Mr. Worthington, if you don't know what Christian missionaries are doing in Afghanistan, I don't believe I can explain it to you. But that won't stop me from trying.
They are there to give those who don't know the love and forgiveness of God and Jesus Christ a chance to learn of Him. God tells His people to share the Gospel with those in our immediate vicinity, those a little farther away and moving out to other regions and to continue doing so until everyone in the world has an opportunity to accept Him or reject Him.
It doesn't matter that it is too dangerous. I personally don't think the fear of death is a good reason for not doing something this important. To a Christian, death is not that big a deal. It is much more important to bring the Gospel to others. It is that simple.
OK then...when you gonna sign up?
Well said Jemian. Christian missionaries have made a huge difference in Kurdistan - the merest tip of the iceberg being the number of people they have taught english to. They will make a difference in Afghanistan as well.
Some of you haven’t been paying attention for the last six years. Unless Islam is replaced with something else the Coalition forces have achieved nothing.
I take then that in principle you condone the jihadists.
I'm with the author of this article 100%.
To a Christian, death is not that big a deal. It is much more important to bring the Gospel to others. It is that simple.
Go into all the world and preach the gospel.
Mr. Worthington does not understand the Bible, no-re the values of a Christian. And, further more, there were all ready one thousand six hundred estimated Christians in Iraq.
The Muslims have 72 virgins waiting for them at death, Christians have Jesus Christ, the ruler of “all” waiting for them.
I think the point of the article was not that missionary work isn't important, but rather the problems that it causes for the military and the civilian governments when hostages are taken. Many others could end up dead trying to rescue these missionaries.
Carolyn
I understand that Christians may be called to go into unsafe parts of the world. However, they, their families, and their fellow missionaries must understand that the government is not going to release captives in a hostage exchange if they are captured.
NATO and the Afghan government should attempt to discover their location and free them militarily as part of their war against these terrorists, however they should not even consider bargaining with the terrorists for the release of the missionaries.
The missionaries need to understand that going in.
God love these Koreans for what they are doing. It is not given to all of us to go into harm’s way to spread the Word, but it was evidently given to them and they did it. If Worthington is looking for attention here, he has just got it, and I hope he can deal with it. My boy is in the US Army, a Captain now, and he went to in October, 2001, to Quatar, and then to Afghanistan for Anaconda. He returned to Afghanistan again later, and is now in Louisiana at Fort Polk. He is ready to go again when they ask him and would be proud to put himself in harm’s way to rescue any missionaries he could. If anybody remembers, it is Worthington’s daughter who is married to David Frum, Bush’s former speech writer. She is mainly the reason Frum is a FORMER speech writer.
That being said, the writer does have a good point. The world is much different today that it was 500 or 2000 years ago. Governments behave much differently. In our day and age, it should be expected that a missionary's mere presence overseas ay result in men being sent in harm's way to protect or rescue you.
Pleading for your government to appease (read: stregthen) the enemy or to send men to die to save you is a far different cry that Paul appealing to Roman law as a Roman citizen. It's something modern-day missionaries need to acknowledge and prepare for.
Missionaries, most especially women missionaries, should not be in what is, in effect, a combat zone. To do so is irresponsible and puts the lives of others and the military mission at risk.
So be it, however they should recognize that they are “On their own”. No troops should risk themselves, or their unit, to go looking for someone delusional enough to go preach uninvited in a war zone. If said missionaies go in, they are subject to the laws of the country they are in, and subject to capture by the enemy. They are not uniformed soldiers and do not enjoy the protections of the Geneva Convention.
Sorry to interject, but when Jesus said to go out an spread the Gospel, the world wasn’t as big as it is today. Nor do I believe that he would have wanted someone to place themselves in a life threatening situation such as this. Aren’t there enough people in your own backyard to work on? Perhaps it is the allure of danger that makes these missionaries seek out those that don’t want to be sought out? I also, question what they are teaching the Afghanis since they are Leftist? Could it be that they are Communists in the guise of missionaries?
It is true that Christians don’t fear death. But neither do the Muslims. However, it is the latter that doesn’t value the precious life that God has given us.