missionaries | Amy Medina

Chuck and Diane Phippen gave up an idyllic American life to serve God on the mission field.

Christians make sacrifices. But most don’t leave behind 10 children, 16 grandchildren (with another on the way), 65 cows and a 250-acre dairy farm to become missionaries in Malawi.

But that’s just what Chuck and Diane Phippen did in 2023.

Before that, some might say the Phippens lived an idyllic life on an organic, grass-fed dairy farm; they homeschooled their 12 kids and were deeply embedded in their community and church. Two of their kids had even married two of their pastor’s kids.

So why do it? Instead of slowing down, why did Chuck, Diane and their two youngest kids pack their belongings into 12 suitcases and leave behind a comfortable, rewarding life that they all loved? Why board a plane on a beautiful spring day in New York and enter a rainy, muggy city in one of the poorest countries in the world?

Read the story here at the EFCA blog.

I have devoted my life to Christian missions. Am I guilty of cultural assault?

My job is to hire, onboard, coach, and train new missionaries. Sometimes it’s a bit disconcerting to work in a profession that so many people hate.

A couple of weeks ago, I came across an article from The Guardian: “Missionaries using secret audio devices to evangelise Brazil’s isolated peoples.”

The headline is clickbait for an article that is mostly speculative. Considering that a companion article claims that the same tribe’s longhouses “glow with screens” and are asking for Starlink, I’m not sure they’re as isolated as we imagine.

But it was the comments that got my attention.

Over a thousand negative comments with over 700 shares.

Some are valid accusations. History has shown us plenty of ignorant, arrogant, or destructive missionaries. I met some. Sometimes I was one. In fact, the whole reason I am passionate about my job of preparing and equipping missionaries is because I want to prevent them from making these mistakes. From making mistakes that I made. Anyone who has sat through one of my trainings knows that the thing I say over and over again is to enter another culture with humility.

But I also understand that many people believe that a missionary should never go in the first place. Or that if he does, his work should only be humanitarian. He should never dare to try to persuade someone to change their beliefs.

Tag: missionaries

From a New York Dairy Farm to Malawi

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Am I a Missionary Colonizer?

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Tag: missionaries

From a New York Dairy Farm to Malawi

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Am I a Missionary Colonizer?

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