…Bernie

That’s what’s so confusing about this situation to me. They started off saying, “Hey, let’s put together a shoe box of gifts for kids that might get us into that country so we can spread the gospel.” Then, after they ‘got in’, now it’s “Well, we have to make sure the shoeboxes get in no matter what, so we can drop the gospel to make that happen.” It’s like the cart got put before the horse.

In reading the response put out by Samaritan’s purse, though, it sounds like the shoe-boxes are just another door, another tool to allow the missionaries and churches in these local areas develop relationships, help suffering people, and spread the gospel - one step at a time. I wish that Franklin would have been a little bit more clear in his response - he never did say one way or another about the Christian literature in boxes.

I’m gonna think a lot about this, I have more to post, especially from my specific example in Russia, but I think I’ll take up my own blog space instead of hogging yours! =)

I tend to look at things from an efficiency perspective. You can’t put a dollar value on a soul of course, but just like in a health care triage setting, there are ethical ways to make distinction between needs to optimize use of limited resources.

The triage analogy holds true. In triage, you divide people in a mass catastrophe (for example, a massive automobile pileup with hundreds of injuries but only 5 first responders) based on need. The first category are those who have non-serious injuries that aren’t life-threatening, and the third category are those whose injuries are so severe they can’t be treated effectively with the resources available. The people who receive treatment are in the second category, those with serious injuries but who are “savable” with the resources available.

Similarly, scarce resources for missions should be concentrated in places where the harvest of souls is most fruitful.

I would argue that if a Muslim country bans religious literature, then those shoeboxes should be sent to another country where the literature would be accepted. There’s only 8 million boxes, and many more kids in need in countries that would allow the literature.

I know your plane ticket comment was in jest, but it’s important to remember that countries consist of living, breathing people, not borders. Relocating them to the US would just recreate the same problems here, after our charitable resources were tapped out.

One thing that I learned in Russia is that sometimes you do have to temper your words about Christ in hostile environments - not so that it is NEVER spoken, but so that others may have a chance to continue the work.

Example: one school we went to specifically prohibited us from speaking or singing and “religious propaganda”. We could have gone and given gospel presentations anyway, but that would have firmly shut - no, slammed - the door for the missionaries we would be leaving behind. But WE would have felt better because we spoke the gospel.

As it is, we left this school with a positive thought and “taste” of Christians. There is an open door now where pastors can go in and speak, and, as the days go on, will be able to preach about Christ.

I don’t know, though, if this is Samaritan’s Purse’s objective. I’ve always thought that the gift boxes were basically just something to get them into the country so that they could spread the gospel. So if they are changing this objective to get the boxes in there no matter what, shouldn’t they also change what goes in the boxes? I mean, instead of toys, books and colors for the kids, shouldn’t it all be non-perishable food items, maybe plane tickets to America?

Sorry for the sarcasm, this is just really upsetting.