H
HJ3822
Guest
I know that missionaries are supposed to engage in evangelization, but exactly what they do to achieve conversions baffles me. In the initial step, there are probably no Christians in the community, aside from the missionaries, so I suppose that the first step is to learn the language and to communicate with the people in everyday conversations. Somehow, in some way, talking with people leads to discussions about religion 
confused; however, the language barrier may prevent accurate descriptions of God, which may then cause linguistic or theological confusion. Somehow, an individual believes what the missionaries believe, and when enough individuals of the village or city believe, a church is built, and a cathedral - the seat of the bishop - is established, in connection with Rome, which may or may not cause problems with the local governments. The usual image that I have of missionaries is that they mainly travel overseas and evangelize overseas.
What do missionaries do exactly? How do they achieve conversions? What is the purpose of having a group of people called “missionaries”, and does it imply that somehow ordinary laypersons cannot evangelize? Is the sole purpose of missionary work trying to convert people to a new religion? Is it worth the effort to send missionaries to an environment hostile to foreign beliefs? If missionaries mainly work overseas and away from their home/native country of origin, then why in the world would I find a Catholic missionary who is from the United States and stays in the United States? Perhaps, a missionary finds a target group (i.e. college students at a public university) and evangelize there?
confused; however, the language barrier may prevent accurate descriptions of God, which may then cause linguistic or theological confusion. Somehow, an individual believes what the missionaries believe, and when enough individuals of the village or city believe, a church is built, and a cathedral - the seat of the bishop - is established, in connection with Rome, which may or may not cause problems with the local governments. The usual image that I have of missionaries is that they mainly travel overseas and evangelize overseas.What do missionaries do exactly? How do they achieve conversions? What is the purpose of having a group of people called “missionaries”, and does it imply that somehow ordinary laypersons cannot evangelize? Is the sole purpose of missionary work trying to convert people to a new religion? Is it worth the effort to send missionaries to an environment hostile to foreign beliefs? If missionaries mainly work overseas and away from their home/native country of origin, then why in the world would I find a Catholic missionary who is from the United States and stays in the United States? Perhaps, a missionary finds a target group (i.e. college students at a public university) and evangelize there?
