Hope your Monday is off to a good start. We thought we would kick off the week with a few throwback photos from a trip the Duggars took to El Salvador back in 2009 (can you believe that was 9 years ago?). It was one of the family's first mission trips to Central America. Take a walk down memory lane by scrolling through these snapshots.
Photos courtesy Scott Enlow/TLC
Jinger Duggar
Jim Bob Duggar and Jeremiah Duggar
Jim Bob Duggar
Jill Duggar
Jessa Duggar
Jedidiah Duggar
Group photo
Group prayer
Josiah Duggar
Anna Duggar
Photos courtesy Scott Enlow/TLC
Do you have any updates on the children the girls are snuggling with in the pictures? Jill, Jinger, Jessa and Anna all look very close to the children, so I hope they’ve kept in touch. Many “missionaries” simply use local people - especially kids - as props for their photo ops. Though I hope the Duggars would be above this, it doesn’t seem to be the case.
ReplyDeleteAhh anon that's not fair. Anything we do to touch a little life like the children in the pictures lives is a blessing to them. We don't. Always have to do huge things to make a difference, but just being there tells the children that they are loved and cared about. God says one plants, another waters and God gives the increase. So we don't do it all but just the part God calls us to do.
DeleteThank you!
DeleteI agree, there's a fair bit of research to suggest that this short term international volunteering is more detrimental to communities than not having anyone come.
Delete@8:06. These children are being cared for by Catholic nuns. I am sure that the nuns have told the children that God loves them.
Delete8:31, where are the Catholic nuns? How do you know that? And sad to say, but even if that were the case, you can't assume what the Catholic nuns are teaching them. I had a friend who went to a Catholic school, and she had nun teachers who lived pretty ungodly life styles.
DeleteSadly, though many “missionaries” mean well, kids like these learn that white visitors from abroad mean money, goodies, and possibly the jackpot - adoption - and that they cycle in and out quickly. These kids are traumatized by these distorted interactions. If the Duggars and families like theirs need a feel-good volunteer experience they can go to a local animal shelter.
ReplyDeleteAnd, where do you get your info that these kids are traumatized? That’s just a ridiculous assumption.
DeleteThese white visitors that you speak about have in many cases laid down their lives to not only bring supplies but the Gospel to foreign lands. God works through His people and when we reach out like this, we show the love of God in action in their lives. When we bless others, we Bless God.
DeleteI don't think preaching to animals was part of the Great Commission Jesus commanded Christians to do. LOL!
DeleteThey don't go for the feel good factor, it takes courage and endurance to share Jesus' love in the midst of a spiritual battle on mission trips. If you've been on a mission trip you would understand and I can say that children are not traumatised but enriched by the experience.
7:42, you honestly think that helping animals is preferred to helping humans made in God's image?
DeleteThere are enough kids in America that need to know God...
DeleteGreat pics! I think Jessa has always been a natural beauty.
ReplyDeleteHow cute, I see little Joy-Anna down front. Never been on a mission trip. A mission trip has to be a rewarding experience. The Duggar kids are blessed to had been able to go on a mission trip when they were so young...Jane
ReplyDeleteI'm sure it's exciting for the people going on the trip, but since they don't speak the local language of what possible benefit could a week's visit to some remote village be to the people living there? This looks like the usual "mission trip" (a photo op) for the people who traveled there.
DeleteI'm sure the missionaries that were serving the village just loved having a bunch of small children show up and hang around the village for a week.
DeleteHuh. You think they went to all that trouble and expense with all those kids just for photo ops? Not possibly because they want to be a blessing to the people (their stated purpose) or for their kids to have a taste of the mission field? If they wanted photo ops, they could have gone to an animal shelter, as someone above so helpfully pointed out.
Delete7.07pm The benefits to the local people would be to encourage them in their faith by visiting, bringing resources such as colouring pens & blank books for them so they can then go to school, books in their language, sharing Jesus love and encouraging long term missionaries and local Christian workers. In Gods eyes its valued than the worlds cynical view.
DeleteExactly.
DeleteOftentimes, a one week missions trip is called a vacation with benefits. In this case, even though some may think it unbeneficial, they were able to bring some necessities and ultimately thr love of God even if they could not speak the language. As God says, his word never returns void.
DeleteI have been on a 3 week missions trip to Romania. I like to think we made a difference in the lives of the orphans we ministered too. We held VBS services in different villages and orphanages. We also ate the same food the orphans did for the time there. We showed them love and more importantly God's love. We also tried encouraging students at a Bible college, local pastors, and some native people. We stayed with a native woman and put ourselves in the culture there. It's an amazing experience. This was years ago when they had no running water in the villages or electricity. You never truly know whose lives may have been touched by those few weeks. But I believe God uses those times to do a great work. Never underestimate the power of love, and the power of God. And there's a lot more to mission's trips that photos don't show.
DeleteMonday morning missioncation memories.
ReplyDeleteThis type of short stay 'missioning' has become very popular over the past few years but I fear all it does is put money into the pockets of the companies that run the trips. Unless you are going to do hands on work that will help benefit people the money is better used being sent directly to those on the ground to help buy supplies and equipment or pay local tradesmen and keep them employed. I think that was why so many had a problem with the Dillards mission in El Salvador, they never showed themselves doing anything practical so why be there?
ReplyDeleteWhat do you mean the last few years? Short term missions trips have been going on my whole life. The trips give people a first hand view of how other people live. It makes a person appreciate how much we have in America. Sometimes we need to see things with our own eyes to really understand how blessed we are. Also a lot of people go to help missionaries already in the country. It encourages them to have someone come along side them for a week or two and help with Bible clubs for the kids and inviting people to their church. Some short term trips help with building a new church building or providing medical care. The value of a missions trip can’t be measured in dollars.
