I messed up.

[Qwikness]

I messed up. My brother-in-law is an evangelical protestant. He is going on a mission trip to Peru. He sent something asking for money to help fund the trip. so I sent him $50. We met again this past weekend and he tells me how he’s getting ready to go. He says Peru is 94% Roman Catholic and 2% Christian.
I said “Wait, What? I’m Catholic, We’re Christian,”
He said, “Yeah but y’all worship Mary too”
etc. etc.
I said I don’t have time to discuss this now (because it was my daughter’s baptism),
but I want my $50 back. I was half kidding. but I was miffed. He’s going down there to convert Catholics
Now I want to write to the ArchBishop down in Peru and tell them to get their people prepared. What can I do
Please pray for them to fail. Get me in touch with Peru!

 

[tampasteve]

His motives and assumptions about the RC Church are clearly confused. With that said, it is likely that his “mission” trip will be more of a support for Protestant churches already there and it might “backfire” for converting people to Protestantism.

When I was in college I participated in a Protestant “missions” trip to Costa Rica. The missions portion mainly took place in Protestant schools, Protestant Churches, and public parks. The children were told about Christ through a mime play. I highly doubt we converted any Catholics, if any were watching (particularly in the parks) it is likely that their faith in Christ and the Church was strengthened. We did not hand out tracts or anything like that in the parks.

It seems that most of the “missions” trips by high school/college students are more along this line than hard core convert-the-Catholic-heathens type missions. Would I donate to one targeting a predominantly Catholic country, not any longer. But I would not beat yourself up over donating to your family. However, this is a very good time to explain what the church actually believes, maybe gift him “Rome Sweet Home” by Scott Hahn.

Steve

 

[Qwikness]

Thank you. That eases my mind. I justified it to myself as him having something to eat and security. I’ll look into to the Scott Hahn book. Thanks again.

Clint

 

[musicality]

I’m in college, and I went on a mission trip with a non denominational group at my college. (Really we were just helping to rebuild homes in LA)

From what I experienced, the goal of my mission trip was not to convert anyone to a specific religion, but to show them Christ’s love through our actions. (It was awesome when the people we were helping showed that love right back…) Hopefully he’s doing something similar.

If I were you, I would give him a call when he gets back, and perhaps apologize for seeming hostile. Tell him that you were taken aback by his accusation that we worship Mary, and invite him over to discuss the topic. Explain to him why we pray to Mary for intercession. If you need any help with your conversation, I’m sure that a quick search of the forum will show you dozens of threads about this… I would particularly check out the Ask an Apologist section. This one should give you a good start.

 

[MaidoftheWood]

Peru, too?

I have a very dear female friend who is some form of Protestant Christian (I forget what, exactly) who is going to Peru this summer as well, on a mission trip.

I am not entirely sure what she will be doing, though I seem to recall her mentioning an orphanage? maybe? idk.

It has occurred to me and concerns me that she might be wanting to ‘convert’ the native Catholics into her Protestant denomination. But I haven’t gotten that impression from her. It sounds almost like a service/good works trip, basically.

She knows I am Catholic, and in spite of being Protestant, constantly says I am an inspiration to her, etc. Maybe someday she will become Catholic. hopes

Anyway, she is a dear friend. She has never asked me anything in particular about Catholic beliefs…

I wish her the best on her trip. I just though it was interesting that she and your brother-in-law both are going to Peru.

I hope you can teach him the truth about the Church!

 

[SalomeBintullah]

I messed up. My brother-in-law is an evangelical protestant. He is going on a mission trip to Peru. He sent something asking for money to help fund the trip. so I sent him $50. We met again this past weekend and he tells me how he’s getting ready to go. He says Peru is 94% Roman Catholic and 2% Christian.
I said “Wait, What? I’m Catholic, We’re Christian,”
He said, “Yeah but y’all worship Mary too”
etc. etc.
I said I don’t have time to discuss this now (because it was my daughter’s baptism),
but I want my $50 back. I was half kidding. but I was miffed. He’s going down there to convert Catholics
Now I want to write to the ArchBishop down in Peru and tell them to get their people prepared. What can I do
Please pray for them to fail. Get me in touch with Peru!

An Evangelical friend of mine went on a mission trip to Costa Rica over spring break. I was a little miffed, although of course I said nothing to her because I didn’t want to hurt her feelings. She went to an orphanage to help out there, and then went to a college campus to “share Jesus” with the people there. I just prayed that her well-intentioned actions wouldn’t pull people away from the Catholic faith. After she got back, I posted a link on my Facebook page about very Catholic Costa Rica. I don’t know whether or not she read it, but it certainly didn’t hurt.

If your brother-in-law has issues specifically with Mary, I’d recommend gifting him with Scott Hahn’s book Hail, Holy Queen. A more general book that’s supposed to be good (although I’ve never read it) is Karl Keating’s What Catholics Really Believe: 52 Answers to Common Misconceptions about the Catholic Faith.

 

[Qwikness]

A year or two ago I saw this coming, He had not been a Christian for very long, so I gave him Pillar of Fire, Pillar of Truth, hoping to pre-empt any misunderstanding.
Hopefully he’ll come back and I can take him to Mass. Hopefully the Peruvians will convert him!

 

[PJM]

I messed up. My brother-in-law is an evangelical protestant. He is going on a mission trip to Peru. He sent something asking for money to help fund the trip. so I sent him $50. We met again this past weekend and he tells me how he’s getting ready to go. He says Peru is 94% Roman Catholic and 2% Christian.
I said “Wait, What? I’m Catholic, We’re Christian,”
He said, “Yeah but y’all worship Mary too”
etc. etc.
I said I don’t have time to discuss this now (because it was my daughter’s baptism),
but I want my $50 back. I was half kidding. but I was miffed. He’s going down there to convert Catholics
Now I want to write to the ArchBishop down in Peru and tell them to get their people prepared. What can I do
Please pray for them to fail. Get me in touch with Peru!

God reads you’re heart and you made the right decission based on the information you have.

At this juncture, pray and sacrifice.

God can do wouderous things through prayer.

Trust God to protect the faith of these pople and to allow them by their lives to be “living bibles” to those attempting to convert them

Come Holy Spirit, gueard the Faith of you’re people! Amen!

Love and prayers

 

[NHInsider]

Most of what our Protestant brethren believe is True, only a small (though not unimportant!) part is false. The Holy Spirit can do amazing things. Pray that what Truth the mission shares will touch hearts of the listeners and return or draw them to the True Church. Pray that the Catholic clergy and parishes in the area will be open and ready to receive converts and reverts who hear bits of Truth from the mission. Pray even that your relative and his team will experience true Christian fellowship with some faithful Catholics in Peru and have their eyes opened to the Truth in its fullness!