409_v1legacy]

How does working with a mix of denominations usually go? Is there much argument amongst your people over their interpretations of the bible?

 

[lacktheknack]

How does working with a mix of denominations usually go? Is there much argument amongst your people over their interpretations of the bible?

Somehow, there's no problem. Our group was a whole bunch of baptists, so that was easy, but in other groups from the organization we worked with, I've heard of Charismatics and Catholics mixing with no issues.

At the end of the day, everyone works with Youth With A Mission with the same goal in mind: missionary outreach. When you work with someone for the same goal and agree on the most important values regarding that goal (ie. "The Great Commission matters, guys") then it goes a long way to smoothing out smaller disagreements on the side.

 

[Frezzato]

Does your organization venture into high-risk areas like Afghanistan or parts known to be extremely dangerous? And if called to go to a place like that, would you go?

 

[Pseudonym]

Why did you want to 'spread the word' to begin with, and why in this specific way?

 

[lacktheknack]

Does your organization venture into high-risk areas like Afghanistan or parts known to be extremely dangerous? And if called to go to a place like that, would you go?

YWAM has a presence in nearly every country, including Afghanistan. They tend to stick to the safer areas within more dangerous countries and keep a low profile, but they are there. Heck, they were running multiple schools in Kiev during all the riots.

YWAM doesn't "call" for you to go anywhere, it's all volunteer based. Any "calling" is between you and God. And since I think that my calling is to Eastern Europe, especially Russia, that is where I'll be focusing over the next few years.

And indeed, that could turn out to be very dangerous in the future. And yes, I intend to continue working there anyways.

Why did you want to 'spread the word' to begin with, and why in this specific way?

The Great Commission, one of the last things Jesus said before his ascension, is a thing, and I've started taking it more seriously. Plus, my other endeavors have been leading to big fat dead ends. As for why with YWAM: My church has good ties with the organization, so I've grown up knowing more about it than other missionary groups.

 

[Pseudonym]

Why did you want to 'spread the word' to begin with, and why in this specific way?

The Great Commission, one of the last things Jesus said before his ascension, is a thing, and I've started taking it more seriously. Plus, my other endeavors have been leading to big fat dead ends.

Would you care to elaborate a little bit about what exactly 'The Great Commission' is?

 

[Dr. Crawver]

In your attempts to convert people, how dogged are you about it, and does it get to you personally if people resist?

 

[lacktheknack]

Why did you want to 'spread the word' to begin with, and why in this specific way?

The Great Commission, one of the last things Jesus said before his ascension, is a thing, and I've started taking it more seriously. Plus, my other endeavors have been leading to big fat dead ends.

Would you care to elaborate a little bit about what exactly 'The Great Commission' is?

18 Then Jesus came to them and said, ?All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.?

-Matthew 28:18-20

Christians are asked to "make disciples of all the nations", ie. spread the word. This is the passage (seen in multiple Gospels) that motivates pretty much everyone, including myself, into cross-country missionary work.