DeleteI went on a short term mission in the U.S. and it was heart-breaking to leave "our children" behind when it came time to go home. We established a food bank and a clothes closet, helped make repairs to the small Church serving the area, and ran a camp for the local children-ensuring that they got 3 solid meals a day plus snacks, undivided attention, and a safe place to stay. Our area was very impoverished, with a high rate of alcohol abuse and domestic violence, and very closed to outsiders. The Pastor had worked for years to build enough trust in the community to allow us in. We respected both the people, the community, and that relationship far too much for photo ops and props or to use them for a reality TV episode. That mission trip changed me and our entire team.
DeleteMaybe a few mission trips to inner- cities in America would show people that help is needed right here
DeleteAnon @ 6:04 some short term trips do go and give practical helo like you say, but I have to disagree with you about people needing a first hand view if things. These people are not exhibits to be stared at and they don't need or want anyones pity, they need a hand out of the poverty trap. I recently read a report that described the impact these short term missionaries can have on local people, especially the children and it isn't good, the childen especially become confused and upset when their 'new friends' leave often never to be seen again and it happen over and over again. The companies running tbese trips make a huge amount of money (they are a business first and foremost) how much do you think the local people see, I bet its not as much as you think?!
DeleteYes but research shows that these trips don't help communities in the long term, only feel good trips for the missionaries.
DeleteWell said. I agree. I've been on mission's trips and it does make an impact on the lives of others.
Delete12:00 PM, where do you get your info. I've had many family members and friends go on these short-term missions trips through various churches in different states, and I've never heard of one of these trips that DIDN'T do hands-on work -- whether feeding, medical assistance, etc.
DeleteWell, SOS Ministries is a non-profit and states on their website that the money they live on and work off of is 100% donation based. So you don't need to worry about that in regard to the missions trips the Duggars have taken.
Delete9:02 -- Churches do outreach to the inner city on regular basis. You can get involved at your local church.
DeleteDid the entire family were the same color shirt each day?
ReplyDeleteIf you look closely at the pictures, you can see that others in their group are wearing the same team shirts.
DeleteIn our neck of the woods, we started the week off with 16 inches of fresh snow that was drifted about by 25 mph winds. April Fool just doesn't know when to quit.
ReplyDeleteIt's the winter without end.
DeleteWOW -- It's been HOT here in Los Angeles.
DeleteWhat was wrong with poor Anna's hair!?
ReplyDeleteIt it a hair perm:)
DeleteEither a bad perm or the humidity made it frizzy.
DeleteThey all used to do this, thank goodness they stopped! We all have those photographs where we look at them and say 'what was I thinking?'
DeleteThis made me a little emotional, the good old days when all the Duggar kids were under one roof,
ReplyDeleteexception of Josh, sinc Anna is there. "Time" is sad sometimes!
I think of how Jim Bob, Michelle, Grandma Duggar, the little kids and how they all feel when they see these photos. Grandbabies and in laws are a bonus, but gosh, to pack up the group as a WHOLE family were magical days I bet. Or, to turn the lights off at home each night as one big family and wake up together, is no more. Bittersweet, the good old days for them. I hope one day before too many more join the bunch, all the siblings can spend one night in their old respective bedrooms just for old time sake, the husbands could do one night alone so the siblings could do this? An anniversary gift for their Mom and Dad? 1 last night of the good old days would be bliss I bet! Fun idea anyways?
Aw, seeing these pictures makes me miss the old days.
ReplyDeleteThat header picture of Joe and Kendra is so small I thought they’d been left out!
ReplyDeleteIs this the mission trip where they packed bags and bags of candy to hand out, and then spent time painting orphans' fingernails? Or the one where they gave out backpacks full of stuff the Duggars got for free (t-shirts with religious groups' names on them, etc.), with added Bible tracts?
ReplyDeleteBy looking at these pictures, I see other immediate needs. And the Duggars are always shown with that one family at that same house, when there must be others there just as deserving who could use help, too.
Well, if you take the time to look up the ministry that the Duggars traveled with, you'll see what they do, specifically "Depending on the trip you go on, we will focus on presenting and sharing the gospel of Christ through house visits, village ministry, caring for orphans, public school ministry, and conferences for women, youth, and children." It's all about sharing the good news of Jesus.
DeleteReally dislike these 'photo-op' trips meant to evoke a sense of 'mission'. I don't believe it for a second. What possible benefit could it have to the local people? Buy a well, and educate. Ignore the photo-ops and do some actual good.
ReplyDeleteMargaret, how do you know what all they did or didn't do? Short-term missions help feed people and also provide medical care, help build housing, etc. I think you need to educate yourself, respectfully.
DeleteWhy on earth do you jump to the worst conclusion? You have no knowledge of what their trip meant to the people they came into contact with.
DeleteIf you think of the amount of expense that it takes to bring a group of people on a short term missions trip, and instead invested that money to support a long term missionary, to me that makes way more sense. This is assuming the long term missionary has invested into learning the language and has a profession that will benefit the local community.
ReplyDeleteOur view on missions has thankfully developed and our understanding on how “beneficial” short term trips are, has also changed.
For kids in an orphanage, for example, there is nothing beneficial to see people coming in and out of their lives in totally fake circumstances. Invest that money into hiring well trained, stable nannies into that same orphanage, and there you have a more real impact on those kids’ lives.
Many short term missions projects are completely feel good ones for those involved. Invest in local ministry, or support long term outreach projects.