Protestants evangelizing in Catholic countries

[mystified]

A non-Catholic sect in Southrn California came to the small print shop where I was working to have a large order done. It was a set of booklets aimed at instructing their adherents how to convert Mexican Catholics on planned missionary trips.

I thought it interesting that this small but noisy group of Bible-only people were specifically instructed to avoid appearing to oppose anything related to the veneration of the Virgen Mary and NS de Guadalupe in particular. In what could best be described as a steath plan, they were told to do everythng they could to cut their targets off from the Catholic Church and only later attack Marian devotions.

This sect is well enough known that the Buddhist owner of the printing firm gave them a very good price and did not ask for the normal 10% deposit on large orders. Their check bounced!

 

[graceandglory]

.

Am I being uncharitable and un-Christian in not wanting to support this? Is anyone familiar with these types of missionsn? I get the impression that they are going over there to spread their particular brand of Evangelical Christianity. I highly doubt they are going to tell young people “Now that you have decided to live your life for Jesus, go deeper into your Catholic faith.”

Hi ChristinaM,

I was raised nominally Catholic, connected with on-fire evangelicals in high school, and became an evangelical myself.

You are right in that they want to spread their particular brand of Christianity. When I was an evangelical I went on several mission trips. I wanted to evangelize the Catholic world so bad. I even majored in Spanish so I could evangelize Mexico.

Alas, as a seeker of Truth, I did come full circle and am now an on-fire converted Catholic. I wish so badly to be able to once again go on mission trips as a Catholic, to evangelize the Catholic world. Everyone needs to be evangelized. We are all called to be converted. Pope Benedict says that our faith isn’t just supposed to be informational for us, but transformational, resulting in a transformed, converted lifestyle. That is the heart of protestant missionary zeal, and it’s the same for us as Catholics.

I would suggest that you search out a Catholic Missionary to support, then you can say, “No thanks, I already support missionaries at my church.”

If your friends are anything like I was, they might respond with, “You’re kidding me, there are Catholic missionaries?”

I never heard of Catholic missionaries as a kid in Catholic schools and CCD. I even went to Catholic elementary school, high school and university.

Had I known there were opportunities to serve as a missionary I would have jumped at the chance without spending half my life as a protestant.

 

[EsclavoDeCristo]

Hi ChristinaM,

I was raised nominally Catholic, connected with on-fire evangelicals in high school, and became an evangelical myself.

You are right in that they want to spread their particular brand of Christianity. When I was an evangelical I went on several mission trips. I wanted to evangelize the Catholic world so bad. I even majored in Spanish so I could evangelize Mexico.

Alas, as a seeker of Truth, I did come full circle and am now an on-fire converted Catholic. I wish so badly to be able to once again go on mission trips as a Catholic, to evangelize the Catholic world. Everyone needs to be evangelized. We are all called to be converted. Pope Benedict says that our faith isn’t just supposed to be informational for us, but transformational, resulting in a transformed, converted lifestyle. That is the heart of protestant missionary zeal, and it’s the same for us as Catholics.

I would suggest that you search out a Catholic Missionary to support, then you can say, “No thanks, I already support missionaries at my church.”

If your friends are anything like I was, they might respond with, “You’re kidding me, there are Catholic missionaries?”

I never heard of Catholic missionaries as a kid in Catholic schools and CCD. I even went to Catholic elementary school, high school and university.

Had I known there were opportunities to serve as a missionary I would have jumped at the chance without spending half my life as a protestant.

I could not agree more with Graceandglory. In face, it was a group of lukewarm Catholics turned on fire evangelicals turned on fire Catholics, that lead me from being a lukewarm Catholic to an on fire Catholic.

 

[NonCatholic]

1 Timothy 4:1-5
1 But the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons, 2 by means of the hypocrisy of liars seared in their own conscience as with a branding iron, 3 {men} who forbid marriage {and advocate} abstaining from foods which God has created to be gratefully shared in by those who believe and know the truth. 4 For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with gratitude; 5 for it is sanctified by means of the word of God and prayer.

 

[SteveGC]

1 Timothy 4:1-5
1 But the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons, 2 by means of the hypocrisy of liars seared in their own conscience as with a branding iron, 3 {men} who forbid marriage {and advocate} abstaining from foods which God has created to be gratefully shared in by those who believe and know the truth. 4 For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with gratitude; 5 for it is sanctified by means of the word of God and prayer.

Um…It’s helpful if you have something to say.

As opposed to just verse-bombing out of nowhere.

