Sometimes, I just hate assumptions. Being a pastor’s wife, I hear them regularly. Today, for example, everybody was telling me how much my Shepherd would be changed by his trip. I was told he will never think the same way about missions.
I have been speaking to my Shepherd all during his trip. I know what he thought before the trip. I know the experience has been valuable. I know he will be changed by the trip. However, I also know he was not ignorant about missions before. I also know the lingering skepticism of dollars spent to impact. $5000 per person travelling is not necessarily money well spent. The mission does not necessarily get $5,000 value from each person visiting. Sometimes the visitor doesn’t bring much at all.
People are telling me their thoughts, but they are not asking my thoughts about it. They are not asking about the thoughts of my shepherd either. Instead, they are telling me their assumptions and wanting me to approve them. I probably did to. Not worth the effort to correct since they did not want a dialog in the first place.
I do love the manner in which you have framed this particular issue plus it really does give me personally a lot of fodder for consideration. However, from what precisely I have experienced, I simply just wish as other responses pack on that men and women continue to be on point and in no way get started upon a soap box involving the news du jour. All the same, thank you for this excellent piece and although I do not really agree with the idea in totality, I value your perspective.