Missionaries killed in Haiti by gang are state reps' daughter, son-in-law, nonprofit says
Missionaries killed in Haiti by gang are state reps' daughter, son-in-law, nonprofit says
Missouri State Representative Ben Baker's daughter and son-in-law were both reportedly killed in Haiti by gangs while they served as missionaries.
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This is terrible but I don't understand why these missionaries go to violent war zones or areas in a state of anarchy.
Same reason missionaries went to dangerous places in past centuries, I imagine. There are people in need to convert, and the risks aren't all that meaningful if you honestly believe in your message. What's the worst someone can do, kill you? You're in heaven then. It's life that's the difficult and painful period to get through, not what comes afterwards.
They go to those places because the poor and downtrodden tend to have a higher propensity to want to believe in something that will improve their life. It’s the best place to get converts
There is something extremely depressing about that. Knowing that their beliefs aren't real, it is incredibly sad to see two people in their early 20's die for what they believe in. Their one and only life is over because they couldn't mind their own business. There is no heaven, there is no reward. They spread a fairy tale and got murdered, that's the summary of their existence.
Check out the story of John Chau. He spent a year planning and preparing to be the first missionary to visit the North Sentinelese, a virtually uncontacted people. During his first couple (illegal) attempts, they shot arrows at him. He visited again and they killed him.
The real question here is why American missionaries did it in a country, Haiti, that's over 93% Christian. The U.S. is only 63% Christian.
Because Haiti is mostly Black and therefore can't be Christian. It must be full of heathens.
I guess maybe they were there more for the humanitarian rather than the religious?
I seriously doubt it.
Because people in the US aren't as desperate and likely to believe in some whacky religious stories.
Haiti is about 70% Catholic, 30% protestant (mostly Pentecoastal), and 100% Voodoo. Which, to US missionaries, means 70% heathens and 30% heretics.
Sure, but the U.S. is 23% Catholic and 37% non-Christian, which makes 60% heathens. It still seems like starting at home first would be the right move.
To shove the bible down people's throats, which they insist resolves all earthly issues.
They were already there. “They made the decision to remain even when it got worse because they felt like if they left, then those kids would have no where to go" Source
They were ambushed by gang members, after helping orphans at a church, in an attempted robbery. They were leaving the church and got attacked on their way home.
Damn, so genuinely good people caught in the crossfire. I don't like how so many commenters are shitting all over them here.
Because even if they are doing charity work, the real reason they're there is to spread the colonizer's religion and ideas.
Because they are the main protagonists in their own story and think their religion gives them plot armor. It is not about the people there or someone in need of help or a single thought of how they could be actually helping anyone but themselves. And since part of what they are wanting to get is a right to a place in heaven, I think they got that, just not the way they thought it would go. Murdering them was wrong, them having lost their lives is a sad waste, but I am also all out of compassion for people like this. Maybe others think twice now and realize that it is not a movie and that they are not the star and that there is no plot armor in real life.
Vulnerable people are easy to recruit.