I don't usually read the articles in the feeds I've subscribed to, but I did this one. It's concerning Adventist missions volunteers. Apparently the North American numbers are in significant decline, but the rest of the world is sending out more volunteers.
I guess I found it worth reading because of my recent volunteer experience. I'm still unsure of how I feel about missions and volunteering, but I guess I lean toward it being a positive thing still, especially for those who are ready to go serve, and even more especially when they end up in a place that is ready and needful of them. It seems like location and lack is crucial for the success and overall positive outcome for both volunteer and locals (or whatever).
It was an interesting, quick read and I guess I could probably analyze the whole "volunteer" deal in my mind for a long time. I think, to conclude with something, that I want the Adventist church's mission and volunteer program to be more than it currently is. Frankly, I don't think highly of it, but I'd like to.
I think it'd be great for the global church network to have a strong, helping connection and communication between those areas that are in need of specific talents or skills and those people who are qualified to provide such help. It seems like always suffixing our statements and testimonies and whatnot with something along the lines of "God just needs you to be willing, so if you're willing you should go" has watered down the quality of the program or service or whatever it is. But this is just based on my experience and bias and lazy opinions, so it's not fair, I'll declare that right now.
So again, the article is called "Church Chat: Mission volunteers needed," in case there is interest.
3 comments:
I read recently about David moving the ark to his town but things didn't go well the first time: his heart was willing but he didn't follow the rules of God. I think the same thing can and does apply to volunteering.
Easy Sonya, careful where you point that Bible, that thing is dangerous.
On another note, I wonder how many of those countries send volunteers to the United States. We could use some missionaries here and fewer employees.
Whoa, Chris. I JUST read that article and kept it as a tab in my web browser as I'm considering trying to find an e-mail address to send on some of my thoughts. Really, I'm in the same quandary as you are regarding missions. I think it's good, but I think that maybe it's become a bit stagnant. Or maybe it's not and that's just the picture I have of the whole program. I hope this guy they interviewed can swing things around for the better. Seems like he has a goal and a mission so that's good. From my perspective, I think the positions are generally ones that maybe North American young people aren't so keen on these days. I know for myself, when I look through the list of positions I am looking for something specifically more in my field of study than just teaching English. There are some more diverse options, but the majority are still for elementary/high school teachers and ESL teachers.
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