 

[kathykiritta]

Hi all,
Hello Christina,
Your name tells it all!! Keep up with the good faith! I am also an ‘embracer’ of our faith and I love it with a conviction.It is the only true religion( Catholic, which appropriately means - UNIVERSAL -everyone should embrace it), which was founded by Jesus Christ himself, not by a human founder. All protestant religions were founded by a human being, and that really puts me off. I cannot uderstand how anyone can pick up the Bible and start intepretting it in a way suitable to their own liking and knowledge. No way am I ever going to join their faith!!
I am ( I know this is going to sound horrific) studying the Bible with the Jehovah Witnesses for the mere fact that I want to put it to them that all they teach is exact opposite to what the Bible teaches. I stand strong and always answer their questions to my knowledge of (my )faith. Please do not be afraid to answer according to your understanding of the Bible and how Jesus wants you to answer. You have all the back-up in the Bible. Jesus will never let you down. After all, He is the one who wrote it. God is the Author and not them. I sit with the protestants in Bible studies and tell them exactly what I think and back it up clearly from the verses given to me by the Holy Spirit. They usually refuse and try and change the meaning but I stand my ground and guess what?They are always the ones who end up saying that they will check it out later, meaning that they actually can not comply openly and admit to their mistakes. It always happens and I thank God for the strentgh He gives me to do so in his power. You must never be afraid cos He stands there with you. Pray every time for His power and He will reveal even more secrets from His Word.
I am also very sad when I see our Catholic numbers being drawn away from their faith. It really pains me. I am going to talk to our parish priest to address this matter to Christ’s flock of Catholic believers. I always tell a Catholic to stop studying the Jehovah Witness books cos it is exactly the opposite to Bible teaching. I can’t help it and I just go ahead and do it. Maybe it’s the power of the Holy Spirit. Go ahead and be bold. I am glad that I am not alone in this matter. Maybe God has chosen us to be disciples.Stand firm for the sake of all Christias!

I wasn’t sure where to put this since I am so new - but if it is inappropriate please feel free to move it, mods.

I was born and raised in the “Bible Belt” and as a result most of my friends are Protestant. Some of them are Baptist and very involved with mission work, and I often get solicitations via Facebook to join a “support group” or donate. One friend of mine was going to Italy through Campus Crusade for Christ and asked me to donate money for a mission. Now I admit I don’t know anything about how many young people in Italy actually practice their faith, but I did NOT want to give her money to preach Evangelicalism in a predominantly Catholic country. I politely declined her request, but I did find it somewhat offensive.

Another friend created a group to support a Baptist mission in the Philippines. I visited the mission’s website and it constantly talked about “bringing the message of Christ to people who do not know Him.” I find this very presumptuous considering that the Philippines are so overwhelmingly Catholic and most people will have heard of Jesus even if their level of education is not great.

Am I being uncharitable and un-Christian in not wanting to support this? Is anyone familiar with these types of missions? I get the impression that they are going over there to spread their particular brand of Evangelical Christianity. I highly doubt they are going to tell young people “Now that you have decided to live your life for Jesus, go deeper into your Catholic faith.”

My second question is - do you think the local bishops and cardinals are aware of these missions? It seems like predominantly Catholic countries are being “targeted.” Is there any kind of organized effort to counteract these missions with Catholic catechesis? If so, I would like to donate or support it in some way.

 

[Roamin_Xian]

It’s cowardice, what these so-called “evangelists” are doing. If they really had the salt of the Holy Spirit, they’d go to Mecca and Medina, or Yemen.

Cowards.

 

[po18guy]

It’s cowardice, what these so-called “evangelists” are doing. If they really had the salt of the Holy Spirit, they’d go to Mecca and Medina, or Yemen.

Cowards.

They all want to go to Heaven, but just not today…

 

[manualman]

It’s not cowardice. I’ve known bunches of them. It’s misinformedness. They honestly believe that the catholic culture in places like Honduras, Mexico, etc are so polluted as to not be christian anymore. Even if they concede that it might be possible to be both catholic and christian, from their point of view the conversion of a lukewarm / ignorant catholic to an on-fire evangelical has only upside and no downside.

They simply can’t see that it is the underlying catholic culture that has fostered such a receptivity in people for the gospel and do not see that the destruction of that catholic culture in favor of 8 fractious protestant communities WILL result in the long term having FEWER people embracing Christ as their savior than if they had supported catholic evangelization efforts there instead.

In short, its human tribalism at its worst. It is nothing intentional or sinister intentioned, just not very wise.

 

[SteveGC]

It’s not cowardice. I’ve known bunches of them. It’s misinformedness. They honestly believe that the catholic culture in places like Honduras, Mexico, etc are so polluted as to not be christian anymore. Even if they concede that it might be possible to be both catholic and christian, from their point of view the conversion of a lukewarm / ignorant catholic to an on-fire evangelical has only upside and no downside.

They simply can’t see that it is the underlying catholic culture that has fostered such a receptivity in people for the gospel and do not see that the destruction of that catholic culture in favor of 8 fractious protestant communities WILL result in the long term having FEWER people embracing Christ as their savior than if they had supported catholic evangelization efforts there instead.

In short, its human tribalism at its worst. It is nothing intentional or sinister intentioned, just not very wise.

Very interesting, astute insight. Thanks manualman.